Michael Annett announced his decision to retire from full-time NASCAR competition following the 2021 racing season.
The 35-year-old Annett from Des Moines, Iowa, currently competes as driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Camping World Truck Series, Xfinity Series and Cup Series), Annett is also in his 13th season as a full-time competitor, having made 431 career starts.
“I’m just so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had,” Annett said. “Being able to drive racecars for a living is honestly a dream come true for me. It’s been a privilege to work with some great teams and alongside some of the most talented folks in the garage. None of this would have been possible without the support of my partners, and I am happy to call them life-long friends. It’s those relationships and friendships that are the most rewarding.”
Annett made his inaugural presence in NASCAR in 2008, where he competed in eight Truck Series events for Bill Davis Racing and one Xfinity event for Germain Racing. Since competing as a full-time competitor for Germain Racing in the 2009 Xfinity season, Annett has accumulated a single victory in his career, which occurred at Daytona International Speedway in February 2019. He has also racked up a pole, 19 top-five results, 93 top-10 results, nearly 200 laps led, an average-finishing result of 15.8 and three Playoff appearances through 316 Xfinity career starts, all while competing for teams that include Germain Racing, Rusty Wallace Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports and JR Motorsports. His best result in the Xfinity standings is fifth place, which occurred in 2012.
Making nine career starts in the Truck Series, Annett achieved one top-five result and two top-10 results. During a three-year span in the Cup Series with HScott Motorsports (2014-16), he recorded five top-20 results and 13 laps led.
Annett, who is in his fifth season with JR Motorsports in the Xfinity circuit, is ranked in 17th place in the standings and has achieved a single top-five result along with eight top-10 results through 21 of 29 starts. He has not competed in NASCAR since September at Richmond Raceway as he recovers from a leg injury that he first sustained and caused him to not participate in the Xfinity event at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July. Since Atlanta, Annett has not competed in seven of the previous 11 events while Josh Berry and Chase Elliott took turns piloting Annett’s No. 1 JRM Chevrolet. Berry managed to secure a victory with the No. 1 team at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in late September.
With the 2021 season marking Annett’s final full-time season as a NASCAR competitor, his return to on-track competition is yet to be determined as Berry is scheduled to fill in the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet for the upcoming Xfinity Series event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, which will occur on Saturday, October 9, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
The streak of different winners at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series was extended to a 12th season as Kyle Busch rallied from an early spin to win the Henry 180 on Saturday, July 3, after leading the final five laps of the event. The victory also extended Busch’s winning streak in this year’s Xfinity Series season to four wins in four starts along with achieving his 101st series victory.
Qualifying occurred on Saturday, July 3, with rookie Ty Gibbs recording his first Xfinity career pole after logging a pole-winning lap at 107.532 mph. Joining him on the front row was Austin Cindric, winner of last weekend’s event at Pocono Raceway and the reigning Xfinity winner at Road America.
Prior to the event, Noah Gragson (engine change) and Riley Herbst (backup car) dropped to the rear of the field along with Brett Moffit, Natalie Decker and Ryan Ellis (unapproved adjustments).
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, the entire field battled dead even entering the first turn until at the front, Gibbs was able to squeak ahead of Cindric and AJ Allmendinger through the Turn 2 straightaway and past the third right-hand turn.
Through Turn 3, the Turn 4 straightaway and the fifth left-hand turn, Gibbs retained the lead while Allmendinger bolted his way into the runner-up spot over Cindric, who was in front of Daniel Hemric, Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier and Jeb Burton. Behind, Kaz Grala went wide in Turn 5 after locking up his brakes.
From the left-hand Turn 5 through the right-hand Turn 14, the field settled in a competitive, single-file line with Gibbs still leading Allmendinger and Cindric.
When the entire field returned to the start/finish line following 14 turns, Gibbs led the first lap followed by Allmendinger, Cindric, Busch and Hemric.
After leading the first two laps, Gibbs was overtaken by Allmendinger, a former winner at Road America.
On the fifth lap, the first caution of the event was displayed when Spencer Pumpelly, driving the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports, spun in Turn 14 following a bump from Brandon Brown and got stuck in the gravel trap.
Under caution, multiple names like Kyle Busch, Gibbs, Hemric, Justin Allgaier, Andy Lally, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, Ryan Sieg, Preston Pardus, Brett Moffitt, Myatt Snider, Josh Williams and Alex Labbe pitted for four fresh tires.
The race restarted on the eighth lap as Allmendinger retained the lead over Cindric, Jeb Burton, Haley, Gragson, Annett and the field through the first three turns. Then in Turn 3, Kyle Busch spun into the grass following contact from Allgaier, though he was able to continue without any serious damage. Not long after, Gibbs was assessed a penalty for changing lanes during the restart.
With the field continuing to battle for positioning around every turn, Allmendinger cruised to the first stage victory on Lap 10 as he claimed his fourth stage victory of the season. Cindric settled in second followed by Jeb Burton, Haley and Gragson. Gibbs crossed the start/finish line in sixth, but he was discredited from earning any stage points as a result of his restart violation. The move promoted Hemric to sixth followed by Allgaier, Annett, Josh Bilicki and Riley Herbst.
Under the stage break, most of the leaders led by Allmendinger pitted while others led by Cindric and Gragson remained on the track.
The second stage started on Lap 12 with Cindric and Gragson restarting on the front row. At the start, Cindric peaked ahead briefly, but Hemric made a move to the outside of Cindric’s No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang to take the lead through the first turn. Through the first three corners, the Turn 4 straightaway and the left-hand Turn 5, Hemric and his No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra remained out in front while the field jumbled up while battling for positioning.
Shortly after, the caution returned for a hard accident involving Sam Mayer and Preston Pardus.
When the race restarted on Lap 15, Allgaier took over the top spot over Hemric, where he led the following two laps. Then, Allmendinger moved back to the front of the field.
With a series of battles occurring around the road course, Allmendinger, like he did in the first stage, was able to pull away and win the second stage on Lap 20, thus claiming his fifth stage victory of the season. Allgaier settled in second followed by Hemric, Haley, Busch, Jones, Gibbs, Cindric, Harrison Burton and Herbst. Moments before he crossed the start/finish line, Busch went off the track through the straightaway between Turns 11 and 12 as he kicked up dirt before continuing without serious damage.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted as Allgaier inherited the lead. Following the pit stops, Allmendinger was penalized due to his crew members jumping over the pit wall early, thus sending Allmendinger to the rear of the field.
With 23 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allgaier and Kyle Busch restarted on the front row. At the start, Allgaier was able to prevail over Busch to remain as the leader. With the field fanning out through the first two turns, Allgaier led Busch through the first three turns, the Turn 4 straightaway, the left-hand turns in 5 and 6, a brief straightaway in Turns 7 and 8, a long right-hand turn in 9 and 10, a long straightaway from Turn 10 to 12 and a pair of turns in 13 and 14 before returning to the start/finish line.
The following lap, Allgaier continued to lead, but he had Cindric closing in for the lead entering the first turn after Cindric overtook Kyle Busch for the runner-up spot. Then, through the second turn, Cindric made a move to the right of Allgaier’s No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro. Following a side-by-side battle through the straightaway and under the Sargento bridge, Cindric returned to the lead.
With 20 laps remaining, Cindric was leading by more than four seconds over Gragson, with Allgaier being pressed by Busch and Gibbs for more. Haley was in sixth followed by Herbst, Hemric, Jones and Jeb Burton.
A lap later, the caution returned for a harrowing accident involving Spencer Pumpelly, who lost his brakes entering the first turn, spun through the gravel trap and plowed into the tire barriers, where the rear end of his No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro ended up on top of the barriers.
Under caution, nearly the entire field pitted while names like Brandon Jones, teammate Harrison Burton, Harvick, Josh Bilicki and Cody Ware remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hemric was penalized due to a crew member jumping over the pit wall too soon.
With 16 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Jones retained the lead over teammate Harrison Burton, Harvick and the field through the first three turns, the Turn 3 and 4 straightaway and through the left-hand fifth turn.
The following lap and after navigating his way through the 14-turn circuit, Jones continued to lead followed by Harrison Burton and Cindric, who started to close in on Burton for more. After leading through the first four turns,, Jones locked up the brakes entering Turn 5 in front of Cindric, forcing Cindric to crossover to the left of Harrison Burton and Jones through the fifth turn. After going three wide with Burton and Jones, Cindric reassumed the lead entering the sixth turn.
With Cindric out in front, Harrison Burton remained in second place. A lap later, Allgaier and Gibbs moved up the leaderboard followed by Gragson while Jones slipped back to sixth. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in eighth in front of Allmendinger.
Then, through Turns 12 and 13, Gibbs moved up into second place followed by Allgaier and Gragson while Harrison Burton fell back to fifth. Behind, Kyle Busch and Allmendinger moved up to sixth and seventh.
A few laps later, Jeb Burton and Brandon Jones spun in Turn 14, but the race remained under green as both plummeted on the leaderboard.
With 11 laps remaining, Harrison Burton brought his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra to pit road for service. Shortly after, the caution returned when Gibbs, who was running in the runner-up spot, came to a stop under the Corvette bridge in Turn 6 following a transmission failure to his No. 81 Monster Energy Toyota Supra, an issue that eliminated him from race-winning contention.
Under caution, some led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Gragson remained on the track.
Down to the final eight laps, the race restarted under green as Gragson and Allmendinger started on the front row. At the start, Gragson jumped ahead with the lead followed by Kaulig Racing’s Haley and Allmendinger through the first turn.
Then, the caution returned when Snider made contact with Harrison Burton, spun and made light contact with the wall through the Turn 2 straightaway. Snider’s incident resulted in ensuing chaos behind as Cody Ware, Kris Wright and Natalie Decker wrecked and knocked down a number of advertising billboards through the Turn 2 straight In the midst of the incident, Cindric and Allgaier sustained damage to their respective machines, forcing both to pit under caution.
With six laps remaining, the race restarted as Gragson and Haley started on the front row. At the start, Gragson received a bump from Allmendinger to retain the lead over Haley through the first three turns and through Turn 5. With Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro leading, Kyle Busch bolted his No. 54 M&M’s Ice Cream Toyota Supra into third place entering Turn 3 as he then challenged Allmendinger for the runner-up spot through Turns 5 and 6.
Then in Turn 8, Allmendinger made his move beneath Gragson and made contact with Gragson before he moved his No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet Camaro back into the lead followed by Busch. Gragson, meanwhile, fell back to third in front of Haley, Harrison Burton and the field.
The following lap and with five laps remaining, Busch made his move beneath Allmendinger entering the first turn and made contact with Allmendinger, which gave Busch the advantage through the Turn 2 straightaway and Turn 3 to take the lead. From there, Busch started to pull away from the field.
When the field returned to the start/finish line, Busch was leading by nearly a second over Allmendinger, with Gragson, Michael Annett and Haley in the top five. Jones and Harrison Burton followed in pursuit along with Harvick, Hemric and Herbst. Way behind the leaders, a multi-car wreck occurred in Turn 12, involving Ryan Sieg, Josh Bilicki, Ryan Ellis and Brett Moffitt. Despite the incident and the damage, the race proceeded under green.
