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  • Mayer spins Gibbs, rallies for wild Xfinity victory at Watkins Glen

    Mayer spins Gibbs, rallies for wild Xfinity victory at Watkins Glen

    From conserving the low fuel needed to finish to spinning dominant Ty Gibbs out of the lead during an overtime shootout, Sam Mayer raced his way to an overwhelming victory in the Shriners Children’s 200 at The Glen on Saturday, August 19.

    The 20-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led twice for eight of 86 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started fifth and assumed the lead for the first time with 10 laps remaining amid a late gamble to stretch his low fuel tank to the distance ahead of teammate Justin Allgaier and pole-sitter Ty Gibbs. During a late caution period with seven laps remaining, where Mayer elected to remain on the track with the lead ahead of Allgaier and Gibbs, Mayer was quickly overtaken by Gibbs while trying to block him through the frontstretch. Despite falling back to third, Mayer received another opportunity to win amid another caution period for a wreck that involved Allgaier and sent the event into overtime.

    Then, at the start of overtime, Mayer bumped and ran into the rear of Gibbs which sent Gibbs spinning. With Gibbs out of contention, Mayer, who despite sustained minor fender damage to his car while running on fumes with his low fuel tank, moved up to second as Sheldon Creed assumed the lead. Then after Creed missed the final turn approaching the start of the final lap, Mayer capitalized on Creed’s misfortune to assume the lead for good as he methodically navigated his way around the circuit for a final time before zipping back to the frontstretch and claiming the second checkered flag of this season and of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Ty Gibbs, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, notched his first pole position of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 125.019 mph in 70.549 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Alex Bowman, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 124.721 mph in 70.718 seconds.

    Prior to the event, however, Bowman joined Cole Custer, Brett Moffitt and rookie Parker Retzlaff as competitors who dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments and mechanical repairs to their respective entries. Bowman’s move enabled Daniel Hemric to move up and start alongside Ty Gibbs on the front row.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Ty Gibbs jumped ahead with an early advantage as the field fanned out entering the first turn. As Gibbs led through the first four turns before entering a brief backstretch approaching the Inner Loop, Justin Allgaier made his way into the runner-up spot while Hemric retained third in front of teammate Kyle Busch, Sam Mayer and Josh Berry. With the field navigating through the Inner and Outer Loop turns before entering the final set of turns to Turn 7 and back to the frontstretch at The Glen, Gibbs proceeded to lead the first lap.

    Through the second lap, Gibbs retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier. By then, Busch and Mayer moved up to third and fourth while Hemric fell back to fifth as the field jostled and bumped for early positions around the circuit.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Ty Gibbs was leading by more than two seconds over Allgaier followed by Mayer, Kyle Busch and Berry while Hemric, rookie Sammy Smith, Riley Herbst, Austin Hill and John Hunter Nemechek were in the top 10. Behind, Sheldon Creed was in 11th ahead of Parker Kligerman, Kaz Grala, Jeremy Clements and rookie Chandler Smith while Ross Chastain, Brandon Jones, Alex Labbe, Jeb Burton and Sage Karam occupied the top 20. Meanwhile, Custer was back in 21st and Bowman was mired in 25th behind Ryan Sieg. In addition, Brennan Poole plummeted to 37th after spinning through the Inner Loop Bus Stop corner amid contact with Max McLaughlin a lap prior.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Ty Gibbs continued to lead by more than three seconds over Allgaier while Mayer retained third. By then, Berry moved up to fourth while Busch fell back to fifth in front of Austin Hill, Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Herbst and Creed. In the midst of the early racing, the event remained under green flag conditions amid an on-track condition in the Bus Stop corner when Jeremy Clements blew a right-front tire and clipped Chandler Smith as both went off the course with Smith spinning backward. A few laps earlier, Connor Mosack encountered on-track issues of his own after spinning in the Bus Stop corner.

