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  • Ryan Truex scores second consecutive Xfinity victory at Dover

    Ryan Truex scores second consecutive Xfinity victory at Dover

    A year after achieving his first elusive victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series at the Monster Mile, Ryan Truex etched himself as a two-time race winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series level after prevailing through two overtime shootouts and a late challenge from Carson Kvapil to win the BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 27. 

    The 32-year-old Truex from Mayetta, New Jersey, led the final two of 208 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started 12th and ran a consistent event, where he racked up a handful of stage points and dodged a series of late-race caution periods to line up alongside Carson Kvapil at the start of the second of two overtime shootouts. After muscling past Kvapil during the start of the second overtime shootout, Truex then took the white flag to start the final lap of the event and retained the lead just before the event’s race-ending caution flew after front-runner Justin Allgaier wrecked on the frontstretch. The incident resulted in Truex claiming the checkered flag to win at Dover for a second consecutive season and to collect his second career win in the Xfinity Series.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Friday, April 26, Brandon Jones notched his second Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 156.683 mph in 22.950 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Riley Herbst, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 156.781 mph in 22.962 seconds. 

    Before the event, the following names that included Anthony Alfredo, Jeb Burton, Blaine Perkins, Garrett Smithley, Josh Williams and JJ Yeley 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, Brandon Jones motored his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro ahead with the lead from the outside lane through the first two turns. As the field behind jostled for early spots, Jones proceeded to lead the first lap as teammate Justin Allgaier overtook Riley Herbst to move into the runner-up spot as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top five ahead of Austin Hill, Kyle Weatherman and a side-by-side battle between Taylor Gray and rookie Jesse Love. 

    On the fourth lap, the event’s first caution flew after Hailie Deegan and JJ Yeley, both of whom were racing towards the rear of the field, made contact through the frontstretch that resulted with Yeley spinning and slapping the outside wall in Turn 1 as his event came to an early end. 

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 13, Allgaier launched his No. 7 Jarrett Logistics Chevrolet Camaro ahead of teammate Jones through the first two turns as he muscled ahead to assume the lead while the rest of the field jostled for early spots. Allgaier would power ahead by more than a second by the Lap 15 mark while Jones, Herbst, Creed and Hill followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith, Gray, AJ Allmendinger, Cole Custer and Love were racing in the top 10 ahead of Kyle Weatherman, Ryan Sieg, Ryan Truex, Parker Kligerman and Sammy Smith as Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second by the Lap 20 mark. 

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Allgaier led by more than a second over teammate Jones while third-place Herbst trailed by five seconds. Creed and Hill followed suit in the top five while Chandler Smith, Gray, Custer, Allmendinger and Love were racing in the top 10 ahead of Ryan Sieg, Truex, Sammy Smith, Parker Retzlaff, Weatherman, Kligerman, Matt DiBenedetto, Sam Mayer, Carson Kvapil and Kaden Honeycut. 

    Shortly after, the event’s second caution period flew after Ryan Sieg, winner of the third Dash 4 Cash bonus from last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway and who was running in the top 15, came to a stop below the track in Turn 2 after his No. 39 Sci Aps Ford Mustang went up in flames, with the driver able to quickly escape his burned car.  

    During the caution period, some including Love, Parker Retzlaff and rookie Shane van Gisbergen pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. 

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 32, Allgaier retained the lead after muscling ahead on the inside lane while teammate Jones was trying to fend off Creed for the runner-up spot. Behind, Herbst trailed in fourth ahead of Hill and Custer while Chandler Smith, Gray, Allmendinger and Truex occupied the top 10.  

    Just past the Lap 35 mark, Allgaier was leading by a second over teammate Jones with Creed following suit in third while Herbst and Hill battled in the top five ahead of Custer and Chandler Smith. The deficit for Creed, Custer, Herbst, Hill and Chandler Smith would increase to four seconds as Allgaier retained the lead by the Lap 40 mark. 

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Allgaier captured his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammates Jones settled in second followed by Custer, Creed and Herbst while Hill, Chandler Smith, Allmendinger, Truex and Sam Mayer were scored in the top 10.  

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Allgaier pitted while the rest led by Retzlaff and Love, including those who pitted during the previous caution period, remained on the track. Towards the end of the first stage’s break period, Blaine Perkins stopped on the track in Turn 2 after his car ended up on fire. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 51 as Retzlaff and Love occupied the front row. At the start, Retzlaff and Love battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch as Jeb Burton followed suit in third. Love would prevail and take over the top spot during the following lap while the rest of the field behind scrambled and jostled for positions by the Lap 55 mark. 

    At the Lap 60 mark, Love was leading by half a second over Retzlaff followed by Custer, Jeb Burton and Hill while Creed, Herbst, Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler Smith and Allgaier were running in the top 10 as Allmendinger, Sammy Smith, Shane van Gisbergen, Truex and Jones trailed in the top 15. 

    Ten laps later, Love retained the lead by nine-tenths of a second over Retzlaff as third-place Custer, who was the first competitor who exited pit road during the first stage’s break period, trailed by a second as he was racing ahead of Creed and Herbst. 

    Another two laps later, Custer motored his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang past Love’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro through the first two turns as he assumed the lead. Custer extended his advantage to a second over Love by the Lap 75 mark and to two seconds over Love just past the Lap 80 mark. 

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Custer captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Hill charged his way into the runner-up spot followed by Love, Retzlaff and Creed while Allgaier, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith and Truex were scored in the top 10. 

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Custer pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Custer retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Hill, Allgaier, Herbst, Love, Sammy Smith, Creed, Truex, Chandler Smith and Allmendinger. 

    With 102 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Custer and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, Custer fended off Hill to retain the lead as Allgaier muscled his way past Hill for the runner-up spot. Allgaier and Hill would battle for the runner-up spot ahead of Herbst and Love while Custer led with 100 laps remaining. Not long after, Love made an unscheduled pit stop under green to address a cut left-rear tire after making contact with Ryan Truex. 

    With 85 laps remaining, Custer stretched his advantage to three seconds over Allgaier while Herbst, Sammy Smith and Hill trailed in the top five ahead of Carson Kvapil, Creed, Truex, Allmendinger and Anthony Alfredo. 

    Ten laps later, Custer stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Allgaier as Herbst, Sammy Smith and Hill continued to run in the top five ahead of Kvapil, Creed, Truex, Allmendinger and Chandler Smith. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Custer continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Allgaier as Herbst, Sammy Smith and Hill trailed by five seconds. Behind, Kvapil retained sixth ahead of Creed and Chandler Smith, who gained two spots, as Allmendinger and Truex trailed in the top 10 ahead of Jones, Mayer, Kligerman, Alfredo and Jeb Burton. 

    Eight laps later, the caution flew due to rain reported around the venue. During the caution period, some led by Herbst pitted while the rest led by Custer, who missed the pit road entrance line and did not pit when reported to do so, remained on the track.  

    With the caution period being extended due to the rain, the field led by Custer was directed to pit road with 33 laps remaining and the event was placed in a weather delay that spanned more than 12 minutes. Once the red flag period was lifted and the field returned to the track under a cautious pace, select names including Custer pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. 

    When the race restarted under green flag conditions with 28 laps remaining, Allgaier and Hill battled closely against one another for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Allgaier went wide and up the track in Turn 3. This allowed Hill to muscle ahead with the lead as Kvapil moved into the runner-up spot while Allgaier was left to battle Creed and Mayer to retain third place. 

    Another lap later, the caution returned after Jones, who was racing in the top 10, made contact with Allmendinger in Turn 2 that resulted in Allmendinger bumping into Jones and sending Jones for a spin towards the inside wall on the backstretch, but Jones managed to keep his car off the wall. 

    The start of the following restart period with 21 laps remaining featured Hill retaining the lead ahead of Creed, Kvapil and Gray. Four laps later, however, the caution returned after Mayer, who was battling Gray for a top-five spot, got loose underneath Gray and clipped Gray which resulted in Gray slamming into the outside wall in Turn 2. 

    During the start of the next restart period with 11 laps remaining, Hill and Creed battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch before Creed muscled ahead from the inside lane. With 10 laps remaining, however, Hill would battle back against Creed for the top spot as.  

    Then with eight laps remaining, Kvapil drew himself beneath a side-by-side action between Hill and Creed through the frontstretch. This generated a three-wide action for the lead as Kvapil moved his No. 88 Chevy Truck Season Chevrolet Camaro into the lead. The caution, however, returned a lap later after Herbst got turned sideways in Turn 4, which triggered a multi-car wreck that collected Kyle Sieg, Sammy Smith, Leland Honeyman, Brennan Poole, Daniel Dye and Allgaier. The incident was enough to sent the event into overtime. 

    The first overtime period did not last long as Hill got loose underneath Kvapil while battling him for the lead through the first two turns, which resulted in Hill spinning his No. 21 Nuthin Fancy Collection Chevrolet Camaro below the apron. 

    The second overtime attempt generated a different outcome as Ryan Truex, who restarted alongside Kvapil on the inside lane, battled dead even with Kvapil for nearly a full lap until Truex muscled ahead with the lead through Turns 3 and 4. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Truex was leading by two-tenths of a second over Kvapil as Mayer, Creed and Custer battled for third place. Not long after, the caution flew, which ended the race as Allgaier wrecked on the frontstretch. With the checkered flag being displayed alongside the caution flag, Truex was able to coast his No. 20 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota Supra back to the frontstretch victorious for a second consecutive season at the Monster Mile. 

    With the victory, Truex, who previously recorded two top-10 results in four starts thus far of the season, achieved his second career win in his 95th start in the Xfinity circuit and fifth of the 2024 season. He also recorded the fifth victory of the season for both Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing as he became the third different competitor to pilot JGR’s No. 20 Toyota Supra entry to an Xfinity race victory in 2024.

    “I can’t believe it,” Truex said on FS1. “Our car was just good at the end when it mattered. I was so loose all day. Shout out to Carson [Kvapil]. What an amazing run for what, his second race. I felt a little bad running him up the hill, but you’ve got to take these things when you can. I’m out of breath. I think I held my breath the last two laps. Love these fans. Love this track. Just can’t believe it.”

    Meanwhile, Kvapil, a full-time CARS Late Model Stock Tour competitor for JR Motorsports and the son of former NASCAR Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil, was left with mixed reactions on pit road despite achieving a career-best runner-up result in his second Xfinity Series career start. He finished in fourth place during his first Xfinity career start at Martinsville Speedway in early April.

    “It sucks, right? You get that close [to winning],” Kvapil said. “I really don’t even know what to say. I think we had a really fast Chevrolet here. JR Motorsports brought me a really good piece. I’m just really fortunate to be in the spot that I am. I’m happy that I have a shot to win a race at the end there. We had a good car. I just couldn’t really get up through the restarts really good…[Truex] just barely got us there at the end.”

    Sam Mayer ended up in third place followed by Sheldon Creed and Cole Custer. AJ Allmendinger, Chandler Smith, Kyle Weatherman, Anthony Alfredo and Parker Retzlaff finished in the top 10.

    For the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash bonus of the 2024 season, the honors belonged to Anthony Alfredo, who achieved his first bonus of the initiative of his career as he also collected his fifth top-10 result of the season.

    There were 11 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 61 laps. In addition, 20 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the 10th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Chandler Smith leads the regular-season standings by a single point over Cole Custer, 17 over Austin Hill, 57 over rookie Jesse Love and 81 over Justin Allgaier.

    Results. 