The following lap, Jones went off the track in Turn 1, but the race remained under green. By then, Busch extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Allmendinger.
Down to the final two laps of the event, Busch remained out in front by more than two seconds over Allmendinger, who had Annett and Hemric closing in for the runner-up spot. Behind, Harrison Burton challenged Gragson for fifth place while Harvick was in seventh.
When the final lap of the event started, Busch was the leader by more than three seconds. Behind, Annett and Hemric were in second and third after both passed Allmendinger, who was struggling with grip, through Turns 13 and 14. Not long after, Hemric moved into the runner-up spot in Turn 3.
Back out in front, Busch continued to set sail with a comfortable advantage. With no pressure occurring in front of him and behind, Busch was able to navigate his way through the 14-turn circuit and climb up the road hill from Turn 14 to streak across the finish line and take the checkered flag for the win.
With his victory, Busch is four-for-four in this year’s Xfinity Series season as he claimed his first triumph at Road America and extended his all-time lead in Xfinity Series victories to 101. He also recorded the first Xfinity win for crew chief Mark McFarland, with McFarland and Joe Gibbs Racing’s ARCA team assisting Busch’s efforts to the Xfinity win.
With his Xfinity Series plans for the future uncertain now that he has achieved 100+ victories, Busch is scheduled to run his fifth and final series event of the season next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“Obviously, tires, that was the saving grace for us,” Busch said on NBC. “We had tires left over. [Allmendinger] didn’t. When we came in to put them tires on, I wasn’t sure we were gonna be able to get through that many cars, but man, I don’t know what happened the last couple restarts. Just melee at the start going down the straight. I couldn’t see what was happening. Then, there was a wreck between [Turns] 2 and 3, and was just fortunate to be on the right side in order to get by that stuff and get through that stuff without too much damage to our race car. Obviously, it was neat to have the opportunity to run this race today, get ready for tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow will look a lot like this day.”
Hemric settled in the runner-up spot for the ninth time in his Xfinity Series career while Annett picked up his first top-five result of the season with a strong third-place effort.
Allmendinger, who was aiming to become the first repeat winner in the Xfinity Series event at Road America, settled in fourth place while Harrison Burton finished in the top five.
Harvick, Herbst, Cindric, Gragson and Haley finished in the top 10.
Allgaier finished 12th, Jeb Burton came home in 14th, Kaz Grala settled in 18th in front of Brandon Jones and Snider ended up in 23rd behind Ryan Sieg. Ty Gibbs, following his late transmission issue, ended up 33rd.
There were 12 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 11 laps.
With an eighth-place run, Austin Cindric continues to lead the regular-season standings by 89 points over AJ Allmendinger as third-place Daniel Hemric trails by 105 points.
Results.
1. Kyle Busch, five laps led
2. Daniel Hemric, three laps led
3. Michael Annett
4. AJ Allmendinger, 12 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner
5. Harrison Burton
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Riley Herbst
8. Austin Cindric, 10 laps led
9. Noah Gragson, four laps led
10. Justin Haley
11. Brandon Brown
12. Justin Allgaier, five laps led
13. Andy Lally
14. Jeb Burton
15. Tommy Joe Martins
16. Preston Pardus
17. Josh Williams
18. Kaz Grala
19. Brandon Jones, four laps led
20. Timmy Hill
21. Alex Labbe
22. Ryan Sieg
23. Myatt Snider
24. Cody Ware
25. Kris Wright
26. Stephen Leicht
27. Landon Cassill
28. Jeremy Clements, one lap down
29. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident
30. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident
31. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident
32. Natalie Decker – OUT, Accident
33. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Transmission, two laps led
34. Jade Buford – OUT, Suspension
35. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident
36. Spencer Pumpelly – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway. The event will occur on Saturday, July 10, at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
A significant milestone start is in the making for Michael Annett, driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Phoenix Raceway, Annett will achieve 300 starts in the Xfinity circuit.
A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Annett made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the 2008 season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. Driving the No. 03 Toyota Camry for Germain Racing, Annett started 29th and finished 36th in his series debut.
The following season, Annett entered the Xfinity Series as a full-time competitor in Germain Racing’s No. 15 Toyota Camry and as a rookie contender. Throughout the 35-race schedule, Annett achieved a season-best sixth-place result at Auto Club Speedway in October, a total of four top-10 results and a 10th-place result in the final standings.
Throughout the 2010 season, Annett only managed two top-10 results (ninth at Nashville Superspeedway in April and seventh at Iowa Speedway in July) and a 13th-place result in the final standings.
After two seasons with Germain Racing, Annett joined forces with Rusty Wallace Racing for the 2011 season as he piloted the No. 62 Toyota Camry. Throughout the 34-race schedule, Annett achieved two season-best sixth-place results, a total of seven top-10 results and a ninth-place result in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 100 career starts in the Xfinity Series.
When Rusty Wallace Racing shut down due to a lack of sponsorship, Annett joined Richard Petty Motorsports and drove the iconic No. 43 Ford Mustang. While Annett did not record a single victory throughout the season, he achieved his first six top-five career results, including a pair of career-best third-place results (Daytona International Speedway in July and Dover International Speedway in September). He also took home the Dash 4 Cash bonus following a sixth-place result at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July and a total of 17 top-10 results. When the 2012 Xfinity season concluded, he ended up in a career-best fifth place in the final standings.
During the 2013 Xfinity Series season-opening event at Daytona, Annett was involved in a late multi-car accident and ended up dislocating and fracturing his sternum. He ended up missing the following eight Xfinity events as he recovered while Aric Almirola and Reed Sorenson filled in as interim competitors. Returning for the final 24 events of the 2013 season, Annett managed to earn a season-best fifth-place result at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, a total of four top-10 results and a 15th-place result in the final standings.
After spending the following three seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series, where he competed for Tommy Baldwin Racing and HScott Motorsports, Annett returned to the Xfinity Series as he teamed up with JR Motorsports as driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro. Throughout the 2017 season, Annett notched a career-best runner-up result at Road America in August. He also achieved a total of seven top-10 results and qualified for the Playoffs based on points before settling in ninth place in the final standings.
Returning for a second full-time season with JRM in the Xfinity Series, Annett struggled with on-track consistency as he only managed a total of three top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule, including a season-best seventh-place result at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. He ended up missing the Playoffs and finishing in 14th place in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 200 Xfinity career starts.
Despite the struggles from the previous season, Annett remained at JRM for a third full-time season in the Xfinity Series. Only this time, he sported the number 1 alongside his Chevrolet Camaro. In his first race in the No. 1 car, Annett claimed his first elusive victory in NASCAR in the season-opening event at Daytona after leading a race-high 45 of 120 laps and holding off teammate Justin Allgaier in the final laps. Annett’s first career victory in the Xfinity circuit came in career start No. 230.
Along with his maiden victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the 2019 season was a successful one for Annett, who went on to achieve a total of six top-five results and 19 top-10 results. He also made the Playoffs for the second time in three seasons and remained in title contention through the Round of 8, where he was eliminated prior to the finale. Nonetheless, he concluded the season in ninth place in the final standings.
Annett opened the 2020 Xfinity season with an 11th-place result in the season-opening event at Daytona after being involved in a multi-car wreck on the final lap. While he did not record a single victory throughout the season, he achieved four top-five results and a career-high 22 top-10 results. He made the Playoffs for the third time in four seasons, but was eliminated from title contention early. He settled in ninth place in the final standings for a second consecutive season and for the third time in four seasons.
This season, which marks his fifth with JRM, Annett has recorded results of 36th, 15th, 13th and sixth through the first four Xfinity scheduled races. He and his No. 1 JRM Chevrolet team are ranked in 11th place in the regular-season standings.
Through 299 previous starts in the Xfinity level, Annett has achieved a victory, a pole, 18 top-five results, 86 top-10 results and an average result of 15.8.
Catch Annett’s milestone start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 13, at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Trackhouse Racing Team announced that Travis Mack will be serving as crew chief for the team’s No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team and driver Daniel Suarez for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The announcement comes approximately a week after the 2020 NASCAR season concluded, where Mack is coming off his second full-time season as an Xfinity Series crew chief for Michael Annett and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team.
Mack, a native from Louisville, Kentucky, joins Trackhouse Racing with an extensive resume of working on race cars and for racing teams. Starting his career working as a car chief for 10-time ARCA Racing Series champion Frank Kimmel in the early 2000s, Mack joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2005 and worked as a shock specialist. From there, his career blossomed as he was also a member of Hendrick Motorsports’ Nos. 24 and 88 teams before becoming a car chief for JR Motorsports and HMS in 2012-2017, working with names like Regan Smith, Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Mack made his first two appearances as a crew chief late in the 2017 Cup Series season for Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Chevrolet SS team before being announced as a full-time crew chief for Kasey Kahne and the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team for the 2018 Cup season. Midway through the 2018 season, Mack returned to JR Motorsports to serve as crew chief for Michael Annett and the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro team.
In February 2019, Mack achieved his first win as a crew chief when Annett also achieved his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Daytona International Speedway in February after leading a race-high/final 45 laps of the race. They went on to achieve a total of six top-five results and 19 top-10 results along with a pole as they made the Playoffs, where they concluded the season in ninth place in the final standings.
This past season, Annett and Mack achieved four top-five results and 22 top-10 results as they made the Playoffs before concluding the season in ninth place in the final standings.
The move to Trackhouse Racing will mark Mack’s return to the Cup Series as a crew chief since June 2018 when he was with Kasey Kahne and Leavine Family Racing.
Trackhouse Racing Team is a newly formed NASCAR Cup Series team created by Justin Marks, an entrepreneur and former competitor, that announced its entrance into the sport in October. During the announcement, the team revealed that Daniel Suarez, the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and Cup Series veteran from Monterrey, Mexico, will be serving as their driver for the 2021 season. The team will be technically aligned with Richard Childress Racing and operate in Welcome, North Carolina. The team is also guaranteed an entry for every Cup race next season after being leased a charter from Spire Motorsports.
Catch Mack’s return and Trackhouse Racing Team’s debut at Daytona International Speedway for the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 on February 14, 2021.
For a second consecutive night in the desert, a late caution changed the complexity and initial outcome of a race. Like last night’s NASCAR Truck Series finale, pitting for fresh tires was the key element that determined the overall victor. On this occasion, Austin Cindric used four fresh tires to his advantage to overtake Justin Allgaier and Noah Gragson in overtime to win the season-finale Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 at Phoenix Raceway and clinch the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
In the final laps of the finale, Cindric had an advantage of nearly a second over title contender Justin Allgaier evaporated when Chase Briscoe, another title contender, spun and drew a caution. The deciding factor was under caution when Cindric opted to pit for four fresh tires while Allgaier, who pitted earlier, remained on the track. In overtime, Cindric was able to overtake Allgaier and Noah Gragson in a two-lap dash to claim his sixth checkered flag of the season. Above all, he was able to come back around and celebrate on the frontstretch as NASCAR’s 30th Xfinity champion.
