JR Motorsports (JRM) will attempt to etch a new chapter to its illustrious racing legacy by fielding a NASCAR Cup Series entry for the first time on this year’s 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
Justin Allgaier, the reigning Xfinity Series champion from Riverton, Illinois, who pilots the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro entry for JRM in the Xfinity division, has been named the driver of JRM’s No. 40 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry throughout the upcoming Daytona Speedweeks as he attempts to secure the organization’s first participation in both a NASCAR’s premier series event and in the Great American Race.
With Allgaier named the driver of JRM’s first Cup entry, Greg Ives, the 2014 Xfinity championship-winning crew chief, will work atop the pit box of the No. 40 entry that will be sponsored by Traveller Whiskey, the latter of which was created by 10-time Grammy Award-winning artist and country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton.
The news comes as JRM is coming off its 19th consecutive campaign in the Xfinity circuit, where the organization achieved its fourth championship with Allgaier, the latter of whom notched his first championship within NASCAR’s top three national touring series in his 14th campaign in the Xfinity Series. Throughout the 2024 season, Allgaier also notched two race victories and utilized consistency throughout the Xfinity Playoffs en route to his first title. He has amassed 25 career victories through 471 current starts in the Xfinity circuit.
To date, Allgaier has made 82 career starts in the Cup Series division. He made his first four career starts in NASCAR’s premier series in 2013 before he spent the following two seasons as a full-time Cup competitor, all of which occurred with Turner Scott Motorsports. After scaling back down to the Xfinity circuit to join JRM, beginning 2016, the Illinois native would only make a total of seven additional Cup starts in five over the next nine seasons (2016, 2020-22, 2024). His most recent Cup start was the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he piloted the No. 5 Chevrolet entry for Hendrick Motorsports as an interim competitor for Kyle Larson, the latter of whom was competing in the Indianapolis 500 and was unable to participate in the Coke 600 overall due to inclement weather.
Should Allgaier qualify for this year’s Daytona 500, it would mark his third overall start in the Great American Race and his first since the 2015 Cup season. Currently, Allgaier’s best result in the Daytona 500 is 27th, which occurred in 2014. His best result in a Cup event is eighth, which occurred at Bristol Motor Speedway in April 2015.
“This is an incredible honor to be driving JR Motorsports’ inaugural entry into the Cup Series, and to do it with not only Dale and Kelley, but Chris Stapleton and Traveller Whiskey makes this even more special,” Allgaier said. “Entering into the DAYTONA 500 has been a goal of this company for a long time and I know that we are going to have everything we need to go out and contend for the win. This is going to be special for sure.”
The news of JRM’s attempted Cup debut for the 2025 Daytona 500 also brought excitement for both Chris Stapleton and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the latter of whom is the team owner of JRM and a two-time champion of the Great American Race. Since debuting in the Xfinity division in 2005, JRM has amassed 88 career victories, including seven in 2024 and once with Earnhardt Jr. as the driver at Richmond Raceway in April 2016. The organization is set to field four full-time entries in 2025, with Allgaier and Sammy Smith along with rookies Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch scheduled to compete as full-time competitors. Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen, both of whom compete in the Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing, will also pilot a fifth JRM entry in select Xfinity events for the upcoming racing season.
Ironically, JRM’s announcement of its attempted Cup debut comes 10 years and three days to the date, January 12, where the organization first announced its expansion from the Xfinity circuit by fielding a part-time entry in the Craftsman Truck Series division, an expansion that would result with the organization competing in the series on a full-time basis for only the 2016 season and nab a total of two victories during the 2015 season.
“We’ve been waiting for the right moment for JR Motorsports,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “With Justin winning the Xfinity Series championship and Chris Stapleton’s undeniable star power, the planets aligned for this perfect opportunity to enter this year’s DAYTONA 500.”
“Traveller Whiskey joining JR Motorsports for their inaugural entry into the Cup Series at the DAYTONA 500 feels like a very natural partnership,” Stapleton added. “I’m honored to be apart of this historic moment with Dale and Kelley [Earnhardt Miller], and excited to see Justin race the No. 40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet in Daytona.”
JRM is an unchartered entry for this year’s Daytona 500 festivities. This means that Allgaier will have to earn a starting spot for the Great American Race. He will have to either rely on his speed during the Busch Light Pole Qualifying session on February 12 at 8:15 p.m. ET or through his result in the Daytona Duels scheduled for February 13 at 7 p.m. ET to outduel additional non-chartered entries. Both sessions will air on FS1.
The 2025 Daytona 500 is scheduled for February 16 with a coverage time slated to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
JR Motorsports (JRM) took to social media to reveal its crew chief lineup for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season which features the return of four familiar names and one new name calling the shots atop their respective numbered pit boxes and paired drivers.
Beginning next season, Cory Shea will be serving as an Xfinity crew chief for JRM’s No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro entry which will be fielded as the “all-star” entry. Shea makes his move atop the pit box as a crew chief after recently serving as a car chief for veteran Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JRM team that achieved the 2024 Xfinity Series championship. Thus far, Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen, both of whom compete in the Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing, have been confirmed to pilot the No. 9 “all-star” entry for select events (nine total combined).
Speaking of JRM’s No. 7 team, Jim Pohlman, the reigning Xfinity championship-winning crew chief, will remain both atop the pit box of the No. 7 Chevrolet team and paired up with Allgaier as both strive to defend their title for the 2025 season. Pohlman first joined JRM as an Xfinity crew chief in 2023, where he navigated Allgaier and the No. 7 team to four victories and a runner-up result in the final standings. This past season, the duo captured two regular-season victories, made the Championship 4 round and outdueled the competition during the finale at Phoenix Raceway to win the title, which marked Allgaier’s first in the series after 14 previous attempts and during his seventh appearance as a Championship 4 contender.
Currently, Pohlman, who first served as a crew chief for Sheldon Creed at Richard Childress Racing for four Xfinity events in 2022, has achieved six victories, three poles, 25 top-five results and 41 top-10 results as a crew chief in the series.
Like Pohlman, Phillip Bell will be returning as a crew chief for JRM’s No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro team which will be piloted by Sammy Smith, the latter of whom returns for a second consecutive driving campaign at JRM in 2025. Bell, who embarked in his first season as a NASCAR crew chief last year, initially spent the first 23 scheduled events working atop the pit box of JRM’s No. 9 team and driver Brandon Jones. Then starting at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September, he shifted to JRM’s No. 8 team and was paired with Sammy Smith for the final 10 scheduled events. During the span, Bell notched his first victory as a crew chief after Smith won at Talladega Superspeedway in October, which enabled the duo to transfer to the Playoff’s Round of 8 and settle in 11th place in the final driver’s standings.
Through his first full-time season as an Xfinity crew chief (33 races total), Bell notched one victory, two poles, three top-five results and nine top-10 results as he prepares to lead the No. 8 JRM Chevrolet team and Smith on a full-time basis in 2025.
Meanwhile, Andrew Overstreet will be paired up with incoming Xfinity rookie Carson Kvapil, the latter of whom will be driving the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet entry for his first full-time campaign in the division amid a successful campaign in late model competition. Previously, Kvapil achieved the 2021 CARS Super Late Model Tour title and back-to-back CARS Late Model Stock Tour titles between 2022 and 2023. This past season, Kvapil also won the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 and the Icebreaker 125.
Overstreet, who first served as an Xfinity crew chief for driver Sam Mayer for three events in 2022, was a crew chief for JRM’s No. 88 “all-star” Chevrolet team that appeared in a total of 17 events in 2024. At Watkins Glen International this past August, Overstreet achieved his first Xfinity career victory as a crew chief after he navigated Zilisch to his first career victory in his series’ debut from pole position. In addition to Zilisch, Overstreet spent the 2024 season working with Kvapil, team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Connor Mosack and Bubba Pollard with the No. 88 team. He also served as a crew chief for JRM’s No. 1 team and Mayer for a single event this past season.
Through 21 appearances as an Xfinity crew chief, Overstreet has achieved one victory, two poles, 10 top-five results and 14 top-10 results as he strives to lead Kvapil to both his first victory and Playoff berth.
Like teammate Overstreet, Mardy Lindley will be paired with another incoming Xfinity rookie, that being Connor Zilisch as he will be piloting the No. 88 JRM Chevrolet for his first full-time campaign in the series. Lindley became an Xfinity crew chief for JRM for the first time in 2023 after spending the previous two seasons as a Craftsman Truck Series crew chief at Kyle Busch Motorsports. Paired with Sam Mayer and the No. 1 team, Lindley led both the driver and team to four victories and a Championship 4 berth, where they settled in third place in the final standings. This past season, Lindley and Mayer notched three victories and ended up in ninth place in the final standings after both fell short of reaching the Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season.
Through 62 appearances as an Xfinity crew chief, Lindley has achieved seven victories, one pole, 19 top-five results and 30 top-10 results as he strives to navigate Zilisch to additional victories and his first Playoff berth in 2025.
The 2025 season is scheduled to mark JR Motorsports’ 20th consecutive season as a full-time team in the Xfinity Series division. Since its inception, the organization has accumulated a total of 88 victories and four championships. The organization has also notched a combined 35 poles, 534 top-five results, 1,045 top-10 results and 14,308 laps led through a 19-year span as they strive for more on-track success for the upcoming racing season.
