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Tag: NASCAR Xfinity Series

  • Ed Jones inks three-race Xfinity deal with Sam Hunt Racing in 2024

    Ed Jones inks three-race Xfinity deal with Sam Hunt Racing in 2024

    Ed Jones will be joining Sam Hunt Racing to compete in his first three career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series throughout the 2024 season.

    The 29-year-old Jones from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, who has competed under both Emirati and British licenses, will make his first Xfinity start of the season and of his career at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on March 23, where he will pilot a Toyota GR Supra entry for Sam Hunt Racing. He will then return for back-to-back series’ starts at Portland International Raceway and at Sonoma Raceway in early June.

    The news comes as Jones spent this past season competing for High Class Racing in the Le Mans Prototype 2 class in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, where he ended up in sixth place in the final standings after finishing in the top 10 in all seven class starts. He also made his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career start with Young’s Motorsports at Circuit of the Americas last March, where he ended up in 36th place.

    “I’m really excited to be joining Sam Hunt Racing and Toyota Racing Development for my Xfinity Series debut and to compete in multiple races this season,” Jones said. “After spending time with Sam’s crew and the Toyota team, I have a lot of confidence in the program. I feel confident that we will be able to achieve some strong results.”

    Jones, who grew up competing in karting and achieved the 2005 United Arab Emirates karting title before advancing to InterSteps and Formula Renault, achieved the European F3 Open title in 2013. Three years later, he claimed the Indy Lights championship on the strength of two victories and eight podiums throughout the 18-race schedule while driving for Carlin.

    Beginning in 2017, Jones graduated to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, where he first competed with Dale Coyne Racing and achieved his maiden podium result by finishing third during the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A year later, he joined Chip Ganassi Racing, where he recorded two third-place results and eight top-10 results before ending up in a career-best 13th place in the final standings. He would then join Ed Carpenter Racing for the following season, where he competed on all streets and road course events along with making his third career start in the Indianapolis 500. In 13 starts, he recorded a season-best sixth-place finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in May.

    Jones, who was initially set to compete in the DTM series for the 2020 season before the COVID-19 pandemic restricted his traveling plans, returned to IndyCar competition in 2021, where he joined forces with Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan. After recording three top-10 results and ending up in 19th place in the final standings, he then spent the 2022 season competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship region and in the 24 Hours of Daytona for G-Drive Racing by APR in the Le Mans Prototype 2 class. He also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he achieved a podium result in the form of third place in the Le Mans Prototype 2 class with Jota Sport.

    “I’m looking forward to implementing Ed into our program at [Sam Hunt Racing], beginning at [Circuit of the Americas],” Sam Hunt, owner of Sam Hunt Racing, added. “He’s a super smart, mature guy who is hungry to build a career in NASCAR over the next couple of years, and to build it the right way. He’s professional and has raced at very high levels in INDYCAR and Sports cars. We’re excited to tackle the learning curve of competing in stock cars with him, and we know he will only get stronger and stronger with experience.”

    Jones is set to become the fourth competitor to compete for Sam Hunt Racing throughout the 2024 Xfinity Series season, a list that includes Jeffrey Earnhardt, Corey Heim and Sage Karam. The remainder of Sam Hunt Racing’s driver lineup throughout this season remains to be determined.

    Ed Jones’ first start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series is set to occur at Circuit of the Americas for the Focused Health 250. The event is scheduled to occur on March 23 and air at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • John Hunter Nemechek dominates for 10th Xfinity career victory at Las Vegas

    John Hunter Nemechek dominates for 10th Xfinity career victory at Las Vegas

    In an event mired with gusty winds, John Hunter Nemechek zipped his way to a dominant victory in The LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 2, for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season.

    “We definitely worked hard for this one,” Nemechek said. “We were good, but we weren’t great. Tyler (Allen), all of the guys on the 20 team just kept adjusting on it. Hats off to them. They made this Toyota GR Supra faster every single time that we made a pit stop. It continued to get faster, faster and faster. The Safeway Toyota GR Supra looked good, proud to have all of the brands that we do, all of our partners – feels good to come back and win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and to do it here in Vegas – I’ve been so close, so many times with Joe Gibbs Racing, so to finally get it done, it feels really good.”

    The 26-year-old, second-generation Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led five times for a race-high 99 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started 12th but raced his way to the front as he led for the first time on Lap 56 and finished in second place behind teammate Chandler Smith during both stage periods. After swapping the lead with Smith at the start of the final stage period, Nemechek, who reassumed the top spot during a restart with 72 laps remaining, then withstood a late round of green flag pit stops to reclaim the lead with 10 laps remaining, where he would muscle away from pole-sitter Cole Custer, Smith, and Austin Hill to cash in his first Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 campaign and his 10th of his career.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, March 1, Cole Custer, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, notched his first Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.281 mph in 29.788 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Chandler Smith, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.178 mph in 29.805 seconds. 

    Before the event, Anthony Alfredo dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car while Justin Allgaier, Blaine Perkins and Sage Karam also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, AJ Allmendinger made a bold three-wide move beneath Custer and Chandler Smith through the first two turns in his early bid for the lead. Through Turns 3 and 4, however, Smith muscled ahead and proceeded to lead the first lap as Allmendinger was left to battle Austin Hill for the runner-up spot while Custer went up the track and was engaged in a tight three-wide battle for fourth place that involved Parker Retzlaff and Parker Kligerman. As the field behind continued to jostle for early spots, Chandler Smith was stretching his early advantage by more than half a second over Hill. 

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Chandler Smith was leading by more than seven-tenths of a second over Hill followed by John Hunter Nemechek, Allmendinger and Custer while Ryan Sieg, Kligerman, Riley Herbst, Parker Retzlaff and Sammy Smith were running in the top 10 ahead of Aric Almirola, Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer, Corey Heim and Brandon Jones. Meanwhile, rookie Jesse Love was in 17th, Justin Allgaier was running 20th and Shane van Gisbergen was mired within the top 25. 

    Two laps later, the event’s first caution period flew after Retzlaff, who was running in the top 10, slid sideways in front of Sammy Smith entering Turn 4 and was hit by Sam Mayer, which damaged both vehicles, as Almirola barely dodged the carnage. 

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 13, the field fanned out to three lanes again approaching the first turn as Chandler Smith managed to retain the lead in front of Allmendinger and Hill while Kligerman muscled his way up to fourth place as Nemechek, who was pinned in the middle of the three-wide battle, slid back to sixth place in between Custer and Ryan Sieg. Amid the early battles ensuing behind, Chandler Smith maintained a reasonable advantage over Allmendinger and Hill by the Lap 15 mark. 

    Through the first 25 laps, Chandler Smith was leading by more than a second over Custer followed by Nemechek, Hill and Allmendinger while Ryan Sieg, Kligerman, Herbst, Allgaier and Brandon Jones were running in the top 10. Behind, Sammy Smith was back in 11th ahead of Creed, Jesse Love, Heim and Kyle Weatherman while Jeb Burton, Brennan Poole, Leland Honeyman, Kyle Sieg and Hailie Deegan followed suit in the top 20 along with Josh Williams, Almirola, Anthony Alfredo, Ryan Ellis and Jeremy Clements. 