    1.  Ryan Truex, two laps led

    2. Carson Kvapil, 14 laps led

    3. Sam Mayer

    4. Sheldon Creed, three laps led

    5. Cole Custer, 95 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    6. AJ Allmendinger

    7. Chandler Smith

    8. Kyle Weatherman

    9. Anthony Alfredo

    10. Parker Retzlaff, three laps led

    11. Jeb Burton

    12. Parker Kligerman

    13. Ryan Ellis

    14. Jeremy Clements

    15. Austin Hill, 17 laps led

    16. Riley Herbst

    17. Justin Allgaier, 39 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    18. Shane van Gisbergen

    19. Brandon Jones, 13 laps led

    20. Daniel Dye

    21. Leland Honeyman, one lap down

    22. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    23. Kaden Honeycutt, two laps down

    24. Jesse Love, two laps down, 21 laps led

    25. Josh Williams, two laps down

    26. David Starr, two laps down

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

    28. Patrick Emerling, three laps down

    29. Dawson Cram, three laps down

    30. Garrett Smithley, six laps down

    31. Hailie Deegan, eight laps down

    32.  Matt DiBenedetto, 12 laps down

    33. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident

    34. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident

    35. Corey Heim – OUT, Engine

    36. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Electrical

    37. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Engine

    38. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

    With the completion of the 2024 Xfinity Series’ Dash 4 Cash initiative, the next event on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200. The event is scheduled for May 11 and will air at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results. 

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

    2. Riley Herbst, 13 laps led 

    3. Anthony Alfredo, six laps led 

    4. Leland Honeyman 

    5. Brennan Poole 

    6. Sheldon Creed 

    7. Caesar Bacarella 

    8. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led 

    9. Jeb Burton 

    10. Cole Custer, four laps led 

    11. Mason Massey 

    12. Hailie Deegan 

    13. Kyle Sieg 

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

    15. Taylor Gray, one lap led 

    16. Josh Bilicki 

    17. Ryan Sieg, seven laps led 

    18. Joey Gase 

    19. AJ Allmendinger 

    20. Josh Williams 

    21. Sammy Smith, two laps led 

    22. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap led 

    23. Blaine Perkins, one lap down 

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

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

    26. Ryan Ellis, one lap down 

    27. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, DVP 

    28. Dawson Cram, four laps down

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

    30. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Ignition 

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

    32. Patrick Emerling – OUT, Accident 

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

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

    35. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident 

    36. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident 

    37. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Engine 

    38. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident 

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

  • Mayer edges Sieg in photo finish for first Xfinity victory of 2024 at Texas

    Mayer edges Sieg in photo finish for first Xfinity victory of 2024 at Texas

    Sam Mayer erased his difficult start to the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season by edging Ryan Sieg in a photo finish to score a breakthrough victory in the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 13. 

    The 20-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led four times for five of the 200 scheduled laps after starting in 10th place and spending the early portions of the event mired outside of the top 10. After recording a single stage point following the second stage’s mark, Mayer ran steadily within the top 10 during the final stage period. He persevered through a late cycle of green flag pit stops and a series of late-race restarts amid on-track carnages, including the final restart with 11 laps remaining, to ignite his charge to the front. He then squared off against Ryan Sieg, who was trying to capture his first elusive victory in the Xfinity circuit.  

    After gaining a run on Sieg at the start of the final lap, Mayer overtook him for the lead through the backstretch before he nearly went up the track entering Turns 3 and 4. This allowed Sieg to draw even with Mayer as both hit fenders while continuing to run side by side to the finish line. Despite running on the outside lane, Mayer had enough momentum to beat Sieg by 0.002 seconds to claim his first elusive Xfinity victory of the 2024 season and cash in on the series’ second Dash 4 Cash bonus. 

    On-track qualifying to determine the starting lineup occurred on Friday, April 12 with rookie Jesse Love notching his third Xfinity pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 185.612 mph in 29.093 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Cole Custer, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying time at 185.471 mph in 29.115 seconds. 

    Before the event, the following drivers including Jeremy Clements, Matt DiBenedetto, Parker Retzlaff and Kyle Sieg dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Jesse Love muscled his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro ahead from the inside lane through the first two turns while Chandler Smith followed suit in second as he overtook Cole Custer for the position. Love led the first lap ahead of Chandler Smith and Custer while Justin Allgaier, Taylor Gray and Riley Herbst followed suit in the top six. 

    During the following lap, Gray, who was running fifth, got sideways entering the backstretch but managed to keep his No. 19 Operation 300/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra straight without spinning, but lost three spots in the process. With the field scattering to avoid hitting Gray, teammate Chandler Smith overtook Love for the lead through the frontstretch while Custer followed suit in the runner-up spot. Chandler Smith would proceed to lead the fifth lap mark. 

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Chandler Smith was leading by four-tenths of a second over Custer followed by Allgaier, Herbst and Love while Ryan Truex, AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Taylor Gray and Ryan Sieg were running in the top 10. Behind, Austin Hill was mired in 11th ahead of Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, Anthony Alfredo and Sheldon Creed as Parker Kligerman, Corey Heim, Kyle Weatherman, Jeb Burton and Hailie Deegan occupied the top 20 ahead of Daniel Dye, Josh Williams, Blaine Perkins, Josh Bilicki and Leland Honeyman.  

    A lap later, the event’s first caution flew after Daniel Dye spun his No. 10 BPro Auto Parts/Kaulig Racing entry in front of teammate Josh Williams in Turn 2. 

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 16, Chandler Smith rocketed away with the lead after restarting on the inside lane. Allgaier, who assumed the runner-up spot, then tried to launch a side-by-side battle with Smith for the lead through the backstretch and from the outside lane. Smith would prevail on the inside lane during the following lap while Custer, Ryan Truex and Herbst followed suit in the top five. Smith would lead by a tenth of a second over Allgaier by the Lap 20 mark. 

    At the Lap 25 mark, Chandler Smith was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Custer, Truex and Herbst continued to run in the top five. Three laps later, however, Allgaier would overtake Smith for the lead through the backstretch. Allgaier stretched his advantage to a second over Smith by the Lap 30 mark as Custer, Truex and Herbst trailed in the top five. Behind, Austin Hill moved up to sixth place while Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger and Mayer occupied the top 10 on the track. 

    Just past the Lap 35 mark, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Chandler Smith while third-place Custer trailed the lead by three seconds. Truex and Herbst would retain fourth and fifth, respectively, on the track as Allgaier then extended his lead to two seconds by Lap 40. 

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

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Allgaier pitted for a first round of service. Following the pit stops, Corey Heim, who missed his pit stall, exited first followed by Allgaier while Herbst, Custer, Chandler Smith, Hill and Truex followed suit. Heim would then be penalized for speeding on pit road as Allgaier cycled back into the lead. Amid the pit stops, AJ Allmendinger lost a bevy of spots after he too missed his pit box while trying to pit. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Allgaier and Herbst occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier and Herbst briefly battled for the lead exiting the frontstretch until Allgaier muscled his No. 7 BRANDT/TradeMark Nitrogen Chevrolet Camaro ahead through the first two turns. As Allgaier started to pull away from the field through the backstretch, Custer overtook teammate Herbst for the runner-up spot while Chandler Smith followed suit in third place. Hill, Sheldon Creed, Truex, Jeb Burton, Kligerman and Jones followed suit in the top 10 as Allgaier led by seven-tenths of a second by Lap 55. 

    Just past the Lap 60 mark, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than a second over Custer while third-place Chandler Smith also trailed by more than a second. Behind, Herbst and Truex were running in the top five followed by Hill, Jones, Creed, Burton and Sammy Smith while Sam Mayer, Kligerman, Love and Hailie Deegan occupied the top 15 on the track. 

    Through the Lap 70 mark, Allgaier continued to stretch his advantage as he was leading by more than two seconds over Custer while Chandler Smith, Herbst and Truex were racing in the top five ahead of Hill, Jones, Creed, Burton and Sammy Smith.  

    Four laps later, Kligerman, who was running just outside the top 10, pitted his No. 48 Spiked Lite Coolers/Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro under green to address a right-front tire issue. With Kligerman pinned a lap down, Allgaier stabilized his lead by more than two seconds over Chandler Smith by Lap 80 while Custer, Herbst and Truex were running in the top five.  

    Shortly after, the caution flew after Leland Honeyman spun through Turn 2. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Allgaier returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Hill, Custer, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Truex, Creed, Jones, Sammy Smith and Mayer. 

    With six laps remaining in the second stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, Hill launched a side-by-side battle against Allgaier for the lead through the first two turns, but Allgaier fended off the challenge to retain the lead. As the field navigated back to the frontstretch, Truex got loose in between Turns 3 and 4 as he went up the track and hit the outside wall, but the event remained under green flag conditions as Truex continued to proceed forward. With the field behind battling for positions, where Creed then got loose through the first two turns, Allgaier retained the lead by more than a second over Custer while Herbst, Jones and Hill trailed in the top five.  

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier captured his second consecutive Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Custer trailed in second followed by teammate Herbst, Jones and Ryan Sieg while Sammy Smith, Hill, Love, Allmendinger and Mayer were scored in the top 10. 

    During the stage break, select names including Chandler Smith, Jeb Burton, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Jeremy Clements, Taylor Gray and Truex pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track, despite Allgaier’s concerns about having a loose wheel on his entry. 

    With 103 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Allgaier and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier launched ahead to retain the lead from the inside lane while Herbst tried to follow suit in second as he battled teammate Custer for the spot. As Chad Finchum pulled his car down to the apron with damage to his front end, all while the event remained under green flag conditions, Herbst would move into the runner-up spot followed by Sammy Smith while Custer dropped to fourth ahead of Jones, Hill and Ryan Sieg. Hill then got loose through Turns 1 and 2 as he dropped out of the top 10 on the track while Allgaier retained the lead by more than a second over Herbst at the halfway mark on Lap 100. 

    A lap later, the caution returned after Jeb Burton, who pitted during the second stage’s break period, spun his No. 27 State Water Heaters Chevrolet Camaro towards the frontstretch after slapping the outside wall as he was just dodged by oncoming traffic. During the caution period, some led by Hill and including Gray and Chandler Smith pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. 

    As the event restarted under green with 94 laps remaining, Allgaier muscled away from the field to retain the lead ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer and Herbst while Jones tried to challenge the latter two in fourth place followed by Ryan Sieg, Allmendinger and Sammy Smith. Allgaier would stretch his advantage to more than a second with 90 laps remaining while Custer, Jones, Herbst and Allmendinger followed suit in the top five. 

    With 75 laps remaining, Allgaier was leading by more than a second over teammate Jones followed by Herbst, Custer and Allmendinger while Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Creed and Love were running in the top 10. Behind, Kligerman trailed in 11th ahead of Anthony Alfredo, Parker Retzlaff, Kyle Sieg and Josh Williams while Hill, Truex, Gray, Clements and van Gisbergen followed suit in the top 20. 

    Fifteen laps later, Allgaier continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Herbst as Jones, Allmendinger and Mayer trailed in the top five. By then, pit stops under green started to commence as Sammy Smith pitted. Custer, Ryan Sieg, Love, Heim and Kyle Sieg would pit during the proceeding laps before Allgaier led a group of front-runners, including Herbst and Jones, to pit road for service with 58 laps remaining.  

    With 50 laps remaining, Hill, who pitted earlier just past the halfway mark, was leading by nearly five seconds over Truex followed by van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith and Kyle Weatherman. Meanwhile, Allgaier trailed the lead in eighth place and Herbst was in 10th while Custer and Jones were mired in the top 15. By then, nearly the entire field made a pit stop, minus the top seven competitors, while Creed was mired towards the middle of the pack after he was penalized for a safety violation during his green flag pit stop. 

    Ten laps later, Hill continued to lead by more than nine seconds over both van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith while Allgaier carved his way up to fourth place as he trailed the lead by 18 seconds. Behind, Weatherman and Honeyman were running in the top six ahead of Herbst, Mayer, Custer, Jones, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg, all of whom were scored on the lead lap. 