The starting lineup was based on four stats: current owner’s standings, driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, the four championship finale contenders started first through fourth, led by pole-sitter Justin Allgaier and followed by Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric and Justin Haley.
For the finale, Haley received a new pit crew, the group that pits Bubba Wallace’s car for Richard Petty Motorsports, due to a crew member of his original team being tested positive for COVID-19.
When the final race of the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season commenced under green, Allgaier rocketed away with the lead. Behind, Cindric and Briscoe battled for the runner-up spot with most of the leaders diving down the dogleg turn and entering Turns 1 and 2. When the field cycled back to the start/finish line, Allgaier was able to lead the first lap as he retained the lead over Cindric and Briscoe while Haley was in fifth behind Noah Gragson.
The first caution of the race flew the following lap when Jeffrey Earnhardt wrecked on the backstretch and sustained damage to the rear end of his No. 0 Chevrolet Camaro.
The race restarted under green on the sixth lap. At the start, Cindric made a low dive three-wide move on the dogleg turn beneath Allgaier and Briscoe. In Turns 1 and 2, however, Allgaier made a crossover move on Cindric, but Briscoe came out on top on the outside lane entering the backstretch to take over the lead. Cindric moved into the runner-up spot while Allgaier, who led the first seven laps, was shuffled back to third.
By Lap 10, Briscoe maintained an advantage less than two-tenths of a second over Cindric with Allgaier in third and Haley in seventh. Gragson was in fourth followed by Ross Chastain and Harrison Burton while Michael Annett, Riley Herbst and Brandon Jones were in the top 10.
Nearly five laps later, Cindric mounted a challenge for the lead on Briscoe. Despite Cindric making several challenges for the lead and Briscoe making contact with the Turn 3 outside wall on Lap 17, Briscoe maintained his narrow advantage over Cindric’s No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang.
When the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Briscoe was still at the front of the pack and the championship battle over Cindric and Allgaier with Haley mired back in seventh. Gragson, Chastain, Harrison Burton, Annett, Herbst and Brandon Jones were still running in the top 10. At the time of caution, Daniel Hemric made an unscheduled pit stop to diagnose a mechanical issue to his No. 8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet Camaro. Hemric’s crew eventually pushed the car back to the garage due to a carburetor issue.
Under the competition caution, few pitted while the rest, including the final four title contenders, remained on the track.
When the race resumed under green on Lap 26, Allgaier made a low dive through the dogleg turn in an effort for the lead, but Briscoe prevailed entering the backstretch. While Briscoe continued to lead, Cindric battled Allgaier for second while Chastain, Gragson and Haley battled for spots in the top five.
A lap later, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 2 that involved C.J. McLaughlin, Donald Theetge, J.J. Yeley and Matt Mills.
The race restarted under green on Lap 34 with Briscoe and Allgaier on the front row followed by Cindric and Gragson. At the start, Briscoe and Allgaier battled dead even while diving low on the dogleg before Briscoe prevailed on the backstretch.
When the field returned back to the start/finish line, Briscoe continued to lead followed by Allgaier and Cindric, both of whom were closing in for the lead. Gragson retained fourth place over Kaulig Racing’s Chastain and Haley while Annett, Harrison Burton, Herbst and Brandon Jones were in the top 10.
At the front, the battle for the lead continued to ignite between Briscoe and Allgaier with Cindric lurking behind. Though Allgaier had a run beneath Briscoe for the lead, Briscoe mounted a run on the outside lane through Turns 1 and 2 and entering the backstretch to maintain his narrow advantage.
With less than five laps remaining in the first stage, Cindric moved into second place over Allgaier. He went on to challenge Briscoe for the lead.
On the final lap of the first stage, Cindric, who continued to close in on Briscoe’s No. 98 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang, gained a run beneath Briscoe through the backstretch. They split the lapped car of Jesse Iwuji entering Turn 3 before Briscoe gained a run on the outside lane in Turn 4 and edged Cindric to claim the first stage on Lap 45 and for his 13th stage victory of the season, the most recorded by an Xfinity competitor this season. Allgaier settled in third followed by Gragson, Chastain, Annett, Haley, Harrison Burton, Herbst and Brandon Jones.
Under the stage break, nearly all of the leaders pitted and Allgaier emerged with the lead following a four-tire pit stop and exiting in first place over Gragson, Briscoe, Cindric and Chastain. Following the pit stops, Herbst was sent to the rear of the field due to improper fueling. At the front, however, Tommy Joe Martins emerged with the lead after remaining on the track.
The second stage started on Lap 53 with Martins and Allgaier on the front row. At the start, Briscoe made a low dive to the dogleg and Allgaier charged ahead on the outside lane while Martins was shuffled back. Allgaier led the following lap by a nose over Briscoe, who challenged Allgaier for the lead with the latter prevailing. Behind, Gragson moved into third place over Cindric while Annett was in fifth. Haley was in sixth ahead of teammate Chastain, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton and Ryan Sieg.
By Lap 60, Allgaier continued to lead the race and the title standings by more than a second over teammate Gragson. Cindric, the second-highest title contender on the track, was in third place followed by Briscoe, who slipped back and had Annett closing in for position. Haley, racing in his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro, was still mired in sixth place in front of Harrison Burton.
Five laps later, Allgaier stabilized his advantage by more than a second over Cindric, who overtook Gragson for the runner-up spot. Briscoe remained in fourth place, trailing the lead by more than two seconds, while Annett was in fifth. Haley fell back to seventh behind Harrison Burton while Brandon Jones, Sieg and Jeremy Clements were in the top 10.
By Lap 70, Allgaier’s advantage decreased to less than two-tenths of a second over Cindric while Briscoe moved back into third place following a dive-bomb move on Gragson entering Turn 2 for position that nearly resulted with Briscoe making contact with the outside wall. Earlier, Chastain made an unscheduled pit stop under green.
Five laps later and while Cindric and Allgaier were engaged in a tight battle for the lead, the caution returned due to smoke and possible fluid coming out of Tommy Joe Martins’ car.
Another five laps later, the race restarted under green with JR Motorsports’ teammates Allgaier and Gragson on the front row. At the start, Allgaier pulled away and retained the lead. Entering Turn 2, Cindric moved into second and Briscoe advanced into third followed by Jones while Gragson slipped back to fifth.
On Lap 83, Cindric prevailed and led for the first time after emerging out in front of Allgaier with Briscoe lurking behind. By then, Sieg made contact with the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2.
With the laps in the second stage winding down, Cindric stabilized his advantage by half a second over Allgaier with Briscoe, Jones and Gragson in the top five. Annett and Harrison Burton were in sixth and seventh while Haley was mired back in eighth. Clements and Myatt Snider rounded out the top 10.
At the start of the final lap of the second stage, Cindric increased his advantage to less than a second over Allgaier with Briscoe closing in for more.
With a number of battles occurring behind, Cindric was able to come back to the start/finish line and win the second stage on Lap 90 for his 11th stage victory of the season. Allgaier held off Briscoe and Brandon Jones for second with teammate Gragson in fifth. Annett, Haley, Harrison Burton, Clements and Snider settled in the top 10. By then, Chastain, who was scored in 24th place and a lap behind, received the free pass to return to the lead lap.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Brandon Jones emerged with the lead following the pit stops. Briscoe exited ahead of Cindric, Allgaier and Gragson with Haley in sixth.
With 102 laps remaining, the final stage started with Jones and Allgaier on the front row followed by Gragson, Briscoe, Mason Diaz and Cindric. At the start, Allgaier and Jones made a low dive down the dogleg before Allgaier prevailed through Turns 1 and 2 and entering the backstretch.
The following lap, Briscoe passed Gragson for third with Cindric and Haley joining the party. At the front, Allgaier was ahead by less than half a second over Jones. Shortly after, Cindric overtook Briscoe for position with Haley mired between the two competitors.
With 95 laps remaining, the final four title contenders were battling in the top six with Allgaier leading by more than a second over Brandon Jones, who started to have Cindric close in for position. Briscoe was in fourth followed by Gragson while Haley was in sixth ahead of Annett, Harrison Burton, Snider and Chastain.
Five laps later, with 90 laps remaining, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second, but Cindric started to close in as he moved into the runner-up spot. Briscoe remained in fourth place behind Jones while Haley continued to battle Gragson for fifth.
Another five laps later, with 85 laps remaining, Allgaier’s advantage decreased to less than half a second with his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro dealing with loose conditions. That all but gave Cindric the time needed to close in back for the lead in the overall race and the championship.
With 80 laps remaining and with the leaders surrounded by lapped traffic, Cindric narrowed the deficit to three-tenths of a second to Allgaier, who continued to lead with a title in sight. Behind, Briscoe went wide entering Turn 4, which allowed Gragson, Haley and Harrison Burton to close in on him for fourth place.
Ten laps later, with 70 laps remaining, Cindric reassumed the lead in the race and the championship battle over Allgaier as Brandon Jones started to close in the battle for the win in the finale.
Another 10 laps later, with 60 laps remaining, Cindric stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Brandon Jones with Allgaier back in third place. Briscoe and Haley were in fourth and fifth while Harrison Burton, Chastain, Gragson, Annett and Snider were in the top 10. Herbst, who was a lap behind the field earlier, rallied back in 11th ahead of Clements, Brett Moffitt, Josh Williams and Bayley Currey.
Down to the final 50 laps of the race, Cindric continued to lead, but he had Jones, who won at Phoenix in March and racing in his No. 19 Toyota Service Centers Toyota Supra, close in and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic. Behind, Allgaier, who was in third place, radioed concerns about a right-front tire going down, but he continued to run on the track and ahead of Briscoe. Haley, meanwhile, was in sixth in between Harrison Burton and Chastain.
With 45 laps remaining, Briscoe overtook Allgaier for third place while Cindric continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Brandon Jones. Haley was still in sixth.
With approximately 40 laps remaining, pit stops under green commenced as Allgaier made the turn to pit road followed by Harrison Burton and teammate Riley Herbst. Not long after, Haley pitted along with leader Cindric, Briscoe, Jones and Snider, who was then penalized for speeding on pit road.
With less than 35 laps remaining, Chastain, who still needed to pit and who was making his final full-time start with Kaulig Racing, was the leader followed by Gragson, Annett and Josh Williams while Cindric was in fifth place. Allgaier was back in eighth, a lap behind, while Briscoe and Haley were in 10th and 13th.
Five laps later, the caution returned when Joe Graf Jr. made contact with the outside wall in Turn 3. The incident occurred in front of Allgaier, who was battling Jones for position. At the time of caution, Chastain was still leading and among a handful of competitors who had yet to pit. Cindric and Allgaier were on the lead lap while Briscoe was awarded the free pass to return on the lead lap after being scored a lap behind. Haley, meanwhile, was a lap behind the leaders.
Under caution, Allgaier pitted along with teammate Annett and Chastain while Cindric and Jones remained on the track. Briscoe also pitted for adjustment, not for tires. In addition, Haley was among a number of competitors who took the wave around and returned on the lead lap in eighth place with Briscoe in sixth, Allgaier in fifth on fresh tires and Cindric the leader over Brandon Jones and Chastain.