With the crew chief lineup set, JR Motorsports’ 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is scheduled to commence at Daytona International Speedway on February 15. The event’s broadcast time is slated to commence at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen will both be piloting the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro entry for JR Motorsports (JRM) for select events throughout the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
Chastain, a native of Alva, Florida, will make his first Xfinity start of the upcoming season at Circuit of the Americas (March 1) before he then competes at Darlington Raceway (April 5), Nashville Superspeedway (May 31), Dover Motor Speedway (July 19) and at Iowa Speedway (August 2).
Meanwhile, teammate van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, will make his first Xfinity start with JRM in the series’ inaugural event at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City (June 14) before he returns to drive the No. 9 entry for the following road-course events at the Chicago Street Course (July 5), Sonoma Raceway (July 12) and at Watkins Glen International (August 9).
The news comes as both Chastain and van Gisbergen are scheduled to compete as full-time Cup Series competitors for Trackhouse Racing in 2025. It will be Chastain’s fourth consecutive season at Trackhouse while van Gisbergen will embark on his first full-time campaign in NASCAR’s premier series.
This past season, Chastain, a five-time Cup Series race winner who won at Kansas Speedway in September, competed in four Xfinity events with DGM Racing, where he recorded two top-10 results and a season-best sixth-place finish at Watkins Glen this past August.
Through 208 current Xfinity starts, Chastain has recorded two victories, one pole, 24 top-five results, 53 top-10 results, 961 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.6. The 2025 season will mark the Floridian’s 12th year with at least one start in the Xfinity circuit. JRM will become the 11th team Chastain has driven for as he strives to utilize the extra seat time in the Xfinity circuit to gain a competitive edge in the Cup competition.
“I think there is a lot of benefit to getting seat time on Saturdays in the Xfinity Series,” Chastain said. “Getting an opportunity to do it with JR Motorsports is too good an opportunity to pass up. I know every time I climb in their Chevrolets, we will have a chance to win.”
Compared to Chastain, teammate van Gisbergen campaigned in his first full-time stint in the Xfinity Series at Kaulig Racing this past season. Throughout the 33-race schedule, he notched his first three career victories at Portland International Raceway, Sonoma and Chicago, respectively, between June and July. Despite settling in the runner-up spot in the final Rookie-of-the-Year standings, van Gisbergen tallied a total of three poles, seven top-five results, 10 top-10 results, 100 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.5, which was also enough to finish in 12th place in the final standings.
Previously, van Gisbergen won in his Cup Series debut at Chicago while driving Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 entry in 2023. Amid the excitement of being named a full-time Cup competitor for the 2025 season, the New Zealander also values the extra seat time gained within NASCAR’s lower series to be competitive and be a frequent front-runner among NASCAR’s elite.
“I’m trying to get as much experience as I can,” van Gisbergen said. “JR Motorsports is one of the top teams and won the championship with Justin Allgaier. I can’t wait to get started.”
With JRM’s No. 9 Chevrolet entry serving as the organization’s “all-star” entry, both Chastain and van Gisbergen will compete alongside JRM’s full-time Xfinity competitors that include the reigning champion Justin Allgaier, junior driver Sammy Smith and rookies Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch in 2025.
Additional details for the JRM’s No. 9 “all-star” entry for the 2025 Xfinity Series have not been determined.
With their part-time Xfinity Series campaigns in 2025 set, Ross Chastain will make his first series start with JRM at Circuit of the Americas on March 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network while van Gisbergen will make his first start at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on June 14 at 4:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
As Riley Herbst sent Stewart-Haas Racing off on a winning note in the organization’s final NASCAR Xfinity Series event by winning the 2024 season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 9, Justin Allgaier emerged as the biggest winner of the night by rallying from starting at the rear of the field in a backup car, being nabbed with a pair of midrace penalties that pinned him a lap down and muscling his way back to the front through two overtime attempts to capture his first elusive NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
The 40-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, commenced the finale weekend on a sour note after he was one of several competitors who slid and wrecked against the Turn 1 outside wall during Friday’s practice session after he slipped up into Brennan Poole’s spilled oil, the latter of which suffered a mechanical issue. Despite taking the green flag in 37th place of the 38-car field, Allgaier methodically carved his way up through the leaderboard and emerge in sixth place when the first stage period concluded on Lap 45. Amid two caution periods and ensuing restarts throughout the second stage period, Allgaier, who made multiple on-track contacts with Riley Herbst in the closing laps of the stage period that resulted with the Illinois veteran potentially having a left-rear tire going flat, managed to cap off the stage in 10th place.
Then during the start of the final stage period with 100 laps remaining, Allgaier, who restarted in the top-14 mark, was assessed a restart violation penalty for steering his No. 7 BRANDT/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro below the frontstretch’s apron and pulling out of line from the field prior to reaching the start/finish line. As Allgaier served a pass-through penalty through pit lane, things went from bad to worse when he was penalized a second time, this time for speeding on pit road. Losing a lap to the leaders, Allgaier would spend a majority of the final stage period trying to emerge as the first competitor scored a lap down and place himself in the free pass position.
As a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced with 55 laps remaining, Allgaier, who opted to remain on the track with a different pit strategy from the leaders and cycled back on the lead lap, thrusted himself back into the championship battle after Anthony Alfredo wrecked with 46 laps remaining. Pitting during the caution period, Allgaier, who restarted within the top-12 mark, used the following restart period and fresh tires with 38 laps remaining to march his way to the front. Thirty-two laps later, Allgaier overtook title contender Cole Custer to assume the lead in the championship battle.
Despite being overtaken by Custer on pit road and dropping to fifth place on the track amid a late-race caution with three laps remaining and sent the finale into overtime, Allgaier reassumed the top spot in the championship battle back from Custer, who was being blocked by title contender Austin Hill, before another late-race incident sent the finale into a second overtime attempt. During the latest attempt, Allgaier rubbed fenders with rookie Jesse Love to assume the lead in the race as he also retained the lead in the championship standings. Despite being overtaken by Herbst on the final lap for the race win, Allgaier managed to nurse his car to a runner-up result, which was enough to claim his long-awaited first championship in his 14th season competing in the Xfinity Series division.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, William Sawalich claimed his first Xfinity career pole position in his third series start after he posted a pole-winning lap at 134.168 mph in 26.832 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Sheldon Creed, who posted his best qualifying lap at 133.432 seconds. The four Championship 4 contenders that include Austin Hill, Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier are set to start fifth, seventh, ninth and 37th, respectively.
Prior to the event, the following names that include Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Aric Almirola and Parker Kligerman dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after all wrecked their primary cars during Friday’s practice session. Sammy Smith also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change along with Allmendinger, the latter of which due to unapproved adjustments.
When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as teammates William Sawalich and Sheldon Creed dueled for the lead entering the first two turns. As Championship 4 contender Austin Hill was trying to battle Chandler Smith for fourth place while also trying to fend off teammate Jesse Love, Sam Mayer and title rival Cole Custer through the backstretch, Creed muscled his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra ahead to lead the first lap.
Over the next four laps, Creed stretched his early advantage to as high as nearly half a second as Riley Herbst made his way into the runner-up spot. Behind, Chandler Smith moved up to third place in front of Sawalich and Hill while Mayer, Love, Custer, Daniel Dye and Connor Zilisch were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Championship 4 contenders AJ Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier were up to 19th and 25th, respectively, as both continued their early march from the rear of the field.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Herbst, who overtook Creed for the lead a lap earlier, was leading in his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang by three-tenths of a second over a side-by-side battle between teammates Creed and Chandler smith while Sawalich and Hill were in the top five ahead of Love, Mayer, Custer, Zilisch and Dye. Behind, Allgaier and Allmendinger were in 18th and 19th, respectively, while Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Matt DiBenedetto, Jeffrey Earnhardt and rookie Shane van Gisbergen were racing in the top 15.
Just past the Lap 20 mark, Herbst stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Chandler Smith while third-place Creed trailed by more than four seconds. Herbst would proceed to stabilize his lead to more than a second by the Lap 30 mark as both Smith and Creed retained second and third, respectively. Meanwhile, Hill continued to race as the highest-running Championship 4 contender on the track in fourth place while his closest-title rival Custer was mired in seventh place behind Sawalich and Mayer. By then, Allgaier cracked the top 10 as he was up to ninth place while Allmendinger was mired in 18th place.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Herbst claimed his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Chandler Smith, Creed, Hill and Sam Mayer were scored in the top five while Allgaier, Custer, Sawalich, Aric Almirola and Jesse Love followed suit in the top 10. By then, Allmendinger was still mired in 18th place and as the lowest Championship 4 contender on the track.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Herbst pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Herbst retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Hill, Custer, Creed, Chandler Smith, Love, Mayer, Almirola, Sawalich and Allgaier. Amid the pit stops, Shane van Gisbergen was penalized for speeding while entering pit road.
The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Herbst and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as both Herbst and Hill dueled for the lead in front of a three-wide battle for third place between Custer, Creed and Chandler Smith entering the first two turns. Then as Hill tried to make a move beneath Herbst for the lead through the turns, Custer used the outside lane to overtake both entering the backstretch. Custer would proceed to navigate his No. 00 Haas/Andy’s Frozen Custard Ford Mustang back to the frontstretch and lead the following lap as he was followed by teammate Herbst, Hill, Mayer, Chandler Smith and Allgaier. With Allmendinger making his way into the top 12, Custer led the next lap and teammate Herbst retained second while Hill was trying to fend off Mayer, Allgaier and Chandler Smith for third place.