    Another 10 laps later, the leader Hill peeled off the track to pit his No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro for two fresh tires under green. Hill’s move enabled Allgaier to cycle back into the lead while Herbst, Mayer, Jones and Custer followed suit in the top five. By then, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Weatherman and Honeyman had all pitted.  

    The caution would then fly with 28 laps remaining after Allgaier, who was trying to fend off Herbst, got loose while trying to lap Honeyman entering Turn 2, which resulted in Honeyman getting hit and spinning sideways into the outside wall in Turn 2. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier returned to pit road for service while Kligerman remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Jones exited pit road first ahead of Hill, both of whom only elected for two fresh tires while Allgaier, Mayer, Custer, Herbst, Allmendinger, Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg and Love followed suit in the top 10. 

    Down to the final 21 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Kligerman and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out as Jones and Hill challenged Kligerman for the lead through the first two turns. With the field still fanned out through the backstretch, Jones muscled ahead with the lead on the outside lane while teammate Mayer followed suit in second ahead of Hill, Herbst, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg while Allgaier, who went up the track, dropped out of the top five as he was running in the top 10. 

    During the following lap, Jones retained the lead by a tenth of a second over teammate Mayer while Ryan Sieg challenged and overtook Herbst for third place. Mayer then overtook Jones for the lead with 19 laps remaining through the frontstretch before Sieg continued his late, strong charge to the front by overtaking Mayer entering Turns 3 and 4. With Sieg leading, Mayer trailed in second ahead of Herbst and Jones while Allgaier, who was trying to march his way back to the front, was in fifth. 

    Following another caution period with 17 laps remaining amid an incident involving Kyle Weatherman and Hailie Deegan through the frontstretch, the race restarted under green with 11 laps remaining. At the start, Sieg muscled ahead to retain the lead from Herbst, Mayer and Allgaier while the rest of the field behind jostled for late positions. Amid the battles and more on-track chaos within the field, Sieg was scored the leader by seven-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining. Shortly after, Retzlaff made contact with the wall and Herbst pitted under green after making on-track contact with Jones, but the event remainded under green flag conditions. 

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Sieg retained the lead by more than a second over Mayer while Allgaier, Allmendinger and Custer followed suit in the top five. Despite having his advantage shaved off by a tenth during the ensuing laps, Sieg continued to lead by a steady margin over Mayer and Allgaier. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sieg remained as the leader by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Mayer. Through the first two turns, Mayer gained a strong run on Sieg from the outside lane, where he then crossed his No. 1 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro over to the inside lane, drew even with Sieg’s No. 39 Sci Aps Ford Mustang and overtook him for the lead through the backstretch. Mayer then got loose entering Turn 3, which allowed Sieg to draw back even beneath Sieg approaching the frontstretch. With neither giving an inch amid a side-by-side battle to the finish line and on-track contact, Mayer managed to edge Sieg on the outside lane by 0.002 seconds before getting squeezed into the outside wall to claim his first Xfinity checkered flag of the 2024 season in dramatic fashion. 

    With the victory, Mayer, who sustained three DNFs through three of the first four-scheduled events and is coming off a strong runner-up result at Martinsville Speedway, notched his fifth career win in the Xfinity Series, his first at Texas Motor Speedway and his first since winning at Homestead-Miami Speedway in October 2023. The victory was also the first of the season for JR Motorsports and the fourth for the Chevrolet nameplate. 

    As an added bonus, Mayer claimed the second Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of the 2024 season. This marks his second time claiming the bonus since he achieved his first at Richmond Raceway in 2022. 

    “That’s absolutely unreal,” Mayer said on FS1. “This Carolina Carports Chevrolet was certainly as fast as Xfinity Internet. This team, the amount of adversity we had to fight this entire year so far and to come to a mile and a half that I want to say I’m good at, but it took every ounce for me to do that today. So proud of my team. [My spotter Kevin Hamlin] might have won that race because he told me [the] bottom of [Turns] 3 and 4 were better, so props to him.” 

    While Mayer was left jubilant and in disbelief on the frontstretch with his victory, Sieg was left disappointed on pit road after falling short of his first Xfinity victory by a hair, which occurred in his 342nd career start in the Xfinity circuit. The result marks the third time where Sieg ended up in the runner-up spot. 

    “Sucks, we had a really good car,” Sieg said. “I got tight and then tried to change my line to do different things. [I] Fell behind and I saw [Mayer] coming. I was doing all I could do and then at the end, I was just trying to run him into the wall, trying to win the race. We were so close. This sucks. I’ve been second before too many times, but this is a good thing. We’re running where we need to be in the top five. Just got to clean up a few things. [The first win]’ll come. We got to keep fighting. We’re right there. Just thought we had it there at the end.”  

    Allgaier and Allmendinger finished third and fourth, respectively, as they will compete for the third Dash 4 Cash bonus of the 2024 season next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway along with race winner Mayer and runner-up Ryan Sieg. 

    Cole Custer finished fifth while Austin Hill, Ryan Truex, Sammy Smith, rookie Jesse Love and Anthony Alfredo ended up in the top 10 on the track. 

    There were 16 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 35 laps. In addition, 25 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the eighth event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Chandler Smith continues to lead the regular-season standings by 19 points over Cole Custer, 33 points over Austin Hill, 56 over Justin Allgaier and 76 over Jesse Love. 

    Results. 

    1. Sam Mayer, five laps led 

    2. Ryan Sieg, 17 laps led 

    3. Justin Allgaier, 117 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner 

    4. AJ Allmendinger 

    5. Cole Custer, one lap led 

    6. Austin Hill, 25 laps led 

    7. Ryan Truex 

    8. Sammy Smith 

    9. Jesse Love, one lap led 

    10. Anthony Alfredo 

    11. Taylor Gray 

    12. Josh Williams 

    13. Brandon Jones, two laps led 

    14. Kyle Sieg 

    15. Chandler Smith, 26 laps led 

    16. Jeremy Clements 

    17. Corey Heim 

    18. Shane van Gisbergen 

    19. Sheldon Creed, two laps led 

    20. Matt DiBenedetto 

    21. Brennan Poole 

    22. Parker Retzlaff 

    23. Hailie Deegan 

    24. Daniel Dye 

    25. Parker Kligerman, four laps led 

    26. Ryan Ellis, one lap down 

    27. Riley Herbst, one lap down 

    28. David Starr, two laps down 

    29. Josh Bilicki, two laps down 

    30. Joey Gase, two laps down 

    31. Leland Honeyman, two laps down 

    32. Jeb Burton, three laps down 

    33. Patrick Emerling, three laps down 

    34. Garrett Smithley, three laps down 

    35. Blaine Perkins, three laps down 

    36. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident 

    37. Dawson Cram, nine laps down 

    38. Chad Finchum – OUT, Suspension 

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, where the third Dash 4 Cash event will occur. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 20, and air at 4 p.m. ET on FOX. 

  • Almirola cashes in for thrilling Xfinity victory at Martinsville

    Almirola cashes in for thrilling Xfinity victory at Martinsville

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results. 

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

    2. Sam Mayer, 11 laps led 

    3. Chandler Smith, three laps led 

    4. Carson Kvapil 

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

    6. Sheldon Creed 

    7. Sammy Smith, 42 laps led 

    8. Cole Custer, 27 laps led 

    9. Jesse Love 

    10. Josh Williams 

    11. Shane van Gisbergen 

    12. Parker Kligerman, five laps led 

    13. Taylor Gray 

    14. Brennan Poole 

    15. Anthony Alfredo 

    16. Blaine Perkins 

    17. Ryan Sieg 

    18. Hailie Deegan 

    19. Myatt Snider 

    20. Dexter Bean 

    21. Matt DiBenedetto 

    22. Jeremy Clements 

    23. Kyle Sieg 

    24. Dawson Cram 

    25. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident 

    26. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident 

    27. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident 

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

    29. Garrett Smithley, two laps down 

    30. Logan Bearden, four laps down 

    31. Leland Honeyman, seven laps down 

    32. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident 

    33. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident 

    34. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident 

    35. Corey Heim – OUT, Accident 

    36. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident 

    37. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident 

    38. Akinori Ogata – OUT, Brakes 

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

  • NASCAR reveals 2024 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash, Craftsman Trucks Triple Truck Challenge schedules

    NASCAR reveals 2024 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash, Craftsman Trucks Triple Truck Challenge schedules

    As the 2024 NASCAR season nears its approach, the Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash and the Craftsman Truck Series’ Triple Truck Challenge initiatives are set to return and retain their spots in the first half of the upcoming racing season with one new and a bevy of familiar circuits also returning.

    For the Xfinity Series, the Dash 4 Cash program will launch its 16th consecutive season by hosting its qualifying event at Richmond Raceway on March 30, where the top four highest-finishing Xfinity regulars in the final running order will contend for the first round of bonus money. The first Dash 4 Cash event of the 2024 season will then occur at Martinsville Speedway on April 6 followed by the series’ lone visit of the season to Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, which is new to the initiative’s schedule, and Talladega Superspeedway on April 20 before concluding at Dover Motor Speedway on April 27.

    The highest-finishing Xfinity Dash 4 Cash contender in each event will receive the cash-winning prize of $100,000, with opportunities for the prize to increase should a competitor achieve the bonus more than once.

    This past season, where all Dash 4 Cash events occurred in April, Justin Allgaier claimed the first Dash 4 Cash bonus and the fifth of his career at Richmond Raceway despite finishing in 13th place, but by finishing ahead of his initiative rivals Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith and Daniel Hemric. John Hunter Nemechek claimed the second bonus at Martinsville in an event where he led a race-high 198 of 250 laps en route to his second Xfinity victory of the season. Cole Custer, the 2023 Xfinity Series champion, would conclude the initiative by claiming the final two bonuses at Talladega Superspeedway and at Dover Motor Speedway, where he finished fourth and seventh, respectively.

    Ironically, the trio of Allgaier, Custer and Nemechek would square off against one another along with Sam Mayer for the 2023 Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway in November for the Championship 4 round event. Allgaier and Custer are set to run another full-time Xfinity season and bid for more bonuses in 2024 with JR Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing, respectively, while Nemechek has moved up to the Cup Series to drive for Legacy Motor Club.

    For the Craftsman Truck Series, the Triple Truck Challenge initiative will occur in three events for a sixth consecutive season, beginning at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24, which will also serve as the series’ 700th race in history. The initiative will continue at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 1 before concluding at Nashville Superspeedway on June 28, a three-race schedule that resembles last year’s schedule.

    Each event will offer Truck Series regulars three opportunities to notch a $50,000 bonus for themselves per race victory, with opportunities for the bonus to increase to $150,000 if two Triple Truck Challenge events are won by any eligible competitor or even to $500,000 if all three events are won.

    Last season, Ben Rhodes, the 2023 Truck Series champion, claimed the first Triple Truck Challenge bonus after achieving his first victory of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Grant Enfinger, the 2023 championship runner-up finisher, would earn the second bonus with his second victory of the season at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway in early June. Carson Hocevar capped off the program by winning at Nashville Superspeedway in mid-June for his second career victory in the Truck circuit. Rhodes and Enfinger are slated to remain in the Truck Series with ThorSport Racing and CR7 Motorsports, respectively, and contend for additional opportunities while Hocevar is set to campaign in his first full-time season in the Cup Series for Spire Motorsports.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    With the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Dash 4 Cash and Craftsman Truck Series’ Triple Truck Challenge schedules set, the 2024 Truck Series season is set to commence at Daytona International Speedway for the Fresh From Florida 250 on February 16 with the event’s air coverage to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The 2024 Xfinity Series season is scheduled to occur the following day, February 17, for the United Rentals 300 and air at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Chandler Smith notches first Xfinity Series career victory at Richmond

    Chandler Smith notches first Xfinity Series career victory at Richmond

    Nearly a month after having a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway within his grasp slip out of reach in the final laps, rookie Chandler Smith redeemed himself through a late shootout to claim his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win in the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, April 1.