With 23 laps remaining and 10 competitors on the lead lap, the race restarted under green with Cindric and Chastain on the front row followed by Jones and Allgaier. At the start, Chastain received a boost from Allgaier inside the dogleg turn to take the lead. Entering the backstretch, however, Cindric reassumed the lead with Allgaier following behind.
Shortly after, Allgaier mounted a challenge for the lead on fresh tires, but Cindric continued to maintain his position at the front with Chastain shuffled back to third.
With 20 laps remaining, Cindric was out in front by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier, with the battle for the win and the championship coming down to a two man show. Briscoe was back in sixth while Haley was mired back in eighth.
Five laps later, with 15 laps remaining, Cindric, racing on old tires, continued to lead the battle for the win and the title by half a second over Allgaier, racing on fresh tires. Chastain, Annett and Brandon Jones were in the top five with Briscoe in sixth and Haley in ninth.
Down to the final 10 laps of the finale and the 2020 season, Cindric stabilized his advantage for the win and the championship by more than a second over Allgaier, who started to see Cindric pull away on his front windshield. By then, Briscoe moved up to fifth place while Haley was back in ninth place as both competitors were seeing their title hopes coming to an end.
With five laps remaining and the leaders started to catch lapped traffic, Cindric remained at the front with the lead by more than a second over Allgaier with Chastain, Annett and Briscoe in the top five. Haley was back in ninth.
With approximately two laps remaining, the caution returned when Briscoe spun his No. 98 Ford in Turn 4 and made slight contact with the outside wall. The caution all but evaporated Cindric’s on-track advantage over Allgaier, who received an opportunity to pounce and win his first title.
Under caution, however, most of the lead lap competitors led by Cindric pitted while Allgaier remained on the track and emerged with the lead. Chastain also remained on the track in second place.
In overtime, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allgaier took the lead from Chastain entering Turns 1 and 2. Entering the backstretch, however, teammate Gragson and Cindric cleared Chastain and closed in on Allgaier for the lead. Though Allgaier got Cindric boxed in exiting the backstretch, Cindric found his opportunity to win it all entering Turns 3 and 4.
Coming back to the start/finish line for the start of the final lap, Cindric made a three-wide move in between Gragson and Allgaier, who made contact with Cindric at the line as Gragson moved his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/True Timber Camo Chevrolet Camaro into the lead. Following the contact and through the dogleg turn, Gragson emerged with a slight advantage alongside Cindric, who cleared Allgaier and was leading the battle for the title.
In the backstretch, Allgaier lost his momentum and was overtaken by Brandon Jones and Annett while Cindric challenged Gragson for the lead. With fresh tires, Cindric took the lead entering Turns 3 and 4 over Gragson, and it was enough for him to prevail out in front and storm to the checkered flag with the win and the overall championship.
At age 22, Cindric became the fifth-youngest champion in series history as he delivered the second Xfinity Drivers’ championship for team owner Roger Penske. He also became the sixth different Xfinity competitor to win in career start No. 100 as he collected his eighth career victory along with the series title. This marked the 10th consecutive season where the Xfinity champion was 25 years old or younger.
“Well, I watched [2020 Truck Series champion] Sheldon Creed do it last night, so why couldn’t we?” Cindric said. “Amazing effort by this No. 22 team. [Crew chief] Brian Wilson and all the guys. Everybody back at the shop. There was a lot of work put into this race car. Roger Penske. Everyone from Penske Racing. The Menards family, John, Paul, Jim, Jeff — all those guys that put so much support into racing itself. It’s awesome to get them a championship in NASCAR, to be a champion in NASCAR, and do it in front of all these great people cheering us on at championship weekend. Ford Performance, Doug Yates, everybody at Roush Yates Engines. I’m speechless. I can’t believe it. I’m pretty humbled by the effort for sure.”
“I’ve certainly learned how to race a little better,” Cindric added. “The people that have put the support in me and been dedicated — my spotter Coleman Pressley. All the folks that have supported me throughout my career, not just here but the road racing, driving Rallycross cars. My mom and my dad. I can’t forget them. They’re my parents and they’ve put more support behind me than anyone else. My mom has been my rock for my entire racing career. I told you guys that early in the week and I’m so glad she was here to watch.”
In addition to pitting for fresh tires towards the end, Cindric credited his team for the performance of his race car throughout the race that kept him in contention and allowed him to win the championship battle.
“This [car] came to life Lap 1,” Cindric said. “Talk about a relationship between driver and crew chief…we were terrible here in the spring race when I moved up. I asked [Wilson], I told him exactly what I needed and he gave it to me and look where we are. It’s amazing.”
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.
Gragson finished in second place behind Cindric followed by Brandon Jones and Annett. Behind, Justin Allgaier finished in fifth place in the finale and in a career-best second place in the overall standings. While Allgaier was disappointed in falling short in winning his first Xfinity title in his 10th full-time season in the series, he remained humble over the defeat and the opportunity of his late surge to compete for the title.
“So close, but so far away,” Allgaier said. “First of all, hats off to Austin [Cindric], the entire Team Penske group. They’ve been strong competitors all year and to have the race they did tonight, they, obviously, were the best car and they deserve to win. Proud of our guys, proud of everybody at JR Motorsports. We had a shot at it at the end and when it’s all said and done, that’s all you can really ask for…We’ll be back next year. Hopefully, one spot better.”
“I knew that [Cindric and his team] were gonna be good on tires,” Allgaier added. “I was hoping that there would be a few more cars in our rearview mirror when we took the green…Just didn’t have the speed at the end. We were off a little bit all night. The hard part is our balance is so good. That’s the frustrating part. We brought a fantastic race car and the balance was so good. It’s disappointing to be in the situation that we’re in, but again, hats off to these guys, everybody back at the shop. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish.”
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.
Justin Haley finished in eighth place on the track behind Harrison Burton and teammate Chastain, with the Winamac, Indiana, native notching a career-best third place in the final standings.
“We were not too good there at the start,” Haley said. “We actually took a little time on one of the pit stops. We started running in the top five. It’s super hard to pass. Just super fast race track. This is an awesome P3. It’s the farthest that Kaulig Racing’s ever gone. Still really proud of all of my guys. It’s not exactly what we wanted, but I think if we wouldn’t gotten trapped a lap there, that strategy’s really what played in to it at the end,…just too far back to make anything happen on that green-white-checkered…Super excited, super blessed to have another year, another shot at [the title].”
Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images.
Following his late incident that evaporated his championship hopes, Chase Briscoe salvaged a ninth-place result in the finale as he concluded his final full-time season in the Xfinity circuit in fourth place in the final standings and in a season where he won a season-high nine races.
“It was just a frustrating day,” Briscoe said. “This is by far not my best racetrack. We started the race and, for me, just leading laps here I was like, ‘Wow, this is different.’ I was just so loose at the beginning of the race and as the night came, I was just getting freer and freer. I don’t know how many times I about wrecked into [Turn] 1 and would end up hitting the wall. I’ve got to do a lot better job coming here. There’s something about this place that I just really struggle at, so I’ve got a lot of homework to do. It’s definitely frustrating to finish fourth in the championship after the year we had, but, overall, to win nine races it’s been a phenomenal year. I’m happy that we were able to just make the final four with our HighPoint.com Mustang. I’m just thankful to be driving in NASCAR honestly. I’m obviously looking forward to next year, but this one obviously hurts. Anytime you can win nine races and finish fourth in the championship isn’t what you wanted, but we’ll keep our heads high and, like I said, just proud of the whole team. To be able to work with me these last two and a half years from where we started to where we are now has been a huge difference, so just thankful to be driving for Stewart-Haas Racing and come back next year.”
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.
While Cindric became the fifth Ford competitor to win the Xfinity title, Chevrolet clinched the Bill France Performance Cup, the Manufacturers’ title, for the 22nd time. In addition, Roger Penske won his fifth Owners’ championship in eight years.
In a season where he achieved his first four career victories, 15 top-five results, 22 top-10 results, an average result of 10th place and a final points result of eighth place, Harrison Burton claimed the 2020 Xfinity Rookie-of-the-Year title.
There were 16 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 47 laps.
Results.
1. Austin Cindric, Stage 2 winner, 72 laps led
2. Noah Gragson, one lap led
3. Brandon Jones, three laps led
4. Michael Annett
5. Justin Allgaier, 76 laps led
6. Harrison Burton
7. Ross Chastain, 10 laps led
8. Justin Haley
9. Chase Briscoe, Stage 1 winner, 41 laps led
10. Jeremy Clements
11. Riley Herbst
12. Brandon Brown, one lap down
13. Josh Williams, one lap down
14. B.J. McLeod, one lap down
15. Bayley Currey, one lap down
16. David Starr, one lap down
17. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down
18. Myatt Snider, two laps down
19. Brett Moffitt, two laps down
20. Colby Howard, two laps down
21. Alex Labbe, three laps down
22. Kody Vanderwal, three laps down
23. Timmy Hill, three laps down
24. Mason Diaz, four laps down
25. Daniel Hemric, five laps down
26. J.J. Yeley, six laps down
27. Joe Graf Jr., seven laps down
28. Stan Mullis, eight laps down
29. Jesse Little, eight laps down
30. Jesse Iwuji, nine laps down
31. Ryan Sieg, 10 laps down
32. Jeffrey Earnhardt, 21 laps down
33. Ryan Vargas, 82 laps down
34. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Engine, three laps led
35. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident
36. Donald Theetge – OUT, Accident
37. C.J. McLaughlin – OUT, Accident
Final standings.
1. Austin Cindric
2. Justin Allgaier
3. Justin Haley
4. Chase Briscoe
5. Noah Gragson
6. Brandon Jones
7. Ross Chastain
8. Harrison Burton
9. Michael Annett
10. Ryan Sieg
11. Brandon Brown
12. Riley Herbst
Bold indicates Championship finale contenders
The NASCAR Xfinity Series enters its off-season period before returning for the 2021 season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway scheduled on Saturday, February 13.
Coming off his late surge and dominating win on Friday night in Richmond, Virginia, while recording a milestone win for JR Motorsports, Justin Allgaier backed it up by winning the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday afternoon, September 12, for his third NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season and in the past six races as he also claimed his second victory of the weekend. The win was Allgaier’s 14th of his Xfinity career and 11th while driving JRM’s No. 7 car as JR Motorsports recorded its 51st NASCAR Xfinity career victory.
The starting lineup was based on the results from Friday night’s race at Richmond, where the top-14 finishers were inverted. With that, Tommy Joe Martins started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Brandon Jones. Chad Finchum started at the rear of the field due to an engine change. Rookie Myatt Snider also started at the rear of the field in a backup car.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Martins and Jones battled dead even for the lead before Jones was able to prevail through Turns 3 and 4 and lead the first lap. Behind, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Sieg made a three-wide move on Martins entering Turn 1 before both moved up to second and third behind Jones. Not long after, Kaz Grala also moved up into fourth followed by Michael Annett while Martins continued to fade and lose spots on the track.