    Ten laps later, Chandler Smith extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Nemechek while Custer and Hill battled for third place as they trailed by four seconds. By then, Shane van Gisbergen had taken his car to the garage following a mechanical issue. 

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

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hill exited pit road first followed by Herbst, Nemechek, Custer, Allmendinger and Allgaier while Chandler Smith lost six spots due to a jack issue and exited seventh amid his pit service. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 53 as Hill and Herbst occupied the front row. At the start, Hill and Herbst dueled for the top spot through the first two turns until Hill muscled ahead with the lead exiting the backstretch. With Hill leading the race, Nemechek and Herbst battled for the runner-up spot in front of Allmendinger and Custer while Chandler Smith was trying to carve his way back to the front from sixth place. 

    Just past the Lap 55 mark, Nemechek rocketed past Hill for the lead as Hill, who had debris clogging his front grille, was being pressured and overtaken by Herbst, Chandler Smith and a host of competitors, where he would drop to seventh place before he cleared the debris off of his grille. With Hill mired in the top 10 and mired in a bevy of traffic through the on-track battles, Nemechek retained the lead by half a second over both Herbst and Chandler Smith by the Lap 60 mark. 

    Just past the Lap 70 mark, Nemechek continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith while third-place Herbst trailed by more than a second. With Allgaier and Allmendinger running in the top five, Hill was back in sixth ahead of Kligerman, Ryan Sieg, Custer and Sammy Smith while Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Almirola, Creed and Heim trailed in the top 15 as Josh Williams was up to 16th place. 

    Ten laps later, Nemechek retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Chandler Smith while Herbst, Allgaier and Allmendinger continued to run in the top five ahead of Hill and Kligerman. Meanwhile, Jesse Love cracked the top 10 as he was in ninth ahead of Custer while teammates Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones battled for 11th ahead of Almirola. 

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Chandler Smith overtook teammate Nemechek on the final lap to capture his second consecutive Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Herbst settled in third followed by Allgaier and Allmendinger while Hill, Love, Kligerman, Custer and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10. 

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Smith retained the lead after exiting pit road ahead of Herbst and Nemechek while Hill, Allmendinger, Custer and Love followed suit. 

    With 104 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Chandler Smith and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead for a full lap and they continued to battle dead even for the top spot for the following lap until Nemechek managed to muscle ahead of Smith and manage both lanes to his control. With Nemechek leading Smith, Herbst trailed in third ahead of Hill, Allgaier and Allmendinger while the rest of the field behind jostled for spots. 

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, teammates Nemechek and Chandler Smith dueled for the lead again, but Nemechek withstood his ground and maintained the top spot while running on the outside lane. Nemechek would retain the lead until Chandler Smith reassumed the top spot with 90 laps remaining. By then, Herbst trailed in third place by a second as Hill and Allgaier continued to run in the top five. 

    With less than 80 laps remaining, Chandler Smith was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Herbst trailed by nearly a second ahead of Allgaier, Hill and Allmendinger. The caution would then fly with 73 laps remaining after Retzlaff stalled his car towards the exit of pit road. This resulted in the entire lead lap field led by Chandler Smith returning to pit road for service, where Nemechek managed to reassume the lead after beating Smith off of pit road first followed by Hill, Herbst, Allgaier and Allmendinger. 

    When the race restarted under green with 72 laps remaining, Nemechek fended off teammate Chandler Smith and Hill to maintain the lead from the outside lane while the rest of the field behind fanned out and jostled for late positions through the backstretch. Amid the battles, Nemechek continued to lead with less than 70 laps remaining. He would also maintain the lead with less than 60 laps remaining as Herbst was running in second ahead of Chandler Smith, Hill and Allgaier. 

    With 50 laps remaining, Nemechek extended his advantage to more than a second over Herbst while teammate Chandler Smith trailed in third place by more than three seconds. Hill and Allgaier continued to run in the top five while Custer, Sammy Smith, Allmendinger, Almirola and Brandon Jones were running in the top 10 ahead of Ryan Sieg, Kligerman, Love, Williams and Hailie Deegan. 

    Ten laps later, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to a second over Herbst and over three seconds over Chandler Smith while Hill and Allgaier remained in the top five. By then, Ryan Sieg cracked the top 10 as he was running 10th behind Custer, Allmendinger, Sammy Smith and Almirola while Creed overtook Deegan for 15th. 

    Another five laps later, green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Brandon Jones pitted his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro. Chandler Smith would surrender third place to pit during the following lap along with Herbst, Hill, Custer, Sammy Smith, Love, Allmendinger and others before Nemechek pitted with 31 laps remaining. Amid the pit stops, Jeb Burton was penalized for speeding on pit road.  

    With Nemechek pitting, Allgaier assumed the race lead with 31 laps remaining followed by Almirola, Williams, Creed and Poole. Allgaier, who was one of seven competitors opting to stretch the fuel tank as far as possible, retained the lead by nine seconds over Williams with 25 laps remaining. Meanwhile, Nemechek was mired back in eighth but was running as the highest competitor who had recently pitted ahead of Herbst and Chandler Smith. 

    Then with 21 laps remaining, Allgaier, who led 11 laps during his fuel stretch, pitted his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro under green as Williams assumed the race lead. By then, Nemechek carved his way up to third place while Hill, Chandler Smith and Herbst were trying to keep pace with Nemechek. Amid their charge to the front, Williams retained the lead with 15 laps remaining as he was leading by less than 12 seconds over Nemechek. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Nemechek reassumed the lead after Williams, who led the previous 10 laps, pitted under green. By then, Nemechek was out in front by more than four seconds over Hill while Chandler Smith, Custer and Herbst trailed by nearly six seconds in the top five.  

    With five laps remaining, Nemechek continued to lead by five seconds over a tight three-car battle for the runner-up spot that involved Hill, Custer and Chandler Smith while Herbst trailed by more than six seconds. Meanwhile, Allmendinger trailed in sixth place by seven seconds as Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Allgaier were mired in the top 10 and trailing the lead by nearly 22 seconds. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by nearly five seconds over Custer. Amid the gusty temperatures, Nemechek was able to navigate his way around the Vegas circuit smoothly for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch as the winner as he claimed the checkered flag by more than four seconds over Custer. 

    With the victory, Nemechek, a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor for Legacy Motor Club and a part-time Xfinity competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing, scored his 10th career win in the Xfinity Series, second across NASCAR’s top three national touring series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and his ninth driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, with JGR claiming its first victory in 2024 and its fourth at Vegas in the last 10 years. The victory was also the first for rookie crew chief Tyler Allen. 

    “Hats off to all the guys on this No. 20 team from Joe Gibbs Racing,” Nemechek said on FS1. “Man, it’s awesome to come back out here and win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a limited number of starts. Our goal was to come and win as many [races] as we possibly could. Nothing else matters. Congrats to [crew chief] Tyler [Allen], who’s the crew chief this year of the No. 20 car. His first win as a crew chief. We’ll go celebrate in Victory Lane. Man, it feels so good to win here in Las Vegas.”