    The 20-year-old Smith from Talking Rock, Georgia, led three times for a race-high 83 of 250-scheduled laps as he spent a majority of the event running towards the front. After claiming the lead from John Hunter Nemechek during a restart with 12 laps remaining prior to a late caution, Smith then used the outside lane during the final restart with six laps remaining to duel and fend off Nemechek before pulling away and retaining the top spot to claim his first checkered flag in the series.

    With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Saturday canceled due to inclement weather, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a qualifying metric system from NASCAR’s rulebook qualifying procedure. Based on the metric system, Justin Allgaier was awarded the pole position and was joined on the front row by rookie Sammy Smith.

    Prior to the event, Parker Kligerman dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 48 Big Machine Racing entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid a delay spanning more than half an hour due to inclement weather, Allgaier jumped ahead with the lead on the inside lane as he managed to clear Sammy Smith and proceed to lead the first lap. Behind, teammate Sam Mayer launched an early challenge on Smith for second ahead of Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric and Sheldon Creed while the field behind jostled for positions.

    Two laps later, Sammy Smith overtook Allgaier with a strong launch entering Turn 3. A lap later, Mayer would overtake teammate Allgaier on the outside lane through the frontstretch to claim second place as Hemric and Herbst closed in on the battle.

    During the fifth lap, early troubles ignited for Joe Graf Jr., who went dead straight into the Turn 2 outside wall due to a left-front tire while running inside the top 20. He was, however, able to make a pit stop without drawing a caution.

    With the event surpassing the first 10-scheduled laps, Sammy Smith was leading by a second over Hemric followed by Mayer, John Hunter Nemechek, and Allgaier while rookie Chandler Smith, Herbst, Josh Berry, Sheldon Creed and newcomer Derek Kraus were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Anthony Alfredo was in 11th ahead of Brandon Jones, Cole Custer, Jeremy Clements and Ryan Sieg while Jeb Burton, Austin Hill, Kaz Grala, Josh Williams and Brett Moffitt were running in the top 20.

    Through the first 20 laps, Sammy Smith continued to lead by more than a second over Hemric while Chandler Smith moved up to third ahead of Nemechek as Mayer fell back to fifth. Behind, Allgaier was back in sixth ahead of Herbst and Berry while Creed and Kraus occupied the top 10.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 35, Sammy Smith retained the lead over Hemric, Chandler Smith and the rest of the field with 36 of 38 starters scored on the lead lap. During the competition caution, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Hemric pitted while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sammy Smith and John Hunter Nemechek remained on the track. During the pit stops, Hill was penalized for speeding on pit road. Brennan Poole was also penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation after a tire rolled out of his pit box during his pit stop.

    Once the event restarted under green on Lap 42, Sammy Smith jumped ahead with a brief advantage while Chandler Smith, Hemric and Herbst took Nemechek through a four-wide battle entering the first turn as Nemechek struggled to launch on old tires. With Nemechek getting swallowed up by the field and competitors running on fresher tires, Sammy Smith was then quickly challenged for the lead through the backstretch as Herbst muscled his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang to the lead on the outside lane. Kaulig Racing’s Hemric and Chandler Smith would quickly follow suit for podium spots against Sammy Smith, who was then overtaken by Brandon Jones, Creed and Custer as he returned to the frontstretch and continued to lose spots. As the field behind continued to scramble for positions during the following lap, Herbst was overtaken by Chandler Smith during the following lap with the latter clearing the field and slowly pulling away.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Chandler Smith was leading by six-tenths of a second over Herbst followed by Hemric, Brandon Jones and Creed while Berry and Cole Custer duked for sixth. Allgaier was in eighth ahead of teammate Mayer, Kaz Grala, Kligerman and Ryan Sieg while Sammy Smith and Nemechek plummeted all the way back to 30th and 32nd while running on older tires compared to the field.

    Fifteen laps later, Chandler Smith continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Herbst while Jones, Berry and Hemric occupied the top five. By then, teammates Nemechek and Sammy Smith were mired in 32nd and 34th, respectively, towards the rear end of the lead lap field as the leaders started to close in to lap them.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Chandler Smith claimed his first stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Herbst settled in a close second followed by Brandon Jones while Berry, Custer, Hemric, Allgaier, Creed, Ryan Sieg and Mayer were scored in the top 10. By then, Nemechek and Sammy Smith were lapped by the leaders. By being scored the first competitor a lap down, however, Nemechek was the recipient of the free pass while Smith remained pinned a lap down.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Herbst exited first followed by Jones, Chandler Smith, Custer and Hemric. During the pit stops, Mayer endured a long pit stop and lost a lap after running in the top 10 while Ryan Sieg was penalized for having too many men over the pit wall.

    The second stage started on Lap 84 as Herbst and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst launched ahead to retain the lead while Chandler Smith battled Jones for second as the field behind jostled for positions. With Herbst keeping his No. 98 entry in front of a side-by-side battle between Chandler Smith’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing entry and Jones’ No. 9 JR Motorsports entry, Custer followed suit in fourth while Berry was up in fifth.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Herbst was leading by two-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith followed by Jones, Custer and Berry while Allgaier, Parker Kligerman, Creed, Kraus and Hemric were running in the top 10. Behind, Hill was in 11th ahead of Kaz Grala, Clements, Nemechek and Jeffrey Earnhardt while Ryan Ellis, Brett Moffitt, Alex Labe, Chris Hacker and Jeb Burton occupied the top 20.

    Five laps later, Chandler Smith reassumed the lead over Herbst, who had to check up as Joe Graf Jr. endured more on-track issues by slipping sideways on the backstretch. Jones would eventually make his way into second place over Herbst while Custer was locked in a battle with Berry for fourth.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 125, Chandler Smith was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Jones followed by Herbst, Berry and Custer while Kligerman, Allgaier, Kraus, Nemechek and Hill were in the top 10. By then, 27 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap, none of which included Sammy Smith and Mayer.

    Fifteen laps later, Chandler Smith continued to lead ahead of Berry as Jones and Herbst fell back to third and fourth. Custer occupied fifth while Allgaier was the highest-running Dash 4 Cash competitor in eighth. By then, Hemric was lapped by the field.

    Another lap later, Berry navigated his No. 8 Jarrett Companies Chevrolet Camaro into the lead with the leaders lapping the benchmarkers. Teammate Jones followed suit in second as Chandler Smith fell back to third. By then, Anthony Alfredo had scrubbed the Turn 2 outside wall with a flat right-front tire, but the event remained under green flag conditions.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 150, Berry claimed his first stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Teammate Jones settled in second followed by Herbst, Chandler Smith and Custer while Grala, Nemechek, Kligerman, Allgaier and Creed were scored in the top 10. By then, 18 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Berry pitted and Berry retained the lead after exiting first followed by teammate Jones, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Custer and Nemechek.

    With 89 laps remaining, the final stage started as teammates Berry and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Berry retained the lead in front of Jones and Herbst while Chandler Smith launched his bid for the lead while running in fourth. During the following lap, Jones muscled his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro into the lead while Chandler Smith battled Berry for second. Behind, Nemechek and Herbst battled for fourth in front of Custer and Allgaier as the field jostled for late positions.

    Fourteen laps later and with 75 laps remaining, Jones was leading by two-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith followed by Berry, Nemchek and Allgaier while Custer, Herbst, Grala, Creed and Hill battled within the top 10. By then, 19 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap while names like Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg, Moffitt, Hemric, Mayer and Connor Mosack were off the lead lap category.

    Another nine laps later, Berry battled and overtook teammate Jones to reassume the lead lap. With Berry slowly pulling away, Nemechek, who rallied from losing a lap during the first stage, started to challenge Jones for second while Chandler Smith fell back to fourth in front of Allgaier and Herbst.

    With 50 laps remaining, Berry was leading by six-tenths of a second over Nemechek while third-place Jones trailed by more than two seconds. Chandler Smith and Custer remained in the top five while Herbst, Allgaier, Hill, Grala and Creed were back in the top 10.

    Nearly 10 laps later, Allgaier, who was running inside the top 10, pitted under green for four fresh tires as Berry maintained his advantage over Nemechek. With 30 laps remaining, however, the caution flew due to Clements coming to a stop on pit road. By then, 13 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap while a multitude of names, among which included all four Dash 4 Cash competitors Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Mayer and Hemric were pinned at least a lap behind. In addition, Berry retained the lead in front of Nemechek, Jones, Chandler Smith and Herbst.

    During the caution period, the field led by Berry pitted and Berry retained the lead after exiting with the lead followed by Nemechek, Jones, Chandler Smith and Herbst.

    Down to the final 22 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Berry and Nemechek battled for the lead as Nemechek managed to muscle ahead on the outside lane and retain the lead through the frontstretch. With 20 laps remaining, however, the caution returned when Jones made contact with Herbst as Herbst backed his car into the outside wall as Jones slipped sideways and spun backward while getting hit by Custer’s No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang and barely by Connor Mosack’s No. 24 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota Supra. At the moment of caution, Chandler Smith cycled into second over Berry while Mayer was the recipient of the free pass after being scored the first competitor a lap down in front of Hemric and Sammy Smith.

    During the following restart with 12 laps remaining, Nemechek retained the lead amid a side-by-side battle with Chandler Smith before the latter managed to move back into the lead. The caution returned shortly after, however, when Moffitt spun in Turn 3 as Leland Honeyman and Graf also spun to avoid hitting Moffitt. At the moment of caution, Sammy Smith received the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap.

    With six laps remaining, the event proceeded under green. At the start, Chandler Smith and Nemechek dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Smith managed to move into the lead through Turns 3 and 4. During the following lap, Nemechek drew himself back alongside Smith’s No. 16 entry for the lead as both continued to battle through two tight lanes. Smith, however, would pull away through Turns 3 and 4 while Nemechek settled in second in front of Berry. Then with four laps remaining, Nemechek launched a final bid beneath Chandler Smith, but the latter pulled away with a clear racetrack in front of him and behind him. As the laps continued to dwindle, Chandler Smith retained a narrow advantage ahead of Nemechek and Berry.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Chandler Smith remained as the leader ahead of Nemechek and Berry. With Nemechek unable to close the gap despite launching a final overtake bid on the outside lane entering Turn 3, Smith was able to navigate his way around the short track circuit for a final time and claim the checkered flag by more than two-tenths of a second for his first series career victory.

    With the victory, Chandler Smith became the 173rd different competitor to win in the Xfinity circuit and the fifth overall to win for Kaulig Racing. He also became the second first-time winner of the 2023 Xfinity circuit and the fifth different competitor to win through the first seven events on the 2023 Xfinity schedule.

    Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images.

    “[The win] Feels great,” Smith said on FS1. “This goes to testimony just to Vegas. Dominated that race, didn’t win. I said it was all in God’s timing. He’s in something creating way bigger better something than I know to do it. Here we are at Richmond, my favorite racetrack and we’re sitting in Victory Lane. All glory goes to God. Thank you, [owner] Chris Rice, [team president] Matt Kaulig, Quick Tie Products, everybody at Kaulig Racing, [crew chief] Bruce [Schlicker]. This is unbelievable.”

    Nemechek rallied from nearly losing a lap during the first stage to settle in second place for his third top-five result of the season and at Richmond for a second consecutive season while Berry ended up third after leading 63 laps.

    “We weren’t very good on the short run,” Nemechek said. “We had a long-run speed car. [I] Came from the back up there to battle for the win, put ourselves in position. Disappointed to run runner-up again. That’s the last three races here I’ve run second, so frustrating, but we’ll go back to work. We just got to figure out how to execute a little bit better. Just one of those days, but good run.”