    Not long after, Kyle Busch pitted his No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet Camaro under green to address debris on his front grille that affected his brakes. With Busch losing spots amid his pit stops, Ty Gibbs extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Allgaier. Gibbs would stabilize his advantage to nearly four seconds over Allgaier just past the Lap 15 mark. By then, Herbst, who was running seventh, was reporting the transmission popping out of gear in his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang, though he continued to run under full pace around the circuit.

    At the conclusion of the first stage period on Lap 20, Ty Gibbs claimed his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season after retaining the lead from the drop of the green flag. Allgaier settled in second followed by teammates Mayer and Berry while Austin Hill, Nemechek, Creed, Herbst, Custer and Kligerman were scored in the top 10.

    With the event proceeding under green just past the Lap 20 mark to start the second stage, the event’s first caution period shortly flew when Ryan Ellis came to a stop on the course. By then, select names that included Bowman and Chandler Smith pitted for service. Smith, however, would be penalized for driving his No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet Camaro through too many pit boxes while exiting his upon his completed service.

    During the first caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Ty Gibbs pitted while Bowman remained on the track to inherit the race lead. Following the pit stops, Gibbs exited first followed by Allgaier, Hill, Berry, Creed and Nemechek.

    Just as the event was set to restart under green on Lap 24, the caution period continued to stand when Josh Williams sustained heavy front nose damage to his No. 92 Nordic Logistics Chevrolet Camaro. At the same time, Moffitt took his car to the garage due to a rear-end issue while the on-track safety crew proceeded to address any debris or fluid leaking on the course near the carnage scene.

    Following a lengthy caution period, the race restarted under green on Lap 26 as Bowman and Ty Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Bowman and Ty Gibbs dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Gibbs used the outside lane to his advantage as he muscled ahead of Bowman prior to entering Turns 2 to 4 to reassume the lead. With Gibbs leading Bowman and Allgaier through the Inner Loop Bus Stop corner, Hill was in fourth ahead of Berry, Creed and Custer while Nemechek was in eighth ahead of Herbst and Kligerman. As the field continued to jostle and scramble for positions for a full lap around the circuit, with even mechanical debris flying around the circuit, Gibbs stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Bowman while third-place Allgaier trailed by more than a second.

    During the following lap, Grala and Sammy Smith rubbed fenders through the Bus Stop corner as Grala moved up to 12th over Smith followed by Hemric. In the process, Ty Gibbs extended his advantage to a second over Bowman while Allgaier, Austin Hill and Berry remained in the top five. By then, Custer moved his No. 00 HighPoint Ford Mustang up to sixth in front of Creed, Mayer, Herbst and Kligerman while Gibbs continued to lead at the Lap 30 mark.

    On Lap 31, the event’s second caution period flew when Grala, who was running 12th, was bumped by Sammy Smith entering the Bus Stop corner as he went off the course and plowed his No. 26 Island Coastal Lager Toyota Supra through the course’s grass and Go Bowling sign before returning back onto the racing surface while sending debris on the track. During the caution period, Grala, who ended with a clogged front grille full of grass, ran into the rear of Smith’s No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra, which sustained front nose damage, to express his displeasure over the contact.

    During the caution period, select names that included Sammy Smith, Grala, Retzlaff, Joe Graf Jr., Chandler Smith and Kyle Sieg pitted while the rest led by Ty Gibbs remained on the track.

    During the event’s restart on Lap 33, Gibbs retained the lead after a strong restart while Allgaier and Bowman battled and bumped for the runner-up spot as Allgaier claimed the spot through Turns 2 to 4. In the process, Austin Hill closed in on Allgaier and Bowman from fourth place while Custer and Berry battled for fifth. With the field battling, jostling and kicking up dust through the Bus Stop corner, Ty Gibbs stretched his advantage to more than a second over Allgaier.

    A lap later, Bowman reclaimed the runner-up spot over Allgaier, who went wide and off the course through Turn 1 after barely scrubbing the wall through the frontstretch, while Hill moved his No. 21 Bennett Transporation Chevrolet Camaro up to third. Custer and Mayer would pursue Allgaier within close quarters amid the racing while Ty Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second at the Lap 35 mark.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, Herbst, who was in ninth, pitted under green due to a track bar issue to his car. With the track bar broken on his car, Herbst, who returned on the course only to have a trail of smoke billowing out of his car due to his mechanical issue, took his car to the garage and eventually retired as Ty Gibbs retained the lead ahead of Bowman and Austin Hill.