    Custer, the pole winner, settled in second place followed by Chandler Smith, Austin Hill and Riley Herbst while Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Allgaier finished in the top 10.

    There were 12 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 22 laps. In addition, 13 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the third event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 22 points over Chandler Smith and 27 over Riley Herbst. 

    Results. 

    1. John Hunter Nemechek, 99 laps led 

    2. Cole Custer 

    3. Chandler Smith, 74 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner 

    4. Austin Hill, six laps led 

    5. Riley Herbst 

    6. AJ Allmendinger 

    7. Ryan Sieg 

    8. Sammy Smith 

    9. Brandon Jones 

    10. Justin Allgaier, 11 laps led 

    11. Parker Kligerman 

    12. Aric Almirola 

    13. Corey Heim 

    14. Josh Williams, one lap down, 10 laps led 

    15. Hailie Deegan, one lap down 

    16. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down 

    17. Jesse Love, one lap down 

    18. Leland Honeyman, one lap down 

    19. Brennan Poole, one lap down 

    20. Kyle Sieg, one lap down 

    21. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down 

    22. Ryan Ellis, one lap down 

    23. Jeb Burton, two laps down 

    24. JJ Yeley, two laps down 

    25. Jeremy Clements, three laps down 

    26. Sheldon Creed, three laps down 

    27. Nick Leitz, three laps down 

    28. Patrick Emerling, four laps down 

    29. Garrett Smithley, five laps down 

    30. Joey Gase, five laps down 

    31. Blaine Perkins, five laps down 

    32. BJ McLeod, five laps down 

    33. CJ McLaughlin, four laps down 

    34. Dawson Cram, eight laps down 

    35. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Fuel pump 

    36. Sage Karam – OUT, Transmission 

    37. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Engine 

    38. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident 

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, for the Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 9, at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • Weekend schedule for Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    Weekend schedule for Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    NASCAR travels to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend with a full schedule as all series compete on the 1.5-mile track. Hendrick Motorsports driver, William Byron, is the defending Cup Series race winner.

    There have, however, been five different winners in the previous five Cup Series races at Las Vegas – Kyle Larson (Oct. 2023), William Byron (March 2023), Joey Logano (Oct. 2022), Alex Bowman (March 2022) and Denny Hamlin in Sept. 2021. The trend has extended to the Xfinity Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. In 33 Xfinity Series races at Las Vegas, there have been 24 different race winners while the Truck Series has seen 25 different winners in 31 races.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, March 1
    4:35 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – FS1/SiriusXM
    5:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS1/SiriusXM
    6:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – FS1/SiriusXM
    7:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – FS1/SiriusXM

    9 p.m.: Truck Series Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 Presented by Westgate Resorts – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Distance: 201 miles (134 Laps)
    Stages end on Lap 30, Lap 60, Lap 134
    The Purse: $736,214
    Post Truck Series Race: PressPass

    Saturday, March 2
    2:05 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
    2:50 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
    Post Cup Series Qualifying: PressPass

    5 p.m.: Xfinity Series The LiUNA! – FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
    Distance: 300 miles (200 Laps);
    Stages end on Lap 45, Lap 90, Lap 200
    The Purse: $1,801,278
    Post Xfinity Series Race: PressPass

    Sunday, March 3
    3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube – FOX, PRN, SiriusXM
    Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps)
    Stages end on Lap 80, Lap 165, Lap 267
    The Purse: $9,386,054
    Post Cup Series Race: PressPass

  • NASCAR: History of Leap Day Racing

    NASCAR: History of Leap Day Racing

    Today marks Leap Day, February 29, where an extra day is included in the calendar every four years and occurs due to Earth taking 365 days and an extra six hours to orbit around the Sun. The gain of an extra day within the 365-day calendar ensures the calendar itself remains aligned with Earth revolving around the Sun.

    With Leap Day providing its share of historic events and birthdays throughout human history, the holiday date has also provided a handful of significant moments within NASCAR history.

    The first known NASCAR competition to occur on Leap Day dates to February 29, 1976, at North Carolina Motor Speedway, where the Cup Series’ Carolina 500 occurred. During the event, Richard Petty won for the first time of the season after claiming the checkered flag by two laps over runner-up Darrell Waltrip and dodging a late multi-car pileup that resulted in Bobby Allison flipping. The victory was redemption for Petty, who was involved in a wild final lap accident and finish with David Pearson two weeks earlier that resulted in Pearson managing to nurse his damaged No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Mercury across the finish line in first place ahead of Petty, whose car was unable to restart.

    The 1976 victory at Rockingham’s North Carolina Motor Speedway would serve as Petty’s 178th of 200 overall Cup victories he would achieve, where he still stands as NASCAR’s “The King” with the most career victories all-time to coincide with his seven championships, which is tied for the most in the Cup Series history alongside Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson. Currently, Petty, who retired from NASCAR competition following the 1992 season, serves as a team ambassador for Legacy Motor Club, a team he formerly owned and is currently owned by Johnson and Maury Gallagher. The team was rebranded from Petty GMS Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports, both names that stood out over the last 14 years.

    Sixteen years later (1992), another Leap Day event at North Carolina Motor Speedway occurred. On this occasion, the Xfinity Series hosted the Goodwrench 200. During the event, Ward Burton scored his first Xfinity career win after leading the final 22 laps and beating Mark Martin by nine-tenths of a second. The Rockingham victory would serve as Burton’s first of four total victories he would achieve in his Xfinity career, with his latter three occurring in 1993. To date, Burton has made 161 career starts in the Xfinity Series, with his latest occurring in 2007. The South Boston, Virginia, native has also made a single start in the Craftsman Truck Series, which occurred in 2012 and marks his final national touring series career start, and 375 in the Cup Series, where he has achieved five victories, including the 2002 Daytona 500 and the 2001 Southern 500.

    In 2008, there were no NASCAR race day competitions that occurred on Leap Day. Instead, the Cup Series held a qualifying session for the upcoming UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. During the qualifying session, hometown hero Kyle Busch, who was making his third career start driving the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, secured his first pole position of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 182.325 mph in 29.613 seconds. During the main event two days later, Busch, who led twice for 56 laps, ended up in 11th place while Carl Edwards would fend off Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a two-lap dash to win for the ninth time in his career and second in recent weeks.

    Today, Edwards, who would proceed to win eight additional events and settle in the runner-up spot behind Jimmie Johnson in the 2008 final standings, is retired with 28 Cup career victories added to his resume after electing to step away from full-time competition following the 2016 season. Earnhardt Jr., who would end up in 12th place in the 2008 standings, also retired following the 2017 season as he stands at 26 Cup career victories, including two Daytona 500 titles. Meanwhile, Busch, who ended up in 10th place in the 2008 standings despite winning a total of eight races, is currently campaigning in his 20th season as a Cup Series competitor and second driving for Richard Childress Racing. He currently has achieved two Cup Series championships (2015 & 2019) and holds 230 victories across NASCAR’s top-three national touring series (65 in Craftsman Truck Series, 102 in Xfinity Series and 63 in Cup Series).