    Grala and Custer claimed top-five finishes in fourth and fifth while Creed, Ryan Sieg, Kligerman, Hill and newcomer Derek Kraus finished in the top 10.

    Meanwhile, Allgaier was the winner of the first Dash 4 Cash initiative despite finishing in 13th place, which was enough for him to claim the bonus ahead of his opponents Mayer, Sammy Smith and Hemric, all of whom finished 17th, 19th and 24th, respectively. The accomplishment marked Allgaier’s first Dash 4 Cash bonus since 2018 and his fourth since 2016. Allgaier along with race winner Chandler Smith, runner-up John Hunter Nemechek and third-place finisher Josh Berry will contend for the second Dash 4 Cash bonus that will occur two weeks from now at Martinsville Speedway.

    “Weird day today,” Allgaier said. “We didn’t fire off quite as good as we’d hoped, but [the team] kept working. Great pit stops all day. We pitted under green there to go for the win and ultimately, it bit us. Then it was just hanging on. We weren’t really sure what was gonna happen, but luckily, we were able to hold everybody off. It’s weird finishing 13th and still be standing here holding this [Dash 4 Cash] check.”

    There were 10 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 43 laps.

    Following the seventh event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 12 points over Riley Herbst, 18 over John Hunter Nemechek, 24 over Chandler Smith, 43 over Josh Berry and 46 over Justin Allgaier.

    Results.

    1. Chandler Smith, 83 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. John Hunter Nemechek, 11 laps led

    3. Josh Berry, 63 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Kaz Grala

    5. Cole Custer

    6. Sheldon Creed

    7. Ryan Sieg

    8. Parker Kligerman

    9. Austin Hill

    10. Derek Kraus

    11. Alex Labbe

    12. Jeb Burton

    13. Justin Allgaier, two laps led

    14. Chris Hacker

    15. Ryan Ellis

    16. Parker Retzlaff

    17. Sam Mayer

    18. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    19. Sammy Smith, 40 laps led

    20. Kyle Sieg

    21. Brandon Jones, 24 laps led

    22. Brett Moffitt

    23. Riley Herbst, 27 laps led

    24. Daniel Hemric, one lap down

    25. Leland Honeyman, one lap down

    26. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    27. Joey Gase, two laps down

    28. Connor Mosack, two laps down

    29. Patrick Emerling, two laps down

    30. Garrett Smithley, two laps down

    31. Mason Maggio, three laps down

    32. Stefan Parsons, three laps down

    33. Josh Williams, three laps down

    34. Brennan Poole, three laps down

    35. Gray Gaulding, five laps down

    36. Jeremy Clements, seven laps down

    37. Joe Graf Jr., 14 laps down

    38. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is another Virginia event as the series travels southwest from Richmond to Martinsville for its first of two visits to Martinsville Speedway, which will also serve as the site of the second Dash 4 Cash event. The event is scheduled to occur on April 15 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR reveals 2023 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash, Triple Truck Challenge schedules

    NASCAR reveals 2023 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash, Triple Truck Challenge schedules

    With the 2023 NASCAR season nearing its commencement, the Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash and the Craftsman Truck Series’ Triple Truck Challenge programs will also be returning and featured in the early portions of the upcoming racing schedule.

    For the Xfinity Series, the Dash 4 Cash program will launch its 15th consecutive season by hosting its qualifying event at Circuit of the Americas for a second consecutive season on March 25, where the top-four highest-finishing Xfinity regulars in the final running order will contend for the first round of bonus money. The Dash 4 Cash program will then commence at Richmond Raceway on April 1 before returning for the following three consecutive events at Martinsville Speedway on April 15, Talladega Superspeedway on April 22 and Dover Motor Speedway on April 29. The highest-finishing Xfinity competitor in each event will receive the cash-winning prize, with opportunities for the cash-winning prize to increase should a competitor achieve the bonus more than once.

    This past season, Sam Mayer commenced the Dash 4 Cash program by winning the first bonus round at Richmond. Veteran AJ Allmendinger claimed the following two bonuses at Martinsville and Talladega before Noah Gragson claimed the fourth and final bonus at Dover. While Allmendinger and Gragson have moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series for this upcoming season, Mayer returns to the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports as he will contend for another round of bonus money.

    For the Craftsman Truck Series, which has been renamed from the Camping World Truck Series, the Triple Truck Challenge will occupy three events for a fifth consecutive season and offer Truck regulars three opportunities to earn bonus money for themselves. The program will launch at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26 before returning at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 3 and at Nashville Superspeedway on June 23.

    A year ago, Corey Heim claimed the first Triple Truck Challenge bonus after winning at World Wide Technology Raceway in Gateway. Ryan Preece went on to claim the second bonus after winning at Nashville before Parker Kligerman capped off the program by winning both the race and the bonus at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. While Preece and Kligerman have moved up to the Cup and Xfinity Series respectively, Heim will receive additional opportunities to compete for additional cash as he returns to the Truck Series as a full-time competitor for TRICON Garage.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    For both initiatives, drivers who are competing for championship points in their respective series will only be eligible to compete in their respective cash-winning events (Xfinity for Dash 4 Cash and Truck for Triple Truck Challenge), thus making the Cup Series competitors ineligible for both program events.

    As part of the restriction process that will not allow competitors competing in additional national touring series events in major events, drivers who are not competing for Xfinity Series points will be ineligible to compete in the series’ Playoff events, elimination races and the inaugural Xfinity event at the Chicago Street Race that is scheduled to occur on July 1. In addition, Xfinity regulars will not be allowed to compete in the Truck season finale event at Phoenix Raceway on November 3 while Cup regulars are ineligible to compete in the Truck’s Playoff schedule. Cup regulars, however, are permitted to compete in a maximum of five Xfinity and Truck events that do not involve the major bonus, Playoff or championship events.

    The 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is set to commence at Daytona International Speedway on February 17 with the event’s coverage to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is scheduled to occur the following day on February 18 with the event’s coverage to commence at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Gragson survives triple-overtime attempts for first Xfinity victory at Talladega

    Gragson survives triple-overtime attempts for first Xfinity victory at Talladega

    Noah Gragson outlasted the carnage and the competition through three overtime attempts to etch his name as a winner at Talladega Superspeedway after fending off Jeffrey Earnhardt on the final lap to win the Ag-Pro 300 on Saturday, April 23.

    The 23-year-old Gragson from Las Vegas, Nevada, led twice for seven of 124 over-scheduled laps and was able to both grab the lead and maintain it ahead of AJ Allmendinger and the field during the third of three overtime attempts after teammate Justin Allgaier ran out of fuel and fell out of contention. From there, Gragson fended off a hard-charging Jeffrey Earnhardt to streak to his second victory of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Friday, Jeffrey Earnhardt, who was piloting the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing on a one-race deal while having support from legendary crew chief and current FOX NASCAR analyst, Larry McReynolds, started on pole position for the first time in his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 182.560 mph in 52.454 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate and Xfinity rookie Austin Hill, who posted a fast lap at 182.351 mph in 52.514 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Matt Mills, Brandon Jones, Ryan Ellis, Caesar Bacarella, Shane Lee, Riley Herbst and David Starr dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Earnhardt quickly moved his No. 3 ForeverLawn Chevrolet Camaro to the outside lane in front of teammates Hill and Sheldon Creed while Ty Gibbs was the lead competitor on the inside lane. Through Turns 3 and 4, however, Gibbs managed to muscle his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra to the lead as the field stacked up and started to fan out to multiple lanes through the tri-oval. 

    Through the first lap, Gibbs was leading ahead of Earnhardt while Landon Cassill and Hill battled for third place. Behind, a three-wide battle ensued between Creed, Daniel Hemric and Ryan Sieg.

    By the fifth lap, Earnhardt moved into the lead for the first time followed by his Richard Childress Racing teammates Hill and Creed.

    Five laps later, the first caution of the even flew when Ryan Ellis lost a left-rear tire and spun in Turn 2. Under caution, the entire field pitted as names like Anthony Alfredo, Ryan Vargas, Chandler Smith, JJ Yeley. Jeremy Clements, Mason Massey, Noah Gragson, Brandon Brown, Sam Mayer, Shane Lee and Alex Labbe took only fuel on their stops. The rest of the competitors elected for fresh tires.

    On Lap 14, the race proceeded under green. At the start, teammates Hill and Earnhardt dueled for the lead as Hill had teammate Creed pushing him while Earnhardt had Cassill drafting him through Turn 2 and the backstretch. Then entering Turns 3 and 4, Hill moved his No. 21 Bennett Transp. and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro from the outside to the inside lane and managed to muscle ahead of teammate Creed to retain the lead.

    With five laps remaining in the first stage, Creed drew himself in a side-by-side battle against teammate Hill for the lead through the tri-oval before Hill managed to pull in front of Creed’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro to retain the lead. A few laps later, however, Josh Berry managed to gain a run through the inside lane to lead a lap for himself. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 25, Berry, who managed to clear Hill and pull away from the field the lap prior, claimed his second stage victory of the season. Gibbs settled in second followed by AJ Allmendinger, Cassill, Hill, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Anthony Alfredo, Sam Mayer and Brett Moffitt.

    Under the stage break, some led by Berry pitted while the rest including Alfredo, Brandon Brown, JJ Yeley, Mason Massey and Alex Labbe remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 30 as Alfredo and Brown occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch as Yeley made his way to the front followed by Gragson, Mayer, Alfredo and Brandon Jones while Massey drifted towards the back.

    By Lap 35 and with the field still fanned out through three lanes and in a tight pack, Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro was leading ahead of Brett Moffitt, Berry, Brandon Jones and Alfredo.

    Five laps later, Hill, who reassumed the lead on Lap 39, was back out in front ahead of Alfredo, Brown, Gragson, Mayer, Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones, Massey, Earnhardt and Allgaier.

    At the Lap 45 mark, all but one of the 38 starters, Josh Williams, were separated by six-and-a-half seconds as Mayer was out in front in a side-by-side battle against teammate Allgaier while Brandon Jones, Hill, Drew Dollar, Gibbs, Earnhardt, Creed, Jeb Burton and Alfredo were scored in the top 10.

    Three laps later, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck that started when Massey lost a tire, shot up the track and bumped against Berry’s No. 8 PUBG Mobile Chevrolet Camaro entering Turn 2 before spinning through the infield, clipping Yeley and pounding the inside wall as his car briefly came off the ground before coming to a rest with a wrecked car. In the midst of Massey’s hard wreck, Berry and Yeley also collided and wrecked with Moffitt and newcomer Chandler Smith getting collected. 

    The incident concluded the second stage scheduled on Lap 50 under caution as Allgaier claimed his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Mayer settled in second followed by Hill, Brandon Jones, Gibbs, Dollar, Brown, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Myatt Snider and Jeb Burton.

    Under the stage break, the field pitted. During the pit stops, Hill, Mayer, Gibbs, Snider, Jeb Burton, Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Herbst, Kaz Grala, Jeremy Clements and Gray Gaulding pitted for two tires while the rest of the field opted for four fresh tires. In addition, Brandon Jones was penalized for not remaining in a single file line with the field while entering pit road.

    With 59 laps remaining, the final stage started as Hill and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start, Hill received a big push from Gibbs to retain the lead ahead of Mayer and the competitors running in the outside lane. When the field returned to the start/finish line and as the field fanned out to multiple lanes, Hill was leading ahead of Gibbs, Creed, Herbst and Allgaier with the top-five competitors breaking away from the side-by-side action while Mayer and Ryan Sieg battled for sixth place.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 56 and 57, Hill continued to lead ahead of Gibbs, Creed, Herbst, Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, AJ Allmendinger, Alfredo, Cassill and Hemric.

    With 45 laps remaining, the caution flew due to a rear bumper cover from Berry’s car being reported on the backstretch. At the moment of the caution, Hill remained the leader ahead of Gibbs, Creed, Allgaier and Gragson. During the caution period, the field returned to pit road for tires and fuel except for Ryan Sieg.