    At the conclusion of the second stage period on Lap 40, Ty Gibbs claimed his second consecutive stage victory of the day. Bowman trailed in second along with Hill, Allgaier and Custer while Mayer, Berry, Nemechek, Creed and Kligerman were scored in the top 10. By then, Mosack was down in 26th after running his No. 24 Toyota Genuine Parts Supra off the course in Turn 10 while battling Stanton Barrett for position.

    With the event commencing under a continuous green flag period with 42 laps remaining, Ty Gibbs was leading by more than two seconds over Bowman while Hill, Allgaier and Custer remained in the top five. A few laps later, Hill and Custer moved up to third and fourth while Allgaier settled in fifth in front of teammate Mayer. By then, Ty Gibbs extended his advantage to more than four seconds over Bowman.

    Then with 37 laps remaining, the caution flew when Max McLaughlin slipped and collided into the outside wall in Turn 7 as he emerged with significant rear-end damage to his No. 96 Randco Chevrolet Camaro. During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Ty Gibbs pitted for service while Kyle Weatherman remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hill exited first over Gibbs while Bowman, Custer, Creed, Nemechek and Mayer followed in pursuit.

    With 32 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs launched a bold three-wide move on both Weatherman and Hill to assume the lead entering the first turn as the field fanned out. With Gibbs retaining the lead from Turns 2 to 4, Hill pursued in second while Bowman followed suit in third along with Custer, Creed and Allgaier as Weatherman started to go backward.

    During the following lap and as the field continued to jostle for late positions with nearly 30 laps remaining, Ty Gibbs stretched his advantage to more than a second over Austin Hill while third-place Bowman also trailed by more than a second, though Bowman started to close in on Hill for second along with Custer and Allgaier. By then, Weatherman fell out of the top 10 while Sammy Smith and Grala, amid their on-track contact, were in ninth and 10th ahead of Kyle Busch and Hemric.

    With 28 laps remaining, Nemechek, who was running ninth, pitted his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra to ensure that he would have enough fuel to the scheduled distance. Teammate Sammy Smith would also pit for fuel during the following lap while the rest of the field led by Ty Gibbs remained on the track, with a majority uncertain if they would have enough to finish the race.

    Three laps later, Ty Gibbs extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Austin Hill while third-place Bowman trailed by nearly four seconds. Custer and Allgaier remained in the top five while Mayer, Creed, Grala, Kyle Busch and Hemric trailed in the top 10. By then, Kligerman, Berry, Sage Karam, Brandon Jones and Ryan Sieg were in the top 15 while teammates Nemechek and Sammy Smith were in 25th and 26th.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Ty Gibbs stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over Austin Hill while Bowman, Custer and Allgaier remained in the top five. Behind, Mayer, Creed, Grala, Kyle Busch and Hemric continued to run in the top 10 amid continuous concerns of fuel shortages for the front-runners.

    A lap later, trouble struck for third- and fourth-place runners Bowman and Custer after Custer, who tried to make a move beneath Bowman, bumped the curb and made contact with Bowman in Turn 1 as both spun together in the turn. Both continued to run without drawing a caution as Mayer and Allgaier moved up the leaderboard. Bowman managed to fall back to fifth in his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro while Custer was back in eighth. A lap later, Custer’s event that went from good to bad became worse when he got loose and spun off the course and up the hill in Turn 3 as he continued to plummet below the leaderboard.

    With 15 laps remaining, Ty Gibbs retained the lead by more than three seconds over Austin Hill while Mayer, Allgaier and Bowman remained in the top five ahead of Creed, Grala, Hemric, Kligerman and Kyle Busch.