    The third and latest NASCAR competition to occur on Leap Day was in 2020 at Auto Club Speedway in the Xfinity Series. During the year’s event, Harrison Burton, Ward Burton’s nephew who was campaigning in his first full-time Xfinity campaign and driving the No. 20 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing, scored his first Xfinity victory in his 12th series start after he led twice for 40 laps and managed to retain the top spot during a restart with 19 laps remaining before fending off late challenges from teammate Riley Herbst and Austin Cindric. The Fontana victory would serve as the first of four victories accumulated for Burton throughout the 2020 Xfinity season, with the Huntersville, North Carolina, native securing a spot in the 2020 Xfinity Playoffs. Despite being eliminated from Playoff contention following the Round of 12, Burton, who won twice in the final four-scheduled events, proceeded to finish in eighth place in the final driver’s standings and secured the Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    Currently, Burton is campaigning in his third full-time season in the Cup Series for Wood Brothers Racing and as the driver of the No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. He has made 75 starts in NASCAR’s premier series and has racked up a single top-five result and four top-10 results.

    Prior to Harrison Burton’s first Xfinity victory, the Cup Series generated a dramatic moment earlier in the day when Clint Bowyer edged seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson by 0.007 seconds to claim what would be his fourth and final Cup career pole position at Fontana. Bowyer’s pole-winning lap, overall, occurred at 179.614 mph in 40.086 seconds. During the main event, Bowyer, who led the first 10 laps, ended up in 23rd place and Johnson settled in seventh place while Johnson’s teammate, Alex Bowman, won for the second time in his career after leading a race-high 110 laps.

    Bowyer and Johnson have since retired from full-time NASCAR competition, which occurred following the 2020 season, while Bowman is currently campaigning in his ninth season in the Cup Series and seventh driving for Hendrick Motorsports.

    Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    For this season, there are no NASCAR-sanctioned events that are scheduled to occur on Leap Day, with the Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity and Cup divisions set to run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as part of a triple-header weekend between March 1-3. With Leap Day 2028 scheduled to occur on a Tuesday and with race day events primarily occurring on weekends, Leap Day 2032 is scheduled to occur on a Sunday, which leaves the futuristic possibility of another addition to NASCAR competition on Leap Day to be made.

  • NASCAR reveals 2024 spring Atlanta penalty report

    NASCAR reveals 2024 spring Atlanta penalty report

    NASCAR released its penalty report following this past weekend’s triple-header feature at Atlanta Motor Speedway which includes two Cup Series teams from the same organization hit with an early points swing.

    Stewart-Haas Racing’s Nos. 10 and 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse teams piloted by Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece, respectively, have each been docked 35 driver/owner points as a result of violating Section 14.5.6.1.a. of NASCAR’s Rule Book that highlights the specification compliance of roof rail deflectors.

    The news comes after NASCAR confiscated the roof rail deflectors of both Gragson and Preece’s entries following Friday’s pre-race inspection and before the Cup Series’ Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday.

    During the event, Preece finished 16th while Gragson, who was involved in a 16-car pileup on the second lap, retired in 36th.

    In addition, Joey Logano, a two-time Cup Series champion, was fined $10,000 for a competition infraction that involved failing to meet SFI-approved specifications with his protective gloves, where his left glove was discovered to be modified with webbings between his thumb and index finger, which would provide an aerodynamic advantage by creating drag and deflecting air from coming inside the car.

    Logano, who initially posted the second-fastest qualifying speed and was set to start alongside pole-sitter Michael McDowell on the front row, was instead forced to drop to the rear of the field and serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the main event. Despite rallying to lead 27 laps, Logano ended up 28th after getting collected in a multi-car wreck with Chris Buescher and Denny Hamlin prior to the second stage’s conclusion.

    In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Seth Chavka, crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 “all-star” Toyota Supra entry that was piloted by Ryan Truex, was fined $5,000 due to a single lug nut discovered to be unsecured on Truex’s entry following the series’ RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta on Saturday. During the event, Truex finished ninth after he initially was in contention for the victory during an overtime shootout.

    In addition, Jason Miller, crew chief of the No. 14 SS Green Light Racing Chevrolet team piloted by JJ Yeley, was issued a two-race suspension, beginning for the next two upcoming weekends, for violating Section 4.4.D of the Xfinity Series’ Rule Book that highlights NASCAR member code of conduct. Miller was seen engaging in a physical confrontation with Kyle Weatherman following Saturday’s event. Their argument stems from where Weatherman sent Yeley for a spin entering Turn 1 nearing the Lap 60 mark. Yeley ended up 24th while Weatherman finished 17th.

    There were no penalties or fines issued from Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series’ FR8 208 event at Atlanta.

    NASCAR is set to resume to action for its third triple-header feature of the 2024 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The action commences with the Truck Series’ Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 on Friday, March 1, which will air at 9 p.m. ET on FS1 followed by the Xfinity Series’ The LiUNA! that will occur on Saturday, March 2, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1. The Cup Series’ Pennzoil 400 will conclude the weekend by occurring on Sunday, March 3, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Hendrick Motorsports returns the No. 17 entry for an expanded Xfinity schedule in 2024

    Hendrick Motorsports returns the No. 17 entry for an expanded Xfinity schedule in 2024

    Hendrick Motorsports will be fielding the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro entry sponsored by HendrickCars.com for 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series events, an increase from the previous two seasons, featuring five accomplished competitors throughout the 2024 season.

    William Byron, the 2024 Daytona 500 champion, will first field the HMS No. 17 “all-star” entry at Phoenix Raceway on March 9. He will also compete at Darlington Raceway on May 11, Pocono Raceway on July 13 and conclude the entry’s 10-race program by competing at Watkins Glen International on September 14.

    During Byron’s four-race Xfinity slate, Brandon McSwain, a lead engineer for Byron and the No. 24 HMS team in the Cup Series who graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a mechanical engineering degree, will also serve as Byron’s Xfinity crew chief.

    Kyle Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, will return to pilot the No. 17 HendrickCars.com entry at Circuit of the Americas on March 23 and at the Chicago Street Course on July 6 while Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, will compete at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25 and at Darlington Raceway on August 31.

    Lastly, Alex Bowman, a three-time Daytona 500 pole winner, will make his lone Xfinity start of the season in the No. 17 entry at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 22 while Boris Said, an accomplished road-course ringer with victories in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, will return to compete at Sonoma Raceway on June 8. Said, a former champion of the Rolex Sports Car Series GT Class, with a single victory across the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series, is also a partner at Hendrick Automotive Group’s BMW of Murrieta in Murrieta, California.

    For the events where Bowman, Elliott, Larson and Said pilot the No. 17 entry (six races total), Greg Ives, the 2014 Xfinity Series championship-winning crew chief with 10 Cup Series victories, will return to call the shots atop the No. 17 pit box.