By the fifth lap, Jones was ahead by nearly three-tenths of a second over Briscoe with Sieg trailing by half a second. Five laps later, on Lap 10, Jones stabilized his advantage to nearly three-tenths of a second over Briscoe. Behind, Grala moved into third place over Sieg while Noah Gragson joined the battle. Austin Cindric was in sixth followed by Annett, Justin Haley, teammate Ross Chastain and rookie Riley Herbst. Justin Allgaier, winner of Friday night’s Xfinity race at Richmond, was in 11th ahead of cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton while Tommy Joe Martins fell back to 20th.
On Lap 17, Briscoe emerged with the lead after passing Jones on the inside lane the previous lap in Turn 1. Behind him. Grala moved into second place followed by Gragson while Jones settled in fourth place ahead of Haley and Cindric. Four laps later, Haley, who finished in second place on Friday night behind Allgaier, continued his march to the front after passing Jones for fourth place. By then, Allgaier cracked the top 10.
By Lap 25, the top-three competitors on the track led by Briscoe and followed by Grala and Gragson were ahead of fourth-place Haley by a second with Cindric trailing by more than a second and Annett by more than two seconds. Shortly after, Gragson moved into second place over Grala.
Thirty laps into the event and with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Gragson emerged with the lead after passing Briscoe the previous lap in Turn 1. Briscoe maintained second place over Grala while Haley and Cindric stabilized themselves inside the top five. Behind, Allgaier moved up to sixth place and Ross Chastain moved up to eighth place while Jones fell back to 11th behind teammates Herbst and Harrison Burton.
While Gragson slowly extended his advantage, Grala and Briscoe battled for second place with Haley joining the party and heavy lapped traffic in front of them. On Lap 37, Haley, Briscoe and Grala went three wide for second place amid the lapped traffic for nearly a full circuit before Haley prevailed and took the spot. Behind, Allgaier rocketed his way into third place while Briscoe and Grala settled in the top five ahead of Cindric. Shortly after, Allgaier moved into second place.
With the battling for positions settling down, Gragson was able to maintain the lead just as the competition caution flew on Lap 40. Under caution, few that included Joey Gase and Tommy Joe Martins made a pit stop while the rest remained on track.
The race resumed under green on Lap 45 as teammates Gragson and Allgaier battled for the lead while Briscoe made a three-wide move to move up to third place. At the front, Allgaier emerged with the lead entering Turn 2 and after restarting on the inside lane. Behind, Haley passed Briscoe for third place while teammate Chastain overtook Annett into fifth place in pursuit of more on the track.
Fifty-five laps into the event, Allgaier was ahead by three-tenths of a second over teammate Gragson while Kaulig Racing teammates Haley and Chastain trailed behind. Annett, teammates to Allgaier and Gragson at JR Motorsports, was back in fifth place while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Herbst and Burton battled with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Briscoe for sixth and seventh. Penske’s Cindric was in ninth while RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg was in 10th. Richard Childress Racing’s Grala was back in 12th behind Sieg.
Five laps later, on Lap 60, Allgaier continued to lead by half a second over Gragson with Haley trailing by seven-tenths of a second and Chastain trailing by more than a second. Jones was back in 14th while Martins was back in 27th. In addition, Grala overtook Cindric for 10th place.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Allgaier emerged at the front of the field as he claimed his 10th stage victory of the season. Gragson settled in second place behind his teammate followed by Haley, Chastain and Harrison Burton while Annett, Herbst, Jeb Burton, Sieg and Grala settled in the top 10. By then, Briscoe and his No. 98 Go Bowling Ford Mustang dropped back to 11th place ahead of Brandon Jones while Cindric and his No. 22 PPG Ford Mustang also fell back to 15th place.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead following his pit stop ahead of teammate Gragson, Chastain, Haley, Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton. Following the pit stops, Sieg was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.
The second stage commenced on Lap 82 and Chastain made a bold three-wide move beneath Allgaier and Gragson in Turn 1 to take the lead. Eight laps later, on Lap 90, Chastain stabilized his advantage to a second over teammates Allgaier and Gragson while Jeb Burton moved up to fourth place in front of Haley and Harrison Burton. Behind, Cindric rallied from his late issues near the end of the first stage to run in seventh place followed by Herbst, Briscoe and Brett Moffitt. Annett, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones, Brandon Brown and Grala were running in the top 15.
Another 10 laps later, on Lap 100, Chastain stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Allgaier, whose car slowly came to life and with speed on long runs like the first stage, with Gragson trailing by more than a second. Behind, Jeb Burton continued to maintain fourth place over Haley.
By Lap 110, Allgaier cut his deficit to three-tenths of a second over Chastain as the leaders started to approach heavy lapped traffic. Both Chastain and Allgaier were ahead of third-place Gragson by more than two seconds with Haley in fourth. Behind by more than four seconds were cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton, both battling for fifth place, with Herbst joining the party. Cindric was back in eighth place ahead of Briscoe and Annett.
Ten laps later, on Lap 120, Allgaier started to pressure Chastain for the lead as they cleared the lapped traffic. He then attempted to gain a run and set up a pass on the outside lane, but Chastain was able to stabilize his narrow lead.
When the race reached its halfway point on Lap 125, Chastain was still ahead with the lead as Allgaier settled right behind the rear bumper of Chastain’s No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro. Three laps later, Allgaier and his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro moved back into the lead after fending off a challenge by Chastain, who refused to back out of the gas.
Behind, Harrison Burton made his way to third place after passing Gragson while Herbst moved up to fifth place after passing Haley. Jeb Burton settled in seventh place in front of Cindric, Jones and Briscoe. Shortly after, Herbst muscled his No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra into fourth place.
With 10 laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew for an incident involving in Turn 3 involving Colby Howard. By then, Allgaier was leading by more than a second over Chastain with Harrison Burton trailing by less than four seconds. Under caution, some like Chastain, Haley, Harrison Burton, Herbst, Cindric, Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones and Briscoe pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on track. Following the pit stops, Jones was sent to the rear for speeding on pit road.
With five laps remaining, the short dash to the conclusion of the second stage started under green and with Allgaier and Grala restarting on the front row followed by teammates Gragson and Annett. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead while Chastain rocketed his way on the outside lane to move all the way up to second place in two laps and on fresh tires than Allgaier. All this occurred as the field scrambled for positions between those on fresh tires versus those on old tires.
A lap later, teammates Chastain and Haley made a three-wide move on Allgaier for the lead with Chastain reassuming the lead while Allgaier was overtaken by a handful of cars on fresh tires and dropped back to the top 10. By the time the second stage concluded on Lap 150 and with the scrambling for positions still ongoing through every turn and straightaway, Chastain emerged out in front and claimed his second stage victory of the season. Teammate Haley and his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro settled in second followed by Jeb Burton, Briscoe and Harrison Burton while Cindric, Herbst, Allgaier, Gragson and Grala settled in the top 10.
Under the stage break, some like Allgaier, Gragson, Jeb Burton, Grala, Clements and Brandon Brown pitted while the rest led by teammates Chastain and Haley remained on track.
The final stage commenced under green with 93 laps remaining and with Chastain and Haley on the front row. At the start, Chastain took off with the lead followed by Briscoe and Jeb Burton while Haley got shuffled out of the top five entering Turn 2. In one lap, Allgaier moved up to sixth place on fresh tires.
At the front, Jeb Burton made a move beneath Chastain to take the lead with 90 laps remaining. Shortly after, Allgaier rocketed into third place after passing Cindric while Briscoe settled in fifth place in front of Harrison Burton.
With 87 laps remaining, Allgaier overtook Chastain for second place as Jeb Burton continued to lead by a second. Seven laps later, with 80 laps remaining, Allgaier cut his deficit to Jeb Burton down to less than three-tenths of a second. Behind, Chastain trailed by two seconds in third place followed by Gragson and Cindric while Harrison Burton and Haley battled for sixth place.
Two laps later, Allgaier made his way back into the lead after passing teammate Jeb Burton. Another five laps later, with 73 laps remaining, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than a second over Jeb Burton’s No. 8 LS Tractor Chevrolet Camaro.
As the green-flag run progressed and with Allgaier ahead by more than two seconds, Chastain took second place over Jeb Burton with Gragson and Haley in the top five. Cindric was in sixth place followed by Harrison Burton, Annett, Grala and Herbst while Briscoe was back in 12th place in front of Jones, Clements and Brown.
With 60 laps remaining, Allgaier stabilized his lead to three seconds over Chastain. Ten laps later, with 50 laps remaining, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than five seconds over Chastain with Jeb Burton trailing by less than six seconds.
Another 10 laps later and with 40 laps remaining, Allgaier continued to extend his advantage by seven seconds over Chastain with Jeb Burton trailing by more than eight seconds. Fourth-place Haley was trailing by 10 seconds while Gragson and Harrison Burton trailed by more than 12 seconds. By then, names like Ryan Sieg, Brett Moffitt and Chase Briscoe were lapped.
Under 30 laps remaining, Allgaier’s lead expanded to eight seconds over Chastain with Jeb Burton trailing by nine seconds, Haley by less than 11 seconds and Harrison Burton by less than 15 seconds. Gragson retained sixth place ahead of teammate Annett and Grala while Cindric and Jones were scored in the top 10. Behind, Alex Labbe was in 11th place ahead of Herbst, Clements, Brandon Brown and Matt Mills. Jeffrey Earnhardt was in 16th place, a lap down, while Sieg and Briscoe were back in 17th and 19th.
With approximately 20 laps remaining, the caution flew after contact from Brandon Brown sent Herbst hard into the Turn 1 outside wall and with significant damage sustained to the rear end of Herbst’s No. 18 Toyota that knocked Herbst out of contention in the closing laps of the race. The caution erased a nearly nine-second advantage for Allgaier. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of Jeb Burton and Chastain.
The race restarted under green with 13 laps remaining and with teammates Allgaier and Burton on the front row while Chastain and Harrison Burton lined up on the second row. At the start, Allgaier withstood a challenge from Jeb Burton to retain the lead,
With 10 laps remaining, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to nearly four-tenths of a second over teammate Jeb Burton with Chastain trailing behind and the pack behind jostling for late positions. Two laps later, Allgaier extended his advantage to six-tenths of a second.
With five laps remaining and Allgaier leading by more than a second, Jeb Burton continued to maintain second place ahead of Chastain and Harrison Burton with Haley in fifth place ahead of Gragson.
With the leaders encountering lapped traffic, Chastain started to challenge Jeb Burton for second place followed by Harrison Burton and his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra. Despite encountering lapped traffic in front of him, Allgaier was able to stabilize his advantage and navigate his way through one final circuit and come back around to win by two seconds and for his second checkered flag of the weekend.