At the Lap 60 mark, Herbst, who overtook teammate Custer for the lead a lap earlier, was leading by three-tenths of a second while Mayer, Hill and Allgaier followed suit in the top five. The caution would then return two laps later after Anthony Alfredo, who was battling Stefan Parsons for 20th place, got squeezed into the frontstretch’s outside wall by Parsons, which resulted with Alfredo turning left, clipping and sending Parsons into the outside wall as the latter wrecked while Greg Van Alst spun behind Parsons’ carnage. Following the incident, Alfredo was assessed a two-lap penalty for reckless driving.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 74 featured the leaders and the field fanning out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Herbst barely fended off teammate Custer to retain the lead through the first two turns. With Mayer making his way into the runner-up spot behind Herbst entering the backstretch, Allgaier muscled through into third place while Custer was trying to fend off Hill for fourth place. As Herbst led the following lap, Hill was overtaken by Almirola, Creed and Chandler Smith through the frontstretch while Custer battled and overtook Allgaier for third place on the track and the lead in the championship battle. The caution then returned on Lap 76 when Chandler Smith, who was racing in seventh place, made contact and got loose underneath teammate Creed in Turn 1 as he spun his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra from the top to the bottom of the track.
During the caution period, some including Creed, Love, Allmendinger, Jeb Burton, Dylan Lupton, Daniel Dye, Matt DiBenedetto, Brandon Jones, Brennan Poole and van Gisbergen remained on the track while the rest led by Herbst pitted.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 82, Creed and Love dueled for the lead in front of the field through the frontstretch. Creed and Love remained dead even for the lead in front of Allmendinger and Jeb Burton through the backstretch while the rest of the field behind fanned out to four and five lanes as a bevy of competitors who either pitted or did not pit during the previous caution period scrambled for positions. As Creed led the following lap, Allmendinger remained as the highest-running Championship 4 contender in third place while Allgaier and Custer, both of whom were racing on fresh tires, carved their way up to sixth and seventh, respectively. Meanwhile, Hill was trapped outside the top-10 mark and trying to navigate his way back to the front.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Herbst, who made multiple on-track contacts with Allgaier five laps earlier, overtook Creed a lap prior to claim his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and second in the finale. Creed settled in second ahead of Almirola, Love and Custer while Zilisch, Allmendinger, Mayer, Sawalich and Allgaier, the latter of whom nursed his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro to the finish with a potentially flat left-rear tire, settled in the top 10. By then, Custer emerged as the highest-running Championship contender while Hill was the lowest Championship 4 contender on the track in 14th place.
During the stage break, some including Creed, Love, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Jeb Burton, DiBenedetto, Dye, Dylan Lupton, Brandon Jones, van Gisbergen and Poole pitted while the rest led by Herbst and including Custer and Hill remained on the track.
With 100 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Herbst and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst rocketed his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang away from Almirola and teammate Custer through the frontstretch’s dogleg. As the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch, Herbst proceeded to lead the following lap while Mayer made his way up to third place behind Custer. By then, Hill and Allmendinger were in the top 10 and Allgaier was in 12th place.
Shortly after, however, Allgaier was penalized for diving his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro below the frontstretch’s apron prior to reaching the start/finish line to start the final stage period. As Allgaier served his drive-through penalty, Herbst retained the lead over teammate Custer with 95 laps remaining. Not long after serving his drive-through penalty to serve his restart violation penalty, Allgaier was assessed a second drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road while serving his first. Compared to the first penalty, the second one caused Allgaier to drop out of the lead lap category as Herbst retained the race lead with less than 90 laps remaining. By then, Custer, who was in second place, was leading the championship battle as he was five spots ahead of Allmendinger and 13 spots ahead of Hill.
With 80 laps remaining, Herbst was leading by nearly three seconds over teammate Custer while Mayer, Creed and Zilisch were in the top five ahead of Love, Allmendinger, Almirola, Chandler Smith and Sawalich. As Hill was mired in 16th place, Allgaier was scored the second competitor a lap down in 29th place as he was trying to catch Jeremy Clements to be the first competitor scored a lap down.
Fifteen laps later, Herbst continued to lead the race by more than four seconds over teammate Custer, the latter of whom continued to lead the championship battle, while Creed, Mayer and Love were scored in the top five on the track. Meanwhile, Allmendinger, Custer’s closest championship rival, was scored in seventh place on the track and trailing the championship lead by less than six seconds while Zilisch, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen and Almirola were in the top 10. Behind, Hill was scored in 15th place while Allgaier was scored the second competitor a lap down behind Ryan Sieg and in 27th place.
Another 10 laps later, a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as the leader Herbst pitted. Love, Chandler Smith and Brandon Jones would also pit before Sawalich, Hill, Allmendinger, Zilisch, Mayer, Almirola, Josh Williams, Custer and van Gisbergen pitted over the next four laps. As more names including Creed pitted with 50 laps remaining, Dye was leading ahead of Parker Kligerman. By then, both along with Allgaier, the latter of whom cycled back on the lead lap, have yet to pit while Herbst carved his way up to third place.
With 46 laps remaining, however, the caution flew when Alfredo blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 1 hard. Alfredo’s incident served as a pivotal moment for Allgaier, who was scored on the lead lap despite not having yet pitted while Kligerman, who had pitted shortly before Alfredo wrecked, lost a lap in the process. During the caution period, select names including Allgaier, Hill, Mayer and Brandon Jones pitted while the rest led by Herbst remained on the track.
Down to the final 38 laps of the event, Herbst rocketed away from Love to retain the lead through the frontstretch and the first two turns as the field behind fanned out. As Custer battled Zilisch for third place, his title rivals Allmendinger, Hill and Allgaier were battling within the top 10. A few laps later, Allmendinger, Allgaier and Hill were racing eighth to 10th, respectively, while Custer retained third place on the track and the lead in the championship battle. Meanwhile, teammate Herbst continued to lead the race by seven-tenths of a second over Love with 35 laps remaining.
With 25 laps remaining, Herbst continued to lead the race by more than two seconds over Love as third-place Custer, who retained the lead in the championship battle, started to close in on Love for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Allgaier carved his way up to sixth place as he trailed Custer for three spots and Hill was mired in eighth place on the track behind Creed while Allmendinger was racing in 11th place behind Almirola and Brandon Jones.
Two laps later, Custer engaged in a side-by-side battle with Love for the runner-up spot on the track in an effort to generate a gap between himself and Allgaier for the championship battle. Love, however, would not yield the spot to Custer, which allowed Zilisch and Mayer, Allgaier’s teammates at JR Motorsports, to join the battle while Allgaier was slowly narrowing the deficit to Custer. Love would continue to retain second place over Custer as both Zilisch and Mayer would begin to challenge Custer for third place while Allgaier was trying to gain ground on teammate Mayer with 20 laps remaining.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Herbst stabilized his race lead to more than three seconds over Love while Custer retained third place ahead of Zilisch and Mayer. Meanwhile, Allgaier, who retained sixth place, trailed Custer by nearly a second while Hill was up to seventh place and trailing Allgaier by a second. By then, Allmendinger was strapped in 11th place.
Two laps later, Allgaier overtook teammate Mayer for fifth place on the track. By then, he still trailed Custer on the track for the championship battle by a second as Custer continued to fend off Zilisch for third place. Hill then started to close in on Mayer for sixth place on the track and he also had Allgaier within his sights while Herbst grew his lead to four seconds with 10 laps remaining.
Then with eight laps remaining, the battle for the championship brewed as Zilisch overtook Custer for third place on the track. As Custer fought back through the backstretch, Zilisch then got loose underneath Custer and made slight contact with the latter, which caused both to briefly fall off the pace entering Turns 3 and 4 as Allgaier zipped by teammate Zilisch for fourth place on the track with seven laps remaining. Allgaier then proceeded to drive up to Custer’s rear bumper through the first two turns and the backstretch before he made his move beneath Custer and overtook him through Turns 3 and 4. By then, Allgaier assumed the lead in the championship standings over Custer with six laps remaining.
Over the next three laps, Allgaier started to generate a reasonable gap between himself and Custer as he also started to battle Love for the runner-up spot on the track while Herbst maintained a healthy advantage on the track.
Then with three laps remaining, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime due to an incident involving Leland Honeyman in Turn 4. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Herbst pitted. Following the pit stops, Hill, who pitted for only two scuff tires for his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro, exited first as he was followed by Love, Herbst, Custer, Allgaier, Almirola, Chandler Smith, Mayer, Zilisch and Creed. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier endured a slow pit service, which allowed Custer to overtake him on pit road.
The start of the first overtime attempt did not last long as Parker Retzlaff spun and wrecked in Turn 2. Prior to Retzlaff’s incident, Love had assumed the race lead and Allgaier, who restarted in fifth place, bolted his way up to second place on the track and first in the championship battle while Hill, who created a roadblock for Custer while trying to launch on his two scuff tires, had dropped to sixth place. By then, Custer had dropped to seventh place while Allmendinger was mired in 10th place. With Retzlaff’s incident, the event was sent into a second overtime attempt.