    “The No. 17 is a big part of our story, and it would be special to see it win – and win often – during our 40th anniversary season,” Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports and chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group, said. “The sponsorship has been a big success for HendrickCars.com and our dealerships, and we’re pleased to add more races and take it to another level in 2024. It’s victory lane or bust.”

    Hendrick Motorsports first fielded the No. 17 HendrickCars.com entry in four Xfinity events in 2022, where Bowman, Byron and Larson contributed to a combined two poles, three top-five results and 71 laps led. The entry returned for six events in 2023, where Bowman, Byron, Rajah Caruth, Elliott and Larson contributed to a single pole, three top-three results, four top-10 results and 68 laps led.

    Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry is set to make its first start of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season with William Byron at Phoenix Raceway for the Call 811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 on March 9. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR 2024: Las Vegas Entry List Preview for triple-header feature

    NASCAR 2024: Las Vegas Entry List Preview for triple-header feature

    With the first two events of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule highlighted with two dramatic finishes on two restrictor-plate circuits in the rearview mirror, the teams and competitors venture off for a two-race West Coast swing between the states of Nevada and Arizona to commence the month of March.

    It all begins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, a city spotlighted with recent major sporting events and triumphs, from both the Vegas Golden Knights and the Las Vegas Aces achieving recent championships in the NHL and WNBA, respectively, to Formula 1 hosting its inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix through the Vegas Strip last November and Super Bowl LVIII occurring in the city’s Allegiant Stadium between the San Francisco 49ers and the eventual champions Kansas City Chiefs two weeks ago.

    This upcoming weekend is set to mark the first of two scheduled visits this season in Sin City for both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity divisions while the Craftsman Truck Series division will make its lone, annual visit to Vegas’s 1.5-mile speedway venue before entering a one-week break period.

    The main attraction for this weekend’s triple-header feature is the Cup Series’ Pennzoil 400 which will occur this upcoming Sunday, March 3, and cap off the triple-header feature.

    With 37 participants entered for Sunday’s main event, which will ensure all entered competitors make the main event, the competitor who headlines the entry list is Daniel Suarez, who is coming off a dramatic three-wide photo finish against Cup Series champions Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he nipped Blaney at the finish line by 0.003 seconds, that snapped Suarez’s one-year winless drought and register his second Cup career victory. Despite registering only two top-10 results in 13 Cup career starts at Vegas, the Monterrey, Mexico, native strives to extend his early momentum that could land him and Trackhouse Racing in Victory Lane for a second consecutive weekend.

    William Byron, the 2024 Daytona 500 champion, and teammate Kyle Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, also headline the entry list as both Hendrick Motorsports’ competitors each won a Cup Vegas event a year ago (Byron in March and Larson in October). With HMS’ competitors winning four of the last six Cup events at Vegas, all four Hendrick competitors, including Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott, strive to extend the team’s strong early start into their 40th anniversary of NASCAR competition.

    Currently, Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion and a native of Las Vegas, leads this year’s Cup Series regular-season standings following his third-place run at Atlanta. Busch, who achieved his first and only Cup victory to date at Vegas in 2009, strives to strike gold in front of his home crowd come Sunday’s main event while his competition that includes Byron, Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Elliott, Suarez, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Larson and Corey LaJoie strive to spoil Busch’s homecoming.

    A notable newcomer to this weekend’s Cup entry list is Derek Kraus, who will make his first select Cup Series starts this season in Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry. The 22-year-old Kraus from Stratford, Connecticut, graduates to a part-time Cup Series campaign for the first time after spending this past season as a part-time Xfinity Series competitor for Kaulig Racing while also serving as a simulator competitor for both Kaulig and Legacy Motor Club. He is also the 2019 ARCA Menards Series West champion who competed in three full-time Craftsman Truck Series seasons (2020-22).

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Another newcomer featured for Sunday’s event is JJ Yeley, who will return to pilot the No 44 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for NY Racing for his first official Cup start of the 2024 season two weeks after he fell short of qualifying for this year’s 66th running of the Daytona 500.

    2024 Pennzoil 400 Entry List

    A day before the Cup Series action, the Xfinity Series will host The LiUNA! which will feature 38 participants contesting from 38 starting spots.

    The competitor who headlines the entry list is Austin Hill, who is two-for-two in this year’s Xfinity schedule following recent superspeedway victories at Daytona and Atlanta. With the Winston, Georgia, native having won the spring Xfinity Vegas event a year ago, Hill will attempt to become the first competitor to commence a new season of Xfinity Series competition by winning the first three events on a schedule.

    Another competitor who headlines the list is Riley Herbst, a 25-year-old Las Vegas native who scored his first Xfinity career victory at his home track last October and is currently ranked in third place in this year’s Xfinity regular-season standings as he strives for back-to-back victories at home.

    Both Hill and Herbst are not the only Xfinity regulars off to a strong start to the 2024 season. Sheldon Creed, Chandler Smith and Parker Retzlaff, all of whom have finished in the top five in the first two events of this season, strive to extend their early momentum and potentially land their first victory of the season. In addition, rookie Jesse Love, who is also last year’s ARCA Menards Series champion from Menlo Park, California, strives for redemption after leading a race-high 157 laps a week ago at Atlanta, only to run out of fuel during an overtime shootout and settling in 12th place in the final running order. The list also includes AJ Allmendinger, who won at Vegas in 2021, and rookie Shane van Gisbergen, who recorded his first top-three result by finishing third last weekend at Atlanta as he will make his first career start at Vegas.

    Notably, Aric Almirola will make his first Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season as part of a part-time campaign with Joe Gibbs Racing. He was initially scheduled to share the No. 20 JGR Toyota Supra entry with John Hunter Nemechek throughout this season. Instead, Almirola will pilot the No. 19 Supra this weekend, an entry that had been piloted by Ryan Truex for the first two events on the 2024 calendar, while Nemechek returns to pilot the No. 20 entry for his third of 10 scheduled starts.

    Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Corey Heim, a full-time Truck Series competitor for TRICON Garage and a Toyota Racing Development competitor, will also be featured in Saturday’s Xfinity event as he will make his first of select Xfinity starts in the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing.

    Currently, the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet Camaro entry is entered for Saturday’s event, though a driver has yet to be named. In addition, the No. 36 DGM Racing Chevrolet entry, which initially entered without a listed driver, is listed to be withdrawn from the event.

    2024 The LiUNA! Entry List

    This weekend’s triple-header feature at Las Vegas will commence with the Truck Series’ Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 which will occur this upcoming Friday, March 1, and feature 32 competitors entered for the event.

    Ironically, the competitor who headlines the entry list is Kyle Busch, who is set to make his second of five-scheduled series starts in the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports at his home track to go alongside his full-time Cup Series role with Richard Childress Racing. Busch motored his way to his first Truck victory of the 2024 season with Spire Motorsports at Atlanta last weekend and has won four of the last six spring Truck events at Vegas.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Busch is not the only Cup Series competitor entered for this weekend’s Truck Series event at Las Vegas as he will compete alongside former Truck champions Christopher Bell and Zane Smith. Smith, the 2022 Truck Series champion and a 2024 Cup Series rookie, will pilot the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST for his first of four-scheduled starts in the series while Bell, the 2017 series champion, will pilot the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage.