Through the first 19 regular-season races of this year, Allgaier had yet to fill in the win column to his stats in 2020. Since recording his first victory at Dover International Speedway in August, Allgaier’s pair of victories this weekend at Richmond allowed him to join Cindric, Briscoe and Brandon Jones as the lone Xfinity competitors to achieve three or more victories throughout the regular-season stretch. In addition, Allgaier joined Cindric as the lone Xfinity competitors to achieve two victories in a doubleheader weekend at a track, when Cindric made his accomplishment at Kentucky Speedway in July.
“I knew how good our car was all day,” Allgaier said in Victory Lane on NBCSN. “It seems like lately, we haven’t been able to get [BRANDT] to Victory Lane. It wasn’t for lack of effort. I knew at the end there, I knew we had speed. I knew when we needed to go we could. I just didn’t know how fast. My teammate, Jeb Burton, did a fantastic job today on that last restart. I’m just so proud of these guys.”
In addition, Allgaier, who won on Friday night at Richmond, spent time afterwards working with his crew to install a new front nose on his No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro prior to Saturday afternoon’s race, where he went on to win.
“I have to thank the Man upstairs,” Allgaier added. “Tonight was definitely a push to the end, but we just had the luck we needed. I say luck, but luck is opportunities and preparation. We were prepared and the opportunities came tonight and we did a good job. I’m really proud of these guys.”
Behind, Jeb Burton settled in a career-best second place in his 40th series start followed by Chastain, who racked up his 12th top-five result of this season. Harrison Burton rallied from a 16th-place result on Friday night to finish in fourth place while Haley recorded a fifth-place run for his second top-five result in two days and for his eighth top-five finish of this season. Gragson finished in sixth place while Annett, Brandon Jones, Grala and Cindric rounded out the top 10. By finishing in 10th place, Cindric clinched this year’s regular-season championship and he will be awarded 15 bonus points for this year’s Playoffs.
By finishing 15th and 34th, Ryan Sieg and Riley Herbst clinched their spots for this year’s Xfinity Playoffs, thus joining Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Ross Chastain and Michael Annett for this year’s championship battle.
Brandon Brown finished in 11th place and he holds sole possession of the 12th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs by 49 points over Clements, who finished 17th, and 88 over Snider, who finished 31st, as the series makes its way to the regular-season finale next Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
There were nine lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 29 laps.
Results.
1. Justin Allgaier, 135 laps led, Stage 1 winner
2. Jeb Burton, 12 laps led
3. Ross Chastain, 58 laps led, Stage 2 winner
4. Harrison Burton
5. Noah Gragson, 16 laps led
6. Justin Haley
7. Michael Annett
8. Brandon Jones, 16 laps led
9. Kaz Grala
10. Austin Cindric
11. Brandon Brown
12. Alex Labbe
13. Matt Mills
14. Jeffrey Earnhardt
15. Ryan Sieg, one lap down
16. Chase Briscoe, one lap down, 13 laps led
17. Jeremy Clements, one lap down
18. Brett Moffitt, one lap down
19. Bayley Currey, one lap down
20. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down
21. Mason Massey, two laps down
22. Stephen Leicht, three laps down
23. Joey Gase, three laps down
24. B.J. McLeod, three laps down
25. Josh Williams, three laps down
26. Tommy Joe Martins, three laps down
27. Joe Graf Jr., three laps down
28. Chad Finchum, four laps down
29. Kody Vanderwal, four laps down
30. Dexter Bean, four laps down
31. Myatt Snider, four laps down
32. Vinnie Miller, five laps down
33. Jesse Little, six laps down
34. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident
35. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident
36. Timmy Hill – OUT, Fuel pump
The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season finale will occur at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 300, which will occur on Friday, September 18, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
It all comes down to the final three NASCAR Xfinity Series races through the upcoming two weekends until the 2020 Xfinity Playoff field is set.
With this year’s series regular season reaching its conclusion, the time for the competitors on the outside of the cutline and vying for the final spots to the 12-car postseason field is running out while those currently inside the cutline on points have stabilized themselves into the postseason battle for the title.
Following a thrilling finish to last Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway on September 5, Brandon Jones joins Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric as the lone Xfinity competitors to achieve three or more victories through the first 23 races of the regular-season stretch as the Atlanta native also collected his fourth career series win.
They, along with Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, rookie Harrison Burton and Justin Allgaier, remain the only competitors to be guaranteed a spot in this year’s Playoffs based on winning throughout the regular season.
For Ross Chastain, Saturday’s race at Darlington produced a good and bad news outcome. The bad news for Chastain was that he fell short of claiming his first victory of the season following a late battle with Cup veteran Denny Hamlin, where he made contact with Hamlin approaching the final lap and limped home in second place and after leading in the closing laps. The good news for Chastain and his No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team is that with his career-high 10th top-five result (fourth runner-up result in 2020), the Floridian is guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs based on points as he will make his second series postseason appearance as a title contender. In addition, Chastain’s result places both Kaulig Racing competitors into the Playoffs.
Like Chastain, the Darlington event produced strong outcomes for Michael Annett, rookie Riley Herbst and Ryan Sieg, all of whom recorded top-10 results, are 120 points or more above the top-12 cutline and have an opportunity to secure their spots for the postseason following next weekend’s doubleheader events at Richmond Raceway.
Despite starting and finishing in 17th place while rallying from being involved in a multi-car wreck past the opening two laps, Brandon Brown extended his cushion with the 12th and final spot to the Playoffs by 45 points over Jeremy Clements, who finished 32nd due to electrical issues, and 51 over rookie Myatt Snider, who finished 10th and rallied from a three-race stretch of finishing outside the top 15.
Other competitors who continue to trail the cutline by 84 or more points include Josh Williams, rookie Jesse Little, B.J. McLeod, Tommy Joe Martins and rookie Joe Graf Jr.
The battle for the final spots to this year’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs will continue next weekend at Richmond Raceway for a doubleheader series weekend. The first Richmond race will occur on Friday, September 11, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN while the second Richmond race will occur on Saturday, September 12, at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
A significant milestone is in the making for Michael Annett, driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. When Annett takes the green flag this weekend at Darlington Raceway, he will achieve 400 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series (Truck, Xfinity and Cup Series).
A native of Des Moines, Iowa, who achieved two ARCA career victories from 2007 and 2008, Annett made his debut within NASCAR’s top three division series at the Milwaukee Mile in June 2008, where he piloted the No. 22 Toyota Tundra for Bill Davis Racing in the NASCAR Truck Series. He finished in sixth place in his series debut and two races later, he earned a career-best runner-up result at Kentucky Speedway. He made a total of eight starts in the Truck Series in 2008 (seven with Bill Davis Racing and one with Germain Racing). He also made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, where he drove the No. 03 Toyota for Germain Racing and finished 36th.
In 2009, Annett campaigned on a full-time basis in the Xfinity Series as a rookie candidate and in the No. 15 Toyota Camry led by crew chief Bruce Cook for Germain Racing. Throughout his rookie season, Annett achieved four top-10 results (best result of sixth place at Auto Club Speedway in October) and he concluded the season in 10th place in the final standings. He remained with Germain Racing for the 2010 Xfinity season, where he achieved two top-10 results and concluded the season in 13th place in the final standings and with crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle.
In 2011, Annett moved to Rusty Wallace Racing to pilot the No. 62 Toyota Camry with primary sponsorship from Pilot Flying J and led by crew chief Rick Viers in the Xfinity Series. For the first 13 races of the season, he finished no higher than 13th place. For five of the next six races, however, he achieved five top-10 results. He nearly won at Daytona International Speedway in July after taking the lead on the final lap with two corners remaining. He, however, lost the draft with teammate Steve Wallace and settled in sixth place. For the final 15 races of the season, he achieved two additional top-10 results and he concluded the season in ninth place in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 100 career starts across NASCAR’s three major division series.
For the 2012 season and after Rusty Wallace Racing ceased operations due to lack of sponsorship, Annett made the move to Richard Petty Motorsports to drive the No. 43 Ford Mustang sponsored by Pilot Flying J and led by crew chief Philippe Lopez. Annett had a successful run in the series, where he achieved his first six top-five career results, led by a pair of third-place results at Daytona International Speedway in July and at Dover International Speedway in September. He also earned a total of 17 top-10 results and he claimed the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July following a sixth-place result. When the season concluded, he ended up with a career-best fifth place in the final standings.
Annett started off the 2013 Xfinity season on a rough note, when he was involved in a late multi-car accident in the season opener at Daytona and had dislocated and fractured his sternum. Missing the first eight races of the season and while Aric Almirola and Reed Sorenson filled in for Annett, he returned at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, where he finished 17th. For the remainder of the season, he achieved one top-five result and a total of four top-10 results before he concluded the season in 15th place in the final standings.
Following a five-year run in the Xfinity Series, Annett moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2014 and he entered the series as a rookie candidate in the No. 7 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet SS for Tommy Baldwin Racing led by veteran Kevin “Bono” Manion. Making his series debut at the Daytona 500, Annett was involved in a late multi-car wreck and finished in 37th place. Throughout the 36-race stretch, Annett only achieved four top-20 results and he concluded the season in 33rd place in the final standings. He also competed in the NASCAR Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway for NTS Motorsports, where he raced his way into the main event following a final qualifying race and finished 25th. By then, he surpassed 200 career starts across NASCAR.
The following season, Annett remained in the Cup Series, but he made the move to HScott Motorsports to pilot the team’s second car, the No. 46 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet SS, led by crew chief Jay Guy. Annett achieved a career-best result of 13th place in the Daytona 500. The following week, however, Annett initially failed to qualify for the upcoming race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Nonetheless, Annett still got to race at Atlanta when Brian Scott relinquished his seat, the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet SS, since Annett was competing for Cup points. Driving under the Hillman-Circle Sport LLC banner, Annett finished 29th. The remaining 34 races of the season, however, was a disappointing one as Annett finished no higher than 23rd place and he concluded the season in 36th place in the final standings. He also failed to qualify at Talladega Superspeedway in October.
Returning for a third season in the Cup circuit with Hscott Motorsports in 2016, Annett’s best result throughout the 36-race schedule was 20th, which occurred at Daytona in July. At Bristol Motor Speedway in August, Justin Allgaier filled in as an interim competitor when Annett suffered from flu-like symptoms. Prior to the season concluding, Annett declared himself a free agent for the 2017 season.
After three seasons in the Cup Series, Annett scaled back down to the Xfinity Series for the 2017 season and joined forces with JR Motorsports to pilot the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro sponsored by Pilot Flying J, TMC Transportation and Allstate Parts & Service Group, and led by crew chief Jason Stockert. Annett started the season with a 14th-place run at Daytona followed by a 15th-place run at Atlanta. Two races later, he achieved his first top-10 result of the season at Phoenix (ninth place). Through the first 22 races of the season, Annett recorded a total of five top-10 results. At Road America in August, Annett achieved a career-best runner-up result behind Jeremy Clements. Following his result, Annett dedicated his run to Adam Wright, a mechanic at JR Motorsports who died in a car accident a week prior to Road America. Annett went on to make the 2017 Xfinity Series Playoffs before he was eliminated from title contention at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October. He wrapped up the season in ninth place in the final standings and with seven top-10 results. By then, he surpassed 300 career starts across NASCAR.