    Three laps later, Austin Hill surrendered the runner-up spot to pit for four fresh tires and fuel. Ryan Sieg would also pit not long after while Ty Gibbs continued to lead over runner-up Mayer and Allgaier. Another two laps later, however, Ty Gibbs pitted his No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra from the lead for fuel as Mayer assumed the lead. Upon exiting pit road, Gibbs blended back onto the racetrack in sixth place behind Creed while Grala and Hemric would pit with eight laps remaining while Mayer and Allgaier continued to run first and second on the track.

    Then with seven laps remaining, the caution flew when Parker Retzlaff went off the course and spun sideways before he got his No. 31 Funkaway Chevrolet Camaro stuck in the gravel trap in Turn 6. By then, Hemric, who endured a slow pit stop, took his car to the garage due to a mechanical issue to his car. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Bowman pitted while the rest led by Mayer, Allgaier and Ty Gibbs remained on the track amid mixed strategies.

    Down to the final four laps of the event, the race restarted under green as teammates Mayer and Allgaier occupied the front row in front of Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch. At the start, the field fanned out as Mayer tried to block Ty Gibbs through the frontstretch. Gibbs, though, managed to rocket ahead and overtake Mayer before overtaking Allgaier through the first turn when Allgaier went wide. With the entire field also going wide and off the course through the first turn while Kyle Busch fell off the pace, Gibbs and Mayer dueled for the lead through Turns 2 to 4 until Gibbs rocketed away. Mayer was then left to fend off teammate Allgaier and Hill for the runner-up spot until Hill bumped and overtook the spot from Mayer through the Bus Stop Corner.

    Then exiting the Bus Stop Corner, trouble struck when Allgaier made contact with Custer and was sent spinning. In the ensuing chaos, Sammy Smith bumped and turned Bowman into the path of Connor Mosack while Brandon Jones and Grala collided into Allgaier, causing a caution as debris was left scattered across the Outer Loop Corner. The on-track carnage was enough to send the event into overtime.

    During the first overtime attempt, where Ty Gibbs and Austin Hill occupied the front row, Gibbs muscled ahead of the field that was stacked in two lanes entering the first turn. Then in Turn 1, Mayer collided with Gibbs and sent Gibbs for a spin. In the ensuing chaos, Hill got hit by Custer as he spun while the rest of the field muscled away exiting Turn 1. With the field navigating through Turns 2 to 4, Sheldon Creed emerged with the lead followed by Mayer and Berry. Creed would continue to lead through the Inner and Outer Loop corners while Mayer trailed in second. Then exiting the Outer Loop, Berry got loose and spun his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro from third place as he fell out of contention while the event remained under green. Not long after, Creed, who nearly got loose while trying to fend off Mayer in Turn 6, slipped again in Turn 7 and missed the turn, which allowed Mayer to assume the lead in his No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet Camaro.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Mayer remained as the leader by six-tenths of a second over Creed while Sammy Smith spun behind in the middle of the field. With the event remaining under green flag, Mayer, who continued to run under full pace amid concerns of running low on fuel, managed to cycle his way around the circuit for a final time and beat Creed by nine-tenths of a second to grab his second checkered flag in four weeks at Watkins Glen.

    With the victory, Mayer notched his second NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory in his 74th series start, all occurring on road course events, and he became the fourth Xfinity regular to notch multiple victories in this year’s Xfinity season. In addition to becoming the first full-time Xfinity competitor to win at Watkins Glen since Austin Cindric made the last accomplishment in 2019, Mayer notched the third victory of the season for JR Motorsports and the 12th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    “The first [restart], I got used up,” Mayer said on USA Network. “I thought I had a good [restart] there, but all glory to God for this one because we had to work our tails off for it. [Crew chief] Mardy [Lindley] on top of the [pit] box, everyone on pit road. We earned this one, for sure. It feels good to have a car as fast as Xfinity 10G, no matter where you go and no matter what the situation is. It feels really, really good. I wheel-hopped [the car]. That’s unfortunate. I feel bad for [spinning Gibbs]. Obviously, you don’t want to take out a [Joe] Gibbs car like that or any car like that. Just trying to get another win in the Xfinity Series. I got a lot of catching up to do. I was in there. I put my nose in there and that’s part of it. Fenders are fenders. That’s an accident, but I think everyone can agree that it’s OK for an Xfinity Series regular to win this race.”