    Another notable spot in this weekend’s Truck entry list is Connor Mosack, who will make his first of select series starts in the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Niece Motorsports. The 25-year-old Mosack from Charlotte, North Carolina, spent this past season competing in 24 Xfinity events between Sam Hunt Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing. He also achieved his first ARCA Menards Series career victory at Kansas Speedway last September and is currently competing in the 2024 Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series for Silver Hare Racing.

    Currently, Tyler Ankrum, who has achieved two top-11 runs in his first two Truck events driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, leads the regular-season standings by 10 points over Ty Majeski, who finished in the runner-up spot behind Busch last weekend at Atlanta, and by 12 over Nick Sanchez, who scored his first career victory at Daytona. Corey Heim, Rajah Caruth, Bret Holmes, Matt Crafton, Taylor Gray, Christian Eckes and Daniel Dye trail in the top 10 in the standings, respectively.

    2024 Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 Entry List

    Following this upcoming weekend’s triple-header weekend at Vegas, the Cup and Xfinity Series teams and competitors will travel southeast to Avondale, Arizona, to compete at Phoenix Raceway alongside the ARCA Menards Series West for their season-opening event between March 8-10, which will conclude the two-week West Coast swing. Meanwhile, the Truck Series will enter its first off-weekend break period before returning to action at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, on March 16.

    The Craftsman Truck Series’ Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is set to air on Friday, March 1, at 9 p.m. ET on FS1 while the Xfinity Series’ The LiUNA! will follow suit and air on Saturday, March 2, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1. The Cup Series’ Pennzoil 400 will conclude this weekend’s triple-header feature by occurring on Sunday, March 3, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Austin Hill snatches dramatic Xfinity victory at Atlanta in overtime

    Austin Hill snatches dramatic Xfinity victory at Atlanta in overtime

    In an event dominated by rookie Jesse Love, teammate Austin Hill captured the final spotlight by claiming a dramatic, overtime victory in the RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, February 24, for his second consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series victory to commence the 2024 season.

    The 29-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led the final two of 168 over-scheduled laps in an event where he was poised for a potential top-10 result while teammate Jesse Love dominated the event from pole position and had won the event’s two-stage periods. Following a caution period with two laps remaining that sent the event into overtime and with fuel becoming a concern for a multitude of front-runners, Love’s dominant quest to victory came to a halt at the start of overtime as he stumbled to keep up to pace. Love’s misfortune parted the seas for Hill to move into the lead. From there, Hill was able to fend off Chandler Smith for two laps to grab his second consecutive Xfinity victory to commence the 2024 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, February 23, rookie Jesse Love notched his second consecutive pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 173.935 mph in 31.874 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Austin Hill, winner of this year’s season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, after he clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 173.706 mph in 31.916 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Brandon Jones, Patrick Emerling, Jeb Burton, Parker Retzlaff, Joey Gase, Ryan Ellis and Brennan Poole dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, teammates Love and Hill dueled for the lead for a full lap in front of two tight-packed lanes until Love managed to lead the first lap by a hair. By the conclusion of the second lap, Love had both lanes to his control with the lead while Riley Herbst was battling Hill for the runner-up spot.

    By the fourth lap, Josh Williams had fallen off the pace due to a flat tire on his Kaulig Racing entry. Amid Williams’ issues, the race remained under green flag conditions as Love also retained the lead followed by Herbst, Sam Mayer, Ryan Truex and John Hunter Nemechek while Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed, Hill, Parker Kligerman and Sammy Smith occupied the top 10 by the fifth lap mark.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Love continued to lead in front of a long single-file line of competitors that included Herbst, Mayer, Truex and Nemechek while Hill, Kligerman, AJ Allmendinger, Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier trailed in the top 10.

    Fifteen laps later, Love retained the lead ahead of Herbst, Mayer, Kligerman and Truex in the draft while Allmendinger, Allgaier, Creed, Sammy Smith and Ryan Sieg were running in the top 10.

    When the first sage period concluded on Lap 40, Love, who has led every lap thus far, captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Herbst settled in second while Mayer, Truex, Kligerman, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Creed, Ryan Sieg and Sammy Sith were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Love pitted. During the pit stops, Brandon Jones was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while Poole was also penalized due to his crew members being over the pit box too soon.

    The second stage period started on Lap 47 as Love and Kligerman occupied the front row. At the start, Love and Kligerman dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Love muscled the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro ahead with the lead with drafting help from Allgaier. Kligerman, however, would spend the next two laps battling dead even with Love for the top spot until Love muscled back ahead by the Lap 50 mark.

    Nearing the Lap 60 mark, the caution flew after JJ Yeley spun off the front nose of Kyle Weatherman exiting the frontstretch and entering the first turn. During the caution period, some drivers, including Shane van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger and Kyle Sieg pitted while the rest led by Love remained on the track.

    During the next restart on Lap 63, Love battled against teammate Hill for nearly a lap until he muscled ahead from the outside lane as he was pursued by Allgaier and Herbst while Hill remained as the lead competitor on the inside lane. As the laps progressed, Nemechek made contact with the outside wall in Turn 3 and Hill drifted outside the top 10 while he continued to run the inside lane. Amid the events, Love continued to lead the race.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 80, Love captured his second consecutive stage victory of the 2024 Xfinity season. Allgaier settled in second while Herbst, Truex, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Cole Custer, Hill, Allmendinger and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Love pitted while Jeb Burton remained on the track. Shortly after, Burton would surrender the lead to pit, which gave the lead to Allmendinger, who only pitted for fuel.

    With 76 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allmendinger and Love occupied the front row. At the start, Allmendinger and Love dueled for the lead in front of two packed lanes. Allmendinger and Love would then swap the lead during the next seven laps before Love assumed control of both lanes with the top spot with 67 laps remaining.

    With 50 laps remaining, Love was leading ahead of Allmendinger, Herbst, Truex and Kligerman while Hill, Brandon Jones, Custer, Mayer and Sammy Smith occupied the top 10 in front of Allgaier, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Sieg, Creed, Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Leland Honeyman and Ryan Ellis.

    Fifteen laps later and with the majority of the field running in a long single-file line towards the outside lane, Love continued to lead ahead of Herbst, Truex, Kligerman and teammate Hill. By then, Allmendinger, who was stuck on the inside lane, had slipped within the top 15.

    Another 15 laps later, Love retained the lead as part of a 15-car breakaway followed by Herbst, Truex, Kligerman and Hill.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Love maintained the lead in front of Herbst while Truex, Kligerman and Hill remained in the top five, though fuel was becoming a concern for the front-runners.

    Then with three laps remaining, Custer, who was running in the top 10, fell off the pace through the frontstretch after he ran out of fuel. Teammate Herbst then met the same fate entering Turns 1 and 2, but the event remained under green flag conditions. With two laps remaining, however, the caution flew after Ryan Sieg came to a stop on the backstretch due to running out of fuel.