    With 42 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hill received a strong push from Gragson to move into the lead. When the field returned to the start/finish line, Hill retained the lead ahead of Gragson, Gibbs, Creed and Herbst. 

    Under the final 40 laps, Hill was placed on defense mode as he worked to fend off Gibbs on the outside lane and Gragson on the inside lane amid the tight pack running towards the front. 

    Then with 36 laps remaining, Gibbs, who went wide and lost touch with the leaders, made contact with Daniel Hemric through the backstretch before he veered sideways and made contact with teammates Brandon Jones and Drew Dollar along with David Starr, Sieg and Ellis before pounding the inside wall as his strong afternoon came to an end.

    With 32 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, teammates Hill and Creed dueled for the lead as Hill had Gragson drafting him while Herbst tucked in behind Creed on the outside lane before Creed managed to stabilize himself into the runner-up spot on the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4. Soon after, Allmendinger moved up to fourth place followed by a side-by-side battle against Cassill and Herbst.

    Under the final 30 laps of the event, the front-runners settled in a long single-file line as Hill was leading teammate Creed, Gragson, Allmendinger, Cassill and Snider. Not long after, Mayer started to formulate a line on the outside lane as he tried to challenge Snider for the sixth spot.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event and with the field fanning out to double lanes while in a tight pack, Hill was placed back on defense mode from the bottom to the inside lane as he retained the lead ahead of Allmendinger, Allgaier, Herbst, Creed, Mayer, Gragson, Alex Labbe, Moffitt and Cassill.

    Then with 16 laps remaining and as the intensity towards the front pack continued to brew, the caution flew when Matt Mills hit the Turn 1 wall after blowing a right-front tire as he shredded debris across the track. 

    With 12 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Hill and Allmendinger battled dead-even for the lead through the first two turns as Allmendinger had Mayer drafting him while Hill had support from Allgaier. With the field locked in a side-by-side battle, Hill managed to clear the field through Turns 3 and 4 and he went to work to defend the lead through both lanes.

    During the following lap, Mayer made a bold three-wide move on Allmendinger to move him out of the way in his bid to the front as Ryan Sieg and Jeb Burton also charged to the front. Meanwhile, Hill retained the top spot ahead of Allgaier. 

    Then with nine laps remaining, the caution returned due to a heavy multi-car wreck in Turn 1 that involved Brandon Jones, Snider, Drew Dollar, Joe Graf Jr., Brandon Brown, Kaz Grala and Ryan Vargas.

    Down to the final four laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hill and Allgaier dueled for the lead with Jeb Burton pushing Hill while Allgaier had teammate Mayer and Allmendinger drafting him. Then through the backstretch, Mayer got loose off the front nose of Allmendinger and veered into Hill as both competitors were sent sideways into the inside wall with Mayer suffering heavy front nose damage and Hill, who led a race-high 67 laps, sustained left-side damage. In the midst of the incident, Allgaier emerged with the lead followed by Allmendinger, Creed, Jeb Burton and Cassill as the field was sent into overtime. 

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Allgaier and Allmendinger dueled for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 before Allmendinger emerged with the lead through the backstretch ahead of Allgaier and Jeb Burton. Then, the event was sent into a second overtime attempt due to a hard incident in Turn 3 that involved Creed and Caesar Bacarella.

    During the second overtime attempt, Allgaier and Allmendinger dueled until Allgaier broke free from the pack with the lead through the backstretch. Then the event was sent into a third overtime attempt when Clements ran out of fuel as his car came to a stop below the apron between Turns 1 and 2.

    At the start of the third overtime attempt, Allgaier, who restarted on the front row and on the outside lane, ran out of fuel and pulled his car out of line while teammate Gragson, who received a strong start, rocketed to the lead ahead of Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg and the field. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gragson was leading ahead of Allmendinger, Sieg, Jeb Burton, Jeffrey Earnhardt and the field. In Turn 1, Sieg nearly got turned off the front nose of Jeb Burton, but he managed to straighten his car and proceed forward without wrecking. This allowed Earnhardt to gain a run on Allmendinger for the runner-up spot as Herbst, Moffitt and Cassill made their move to the front. 

    Then in Turns 3 and 4, Allmendinger and Herbst rubbed fenders, which allowed Earnhardt to make a bold three-wide move to move into second place as he tried to challenge Gragson for the win. With Earnhardt unable to gain a draft from the field to overtake Gragson for the top spot, Gragson was able to stabilize himself through both lanes and streak across the finish line in first place with the victory by 0.131 seconds over Earnhardt.

    The victory was the seventh of Gragson’s Xfinity Series career and the second superspeedway victory for him after he won at Daytona International Speedway in February 2020. He also became the second Xfinity Series regular to achieve multiple victories this season alongside Ty Gibbs. 

    “Our 50th anniversary Bass Pro Shops Chevy Camaro was awesome,” Gragson said on FS1. “This JR Motorsports team, they never quit. Thanks to everybody back at JR Motorsports. The Fab shop. Everybody that helps get all four [JR Motorsports] cars to the race track. We had four really fast cars. [Crew chief] Luke Lambert and the rest of this Bass Pro Shops team. They called one hell of a race. It came down to fuel strategy. There’s one point where I was like, ‘Man, I can’t get up there.’ We just don’t have the car fast enough, but we never quit. That’s the most important thing…I’ve got to run in the Cup race [on Sunday], but the Talladega Boulevard looks a lot more enchanting right now and inviting, so I might have to go out there and then throw some beads. We’ll go have some fun tonight, baby.”

    While Gragson celebrated with the fans on the frontstretch, Jeffrey Earnhardt was left with smiles on pit road as he notched a career-best second-place result in his 136th start in the Xfinity circuit and at a track instilled with a rich legacy towards the Earnhardt name, most notably towards Jeffrey’s late grandfather, Dale Earnhardt Sr., and uncle, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

    “[I needed] Just a push there at the end,” Earnhardt said. “Everyone spreads apart and it’s really hard to build a run by yourself without someone at the back. Unfortunately, our teammates got wiped out early. Man, I’m living a dream here. I’m so thankful to get this opportunity. So thankful for everyone to allow me to come do this…[Richard Childress Racing] for building this amazing race car. We were fast all weekend long. We just fell a little short there and I hate it, but congrats to Noah. He’s good at plate races. Fell up a little bit short, but hopefully, this will lead to a lot more to come in the future and we’ll be able to come back and give’em a run for their money. Just very thankful to even be here. I’ll forever be grateful for this opportunity.”

    Meanwhile, Allmendinger Came home in third place and captured the third Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus, which was his second of this season.

    “This place makes me shake,” Allmendinger said. “That last lap, I thought I wrecked at least seven times. The first thing, just to get out with a clean race car, finish in the top five was a big deal, but to win another Xfinity Dash 4 Cash [bonus]. Comcast, Xfinity, thank you so much for what you do. For allowing us to go for a hundred grand in these four races. To win two of them is a big deal…We get to do it again at Dover.”

    Teammate Landon Cassill and Ryan Sieg finished in the top five as they will join Gragson and Allmendinger to battle for the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash bonus next weekend at Dover Motor Speedway. Alfredo, Herbst, Joe Graf Jr., Snider and Brett Moffitt finished in the top 10. 

    There were 25 lead changes for 14 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 39 laps.

    With his third-place result, AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by 40 points over Noah Gragson and 45 over Ty Gibbs.

    Results.

    1. Noah Gragson, seven laps led

    2. Jeffrey Earnhardt, 10 laps led

    3. AJ Allmendinger, six laps led

    4. Landon Cassill

    5. Ryan Sieg

    6. Anthony Alfredo, three laps led

    7. Riley Herbst

    8. Joe Graf Jr.

    9. Myatt Snider

    10. Brett Moffitt

    11. Josh Berry, five laps led, Stage 1 winner

    12. Alex Labbe

    13. Drew Dollar, one lap led

    14. Shane Lee

    15. Jeb Burton

    16. Joey Gase

    17. Bayley Currey

    18. Kyle Sieg

    19. Josh Williams

    20. Ryan Vargas

    21. Gray Gaulding, one lap led

    22. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Fuel pressure, 13 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    23. Jeremy Clements, two laps down

    24. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    25. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

    26. Brandon Jones – OUT, Dvp

    27. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident, 67 laps led

    28. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    29. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

    30. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    31. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    32. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Dvp

    33. David Starr – OUT, Dvp, one lap led

    34. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Dvp

    35. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    36. JJ Yeley – OUT, Dvp, two laps led

    37. Mason Massey – OUT, Accident

    38. Chandler Smith – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone event at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware, where the fourth and final Xfinity Dash 4 Cash initiative will occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, April 30, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Brandon Jones capitalizes with a wild Xfinity victory at Martinsville

    Brandon Jones capitalizes with a wild Xfinity victory at Martinsville

    Brandon Jones seized an opportunity in the second of two overtime attempts to overtake teammate Ty Gibbs on the final lap and win the Call 811 Before You Dig 250 on April 8. It was a wild Friday night at Martinsville Speedway with on-track chaos, a multitude of cautions and flaring tempers ensuing throughout the event, and even between two young guns.

    The 25-year-old Jones from Atlanta, Georgia, utilized pit strategy to win the second stage in a one-lap dash while on worn tires. After pitting prior to the start of the final stage, he methodically carved his way to the front and was up in the top five under the final 10 laps. Then through a series of late carnages and with the event sent into two overtime attempts, Jones intimidated his teammate Gibbs before managing to draw dead even with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate through the backstretch on the final lap. He then managed to clear Gibbs as Gibbs got tangled with Sam Mayer, whom he confronted following the event, to muscle away and claim his first victory of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Thursday, Ty Gibbs, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Richmond Raceway, notched his third consecutive Xfinity pole position in recent weeks after posting a pole-winning lap at 95.985 mph in 19.728 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Justin Allgaier, who posted a fast lap at 95.496 mph in 19.829 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Noah Gragson, Derek Griffith, Kyle Weatherman and Howie Disavino III dropped to the rear due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Another competitor who dropped to the rear due to unapproved adjustments was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was making his lone Xfinity start of the season. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started amid a brief delay due to rain, Gibbs launched ahead of rookie Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier and the field with an early advantage as he went on to lead the first lap. Shortly after, the first caution of the event flew due to a blown engine and smoke billowing out of the No. 47 car piloted by Brennan Poole that started in the first turn. 

    Thirteen laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs prevailed in a full side-by-side battle against Allgaier to retain the lead while Creed battled and prevailed in a brief battle with Allgaier for the runner-up spot. In the midst of the battles, Brett Moffitt pitted after falling off the pace due to a transmission issue. 

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Allgaier followed by Ryan Truex, Landon Cassill and Creed while Daniel Hemric, Ryan Sieg, AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst and Josh Berry were in the top 10. By then, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in 31st. 

    On Lap 39, the caution returned due to Howie Disavino III stopping on the track in Turn 4. Under caution, some drivers including Earnhardt Jr., Noah Gragson, Jade Buford and Myatt Snider pitted while the rest, led by Gibbs, remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 45, Gibbs retained the lead while Allgaier retained second ahead of Ryan Truex. Behind, Creed and Cassill battled for fourth place while Ryan Sieg and Hemric battled for sixth. In addition, Josh Berry and Allmendinger battled for eighth place.

    By Lap 50, Gibbs was leading by nearly half a second over Allgaier followed by Truex, Cassill and Hemric while Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Berry, Sam Mayer and Creed were in the top 10. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Gibbs claimed his second stage victory of the season. Allgaier settled in second followed by Truex, Cassill, Hemric, Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Berry, Mayer and Creed. By then, Gragson was up in 13th place while Earnhardt Jr. was in 22nd place.