The start of the second overtime attempt featured Allgaier and Love dueling for the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg before Allgaier went up the track and made contact against Love’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro, which resulted with both rubbing against one another in smoke and Herbst getting squeezed towards the outside wall entering the first turn. Amid the contact, Allgaier muscled ahead and barely fended off Herbst, Almirola and Hill through the first two turns to muscle ahead entering the backstretch while Love was trying to regain ground. By then, Hill, who got loose after making contact with Almirola, had dropped to seventh place on the track as he was losing ground of Allgaier for the championship battle. Both Custer and Allmendinger were also losing ground of Allgaier on the track.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained in the lead in both the race and the championship battle while runner-up Herbst closed in on him despite developing a left-rear tire rub. Amid the tire smoke, Herbst would then gain a run beneath Allgaier, who had all the markings on his left-rear tire rubbed off, through the backstretch and overtake him for the race lead. As Herbst proceeded to claim the checkered flag to win the finale, Allgaier would have enough muscle to finish in second place and claim the championship over Custer, Allmendinger and Hill.
With the title, Allgaier, a 25-time race winner in the Xfinity Series who is in his 14th season as a full-time Xfinity competitor and who quietly clinched a Championship 4 round berth by points a week ago at Martinsville Speedway, became the 34th competitor overall to win a championship in the Xfinity Series and the first Illinois native to accomplish the feat. He also delivered the fourth driver’s championship and the first owner’s championship in the Xfinity division for JR Motorsports, the latter of which achieved its first Xfinity title since the 2018 season with Tyler Reddick. The 2024 Xfinity championship was also a first for crew chief Jim Pohlman.
Overall, the 2024 season marks the eighth time in nine seasons where the current Playoff-elimination format featured a first-time champion in the Xfinity Series as Allgaier, who made his seventh Championship 4 appearance as a title contender, previously finished a career-best runner up in the final standings during the 2020 and 2023 seasons.
As he celebrated with his pit crew, team owners, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., and family on the frontstretch, Allgaier was asked if he had counted himself out of the championship battle amid his pair of on-track obstacles that pinned him a lap down and way behind his title rivals.
“Yeah, [I counted myself out] like 10 times,” Allgaier, who fought tears of emotions, said on the CW Network. “You fans are awesome. I don’t think I have a voice left because I was yelling. I’ve been doing this a long time and these people that are standing around me. There’s no words. It’s understated what [Hendrick engine shop and Chevrolet] what they’ve done. [My family] have given up so much for me to come do this job and God’s good, man. I said it all weekend, I don’t know what the plan is. I don’t know what that looks like, but He’s got a reason for everything and tonight is truly that. It’s mind-blowing.”
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“This team never gave up,” Allgaier, who will return to JR Motorsports and attempt to defend his series title in 2025, added. “[Crew chief] Jim Pohlman, his leadership skills are second and none. He told me all weekend that we were going to have a chance. Man, we tried to give it away every which way we could. I was as fast as Xfinity Internet, but on pit road, not on the racetrack where I needed to be. I just wanted to make it exciting for all you fans, all you fans at home. All the men and women, all five of our race teams [at JR Motorsports], just the effort that we’ve put in. I’m at a loss for words and we’re going to celebrate this one, for sure. It’s unbelievable. I just cannot say thank you enough to everybody that’s ever helped me in my career to get to this point. Seven times in the Championship 4 and we finally got it done.”
As Allgaier proceeded to celebrate his first championship on the championship stage, Cole Custer, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, could only manage a smile on pit road as he settled in eighth place in the final running order of the finale and in the runner-up spot in the final standings. Despite coming up one spot short of defending his series title, Custer is set to move back up to the Cup Series and drive for the newly formed Haas Factory Team in 2025.
“I think any driver can do something a little bit different,” Custer said. “I tried to go high, tried to go to the middle, tried to go everywhere I could. But [Hill] made his car pretty wide, which is his right. We’re all going for a championship. It just sucks that it ended up screwing us over worse than it did [Allgaier] and he was able to slip by. Man, I can’t say congratulations enough to Justin and all those guys. He’s definitely a deserving champion. They were fast all night. I hate it came down to tire strategies and stuff like that, but man, I can’t say enough about our group. Everything they’ve done over the last two years, [crew chief Jonathan Toney], everybody in [the Stewart-Haas Racing] shop works so hard. I wish we could have ended up with a championship for [Stewart-Haas Racing], but it just wasn’t meant to be on those restarts.”
Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger, who clinched a Championship 4 berth by winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway three weeks ago, managed a ninth-place result in the finale and settled in third place in the final standings. Austin Hill, who made his first Championship 4 appearance as a title contender, fell back to 10th place in the final running order as he was relegated to fourth place in the final standings. While Hill is set to return to Richard Childress Racing for another full-time Xfinity campaign in 2025, Allmendinger is set to move back up to the Cup Series with Kaulig Racing next season.
“We just struggled all night,” Allmendinger said. “First off, congrats to Justin [Allgaier], Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] and the No. 7 crew. Justin’s been working at it for a long time. Really cool that he got [the title]. [I] Wished that we could’ve been, at least, in the fight for [the title]. We were off from the start, loose the whole time. I didn’t know what else to do to try to make [the car] faster. Just disappointing that we never really were in the fight. I thought strategy-wise, we could, kind of, steal it, maybe, or the team championship. Disappointing, but proud to be here at least.”
“We had to try something [strategy-wise],” Hill added. “Lot of hard racing out there. I want to say congrats to the No. 7 team. Justin Allgaier’s being doing this a really long time. To see him finally get it done, I’m very happy for him. He’s a great guy to be around. Hats off to JR Motorsports for getting it done.”
Amid the championship battle, Riley Herbst, who led a race-high 167 of the 213 over-scheduled laps, celebrated a race victory as he notched his third career win in the Xfinity Series, second of the 2024 season and his first since winning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. The victory was also the last for the Stewart-Haas Racing organization as the team will be rebranded to Haas Factory Team in 2025. It also comes as Herbst’s 2025 racing plans remain to be determined.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I’ve been telling people since Daytona that if we got to Phoenix, we’d be the champion,” Herbst, who finished seventh in the final standings, said in Victory Lane. “Everybody looked at me like I was crazy. That’s gone now. We didn’t make [the Championship 4 round], but I’m just so proud of all these guys, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. It was a really, really tough week last week. We had a lot of emotional people at the shop. [Stewart-Haas Racing] was home for me for four years. It’s built me to what I am now and that’s a winning racecar driver in the Xfinity Series. So proud of [crew chief] Davin [Restivo] and all the guys on the No. 98 team. It’s been a hell of a run the last four years. Thank you so much to every man and woman at Stewart-Haas Racing. I love you guys all so much. We’ll see what next year holds.”
Aric Almirola, who was contending for the owner’s championship for Joe Gibbs Racing’s NO. 20 Toyota team, settled in third place on the track as he fell one spot short to Allgaier in the category. Connor Zilisch and Chandler Smith finished in the top five while Rookie-of-the-Year recipient Jesse Love, Sheldon Creed, Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill completed the top 10.
There were 21 lead changes for eight different leaders. The finale featured seven cautions for 53 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Riley Herbst, 167 laps led
2. Justin Allgaier, four laps led
3. Aric Almirola
4. Connor Zilisch
5. Chandler Smith
6. Jesse Love, six laps led
7. Sheldon Creed, 20 laps led
8. Cole Custer, seven laps led
9. AJ Allmendinger
10. Austin Hill, five laps led
11. Sam Mayer
12. Shane van Gisbergen
13. William Sawalich
14. Parker Kligerman, two laps led
15. Sammy Smith
16. Jeb Burton
17. Daniel Dye, two laps led
18. Brandon Jones
19. Dylan Lupton
20. Jeremy Clements
21. Josh Bilicki
22. Blaine Perkins
23. Ryan Sieg
24. Brennan Poole
25. Ryan Ellis
26. Matt DiBenedetto
27. Joey Gase
28. Patrick Emerling, one lap down
29. Kyle Sieg, one lap down
30. Garrett Smithley, one lap down
31. Leland Honeyman, three laps down
32. Dawson Cram, four laps down
33. Josh Williams, five laps down
34. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident
35. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Engine
36. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident
37. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Suspension
38. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident
*Bold indicates championship finalists
Final standings
1. Justin Allgaier
2. Cole Custer
3. AJ Allmendinger
4. Austin Hill
5. Chandler Smith
6. Sheldon Creed
7. Riley Herbst
8. Jesse Love
9. Sam Mayer
10. Parker Kligerman
11. Sammy Smith
12. Shane van Gisbergen
The NASCAR Xfinity Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 15, 2025, for a new season of competition.
Conner Jones issued a one-race Truck Series Suspension
Conner Jones was issued a one-race suspension for his on-track actions following this past weekend’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff event at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 26 as part of a triple-header weekend in South Florida.
Jones’s actions occurred on Lap 75 of 134, where he deliberately hit the rear end of Matt Mills’ No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST entry following an earlier altercation between both competitors. The contact from Jones got Mills loose before he veered to the right across the racetrack and hit the Turn 4 outside wall on the right side hard as Mills’ damaged truck then erupted in flames.
Mills escaped the wreckage with the aid of medical personnel and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Two days later on October 28, he was released and took to social media to express his gratitude for the support he received during his recovery. He has also been medically cleared to race for this upcoming weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway.
Jones received a two-lap penalty for the incident and finished in 25th place of the 34-truck field. Following the event, he declined to speak to the media but later apologized for his actions through a statement.