    During the caution period, some including Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen, Allmendinger, Creed, Retzlaff, Jeremy Clements and Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Love remained on the track. With the event sent into overtime, disaster struck for Allgaier, who was running toward the front but was forced to pit after he ran out of fuel prior to the start.

    At the start of overtime, Love along with Kligerman and Allmendinger fell off the pace after all three ran out of fuel through the frontstretch. With Love stumbling on gas, Austin Hill shoved Ryan Truex out of his path to assume the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch followed by a hard-charging Chandler Smith while Shane van Gisbergen followed suit in third.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill remained as the leader by a narrow margin over Chandler Smith and van Gisbergen. With Smith unable to gain enough momentum amid the draft to mount a final lap charge, Hill was able to maintain control of both lanes and cycle his way back to the frontstretch to claim his second consecutive checkered flag of the 2024 season.

    With the victory, Hill notched his eighth career win in the Xfinity Series, his sixth on a superspeedway venue and his third victory in his previous four starts at Atlanta, his home track. Hill also became the first competitor to win the first two events on the schedule since Tony Stewart made the last accomplishment in 2008.

    “I just gotta thank my guys, everyone on this No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet,” Hill said on FS1. “We all worked through it. I was really thinking we were down and out. I was thinking [Love] was going to go get ‘em, and hey, if I can’t win, let my teammate win. We were riding there in fourth or fifth, whatever it was. I was saving fuel. We came to the restart zone and I’m like sloshing it around and we go through the gears. When I went to shift from third to fourth [gear], I actually stumbled and [Chandler Smith] hit me really hard, and that woke it back up, and I had enough fuel to complete the lap.

    “But I’ve got to take this moment to congratulate, Jesse Love, my teammate. He ran an awesome race. To be a rookie and to lead that many laps, he should be sitting in Victory Lane right now. The No. 2 team did a hell of a job. So awesome to win here at my home track again for the third time. Man, what a race. I thought we were down and out. I really did. I thought we were just gonna run second or third and here we are in Victory Lane.”

    Chandler Smith settled in the runner-up spot followed by Shane van Gisbergen, who achieved his first top-three result in the Xfinity circuit. Sheldon Creed came home in fourth place followed by Retzlaff while Jeremy Clements, Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Truex and Sammy Smith finished in the top 10.

    Jesse Love, who led a race-high 157 laps, ended up in 12th place ahead of Allmendinger after he came up two laps shy on his dry tank of fuel.

    There were 11 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 23 laps.

    Following the second event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill continues to lead the regular-season standings by 17 points over Sheldon Creed, 28 over Riley Herbst, 30 over both Chandler Smtih and Jesse Love, and 36 over Parker Retzlaff.

    Results.

    1. Austin Hill, two laps led

    2. Chandler Smith

    3. Shane van Gisbergen

    4. Sheldon Creed

    5. Parker Retzlaff

    6. Jeremy Clements

    7. Anthony Alfredo

    8. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    9. Ryan Truex

    10. Sammy Smith

    11. Sam Mayer

    12. Jesse Love, 157 laps, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    13. AJ Allmendinger, eight laps led

    14. Brandon Jones

    15. Riley Herbst

    16. Cole Custer

    17. Kyle Weatherman

    18. BJ McLeod

    19. Parker Kligerman, one lap led

    20. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    21. Leland Honeyman, one lap down

    22. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

    23. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    24. JJ Yeley, one lap down

    25. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    26. Nick Leitz, one lap down

    27. Hailie Deegan, one lap down

    28. Justin Allgaier, one lap down

    29. Joey Gase, two laps down

    30. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    31. Dawson Cram, two laps down

    32. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down

    33. Patrick Emerling, three laps down

    34. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

    35. CJ McLaughlin, four laps down

    36. Kyle Sieg, four laps down, one lap led

    37. Josh Williams, nine laps down

    38. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Steering

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is The LiUNA! At Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 2, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Jesse Love claims second consecutive Xfinity Series pole of 2024 at Atlanta

    Jesse Love claims second consecutive Xfinity Series pole of 2024 at Atlanta

    Jesse Love captured the NASCAR Xfinity Series pole Friday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a lap of 173.935 mph in the No. 38 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. It was his second consecutive pole of the year. He also earned bragging rights as the first driver to win the pole in his first two Xfinity starts.

    He gave credit to his entire team and is focused on making the Playoffs this season.

    “My goal”, Love said, “is to hopefully get locked in the Playoffs in the first five or 10 races and obviously we have another good shot tomorrow night.”

    His teammate, Austin Hill was second quickest with a 173.706 mph lap and will line up beside Love on the front row. Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek will start third after posting a lap speed of 173.938 mph. Riley Herbst will start fourth (173.255) as Parker Kligerman (173.131) completed the top five in qualifying. Sam Mayer, AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Truex, Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top 10.

    Jordan Anderson had a mechanical issue and was unable to post a lap time. He will start 38th in last place.

    The Xfinity Series RAPTOR King of Tough 250 will be broadcast on FS1 at 5 p.m. ET with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR.

    Starting Lineup:

    1. Jesse Love, No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
    2. Austin Hill, No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
    3. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
    4. Riley Herbst, No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
    5. Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet
    6. Sam Mayer, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
    7. A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
    8. Ryan Truex, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
    9. Justin Allgaier, No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
    10. Sheldon Creed, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
    11. Cole Custer, No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
    12. Chandler Smith, No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
    13. Shane Van Gisbergen, No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
    14. Sammy Smith, No. 8 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
    15. Anthony Alfredo, No. 5 Our Motorsports Chevrolet
    16. Josh Williams, No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
    17. Kyle Weatherman, No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet
    18. Brandon Jones, No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
    19. Hailie Deegan, No. 15 AM Racing Ford
    20. Ryan Sieg, No. 39 RSS Racing Ford
    21. B.J. McLeod, No. 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet
    22. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota
    23. Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet
    24. Parker Retzlaff, No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet
    25. Jeb Burton, No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet
    26. Kyle Sieg, No. 28 RSS Racing Ford
    27. C.J. McLaughlin, No. 38 RSS Racing Ford
    28. Blaine Perkins, No. 29 RSS Racing Ford
    29. Dawson Cram, No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet
    30. Brennan Poole, No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet
    31. Nick Leitz, No. 92 DGM Racing Chevrolet
    32. Garrett Smithley, No. 6 JD Motorsports Chevrolet
    33. Joey Gase, No. 35 Joey Gase Motorsports Ford
    34. Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet
    35. Leland Honeyman, No. 42
    36. J.J. Yeley, No. 14 No. 42 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet
    37. Patrick Emerling, No. 07 SS Green Light Racing Ford
    38. Jordan Anderson, No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet
  • Allmendinger to make 100th Xfinity career start at Atlanta

    Allmendinger to make 100th Xfinity career start at Atlanta

    In his return as a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, AJ Allmendinger is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro will make his 100th career start in the Xfinity circuit.