    During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted, while the rest, led by Gragson remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 69 as Gragson and Myatt Snider occupied the front row. At the start, Gragson retained the lead while Snider and rookie Austin Hill battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Gibbs was in fourth in front of Earnhardt Jr. 

    Four laps later, the caution flew when a bump from Joe Graf Jr. sent Jade Buford spinning against the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4. 

    By Lap 79, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gragson rocketed away with the lead entering the first turn while Gibbs fended off Austin Hill to retain the runner-up spot. Behind, Earnhardt Jr. battled with Snider for fourth place in front of Truex and Allgaier. Shortly after, Earnhardt Jr. was slowly being overtaken and was falling out of the top 10 as he was trapped on the outside lane. 

    Back at the front by Lap 90, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead over Gragson on two laps earlier, was leading by half a second over Gragson followed by Hill, Brandon Jones and Allgaier, who wheel-hopped but managed to lose one spot in the process. Behind, Snider was bumped and shuffled out of the racing groove by Creed while racing in the top 15. 

    Through the first 100 laps of the event, Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second over Gragson while Hill, Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Truex, Allmendinger, Mayer, Cassill and Hemric were in the top 10. Berry, Earnhardt Jr., Riley Herbst, Creed and Jeremy Clements were in the top 15 followed by Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton, Brandon Brown, Derek Griffith and Alex Labbe. 

    Two laps later, the caution returned when Joe Graf Jr. sent Stefan Parsons for a spin between Turns 1 and 2.

    By Lap 107, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs continued to lead followed by teammate Brandon Jones while Gragson fell back to third place in front of Hill and Allgaier. 

    As the laps in the second stage dwindled, Gibbs remained as the leader by nearly a second over teammate Brandon Jones and Gragson while Allgaier was up in fourth place in front of Hill, Truex, Allmendinger, Mayer, Cassill and Berry.

    Then on Lap 115, the caution flew when Anthony Alfredo turned Derek Griffith in Turn 1. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted while the rest led by Brandon Jones remained on the track. 

    During a one-lap dash to conclude the second stage scheduled for Lap 120, Brandon Jones was able to muscle away from Cassill and the field to claim his first stage victory of the season. Cassill retained second place followed by Ryan Sieg, Brandon Brown, David Starr, Anthony Alfredo, Stefan Parsons, Jeremy Clements, Riley Herbst and Shane Lee while Gibbs settled in 11th.

    Under the stage break, some led by Brandon Jones pitted while the rest led by Stefan Parsons remained on the track. 

    With 122 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Parsons retained the lead through the first two turns until Herbst and Gibbs made a three-wide move on Parsons through the backstretch to move into first and second. Shortly after, a Monster Energy duo occurred between Herbst and Gibbs for the top spot before the latter prevailed. 

    With 115 laps remaining, Gibbs was out in front by nearly nine-tenths of a second over Herbst, who was being pressured by Allgaier for more. Gragson, Truex, Allmendinger, Earnhardt Jr., Parsons, Berry and Hemric followed pursuit in the top 10.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second over Allgaier while third-place Gragson trailed by one-and-a-half seconds. Ryan Truex and Allmendinger were in the top five while Herbst, Berry, Hemric, Earnhardt Jr. and Creed were running in the top 10. 

    Six laps later, the caution flew when the runner-up competitor of Allgaier slapped the outside wall in Turn 1 after wheel-hopping, thus sustaining rear-end damage to his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted while others like Creed, Brandon Jones, Brandon Brown, Anthony Alfredo and Matt Mills remained on the track.

    With 88 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Creed retained the lead ahead of Jones and Mills while Gibbs muscle his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra to fourth place.

    Four laps later, the caution flew when Ryan Truex spun his No. 18 ShopUSAPickleball.com Toyota Supra between Turns 1 and 2 following contact with Alex Labbe.

    Another five laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Brandon Jones continued to lead followed by teammate Gibbs and the field. Just then, the caution returned when Berry spun in Turn 3 after cutting a left-rear tire on his No. 8 Harrison’s Chevrolet Camaro, an issue that started when he made contact with his boss Earnhardt Jr. entering the backstretch. 

    With 72 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Brandon Jones retained the lead followed by Gibbs, Creed and the field through the first two turns. Then, the caution returned when Matt Mills backed his car into the outside wall in Turn 3 after receiving contact from Herbst.

    Eight laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, teammates Brandon Jones and Gibbs battled for the lead until he took over the lead another two laps later. Following a brief duel with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Gibbs managed to retain the top spot. Shortly after, Gragson moved into second place followed by Allmendinger while Jones was trapped on the outside lane. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Gragson while third-place Allmendinger trailed by more than two seconds. Brandon Jones and Creed were in the top five followed by Herbst, Hemric, Mayer, Cassill and Brandon Brown while Earnhardt Jr. was in 11th place in front of Alfredo, Jeb Burton, Hill, Ryan Sieg and Ryan Truex.

    Fifteen laps later and with the leaders surrounded in lapped traffic, Gibbs continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Gragson, who continued to pressure the leader for the lead and with a potential win in sight. Allmendinger, meanwhile, remained in third place followed by Jones and Mayer while Creed, Herbst, Cassill, Hemric and Earnhardt Jr. occupied the top 10.

    Then with 30 laps remaining, the caution flew when Parsons lost his brakes and got into the outside wall in Turn 2. 

    Down to the final 24 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs cleared Gragson to retain the lead while Gragson managed to fend off Allmendinger and Mayer to retain second place. Soon after, Mayer moved into third place over Allmendinger while Brandon Jones was in fifth place. 

    Just then, the caution flew when Hemric, who made contact with both Creed and Hill entering Turn 2, lost a left-rear tire and spun his No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro between Turns 3 and 4. In the midst of Hemric’s incident, Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Sieg made contact as Sieg’s rear bumper ripped off.

    With 16 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs retained the lead with a strong race car while Mayer battled and overtook teammate Gragson for second place. Behind, Brandon Jones and Allmendinger remained in the top five ahead of Herbst. 

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Jade Buford spun in Turn 1 as Derek Griffith sustained front-nose damage.

    Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. Just as Gibbs and Mayer briefly dueled for the top spot, the caution quickly returned when a stack-up and a bump from Berry sent Clements into Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro, which sent Earnhardt sideways in the midst of the incoming field, though he was able to continue.

    Under caution, some like Creed and Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

    With the event sent into overtime, the first overtime attempt did not last long as Mayer, who spun the tires on the outside lane, was bumped as he clipped Gragson, which sent Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro backward into the outside wall before he was t-boned by Jeb Burton. The incident sparked a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch that involved Alex Labbe, Mason Massey, Bayley Currey, Allgaier, Parsons, Derek Griffith, Parker Retzlaff, Alfredo, Snider, Berry, Kyle Weatherman and Brown while the second half of the field was blocked off by the carnage. The wreck forced NASCAR to place the event in a red flag situation as the on-track safety crew went to work to clear the carnage.

    When the red flag was lifted and the second overtime attempt commenced under green, Gibbs briefly launched ahead of Mayer until Brandon Jones made the slightest of contact against teammate Gibbs, which got Gibbs loose entering the first turn as Jones tried to draw himself alongside Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota for the top spot through the backstretch.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gibbs continued to lead while teammate Jones launched another attack on Gibbs for the lead entering the first turn. Through the first two turns, Jones, this time, managed to draw dead even with Gibbs. Then between Turns 3 and 4, Jones muscled his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra out in front on the bottom lane while Mayer rubbed against Gibbs, which stalled the latter’s run to the finish. This allowed Jones to pull away as he crossed the finish line to steal the win in upset fashion.

    With his first victory at Martinsville, Jones claimed his fifth Xfinity Series career victory in his 211th series start and his first since winning at Darlington Raceway in September 2020. He also became the sixth different winner, fifth series regular, through the first eight scheduled Xfinity events.

    “What a day!” Jones exclaimed on FS1. “I can’t say that we could’ve played it out any better. I loved the call we made to get stage points. [I] Drove the thing all the way from the back to the front and had older tires than all those guys at the end. This is a driver’s race track right here. I’ve won in a lot of different places now and this is one that you have to get after it. Ty [Gibbs] ran a really hard race. [I] Can’t believe he cleared me there really early in Stage 3. Fun to beat him. He’s hot right now. He’s tough to beat, so that’s a good one…Really happy with the way it ended.”

    In the midst of the on-track chaos, Landon Cassill came home in a career-best second place followed by Allmendinger, who claimed the second Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus a week after missing out on the bonus at Richmond Raceway. Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Cassill and fourth-place finisher Austin Hill will contend for the third Dash 4 Cash bonus at Talladega Superspeedway scheduled for April 23.

    Mayer completed the top five while Herbst, Ryan Truex, Gibbs, Ryan Sieg and Clements finished in the top 10. 

    Following the event, tempers flared on pit road between Gibbs and Mayer following their final lap incident. The post-race activity started with Gibbs ramming into the rear of Mayer’s car before both competitors confronted one another face-to-face as the punches and the shoves ensued, with Gibbs throwing punches across Mayer’s face and Mayer getting his left eye cut as the crew members and NASCAR officials got involved to separate both competitors. In the midst of the fight, a NASCAR official was injured and taken to the care center for evaluation. Following the chaos, both Gibbs and Mayer were summoned to the NASCAR hauler to meet with the officials.

    “I tried to talk to [Mayer] and then, he got all over my face,” Gibbs said. “At that point, you got to start fighting. We got put in a bad position. The only thing I’m mad about is [Mayer] wasn’t gonna get past [Allmendinger] there and I just got hit in the left rear. It’s just frustrating. I just got drove into the fence at the end. I was on the other side of it last week, so that’s just part of it.”

    “I had $100,000 in my sights and I was gonna do what I had to do to try and get that,” Mayer said. “I put the bumper to [Gibbs]. In my opinion, and we talked in the trailer, it was just a clean bump-and-run – and [Cassill)]kinda stuck it in there and kinda got us both crossed up and that’s kinda when it went to crap. I put the bumper to him. He came back over and he was upset and decided to throw a couple punches, but that’s fine by me. We talked about it. We’ll be good going forward, especially at Talladega. That’s a place where you don’t want to be enemies, so we’re gonna move on and be A-OK, keep our head down and go out and try to get a win next time.”

    Following his late spin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. managed to finish 11th in his lone Xfinity start of the season.

    There were 12 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 16 cautions for 100 laps.

    With his top-five result and a $100,000 bonus added to his paycheck, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 20 points over Ty Gibbs, 42 points over Noah Gragson, 89 over Brandon Jones and 94 over Josh Berry.

    Results.

    1. Brandon Jones, 28 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Landon Cassill

    3. AJ Allmendinger

    4. Austin Hill

    5. Sam Mayer

    6. Riley Herbst, one lap led

    7. Ryan Truex

    8. Ty Gibbs, 197 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Ryan Sieg

    10. Jeremy Clements

    11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    12. Parker Retzlaff

    13. Daniel Hemric 

    14. Anthony Alfredo

    15. Alex Labbe

    16. Kyle Weatherman

    17. Bayley Currey

    18. Matt Mills

    19. Josh Berry

    20. Noah Gragson, 23 laps led

    21. Derek Griffith

    22. Jade Buford, one lap down

    23. David Starr, one lap down

    24. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    25. Ryan Vargas, one lap down

    26. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    27. Shane Lee, one lap down

    28. Stefan Parsons, one lap down, five laps led

    29. Justin Allgaier, one lap down, one lap led

    30. Sheldon Creed, two laps down, six laps led

    31. JJ Yeley, two laps down

    32. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

    33. Mason Massey – OUT, Dvp

    34. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident

    35. Natalie Decker, 19 laps down

    36. Howie Disavino III – OUT, Driveshaft

    37. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Driveshaft

    38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Clutch

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits to Talladega Superspeedway, where the third Dash 4 Cash event will occur. The event is scheduled to occur on April 23 at 4 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Ty Gibbs overtakes teammate Nemechek for an Xfinity win at Richmond

    Ty Gibbs overtakes teammate Nemechek for an Xfinity win at Richmond

    In a classic short-track style of racing between two teammates who dominated and refused to lift out of the throttle, Ty Gibbs overtook, bumped, and fended off teammate John Hunter Nemechek on the final lap to win the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, April 2.