Jones, previously set to mark the 13th of 14 planned events on the Truck Series schedule during the upcoming weekend at Martinsville, will miss the race due to the suspension. However, he will return to action for next weekend’s season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway. As a result, former Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter, initially set to compete with Hattori Racing Enterprises, is will pilot Jones’ No. 66 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 entry at Martinsville, per the qualifying order sheet.
Layne Riggs Truck Series Team Issued L1 Penalty
NASCAR also issued an L1-level penalty to the Craftsman Truck Series No. 38 Front Row Motorsports (FRM) Ford F-150 entry piloted by rookie Layne Riggs due to an improperly mounted ballast that resulted in Riggs starting at the rear of the field for the main event. Riggs would proceed to finish in 22nd place, the final truck scored a lap down, after he ran out of fuel while running in second place on the penultimate lap.
Riggs’ No. 38 FRM Ford team was also docked 10 driver/owner points as a result of the ballast penalty, and crew chief Dylan Cappello was issued a one-race suspension. Amid the points penalty, Riggs remains in 11th place in the driver’s standings.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Three Xfinity Series crew chiefs fined $5,000 each
Three Xfinity Series crew chiefs were issued fines due to a single lug nut that was not secured on each of their respective entries The crew chiefs penalized include Mardy Lindley, crew chief for Playoff contender Sam Mayer and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team, Andy Street, crew chief for Playoff contender and race winner Austin Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevrolet Camaro team and Joe Williams, crew chief for Kyle Sieg and the No. 39 RSS Racing Ford Mustang team.
The lug nut penalty issued to RCR’s No. 21 team and the fine to Street do not affect Hill’s victory as he is already guaranteed a spot into this year’s Championship 4 round and compete for the 2024 Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway next Saturday.
NASCAR Cup Series
There were no penalties levied on any Cup Series teams following this past Sunday’s Playoff event at Homestead which was won by Playoff contender Tyler Reddick.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck, Xfinity and Cup Series divisions return to action this upcoming weekend at Martinsville Speedway for the final Round of 8 events for all three series. The Truck division will commence the weekend on Friday, November 1, at 6 p.m. ET on FS1 while the Xfinity division will occur the following day, November 2, at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network. The Cup division will conclude the weekend on Sunday, November 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
With four races remaining on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule, Sheldon Creed is scheduled to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Xfinity Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra will make his 100th career start in the Xfinity circuit.
A native of Alpine, California, Creed made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August 2017. By then, he had achieved back-to-back Stadium Super Truck championships (2016-17) and transitioned to stock car racing following his early success in SST and off-road competition. He had also made select starts within the ARCA Menards Series East and West divisions for MDM Motorsports and Jefferson Pitts Racing. Driving the No. 01 Chevrolet for JD Motorsports, Creed started 32nd and finished 34th in his Xfinity debut. He would return two races later at Road America, where he ended up in 38th place following an early vibration issue.
From 2019 to 2021, Creed, who won the 2018 ARCA Menards Series championship, competed on a full-time basis in the Craftsman Truck Series for GMS Racing, where he won the 2020 series’ championship, accumulated eight victories and made the Playoffs during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. During the three-year span, he made two starts in the Xfinity Series. The first occurred at Daytona International Speedway in July 2019, where he drove the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports and ended up in 34th place after being involved in two separate multi-car wrecks. He then competed for BJ McLeod Motorsports during the 2021 finale at Phoenix Raceway, where he collected his first top-10 career finish by finishing in 10th place.
In 2022, Creed graduated to the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis, where he replaced Myatt Snider as the driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing (RCR). Finishing sixth in his first start with RCR at Daytona in February, the Californian recorded nine top-10 results through 24 regular-season events as he spent the majority of the stretch mired outside of the top-12 cutline to make the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs. At Darlington Raceway in September, Creed attempted to pull a “video game” move on the final lap by scraping his No. 2 Chevrolet against the outside wall at full speed, but his momentum got stalled entering the frontstretch, which allowed Noah Gragson to overtake him for the victory as Creed, who had been battling Gragson and Kyle Larson for the victory, settled in a career-best runner-up result. After finishing 11th and 37th during the final two regular-season events on the schedule, he was unable to mount his way into the Playoffs. Recording another runner-up result at Martinsville Speedway in October along with a total of three top-10 results throughout the seven-race Playoff stretch, Creed ended up in 14th place in the final standings. Overall, he recorded four top-five results, 13 top-10 results, 155 laps led and an average-finishing result of 17.5 throughout his first full-time Xfinity campaign.
Returning for a second full-time Xfinity campaign with RCR in 2023, Creed finished 34th and 23rd in the season’s first two events before notching five top-10 results, including a runner-up result at Talladega Superspeedway in April, during the next 10 events on the schedule. At Portland International Raceway in June, he notched his first career pole position and led a race-high 47 laps before ending in seventh place despite being spun by John Hunter Nemechek prior to the second stage’s conclusion and getting shuffled while battling for the lead amid a two-lap shootout. Despite finishing no higher than eighth during his next nine starts, Creed then recorded back-to-back runner-up results while contending for the victory. The first runner-up result occurred at Watkins Glen International in August after he assumed the lead during an overtime shootout before losing the lead to Sam Mayer after slipping out of the racing groove before the final lap. The second occurred at Daytona after he was edged by Justin Allgaier by 0.005 seconds. Concluding the regular-season stretch with an eighth- and third-place finish in two races, Creed earned a spot into the Xfinity Series Playoffs for the first time in his career.
After finishing no lower than 11th throughout the Round of 12, he was able to earn the eighth and final transfer spot into the Round of 8 by two points over Daniel Hemric and four over Parker Kligerman. Then coming off a 15th- and 26th-place finish during the first two Round of 8 events, Creed placed himself in another opportunity to claim his first series victory during the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway. During an overtime shootout, however, Creed, who bumped and rubbed fenders with teammate Austin Hill on the final lap and entering the final two turns, managed to take the lead from Hill in Turn 3 before he locked up the tires and briefly fell off the pace, which resulted with Hill ramming into the rear of Creed’s No. 2 entry as Hill was involved in a last-lap multi-car wreck. Amid the carnage, Creed was then edged at the finish line by Allgaier by 0.032 seconds, which marked his sixth runner-up result in the Xfinity circuit, as both Creed and Hill were unable to transfer into the Championship 4 round. Despite receiving harsh comments and criticisms from Hill and the RCR organization, Creed proceeded to finish in the runner-up spot for a seventh time during the finale at Phoenix in November, which resulted in the Californian settling in seventh place in the final standings. By then, Creed had earned three additional top-five finishes and two additional top-10 results compared to the 2022 season. He had also led 35 extra laps from the previous season and improved his average finishing result from 17.5 to 13.5.
After announcing his departure from Richard Childress Racing a month before the 2023 season’s conclusion, Creed was announced as the driver of the No. 18 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2024 Xfinity season in December. He commenced his first season with team owner Joe Gibbs by finishing in second place behind former teammate Hill. Despite enduring a winless stretch throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, the Californian notched two poles, a total of six runner-up results, 13 top-five results and 17 top-10 results, which were enough for him to make the 2024 Playoffs. Despite finishing fifth and fourth, respectively, during the first two events of the Round of 12, Creed was involved in a multi-car wreck just shy of the Round of 12’s finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. While trying to finish the event, Creed’s car stalled on the course and he retired in 35th place. As a result, he fell short of transferring into the Round of 8 by seven points.
As Creed continues his pursuit for his first elusive victory in the Xfinity Series for the remaining four races on this year’s schedule, he is set to join Haas Factory Team, an organization rebranded from Stewart-Haas Racing, in 2025.
Through 99 previous Xfinity starts, Creed has achieved three poles, 26 top-five results, 48 top-10 results, 453 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.1. To date, he holds the record for the most number of runner-up results without an Xfinity victory at 13. Currently, Creed’s 2024 stats in top fives (15), top 10s (19) and average-finishing result (12.3) are his best as he is also scored in 10th place in the standings.
Sheldon Creed is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Ambetter Health 302. The event is scheduled to occur this upcoming Saturday, October 19, and air at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
NASCAR released the penalty report following this past weekend’s Xfinity-Cup Series events at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course that occurred between October 12-13, 2024.
In the Cup Series, Joshua Thomas (front-tire changer) and Nick Covey (jackman), both of whom work in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team piloted by Austin Dillon, have been issued a two-race suspension due to a left-front wheel that detached from Dillon’s car on Lap 80 of 109 during Sunday’s event. The incident occurred after Dillon had made a green-flag pit stop and left his pit box despite the tire changer unable to tighten the left-front tire’s single lug nut before the car departed. Dillon would proceed to finish in 32nd place at Charlotte in an event that determined the Playoff’s Round of 8 field and was won by Playoff contender Kyle Larson.
With the suspensions, Thomas and Covey will not be present for the upcoming Cup Series Playoff events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and at Homestead-Miami Speedway, respectively.
In the Xfinity Series, four crew chiefs were each fined $5,000 apiece due to their respective entries having a single lug nut unsecured during the post-race inspection process following Saturday’s event that also determined the series’ Round of 8 field and was won by Playoff contender Sam Mayer.