Returning for a second full-time season with JRM in 2018, Annett struggled with on-track consistency. For the first 21 races of the season, he finished no higher than 11th. A week later, he recorded his first top-10 result at Bristol in August. By then, he was paired with new crew chief Travis Mack. He only achieved one additional top-10 result (10th place at Darlington Raceway) throughout the regular-season stretch while he also recorded five DNFs. Following the regular-season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September, Annett failed to make the Playoffs. He went on to conclude the season in 14th place in the final standings.
For the 2019 Xfinity season, Annett remained at JRM, but assumed driving responsibilities of the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro with crew chief Travis Mack remaining with Annett. To start the season and with American Heart Association co-sponsoring the No. 1 car along with Pilot Flying J, Annett responded back to all of his past struggles throughout his career by winning the season opener at Daytona and achieving his first victory across NASCAR’s three major series in his 230th Xfinity career start. The victory guaranteed Annett’s No. 1 team a spot in the Playoffs. His early success did not stop there as he recorded a total of five top-five results and 15 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. He also achieved his first career pole at Talladega in April. During the Playoffs, Annett earned finishes of ninth, 15th and sixth in the first round, spanning three races, to advance to the Round of 8. He finished fourth, 11th and ninth in the second round, but he failed to transfer to the Championship Round at Homestead. He concluded the season with an 11th-place run at Homestead and a ninth-place result in the final standings. Though he fell short of the 2019 Xfinity title, Annett achieved a career-high six top-five results, 19 top-10 results and 94 laps led throughout the season.
This season, his fourth consecutive season with JRM, Annett started off the season with an 11th-place run at Daytona and after being involved in a multi-car accident on the final lap. Through the first 22 races of this season, he has recorded three top-five results and 13 top-10 results, and he is in eighth place in the regular-season standings. He has also started on pole position for three consecutive races in the summer (Texas, Kansas and Road America) by virtue of a random draw amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to making his ninth Xfinity career start at Darlington this weekend and while he continues to secure one of 12 spots for this year’s Xfinity Playoffs, Annett is set to sport a special Oreo scheme to his No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro that his boss and former NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove to an Xfinity win at Daytona in February 2002.
Catch Annett’s milestone start at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, September 5, at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch is winding down with four races remaining until the fifth annual Xfinity Playoffs commences. Following an eventful and wild conclusion to the Xfinity Series recent race at Daytona International Speedway on August 28, the battle for the final five vacant spots to the postseason continues to intensify entering the month of September.
With his second series victory of this season and of his career, Justin Haley joins Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson, rookie Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones as multi-winners throughout the first 22 races of this year’s Xfinity Series regular-season stretch. They, along with Justin Allgaier, remain the only competitors to be guaranteed a spot in the postseason based on winning throughout the regular season.
The competitor who continues to emerge as the highest competitor in the standings based on points is Ross Chastain. For a moment, it appeared that Chastain had a race-winning strategy established on the final lap to clinch his spot in the Playoffs. Instead, it ended with contact with his Kaulig Racing teammate and race leader A.J. Allmendinger that knocked both out of contention entering the tri-oval. With a wrecked race car, Chastain was able to limp across the line in sixth place, though the result left him dejected. Nonetheless, with his 19th top-10 result, the Floridian moved from fourth to third in the regular-season standings and is 420 points above the top-12 cutline, leaving him a large cushion to make his second postseason appearance in the Xfinity Series.
Next is Michael Annett, who is also coming off a strong result at Daytona. After running towards the front for the majority of the race and working with his JR Motorsports’ teammates, Annett was in race-winning position in between the Kaulig Racing competitors until he was collected in a last lap accident. Despite the damage, Annett was able to limp across the line in seventh place for his 13th top-10 result of this season. With the result and the stage points he collected, the Iowa native is 223 points above the cutline as he attempts to make his third appearance in the Playoffs.
For rookie Riley Herbst, it was an up-and-down day at Daytona that started on a low note, when he and his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team were hit with a pre-race inspection fraction due to an improperly mounted ballast. As a result, Herbst was docked 10 driver/owner points and raced at Daytona last weekend without his car chief. In addition, he started at the rear of the field and was assessed a drive-through penalty down pit road at the start. Despite the penalty, Herbst was able to rally his way back to the front to collect a bevy of stage points between the first two stages and dodge a multi-car accident on the final lap to finish in fourth place in front of teammate Harrison Burton. With his third top-five result of his rookie season and including the 10-point penalty, the Las Vegas native is still 142 points above the cutline in his bid to make his first Xfinity Playoffs as a title contender.
Next is Ryan Sieg, who came into Daytona with an 88-point cushion above the cutline and with an opportunity to race his way into the Playoffs with a victory at one of his strongest tracks (finishing in the top five at Daytona on three occasions). Following a 23rd-place result at Daytona while finishing four laps behind the leaders, however, the points cushion decreased to 68 for the Georgia native, who recorded his seventh result outside the top 20 this season and as he continues to chase his third appearance in the postseason as a title contender.
Finally, Brandon Brown continues to hold sole possession of the 12th and final spot to the Playoffs. For Brown, it was a rough outcome at a track deemed an opportunity for him to grab his first win and lock himself into the postseason battle. Though he finished in the top five in the first stage and collected a handful of stage points, his strong run ended when he was involved in a multi-car wreck on Lap 40 during the second stage. Trying to rally from his first incident, he was unable to avoid another multi-car wreck just shy of the halfway mark. Following his second incident, he was unable to continue and meet the minimum pace with a damaged race car as he settled in 26th place. Despite the result, Brown is 32 points above the cutline in his bid to make his first postseason appearance as a title contender.
The top-two competitors who continue to trail Brown and the final spot inside the top-12 cutline in points are Jeremy Clements and Myatt Snider. Like Brown, both competitors emerged with disappointing outcomes at one of their best tracks to grab an upset win and make the Playoffs.
For Clements, his pursuit for a win ended just shy of the halfway mark when he was involved in a multi-car wreck that involved Justin Allgaier and Brown. Finishing in 20th place and two laps behind the leaders, Clements only lost a point due to finishing six spots ahead of Brown as he trails him by 32 points in his bid to make his second postseason appearance as a title contender.
For Snider, who started on pole position until he was eliminated in a multi-car wreck at Daytona in February, he was swept up in both multi-car wrecks just shy of the halfway mark of Friday night’s race at the superspeedway venue. Though he finished in 19th place for his 14th top-20 result of his rookie Xfinity season, he is still trailing the cutline by 58 points and in his bid to make his first Xfinity Playoffs as a title contender.
Other competitors who continue to trail the top-12 cutline in the regular-season standings by 86 or more points include Josh Williams, rookie Jesse Little, Tommy Joe Martins, B.J. McLeod and rookie Joe Graf Jr.
The battle for the final spots to the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will continue at Darlington Raceway on September 5, which will occur at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
At the start of the final lap of the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway, all three Kaulig Racing competitors led by A.J. Allmendinger and followed by Ross Chastain and Justin Haley were running at the front with an opportunity to win. When the checkered flag flew, two Kaulig competitors made contact and wrecked while the third competitor, Haley, escaped the carnage on the final lap to win at Daytona.
The victory was Haley’s second of his Xfinity Series career, second of this season after winning his first Xfinity career race at Talladega Superspeedway in June and the fifth NASCAR win overall for Kaulig Racing.
The starting lineup was based on three statistical categories: current owner points standings, the results from a previous Xfinity race and the fastest lap from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Chase Briscoe, coming off his victory at Dover International Speedway in part of a doubleheader weekend, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Ross Chastain.
Rookie Riley Herbst was the only competitor to drop to the rear of the field due to an improperly mounted ballast discovered from his No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra during the pre-race technical inspection, resulting in his car chief being ejected. In addition, he was assessed a pass-through penalty at the start of the race. Ryan Sieg, Josh Williams and Tim Viens retained their starting spots, but they all lost a pit stall selection for next weekend’s series race at Darlington Raceway due to multiple pre-race technical failures.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Briscoe received a push from Austin Cindric at the start to jump to an early lead. The top-eight competitors led by Briscoe ran in a single-file lane following by a bevy of competitors racing in double lanes for one lap around the superspeedway venue as Briscoe led the first lap.
The following lap, with Briscoe still leading, Cindric settled in second followed by Kaulig Racing’s Ross Chastain and Justin Haley while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton were running inside the top six. Anthony Alfredo was in seventh place ahead of Brandon Brown, Alex Labbe and Brett Moffitt while JR Motorsports’ four-car lineup led by Noah Gragson and including Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Michael Annett were running inside the top 16.
By the fifth lap, Briscoe was still leading Cindric, Chastain and a bevy of cars racing in a single-file lane followed by a scattered pack racing in two lanes. Trailing the lead pack by more than 34 seconds was Herbst following his opening lap penalty.
Shortly after, the first caution of the race flew when rookie Joe Graf Jr. spun across the tri-oval/frontstretch, made contact with the outside wall and damaged his car following contact with Jeffrey Earnhardt as Caesar Bacarella also sustained damage. Following his incident, Graf was limping his No. 08 Bucked Up Chevrolet Camaro back to pit road when the right-rear tire on his car shredded and left a multitude of debris scattered across Turn 2. The shredded right-rear tire and the damage to the right side of Graf’s car also left his car beyond repairable to continue.
Following the incident, NASCAR declared the caution involving Graf, Earnhardt and Bacarella as the competition caution originally planned on the 10th lap. Under caution, few like Moffitt, Earnhardt, A.J. Allmendinger, Chad Finchum, Ryan Sieg and Herbst pitted while the rest led by Briscoe remained on track.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 11, Briscoe jumped ahead on the outside lane and moved in front of Cindric’s No. 22 Odyssey Battery Ford Mustang on the inside lane to retain the lead through Turn 1. Entering Turn 2, however, Haley made a charge on the outside lane and started to battle with Cindric for the runner-up spot.
A lap later, just as Haley started to mount a challenge on Briscoe and Cindric for the lead, a rough start became worse for Bacarella as he wrecked on the backstretch and sustained heavy damage to the front nose of his No. 90 Alpha Prime/Maxim Chevrolet, thus brining out the second caution of the race. In addition, John Jackson was slowly limping back to pit road.
Under caution, some like teammates Gragson, Hemric, Allgaier and Annett along with Moffitt, Allmendinger and Sieg pitted while the rest led by Briscoe remained on the track.
The race restarted under green on Lap 17, and Briscoe jumped ahead and moved in front of Cindric with the lead again. In Turn 1, Burton mounted a challenge on the outside lane as he and Briscoe battled dead even for the lead. When the field returned to the tri-oval, Briscoe and his No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang were ahead by a nose over Burton and his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra with the entire pack running close behind the leaders.
Two laps later, on Lap 20, Briscoe, who has led every lap thus far, was still ahead with the lead and in front of Cindric, Haley, Chastain, Alfredo and Brown. Not long after, Gragson, fresh off a one-year contract extension with JR Motorsports, started to move into the top five on the outside lane with his three teammates (Allgaier, Hemric and Annett) tucked behind.