    The 19-year-old grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, started on pole position and was out in front for 114 of 250-scheduled laps, but came under attack from teammate John Hunter Nemechek, who led a race-high 135 laps, under the final five laps. Following a side-by-side duel, Nemechek appeared to have the upper hand at the start of the final lap until Gibbs bumped and mounted a challenge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate entering the backstretch. He then made slight contact with Nemechek that sent the latter out of the racing groove before snatching the lead back and having enough momentum to win for the third time in 2022.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Ty Gibbs notched his second consecutive pole of this season after posting a pole-winning speed at 121.836 mph. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 121.098 mph and was making his first of three scheduled starts with Joe Gibbs Racing.

    Prior to the event, Daniel Hemric, Jeb Burton and JJ Yeley dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Gibbs jumped ahead with an early advantage entering the first turn. Through the first lap, Gibbs retained the lead ahead of teammate Nemechek, Noah Gragson, rookie Austin Hill and Brandon Jones while a series of early battles ensued.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Gragson, Brandon Jones and Ryan Preece while Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg were in the top 10. 

    Two laps later, however, Nemechek muscled his No. 18 Safeway Toyota Supra to the lead over Gibbs’ No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra.

    By Lap 25, Nemechek was leading by more than three-tenths of a second over Gragson, who was reeling in the leader for the top spot. Gibbs was back in third ahead of Allmendinger, the leading contender for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, and Brandon Jones.

    Twenty-five laps later at the Lap 50 mark, Nemechek continued to lead as his advantage was more than four seconds over Allmendinger, who continued his methodical march to the front with a fast race car. Gragson was back in third followed by Gibbs and Josh Berry while Brandon Jones, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Mayer and Parker Retzlaff were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Justin Allgaier was mired in 11th place.

    By Lap 70, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Allmendinger while third-place Gragson trailed by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, Berry was up in fourth place ahead of Gibbs while names like Jeremy Clements, Ryan Preece and Brett Moffitt along with newcomers Derek Griffith and Rajah Caruth were a lap behind the leaders.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Nemechek captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the season. Behind, JR Motorsports’ Gragson and Berry settled in second and third followed by Allmendinger, who was held up by the lapped competitor of  Rajah Caruth. Gibbs settled in fifth ahead of Ryan Sieg, Parker Retzlaff, Brandon Jones, Hill and Mayer. By then, Creed was in 12th ahead of Riley Herbst while Daniel Hemric was in 15th ahead of teammate Landon Cassill, and Allgaier.

    Under the stage break and prior to pit lane being open for the competitors to pit, Gragson pitted to address potential brake issues to his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro. When pit lane opened, the field pitted and Nemechek retained the lead. Following the pit stops, Hemric was penalized for speeding on pit road,

    The second stage started on Lap 85 as Nemechek and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek jumped ahead to retain the lead followed by teammate Gibbs, who dueled with Allmendinger for the runner-up spot.

    Three laps later, the caution returned due to a brake rotor reported on the track in Turn 1 that came off of Gragson’s No. 9 Chevrolet as the Las Vegas driver continued to battle with brake issues.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 95, Nemechek rocketed away with another strong restart with the lead followed by teammate Gibbs while Sieg challenged Allmendinger for third place. 

    At the Lap 100 mark, Nemechek was leading by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Gibbs, who started to pressure his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot, while Allmendinger, Sieg and Berry were in the top five. Hill was in sixth ahead of Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Creed and Anthony Alfredo. Meanwhile, driver Kyle Sieg pitted after falling off the pace.

    When the race reached its halfway mark on Lap 125, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than half a second over teammate Gibbs while Berry, Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Hill, Brandon Jones, Alfredo, and Creed were in the top 10. Herbst was in 11th followed by Mayer, Cassill, Parker Retzlaff and Hemric while Alex Labbe, Jeb Burton, Preece, Gragson and Clements were in the top 20. In addition, 23 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    With six laps remaining in the second stage, Gibbs moved into the top spot and started to pull away from teammate Nemechek.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 150, Gibbs, who was mired in lapped traffic, captured his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Nemechek settled in second ahead of Berry, Ryan Sieg, Allmendinger, Alfredo, Mayer, Allgaier, Herbst and Parker Rtzlaff. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road for service and Gibbs retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by teammate Nemechek, Berry, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg. Following the pit stops, Berry was penalized for speeding along with Retzlaff for an uncontrolled tire violation. In addition, Stefan Parsons was penalized for removing the jack out of his pit box and onto the track.

    With 90 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as teammates Gibbs and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs muscled with the lead followed by teammate Nemechek, Allmendinger, Allgaier and Sieg, who was locked in a battle with Mayer.

    Fifteen laps later, Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Nemechek while Allgaier, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones were in the top five. Ryan Sieg was in sixth followed by Hemric, Mayer, Preece and Cassill while Hill, Alfredo, Herbst, Jeb Burton, and Brandon Brown were in the top 15. By then, 22 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Allmendinger, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Ryan Sieg, Preece, Hill, Mayer, Hemric, Herbst, Berry, Alfredo, Cassill and Jeb Burton.

    Then under the final 40 scheduled laps, the battle for the lead ignited between teammates Nemechek and Gibbs with the former having caught the latter as they dueled amid lapped traffic. With both making slight contact in Turn 1, Gibbs continued to fend off teammate Nemechek on the outside lane. Following an intense duel, Nemechek managed to clear teammate Gibbs and reassume the lead with 33 laps remaining. Gibbs, however, fought back during the following lap after overtaking Nemechek entering Turn 3 and reassuming the lead despite getting bumped by Nemechek’s No. 18 Toyota. 

    With 25 laps remaining, Gibbs was leading by more than four-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Allmendinger, who was in position to claim the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, trailed by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, Sam Mayer, who was battling Allmendinger for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, was up in fourth place ahead of Ryan Sieg while Allgaier, Herbst, Brandon Jones, Berry and Preece were in the top 10. Racing in 11th place was Austin Hill, who was also contending for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus. 

    Five laps later, the gap between teammates Gibbs and Nemechek dwindled down to less than four-tenths of a second with Gibbs carving his way through lapped traffic while also trying to fend off Nemechek for the win. Behind, third-place Allmendinger was less than a second ahead of Mayer in a battle for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus.

    Another four laps later, Mayer overtook Allmendinger to move into third place as he placed himself to claim the first Dash 4 Cash bonus. By then, Gibbs overtook two lapped competitors to retain a steady advantage ahead of Nemechek. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gibbs remained as the leader by half a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Mayer was more than three seconds ahead of Allmendinger in a bid for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus.

    With five laps remaining, Nemechek narrowed the gap to less than three-tenths of a second over Gibbs as he launched another challenge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot.

    Shortly after, both dueled dead even for the next two laps until Nemechek peaked ahead with three laps remaining. Just as he cleared Gibbs for the lead, Gibbs fought back entering the first turn as he bumped his teammate. During the following lap, he bumped his teammate again in Turn 1 before drawing even with him through the backstretch. Gibbs then slid up the track and nearly spun his teammate, but Nemechek retained the lead by a narrow margin. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, teammates Nemechek and Gibbs were running in a close single-file line of one another before Gibbs bumped and launched a final challenge on Nemechek for the lead entering the backstretch. Then with both dead even entering Turn 3, Gibbs made contact against Nemechek’s No. 18 Toyota, which sent Nemechek wide on the outside lane and allowed Gibbs to reassume the lead and have all lanes in control entering the final straightaway. With Nemechek unable to regain his momentum, Gibbs streaked across the finish line with the win while nearly sideways by 0.116 seconds just ahead of Nemechek.

    Just after both crossed the finish line, Nemechek was quick to run into the rear bumper of Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota to express his displeasure before nursing his car back to pit road while Gibbs celebrated with victorious burnouts on the frontstretch.

    The Richmond victory was Gibbs’ third of the 2022 season, thus making him the first three-time winner of this year’s Xfinity season, and the seventh of his Xfinity Series career. All told, Gibbs and Nemechek led all but one of the 250-scheduled laps.

    “I definitely deserve one back,” Gibbs said on FS1. “We’re racing for wins and they’re hard to come by. I had to take it. We were just fighting tight [conditions] all day. Just couldn’t hold the bottom. John Hunter was just a little bit faster and we had a great race. Good for Toyota to finish one, two. [I] Just got in there deep, had to bump him out of the way up the track, so we’re short track racing. Thank you to Monster Energy. What a great car. This is awesome for Toyota. Cool to get our third win, so hopefully, we can keep it rolling ”

    “[Gibbs] and I will settle it on Monday,” Nemechek, who was left disappointed on pit road, said. “I don’t want to say too much to get myself in trouble, but [I] just got drove through. He didn’t even try to make the corner there, so racers never forget. That’s for sure.”

    Meanwhile, Sam Mayer came home in a career-best third-place, nearly six seconds ahead of Allmendinger, and claimed the first Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of the season. Mayer’s first Dash 4 Cash bonus also marks the fifth consecutive Dash 4 Cash initiative that has been claimed by a JR Motorsports competitor.

    Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images).

    “By the end of it, our Accelerate [Professional Talent Solutions] Chevy Camaro was as fast as Xfinity Internet,” Mayer said. “That’s a really feels good moment for us. Obviously, my best career finish and a hundred grand to go with it. It’s unbelievable. This team definitely deserves it.”

    Sam Mayer, race winner Ty Gibbs, fourth-place finisher AJ Allmendinger and fifth-place finisher Riley Herbst have qualified for the second Dash 4 Cash event that will occur next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

    Hemric finished in sixth place while Berry, Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg and Parker Retzlaff completed the top 10. Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier and Landon Cassill finished in the top 15 followed by Ryan Preece, Mason Massey, Austin Hill, Alex Labbe and Jeremy Clements. Noah Gragson settled in 21st place following his brake issues while Rajah Caruth and Derek Griffith finished 24th and 26th in their Xfinity debuts.

    There were eight lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 24 laps.

    With a fourth-place result, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 20 points over both Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson while Josh Berry trails by 76 and Justin Allgaier trails by 87.

    Results.

    1. Ty Gibbs, 114 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. John Hunter Nemechek, 135 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Sam Mayer

    4. AJ Allmendinger

    5. Riley Herbst

    6. Daniel Hemric

    7. Josh Berry, one lap led

    8. Brandon Brown

    9. Ryan Sieg

    10. Parker Retzlaff

    11. Jeb Burton

    12. Anthony Alfredo

    13. Brandon Jones 

    14. Justin Allgaier

    15. Landon Cassill

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. Mason Massey

    18. Austin Hill

    19. Alex Labbe

    20. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    21. Noah Gragson, one lap down

    22. Sheldon Creed, one lap down

    23. David Starr, two laps down

    24. Rajah Caruth, two laps down

    25. Brett Moffitt, two laps down

    26. Derek Griffith, two laps down

    27. Josh Williams, three laps down

    28. Kyle Weatherman, four laps down

    29. Joe Graf Jr., four laps down

    30. Myatt Snider, four laps down

    31. Bayley Currey, four laps down

    32. JJ Yeley, five laps down

    33. Jade Buford, five laps down

    34. Joey Gase, five laps down

    35. Stefan Parsons, five laps down

    36. Ryan Vargas, seven laps down

    37. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Engine

    38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Rear gear

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits this season to Martinsville Speedway, where the second of four Dash 4 Cash events will also occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Friday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.