The crew chiefs that were penalized include Philip Bell, crew chief for Sammy Smith and the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team; Jeff Meendering, crew chief for Chandler Smith and the No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team; James Pohlman, crew chief for Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team; and Andy Street, crew chief for Austin Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team.
Ironically, each of the crew chiefs’ respective competitors represent half of the current eight Playoff contenders who remain in championship contention as the series transitions to the Round of 8 that begins this upcoming weekend at Las Vegas.
Tuesday’s penalty report comes a day after Hendrick Motorsports opted to not appeal the disqualification of Alex Bowman from the Round of 8 due to Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet entry not meeting the minimum weight requirements following Sunday’s event, where Bowman had initially transferred after finishing in 18th place and winning the event’s second stage period.
Bowman’s disqualification allowed Joey Logano, who initially missed the Round of 8 cutline by four points, to claim the round’s final transfer berth.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series’ teams return to action this upcoming weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the Playoff’s Round of 8 also commences for both series. The Xfinity’s Round of 8 event at Vegas will occur on Saturday, October 19, and air at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network. The Cup’s Round of 8 event will follow suit on Sunday, October 20, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
For a second consecutive season, Sam Mayer went from being scored below the cutline in the Playoff’s Round of 12 finale to leapfrogging his way into the Round of 8 by winning the Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval) on Saturday, October 12, amid an overtime shootout.
The 21-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led three times for 13 of 72 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row alongside Playoff contender Shane van Gisbergen but was penalized for launching ahead of the latter prior to the start/finish line while not the control competitor. Despite serving a pass-through penalty through pit road during the second lap, Mayer blended back on the track inside the top-15 mark, carved his way back into the top 10 after pitting before the first stage’s conclusion, and settled in 11th place. Despite falling one spot short of accumulating crucial stage points following the first stage period, Mayer racked up eight points by settling in third place at the conclusion of the second stage period.
After restarting on the front row for the start of the final stage period with 24 laps remaining, Mayer assumed the lead during the following lap. Despite pitting for fresh tires during a late caution period that started with 15 laps remaining, the Wisconsin native would use the tires to carve his way back up the leaderboard and up to second place as he tried to challenge Playoff contender Parker Kligerman for the victory in the closing laps.
Initially poised to finish in second place behind Kligerman, which would have eliminated him from the Playoffs, Mayer was gifted an opportunity to reclaim the lead after Leland Honeyman wrecked in Turn 3. The caution occurred inches before Kligerman could start the final lap of the event and make the event official, and instead sent the field into overtime. During the overtime shootout, Mayer overtook Kligerman through the Roval’s newly configured Turn 7 and muscled away from the field for two laps to win and maintain his 2024 championship hopes for another three weeks.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff rookie Shane van Gisbergen notched his third Xfinity Series pole position of the season and his career with a pole-winning lap at 97.110 mph in 84.523 seconds. Playoff contender Sam Mayer joined him on the front row was Playoff contender Sam Mayer, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 96.871 mph in 84.731 seconds.
Prior to the event, Ed Jones and Thomas Annunziata dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Sam Mayer rocketed his No. 1 QPS Employment Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Shane van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger from the inside lane through the frontstretch as he proceeded to lead through the first turn before he navigated his way through the infield turns, starting in Turn 2. The field, led by Mayer, would then navigate through a pair of right-hand turns in Turns 3 and 4 before entering a brief straightaway to another right-hand turn in Turn 5. Mayer retained the lead through the Roval’s new design turns from Turns 6 and 7 before making a sharp left-hand turn to return back to the main Charlotte oval course.
As the field continued to jostle for early spots, Mayer proceeded to lead through the backstretch’s chicane before he was penalized by NASCAR for jumping the start while not the leader of the race. Amid the penalty, Mayer navigated his way through the final pair of turns before he returned to the frontstretch, drove through the chicane and led the first lap while being black-flagged by NASCAR.
During the second lap, Mayer served a drive-through penalty through pit road, which allowed van Gisbergen to assume the lead as he was followed by teammate AJ Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, Josh Bilicki and Austin Hill. Despite being pressured by his Kaulig Racing teammate of Allmendinger, van Gisbergen would navigate his way through the 17-turn course and lead the following lap. By the fourth lap, however, Allmendinger navigated his way past van Gisbergen through the frontstretch’s chicane. With Allmendinger leading, van Gisbergen would fend off Creed for the runner-up spot as Bilicki and Hill followed suit.
Through the first five-scheduled laps, Allmendinger was leading by over teammate van Gisbergen as Creed, Bilicki and Austin Hill continued to trail in the top five ahead of rookie Jesse Love, Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier, Connor Mosack and Riley Herbst. Behind, Aric Almirola trailed in 11th place ahead of Cole Custer, Parker Kligerman and Anthony Alfredo while Sam Mayer was mired in 15th place ahead of teammate Sammy Smith.
Two laps later, van Gisbergen missed the backstretch’s chicane, where he locked up the front tires and drove off the course while running in second place. The on-track misfortune dropped the New Zealander to sixth place, where he had to come to a full stop before proceeding back on the racing surface, as Bilicki, Creed, Hill and Jesse Love all moved up the leaderboard. By then, Allmendinger was leading by more than three seconds.
At the Lap 10 mark, eight of 12 Playoff contenders were racing inside the top 10 as Allmendinger continued to lead by more than two seconds over Bilicki. Behind, Creed, Hill and Love followed suit ahead of van Gisbergen, Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Almirola while Mayer carved his way back into the top 10. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Kligerman, Herbst, Custer and Sammy Smith were racing inside the top 15 mark as Connor Mosack occupied 14th place.
By Lap 15, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to nearly four seconds over Bilicki while third-place van Gisbergen carved his way back up to third place in front of Creed, Hill and Love. Behind, Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Almirola and Mayer remained in the top 10 ahead of Kligerman and Herbst while Custer and Sammy Smith dropped to 16th and 17th, respectively.
Not long after, Creed, who was racing in fourth place, spun in the Roval’s newly configured Turn 7 after he got hit by Love, who was trying to make a move beneath teammate Hill for a top-five spot. The incident dropped Creed out of the top-10 mark on the track as the event remained under green flag conditions.
By Lap 17, select names led by Bilicki and including Chandler Smith, Almirola, Mayer, Kligerman, Austin Green, Brandon Jones, Custer, Anthony Alfredo, Sammy Smith, Josh Williams, Ed Jones, Alex Labbe and Ryan Sieg pitted under green. Parker Retzlaff had pitted a lap earlier as Allmendinger retained the lead by more than six seconds over teammate van Gisbergen.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Allmendinger cruised to his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate van Gisbergen followed suit in second ahead of Allgaier, Hill and Love while Creed, Mosack, Herbst, Bilicki and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10. With eight of 12 Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders including Mayer, Kligerman, Custer and Sammy Smith were mired in 11th, 21st, 23rd and 26th, respectively.
Under the stage break, some led by Allmendinger and including Playoff contenders van Gisbergen, Creed, Herbst, Allgaier, Hill and Love pitted while the rest led by Bilicki and Chandler Smith remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Love exited pit road first, ahead of Allmendinger, Creed, Hill, Herbst, Allgaier, van Gisbergen, Jeb Burton, Mosack and Sage Karam.
The second stage period started on Lap 24 as teammates Bilicki and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Bilicki and Chandler Smith both dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Bilicki muscled his No. 19 Insurance King Toyota Supra ahead through the infield turns. As the field behind jostled for spots, Bilicki retained the lead through the infield turns, including the tight, left-hand Turn 7, before returning to the main oval course. In the midst of the battles, van Gisbergen, who restarted outside the top 20, made contact with Creed in Turn 7 in his charge back to the front before Alex Labbe spun through the backstretch’s chicane amid contact with Ed Jones. Amid the on-track chaos, the race remained under green flag conditions as Bilicki led the following lap ahead of teammate Chandler Smith while Aric Almirola was up to third place.
During an ensuing caution period that started on Lap 26 due to debris spotted in Turn 2, select names led by Creed and including Thomas Annunziata, Leland Honeyman and Blaine Perkins pitted while the rest of the field led by Bilicki remained on the track. Creed’s pit service was due to the driver reporting a shifter issue to his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra.
With the field restarting under green on Lap 29, Bilicki fended off teammate Chandler Smith through the first two turns to retain the lead. Bilicki retained a steady advantage over Smith, Mayer, Almirola and Kligerman through the infield turns from Turns 3 to 7 as the field fanned out while navigating back onto Charlotte’s oval course. Then as the field navigated through the backstretch’s chicane before returning to the frontstretch, the caution returned due to Matt DiBenedetto crashing into the tire barriers just past Turn 6 and struggling to restart from his carnage scene.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 32 featured Bilicki and Mayer occupying the front row, where both dueled for the lead through the first three turns before Mayer muscled ahead entering Turn 4. As the field behind fanned out, Mayer fended off Bilicki through the following three sets of infield turns before he returned to the oval course and continued to lead through the backstretch chicane. With Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Allmendinger trailing in the top five, Mayer led the following lap.
Shortly after, the caution returned when Herbst, who was battling Alfredo amid close-quarters racing for 15th place, made contact with Alfredo through the frontstretch chicane that resulted in Herbst getting turned sideways off the front nose of Alfredo as both went straight into the outside wall and igniting a pileup that involved Josh Williams, Mosack, Ed Jones, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg, Dylan Lupton, Preston Pardus, Blaine Perkins, Brad Perez, Jeremy Clements, Brennan Poole and Creed. Despite sustaining damage to their respective cars, Herbst and Creed continued and remained on the lead lap.