    A former Champ Car competitor from Los Gatos, California, Allmendinger made his inaugural appearance in the Xfinity circuit at Auto Club Speedway in September 2007. By then, he was also competing in his first full-time season in the Cup Series for Red Bull Racing. Driving the No. 42 Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing, Allmendinger started 18th and finished 36th in his Xfinity debut after being involved in a multi-car wreck just shy of the halfway mark. He would then compete in six of the remaining eight Xfinity events on the 2007 schedule with CGR, where he would record a season-best 13th-place finish at Phoenix Raceway in November.

    After making a single Xfinity start for Gillett Evernham Motorsports at Phoenix in 2008, where he finished 12th, Allmendinger spent the years 2009 to early 2012 competing in the Cup Series between Richard Petty Motorsports and Team Penske. After being suspended by NASCAR indefinitely for failing a drug test and being released by Team Penske before eventually being reinstated by NASCAR towards the end of the 2012 season, the Californian was re-hired by Team Penske to pilot the team’s No. 22 Ford Mustang at Road America and at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2013.

    At Road America in June, Allmendinger, who started on the pole position for the first time in his career, led a race-high 29 laps and muscled through two overtime restarts to score his first Xfinity career win. Two months later, he led a race-high 73 laps and outlasted an overtime shootout to claim his second consecutive Xfinity victory at Mid-Ohio and achieve both road course victories of the season for Team Penske. Allmendinger’s pair of road course victories would eventually contribute to Team Penske’s No. 22 team claiming the 2013 Xfinity owner’s championship by a single point over Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 team.

    Following the 2013 season, Allmendinger spent the years 2014 to 2018 competing as a full-time Cup competitor for JTG-Daugherty Racing, where he would achieve both his first Cup victory at Watkins Glen International and first Playoff berth in 2014. During the five-year span, he made a single Xfinity start at Watkins Glen in August 2018, where he piloted GMS Racing’s No. 23 entry to a runner-up result.

    In 2019, Allmendinger joined Kaulig Racing to compete in select events in the team’s No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro entry. His first Xfinity start of the season occurred at Daytona International Speedway in July, where he initially finished in third place as part of a 1-2-3 finish for Kaulig Racing, a team that won for the first time in NASCAR with Ross Chastain recording the victory over Justin Haley. During the post-race inspection process, however, Allmendinger was demoted to last place after his car failed the inspection process that involved the engine vacuum test. A month later, he settled in a strong runner-up result behind Austin Cindric at Watkins Glen but was relegated to last place for a second time after his car failed post-race inspection, this time for his car being too low on both rear corners. He would proceed to finish third at Mid-Ohio and 24th at Road America after being involved in a late restart incident. Then at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October, he led 20 laps and muscled away from the field during a three-lap shootout to claim his third Xfinity career win and the second ever for Kaulig Racing.

    For the 2020 season, Allmendinger returned to Kaulig Racing on a part-time Xfinity basis, but this time in the team’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro entry. After failing to qualify for the season opener at Daytona and finishing 10th during his first start of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway in June, he scored his fourth Xfinity career victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which would also mark his first win on an oval circuit, after leading the final 37 laps. He would then notch four top-five results and finish no lower than seventh during his next five starts before ending up with back-to-back DNFS at Daytona and Talladega, both due to last-lap accidents. Allmendinger then achieved his second Xfinity victory of the season and the fifth of his career at the Charlotte Roval in October after leading 12 laps and fending off both Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric during an overtime shootout and amid wet conditions. The Californian would make his 11th and final Xfinity start of the season at Martinsville Speedway in late October, where he ended up 26th.

    Nearly a month after the 2020 season concluded, Allmendinger was announced as a full-time competitor of Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 entry. After notching a fifth-place result at Daytona before finishing no higher than 14th during the following two events, he notched his first victory of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March after leading 44 laps and beating Hemric by nearly a second. Nine races later, he recorded his second victory of the season at Mid-Ohio in June following a two-lap restart, where he beat teammate Justin Haley by eight-tenths of a second. Another nine races later, he won for the third time in 2021 at Michigan International Speedway after leading a race-high 70 laps and beating Brandon Jones by a tenth of a second.

    Then four races later, Allmendinger battled and edged Austin Cindric at the finish line during an overtime shootout to win the regular-season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway in September before both wrecked across the frontstretch. Amid the carnage, Allmendinger, who claimed his fourth Xfinity win of the season, also achieved the regular-season championship before embarking on his first series appearance in the Playoffs. After winning for a third consecutive time at the Charlotte Roval in October and transferring from the Round of 12 to 8, he then notched three consecutive top-seven results to grab a Championship 4 spot for the season-finale event at Phoenix in November. Contending for his first NASCAR Xfinity title, Allmendinger was involved in a late spin and ended up in 14th place on the track and in a career-best fourth place in the final standings. Despite falling short of winning the title, Allmendinger capped off the 2021 season with a career-high five victories, a pole, a career-high 18 top-five results, 22 top-10 results, 422 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.2.

    Remaining as a full-time Xfinity competitor for Kaulig Racing in 2022, Allmendinger commenced the season by finishing second at Daytona after being overtaken by Austin Hill on the final lap prior to a caution-ending wreck. After finishing no lower than ninth during his next four starts, Allmendinger claimed his first Xfinity win of the season at Circuit of the Americas in March after leading a race-high 27 laps. Eight races later and seven additional top-10 results later, the Californian won the series’ inaugural event at Portland International Raceway amid slick conditions. He would proceed to win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August and record 10 additional top-10 results during the final 12 regular-season events before locking up his second consecutive regular-season title.

    Despite notching back-to-back victories at Talladega Superspeedway and the Charlotte Roval, respectively, during the Playoffs and transferring from the Round of 12 to 8, he was unable to transfer to the Championship 4 round after finishing 22nd, third and 16th, respectively, throughout the Round of 8. With his championship hopes of the 2022 season evaporated, Allmendinger capped off the season in fifth place both during the finale and in the final standings. In addition, Allmendinger, who notched a career-high five victories for a second consecutive season, achieved a career-high five poles, 17 top-five results, a career-high 28 top-10 results, 348 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 6.6.

    As Allmendinger moved up to the Cup Series on a full-time basis for Kaulig in 2023, he also competed in select Xfinity events with Kaulig, beginning at Circuit of the Americas in March. During the event, he led a race-high 28 of 46 laps from pole position and fended off William Byron to defend his race-winning title in Austin and notch his 16th career victory in the series. He would proceed to finish in the runner-up spot during the inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma Raceway before rallying from an early spin to win at Nashville Superspeedway, both occurring in June. Allmendinger’s final two Xfinity starts of the season occurred at Road America in late July and Indianapolis in August, where he finished ninth and third, respectively.

    Scaling back to the Xfinity Series for this season, Allmendinger is coming off a 10th-place run in this year’s season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway as he reignites his bid for his first series title. He is currently ranked in a tie with Chandler Smith for seventh place on the 2024 Xfinity driver’s standings.

    Through 99 previous Xfinity starts, Allmendinger has notched 17 victories, 11 poles, 50 top-five results, 69 top-10 results, 1,272 laps led with an average-finishing result of 9.3.

    Allmendinger is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the RAPTOR King of Tough 250. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, February 24, and air at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.