On Lap 23, Haley emerged with the lead followed by teammate Chastain and Alfredo while Briscoe fell back to fourth place alongside Brown.
While the battling for the lead continued to intensify, the caution returned a lap later for an accident in Turn 1 involving Earnhardt, teammate B.J. McLeod and Kody Vanderwal, who came to rest below the Turn 1 infield grass with the hood raised above his No. 52 The Swag Spot Chevrolet.
Under caution, some like Alfredo, Labbe, rookie Jesse Little, Myatt Snider, Josh Williams, Timmy Hill, Sieg and Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by teammates Haley and Chastain remained on track.
For the conclusion of the first stage, the field restarted under green for a one-lap shootout. At the start, Haley and his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro jumped ahead and moved in front of teammate Chastain on the inside lane while retaining the lead. In addition, he pulled away in Turn 1 before Cindric and Chastain came charging along with the pack through Turns 2 and 3. Despite the run, Haley was able to fend off the field to win the first stage on Lap 30 and for his third stage victory of the season. Chastain settled in second place followed by Cindric, Brown and Briscoe while Herbst, Gragson, Allgaier, Jones and Hemric were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the majority of the leaders pitted and Chastain emerged with the lead ahead of Briscoe and Haley. Following the pit stops, however, a number of competitors led by Hill, Labbe, Allmendinger, Williams, Moffitt, Sieg and Snider remained on track to occupy the top-seven positions.
The second stage started on Lap 34 with Hill leading as Allmendinger quickly made his way to second place. Back in seventh place in Turn 2 while also gaining a draft back to the front was Chastain with teammate Haley and Cindric also making their move back to the front. With the competitors running close to one another in a pack, Allmendinger made his way into the lead followed by teammates Chastain and Haley on Lap 36.
On Lap 40, with Allmendinger continuing to lead teammates Chastain and Haley followed by Cindric, the caution flew when contact from Briscoe and Jones, who was turning across the nose of Briscoe’s No. 98 Ford in Turn 3, resulted in Jones being spinning sideways as a multi-car erupted in Turn 4. The accident involved all four competitors from JR Motorsports (Gragson, Hemric, Allgaier and Annett) along with Moffitt, Labbe, Brown, Alfredo, Snider, Colby Howard and Tommy Joe Martins.
When the race restarted on Lap 45, Allmendinger retained the lead on the inside lane followed by Cindric and Chastain. Shortly after, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 3 when Allgaier, who was trying to continue after being involved in the first multi-car wreck, spun after cutting a tire and triggered another multi-car wreck that involved Labbe, Joey Gase, Snider, Brown and Jeremy Clements. Following the wreck, the race was red-flagged for more than 11 minutes while the safety workers cleaned up the carnage area in Turn 3.
When the race resumed under cautious pace and under green near the 50th lap, Allmendinger and Cindric battled for the lead through Turns 1 and 2. By then, Brown retired in the garage. Allmendinger, nonetheless, was able to retain the lead with his teammates Chastain and Haley tucked right behind. Meanwhile, Cindric dropped out of the top five after receiving no drafting help on the outside lane.
At the halfway mark, Lap 50, Allmendinger and his No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet Camaro were still leading teammates Chastain and Haley followed by Herbst and Burton. A few laps later, the caution returned due to debris on the backstretch. Under caution, some like Chastain, Allmendinger, Haley and Hemric pitted while others led by teammates Herbst and Burton remained on track.
With five laps remaining in the second stage, Herbst moved in front of teammate Burton to emerge with the lead. Behind, Cindric, Allmendinger and Chastain wasted no time carving their way back to the front. The following lap, Gray Gaulding and his No. 07 Walk-Ons.com Chevrolet Camaro owned by Bobby Dotter started to challenge Herbst for the lead with Allmendinger behind.
With three laps remaining in the stage, Gaulding emerged with the lead while Allmendinger started to challenge Herbst for second place on the outside lane. On the final lap of the stage, with his Kaulig Racing teammates tucked behind him, Allmendinger was able to pass Gaulding on the backstretch and hold on to win the stage for his second stage victory of the season and the fourth of his career. Teammate Chastain muscled his way to second place followed by teammate Haley, Gaulding and Annett. Herbst, Burton, Briscoe, Cindric and Sieg settled in the top 10. By then, 25 competitors were running on the lead lap. In addition, names like Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Brett Moffitt and Brandon Brown were out of the race.
Under the stage break, some like teammates Allmendinger, Chastain, Haley and Sieg remained on track while the rest led by Gaulding, Cindric and Briscoe pitted.
With less than 40 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green and Allmendinger moved in front of teammates Chastain and Haley to retain the lead. While Allmendinger and Chastain managed to clear the field, Haley was locked in a battle for third place with Sieg. Not long after, Sieg was black-flagged due to having a rear bumper cover loose on his No. 39 CMRroofing.com Chevrolet.
Remaining on track for three laps, Sieg made the turn to pit road to have the bumper cover addressed. At the same time, Hemric was also black-flagged to have a rear bumper replaced and addressed on his No. 8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet. Following his stop, however, Hemric was assessed a drive-through penalty on pit road for having too many crew members over the wall during his service.
With 30 laps remaining and with the laps continuing to wind down, Allmendinger and his No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet Camaro continued to lead a 10-car breakaway running in a single-file lane. Teammates Chastain and Haley were in second and third followed by Briscoe, Josh Williams and Cindric. Annett, the lone JR Motorsports competitors in the top 10, was in seventh followed by Herbst, Burton and Gaulding.
Five laps later, Allmendinger was still ahead of a 10-car breakaway followed by teammates Chastain and Haley while rookie Jesse Little, running in 11th place and leading the next wave of cars, was trailing by nine seconds. Another five laps later, with 20 laps remaining, Allmendinger continued to lead teammates Chastain and Haley, though all three Kaulig Racing Chevrolets were in question about having enough fuel to complete the race to its distance compared to their challengers behind them.
Under 15 laps remaining, the top-10 competitors led by Allmendinger were separated by nearly four seconds while the 11th-place car led by Little was trailing by 20 seconds. Five laps later and with 10 laps remaining, the following competitors of Cindric, Briscoe, Annett and Herbst overtook Haley for position while Allmendinger and Chastain continued to lead. By then, 16 competitors were running on the lead lap and the top-nine competitors were ahead of 10th-place Williams by nearly 10 seconds.
With five laps remaining and the top-nine competitors at the front still settling in a single-file line, nose to nose and bumper to bumper, Allmendinger was leading teammate Chastain while Cindric and Briscoe were behind.
With two laps remaining, entering Turn 1, Chastain and Briscoe attempted to pull beneath Allmendinger for the lead, but Allmendinger kept his car ahead of the pack after blocking the run. Chastain and his No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro remained in second while Briscoe fell back to seventh.
When the final lap of the race started, Allmendinger was still leading and blocking Chastain, Cindric and Haley. Entering Turn 3, Chastain gained a run through Turn 2 and he attempted to make a move beneath Allmendinger for the lead and the win. Chastain ended up giving his teammate a bump in the turn that turned Allmendinger sideways as he spun with a multi-car wreck erupting that collected Chastain, Annett and Cindric.
In the midst of the wreck, Haley dodged the carnage involving his teammates and came out on top as he was able to cruise across the finish line to grab a thrilling victory at Daytona.
The victory was Haley’s second at Daytona after he won his first NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona last July in a rain-shortened race while driving for Spire Motorsports. Including his three NASCAR Truck Series career victories in 2018, Haley has won six races across NASCAR’s three major division series. In addition, Haley’s last three victories across NASCAR have occurred on superspeedway venues.
“An amazing effort by Kaulig Racing,” Haley said on the frontstretch on NBCSN. “Obviously, I hate that A.J. and Ross got together there. As you guys at home can see, [team owner] Matt Kaulig, [team president] Chris Rice, we built a team and a family. We all work as one. Extremely proud of this LeafFilter Gutter Protection crew. [I] Can’t believe it. Two superspeedway wins in a row. Gotta say something for [spotter] Kevin Hamlin on the booth, too. Just a little lucky there. We got shoved out and I was a little frustrated, but that’s why you never give up. These things are so unpredictable. An incredible effort today. We swept everything [stages and race win]. Extremely proud of everyone.”
Haley’s victory at Daytona was also redemption from the Xfinity Series race at Daytona in July 2018, where Haley, driving for GMS Racing, made a bold three-wide pass for the win on Kyle Larson and Elliott Sadler entering the tri-oval for the win. While he was able to clear both competitors and streak across the finish line in first place, he completed his pass with his left-side tires crossing beneath the double yellow line zone. As a result, Haley was disqualified and demoted back to the last car on the lead lap while Larson was awarded the win.
“[I] Parked it right here on the double yellow line [area] where I went down too low about two years ago in a Xfinity race,” Haley added. “A little humor there.”
Behind Haley, Gray Gaulding tied his career-best result of second place in his 43rd series start followed by Briscoe, Herbst and Burton. Chastain, Annett and Cindric limped across the line in sixth, seventh and eighth while Williams and Little finished in the top 10. Allmendinger, who was unable to limp his car back to the finish line, ended his race in 15th place.
Following the race, Allmendinger made the mandatory post-race trip to the infield care center. Both Kaulig Racing teammates, at the end, expressed no ill will towards one another with Chastain defending his move and attempt to win to lock himself into the Xfinity Playoffs.
“Hopefully, we get some good ratings on that one,” Chastain said on pit road on NBCSN. “Terrible to run into your teammate like that. It must be my fault, though. It’s unfortunate, we did everything right all night. Man, we just got to win. This No. 10 car, Nutrien Ag Solutions. [I] Did everything right to be the best teammate I could. I haven’t always been. Last lap, I don’t back down and I’m gonna go for it. If I wasn’t there, if I watch the replay, but he got turned, so it wasn’t completely into the bumper. I hate it, man! It’s not gonna help me moving forward. It doesn’t matter how many races each of us run. We’re supposed to go for the win. Team rules the last 10 laps, and we all stayed committed. I hated that Justin got shoved out there with 10 or five [laps] to go. Coming to the checkered, what am I supposed to do? Just finish second? Not this guy.”
“It’s the way it is,” Allmendinger added in the infield care center on NBCSN. “We’re proud of everybody at Kaulig Racing for building really fast Chevys. [I] Wanted to do everything I could to get that Ellsworth Advisors Chevy in Victory Lane. I try to take care of my teammates, but it is what it is. It’s for the win. Ross is going for the championship and going for a win there. I saw him get low and I thought he’d, maybe, take care of me a little bit, considering I was there. He’s going for the win. It is what it is. It’s just disappointing. We were gonna have another 1-2-3 Kaulig finish at Daytona. It’s part of life, it’s racing. More importantly, congrats to my little bro, Justin Haley, and at least getting a Kaulig Racing Chevy in Victory Lane. That’s the most important thing. We’re bringing more trophies home for Matt Kaulig and that’s all that matters. He’s going for the win. I get it.”
There were nine lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 28 laps.
With his top-10 result, Cindric continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 58 points over Briscoe.