During the caution period and extensive cleanup period, a majority of the field led by Mayer pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.
With the race restarting under green with three laps remaining in the second stage period, Allgaier and Sage Karam led the field to the restart zone, where Allgaier rocketed away from Karam and the field to lead through the infield turns as Leland Honeyman overtook Karam for second place. With Allgaier retaining the lead, the field fanned out while navigating through the infield turns, the oval turns and the backstretch’s chicane. As Allgaier proceeded to lead the following lap, more trouble struck for Creed, who was off the pace and limping his damaged car below the Charlotte oval’s apron. Creed would lose a lap as the field lapped him entering the backstretch.
As Herbst was also falling off the pace in his damaged No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang and with a broken trackbar, the caution would then fly on the final lap of the second stage period due to Creed coming to a halt in the backstretch. The caution would officially conclude the second stage period scheduled for Lap 40 as Allgaier claimed his 15th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammates Mosack and Mayer would follow suit in second and third, respectively, while Almirola, Honeyman, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Karam and Bilicki were scored in the top 10. With five of 12 Playoff contenders racking up a second round of stage points and both Herbst and Creed out of contention, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Kligerman, Love, Hill, Sammy Smith and Custer were mired inside the top 20.
During the stage break, select names including Allgaier, Karam, Clements, Retzlaff and Honeyman pitted while the rest led by Mosack remained on the track.
With 24 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as teammates Mosack and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start, Mosack muscled ahead and cleared teammate Mayer through the first turn. As Mosack proceeded to lead in his No. 88 Apollo Pex Chevrolet Camaro through the ensuing infield turns, Mayer fended off Allmendinger to retain second while Almirola, van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top six. With van Gisbergen diving his way up to fourth place through Turn 7, Mosack fended off teammate Mayer through both the backstretch and frontstretch chicanes to lead the following lap while teammates Hill and Love battled for ninth place.
Then, as Almirola and Clements spun in Turn 7, Mayer overtook teammate Mosack through Turns 8 and 9 to assume the lead. Mayer would retain the lead for the following lap as teammate Mosack, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top five.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Mayer was leading by more than a second over teammate Mosack as Playoff contenders Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Hill followed suit in the top seven ahead of Bilicki, Austin Green and Love. Behind, Sammy Smith, Custer and Allgaier were scored in the top 15 along with Brandon Jones and DiBenedetto as 31 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Five laps later, Mayer continued to lead by more than a second over Allmendinger as van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith and Mosack followed suit in the top five. With Mayer, who came into the event scored below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, leading, van Gisbergen currently occupied the eighth and final transfer spot to the top-eight cutline by two points over Allgaier, who overtook Custer for 12th place.
Shortly after, the caution flew due to Thomas Annunziata driving his No. 35 NFPA Toyota entry head-on into the barriers entering Turn 1 due to a brake failure. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Mayer and including Playoff contenders Allmendinger, Hill, Kligerman, Allgaier, Custer and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by van Gisbergen remained on the track. In addition to van Gisbergen, Austin Green, Love, Preston Pardus and Nathan Byrd remained on the track.
The start of the ensuing restart period with 11 laps remaining featured van Gisbergen rocketing his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro away with the lead as the field fanned out entering the first turn. With van Gisbergen leading Love, Green, Mayer and Kligerman through the infield turns and back on the oval turns, the New Zealander retained the lead by a steady margin through the backstretch chicane as Kligerman battled and overtook Love for the runner-up spot.
With 10 laps remaining, several competitors including Mosack and Alfredo spun through the frontstretch chicane while more including Sammy Smith served an on-track stop-and-go penalty in the frontstretch. At the front, van Gisbergen retained the lead over a hard-charging Kligerman while Mayer carved his way up to third place. Kligerman would cut van Gisbergen’s deficit through the infield turns before the former retained the advantage for the remaining turns.
The following lap, Kligerman, who pitted for fresh tires during the previous caution period and is placed in a “must-win” situation to advance into the Playoff’s Round of 8, closed in to van Gisbergen’s rear bumper through the infield turns. Kligerman then made his move beneath van Gisbergen in Turn 7 to move his No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet Camaro into the lead and he would retain the top spot through the oval turns and the following set of chicanes as Mayer overtook van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot. Van Gisbergen, whose tires were beginning to wear out, would then yield third place to teammate Allmendinger through the infield turns during the following lap as Kligerman retained the lead over Mayer.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Kligerman kept his lead to three-tenths of a second over Mayer, with the latter keeping pace and remaining within a striking zone of the former while Allmendinger tried to close in on the two leaders. Behind, van Gisbergen trailed by more than two seconds in fourth place ahead of Hill while Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Bilicki and Love were racing in the top 10.
Then with four laps remaining, Mayer seized an opportunity and made his move beneath Kligerman entering the frontstretch chicane to assume the lead. With Mayer lightly bumping into Kligerman and retaining the lead through the chicane, Kligerman then executed a crossover move of his own as he made his move beneath Mayer and reassumed the lead through the frontstretch. With Kligerman fending off Mayer through the first three turns, Allmendinger joined the battle and van Gisbergen also tried to close in from fourth place. During the following lap, Mayer briefly lost his momentum through the oval’s backstretch, which allowed Allmendinger and van Gisbergen to challenge him for the runner-up spot. Mayer, however, defended his spot as Kligerman muscled away with the lead through every turn and straightaway.
For the following lap, Kligerman’s steady advantage grew to nine-tenths of a second over Mayer as Allmendinger and van Gisbergen followed suit by less than two seconds. Despite Mayer trimming the gap to half a second towards the frontstretch, Kligerman remained in the lead.
Then as Kligerman was inches away from crossing the start/finish line to take the white flag and start the final lap of the event, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime due to Leland Honeyman wrecking and getting buried beneath the tire barriers in Turn 3. During the caution period, some including Love pitted while the rest led by Kligerman remained on the track
The start of the first overtime attempt featured Kligerman and Mayer dueling for the lead through the first four turns before the former rubbed and fended his way back to the front to retain the lead. Kligerman would retain the lead for the following infield turns before Mayer pulled a crossover move beneath Kligerman in Turn 7 and assumed the lead entering the oval turns. Mayer would proceed to lead through the backstretch chicane while Kligerman was trying to fend off Allmendinger and van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Mayer remained as the leader by a second over Allmendinger and van Gisbergen, who overtook Kligerman for second and third. By then, van Gisbergen was tied with Love for the final transfer spot to the Round of 8. As Love was trying to gain a spot within the middle of the pack, Mayer retained the lead from the infield turns to the backstretch. With both Allmendinger and van Gisbergen unable to close in from behind, Mayer would cycle back to the frontstretch and weave his way through the chicane before crossing the finish line in first place and notching his third Xfinity checkered flag of the 2024 season.
With the victory, Mayer, who came into the Charlotte Roval event 13 points below the cutline after being disqualified due to his car failing to meet the height requirements during the post-race inspection process last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, notched his seventh career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division, his third of the season and his first since winning at Iowa Speedway in June. The victory was also the 16th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate, with the manufacturer racking its sixth consecutive win at the Charlotte Roval, and the 88th overall for JR Motorsports.
The second consecutive victory at the Charlotte Roval allowed Mayer and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team to automatically advance into the Round of 8, where the Wisconsin native continues his pursuit for his first Xfinity Series championship.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Man, it’s all thanks to the good Lord above,” Mayer said on the CW Network. “He’s blessed me with a lot of issues this year, learning moments. To come out here to the Charlotte Motor Speedway [Rova], go back to back [in wins] with a fast, fast car. To do it at home is something special. This No. 1 car was fast today. We certainly had to work for [the win] there. I knew that [passing in Turn 7] was my only shot if I got a good angle into that corner. [Kligerman] blocked the bottom [lane], which was good for me. It gave me a better angle up off the corner and this QPS Employment Chevrolet hooked up and we were gone from there. [It] Was something super special and now, I get to celebrate.”
As Mayer celebrated the race victory that enabled him to advance into the Round of 8, Jesse Love was also left smiling after he finished in 19th place, which was enough for him to claim the eighth and final spot to advance into the next round of the Playoffs by two points over rookie rival van Gisbergen, who ended up in third place. The result marks the second time where a driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet entry claimed the final berth into the Round of 8 while van Gisbergen’s championship run in his first full-time NASCAR campaign came to a bittersweet end.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[The ending was] Just stressful,” Love said. “[My team] were telling me I needed one more [spot] and then one more. I was like, ‘When is [the race] gonna end?’ At the end of the day, I got to be loyal to my guys and they busted their ass really hard, so I got to put a sack over my shoulder and man up and drive forward. Just proud of my whole Whelen No. 2 team. We’re good enough to go race for a championship and we just got to go show it in the next three weeks.”
“It is what it is,” van Gisbergen said. “It probably comes down to last week [at Talladega] having the dramas we had and the DNF there, so that’s probably it. I’m proud of the Kaulig Racing guys. We’ve had an amazing year, my first year in NASCAR. I’ve loved it. I’m happy, but I’m also not. I’d love to keep going [in the Playoffs]. [I] Did what I could.”
Compared to van Gisbergen, teammate AJ Allmendinger advanced into the Round of 8 by finishing in second place. Playoff contenders Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Justin Allgaier all advanced by finishing fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively, on the track as they joined Sammy Smith, who advanced by winning last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, for the Round of 8 battle.
Meanwhile, Kligerman did not transfer despite capping off his strong run in sixth place. Kligerman’s sixth-place result left the Connecticut native with mixed emotions and fighting off tears as he was initially within inches of both achieving his first elusive Xfinity victory and advancing into the Round of 8 during the event’s regulation period. Nonetheless, Kligerman remained humble and remained optimistic in pursuing his victory before he retires from NASCAR competition at this season’s conclusion.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I might have teared up when I thought we got it there with the white flag and the caution comes out and then had to refocus,” Kligerman said. “I thought I’d cut off Turn 7 enough, but [Mayer] somehow got below me and then, it was on from there. I said I want to cry. I’m not gonna cry, but I really love this game. I just really, really wanted that. It would have meant the world, but you know what? It meant the world to be in that position. Thank you to [owner] Scott Borchetta and everyone at Spiked Coolers. Everyone who made this possible. Big Machine Racing. I don’t know how to process this. It’s going to take a while, but just really thankful to have the opportunity. God, I love this game. I want to get a trophy.”
Ultimately, Kligerman and van Gisbergen join Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed as the bottom four competitors in the Playoff standings to not advance into the Round of 8.
There were 12 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 20 laps. In addition, 26 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Sam Mayer, 13 laps led
2. AJ Allmendinger, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Shane van Gisbergen, seven laps led
4. Austin Hill
5. Chandler Smith, one lap led
6. Parker Kligerman, 12 laps led
7. Justin Allgaier, six laps led, Stage 2 winner
8. Josh Bilicki, 10 laps led
9. Aric Almirola
10. Sammy Smith
11. Brandon Jones
12. Parker Retzlaff
13. Cole Custer
14. Alex Labbe
15. Jeb Burton
16. Anthony Alfredo
17. Ryan Sieg
18. Connor Mosack, five laps led
19. Jesse Love
20. Jeremy Clements
21. Preston Pardus
22. Matt DiBenedetto
23. Kyle Sieg
24. Dawson Cram
25. Nathan Byrd
26. Brad Perez
27. Dylan Lupton, one lap down
28. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident
29. Sage Karam – OUT, Brakes
30. Austin Green – OUT, Engine
31. Ryan Ellis, 14 laps down
32. Riley Herbst – OUT, Driveshaft
33. Blaine Perkins, 16 laps down
34. Thomas Annunziata – OUT, Accident
35. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident
36. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident
37. Ed Jones – OUT, Accident
38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident
*Bold indicates Playoff competitors
Playoff standings
1. Sam Mayer – Advanced
2. Sammy Smith – Advanced
3. Chandler Smith – Advanced
4. Austin Hill – Advanced
5. Cole Custer – Advanced
6. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced
7. Justin Allgaier – Advanced
8. Jesse Love – Advanced
9. Shane van Gisbergen – Eliminated
10. Sheldon Creed – Eliminated
11. Riley Herbst – Eliminated
12. Parker Kligerman – Eliminated
The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to commence at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Ambetter Health 302. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, October 19, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Carson Kvapil has received the call to be named a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor for JR Motorsports in 2025.
Kvapil, a 21-year-old, second-generation racer from Mooresville, North Carolina, is set to pilot the No. 1 Chevrolet entry, which is currently being driven by Sam Mayer who will join the newly formed Haas Factory Team next season. The entry will be sponsored by Bass Pro Shops as Kvapil will commence his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity circuit at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2025.
The news comes as Kvapil, the reigning two-time CARS Late Model Stock Tour champion who was also crowned the 2021 CARS Super Late Model Tour and 2020 Carolina Pro Late Model Series titles, is coming off a thrilling victory in the prestigious ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway this past weekend.
This season, Kvapil, who joined JR Motorsports to compete in Late Models in 2022, made his first eight career starts in the Xfinity Series while piloting JR Motorsports’ No. 88 “all-star” Chevrolet entry. After finishing an impressive fourth place in his Xfinity debut at Martinsville in early April, he notched a career-best runner-up result in his second start at Dover Motor Speedway in late April after being overtaken for both the lead and eventual victory during a second of two overtime attempts.
Since his first two Xfinity career starts, Kvapil has racked up an additional top-five run by finishing fifth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June before he finished 10th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. With his current average-finishing result being 11.5, he also led 63 laps during the span. Kvapil is scheduled to make his ninth and final Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
With his plans for the 2025 season set, Kvapil is set to compete alongside teammates Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith and newcomer Connor Zilisch, all of whom will occupy JR Motorsports’ four full-time stables next season. His crew chief for the 2025 Xfinity season ane additional partnerships for his entry have yet to be determined.
Carson Kvapil’s final Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season at Talladega is set to occur this Saturday, October 5, with a 4 p.m. ET broadcast start time on the CW Network.
Not even several rounds of adjustments to restore his radio communication issues with his team could dampen Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s bright smile and enthusiastic attitude as he capped off a wild night to his lone annual NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season with a seventh-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 20.
Earnhardt Jr., a two-time Xfinity Series champion and 15-time Most Popular Driver in the Cup Series from Kannapolis, North Carolina, rolled off the starting grid for the 2024 Food City 300 at Bristol in 13th place after he posted a qualifying lap at 119.365 mph in 16.075 seconds several hours prior to the main event.
At the event’s start, Earnhardt Jr. was hampered by radio issues that prevented him from communicating clearly with his crew chief Andrew Overstreet and spotter T.J. Majors. During the first caution period that flew past the opening lap, he made his first pit stop in an attempt to have his radio restored. Amid his first pit stop, however, he was then penalized for speeding on pit road as he restarted towards the tail end of the 38-car field. In addition, he was still mired with radio issues and not receiving concise feedback from his No. 88 JR Motorsports team.
For most of the event’s opening stage, Earnhardt Jr. was mired outside the top-20 mark on the track but remained on the lead lap category. Through another caution period that flew on Lap 51, he also swapped out his helmet with a new one to continue to have his radio communication with his pit crew restored. He would also receive new wiring harnesses and a fresh pair of glasses to go along with his radio adjustments. After proceeding to finish 20th at the conclusion of the first stage period, Earnhardt Jr., who had pitted during the previous caution period, remained on the track and restarted inside the top-10 mark when the second stage period commenced on Lap 95. By then, his radio communication with his crew was restored after four attempts.
Throughout the second stage period that was mired with two caution periods, Earnhardt Jr. kept his No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro entry racing inside the top-10 mark and against a bevy of Xfinity Series regulars, future stars and fellow JR Motorsports competitors. Racing as high as fourth place, Earnhardt Jr. would settle in ninth place at the second stage’s conclusion and collect two stage points.
Restarting in the top 10 at the start of the final stage period with 121 laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr., who was beginning to have his radio communication issues returning, muscled his way up to sixth place during the event’s final restart period with 94 laps remaining. With the laps dwindling, he made several repeated launches in an attempt to overtake Ryan Truex for fifth place, but the latter withstood his ground. Despite being overtaken by teammate Brandon Jones with approximately 20 laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr. would muscle his car to a seventh-place result when the checkered flag flew.
With the result, Earnhardt Jr. notched his 96th top-10 result in his 147th Xfinity Series career start, his fourth since becoming a semi-retired competitor in 2018 and his first at Bristol in the Xfinity circuit since he finished fourth during the spring Bristol race in 2011. The seventh-place result marked the eighth top-10 finish in 12 races this season for JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro team led by crew chief Andrew Overstreet. The team was also coming off its first victory of the season with newcomer Connor Zilisch winning in his series’ debut a week ago at Watkins Glen International.
Even after his eventful night at Bristol that involved rallying from the rear of the field to notch a top-10 run, the biggest question was did Dale Earnhardt Jr. have fun in his lone Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season?
“Yes,” Earnhardt Jr. said on CW Network. “Yes, I did.”
“I was worried because [the race] was heading in the wrong direction there quickly,” Earnhardt Jr. added. “You do your best and we tried not to lose any laps, tried to figure out how to get it right. We finally got to where I could hear [spotter] TJ [Majors]. The balance of the car was really good.”
During his post-race interview, Earnhardt Jr., who was greeted by Ryan Truex and rookie Shane van Gisbergen on pit road, expressed the excitement he felt while being competitive and racing both toward the front and against the current field of Xfinity Series regulars.
“I’m thrilled [to] come out here, be competitive,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Man, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to be competitive. I can come out here for another 20 years, but eventually, these young kids, they just get to be so good. It’s fun to be able to run with them tonight.”
Currently, Earnhardt Jr., who is set to join TNT Sports’ broadcasting team for NASCAR coverage in 2025, is not scheduled to make any Xfinity Series starts for next season, with the Hall of Famer solidifying his decision earlier in the day to focus more with his broadcasting and JR Motorsports’ ownership commitments. While he admits that he will miss the desire to drive for next season, he did leave all options for another race return for the 2026 season on the table.
“Maybe I’ll get back in this [No. 88 car],” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’ll miss it and probably end up signing up for something in [2026].”
With Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 2024 NASCAR season as a competitor complete, his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry will return to action next weekend at Kansas Speedway for the Kansas Lottery 300 with Connor Zilisch returning behind the wheel for his second Xfinity Series career start. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, September 28, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