    While Mayer celebrated the victory in front of the stands, Gibbs was left disappointed on pit road after leading a race-high 70 laps and ended up 17th in the final running order.

    “It just really sucks,” Gibbs said. “Definitely sucks to get cleaned out there. I had a good time running these things this year. I think it’s just a part of life and it’s part of racing. You just get over it. When stuff like that happens and desperate moves like that happen, it’s just part of it and you just got to keep going. I don’t really know how much of a conversation you can really have with [Mayer] in that situation. We, kind of, grew up around racing each other. He has more starts than I do and this is his second win. So, congratulations to him on his second win. Definitely wished I could’ve gotten my 13th [win] there.”

    Creed, who was a lap away from claiming his first Xfinity victory, settled in the runner-up spot for the fourth time of his career while Parker Kligerman finished third for his fifth top-five result of the season as he is only three points below the top-12 cutline to make the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs.

    Ross Chastain and Connor Mosack finished in the top five while Nemechek, Custer, Chandler Smith, Bowman and Jeb Burton completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Austin Hill ended up 14th, Allgaier settled in 16th in front of Ty Gibbs and Sammy Smith, Berry fell back to 20th upon his late spin and Hemric ended up 23rd. In addition, Kyle Busch ended up 27th after retiring due to a late transmission issue.

    There were nine lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 18 laps. In addition, 21 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With three Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by nine points over John Hunter Nemechek and 34 over Justin Allgaier.

    Results.

    1. Sam Mayer, eight laps led

    2. Sheldon Creed

    3. Parker Kligerman

    4. Ross Chastain

    5. Connor Mosack

    6. John Hunter Nemechek

    7. Cole Custer, one lap led

    8. Chandler Smith

    9. Alex Bowman, four laps led

    10. Jeb Burton

    11. Brandon Jones

    12. Brennan Poole

    13. Kyle Weatherman, two laps led

    14. Austin Hill

    15. Sage Karam

    16. Justin Allgaier, one lap led

    17. Ty Gibbs, 70 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    18. Sammy Smith

    19. Kyle Sieg

    20. Josh Berry

    21. Ryan Sieg

    22. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    23. Daniel Hemric, two laps down

    24. Alex Labbe, three laps down

    25. Josh Bilicki, three laps down

    26. Parker Retzlaff, four laps down

    27. Kyle Busch – OUT, Transmission

    28. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

    29. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Suspension

    30. Ryan Ellis, 21 laps down

    31. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Axle

    32. Stanton Barrett – OUT, Suspension

    33. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Brakes

    34. Max McMaughlin – OUT, Accident

    35. Riley Herbst – OUT, Suspension

    36. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    37. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Suspension

    38. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Transmission

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’s second and final visit of the season to Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, August 25, at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Weekend schedule for Watkins Glen

    Weekend schedule for Watkins Glen

    The NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series travel to Watkins Glen this weekend as the regular season winds down with only two races remaining before the Playoffs begin.

    Thirteen drivers have clinched a spot in the Cup Series Playoffs – Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. With only three open spots in the 16-driver field, the competition promises to be intense.

    With four races to go in the Xfinity Series regular season, only four drivers have secured a spot in the 12-driver playoff field including Austin Hill, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer.

    Ty Majeski won the first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race of the Playoffs last week at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and will advance to the Round of 8. The series is off until August 27 at Milwaukee Mile Speedway when the postseason continues.

    The ARCA Menards Series will also compete at Watkins Glen with the General Tire 100 Friday evening at 6 p.m. on FS1 and FloRacing with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM.

    All times are ET.

    Saturday, August 19

    10:30 a.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – NBC Sports App
    11 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – NBC Sports App

    12:30 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – USA/MRN
    1:30 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying USA/MRN/SiriusXM
    Post-Cup Qualifying: NASCAR Press Pass

    3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Shriners Children’s 200 at The Glen
    Distance: 82 Laps = 200.9 miles
    Stages end on Lap 20, Lap 40, Lap 82
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $1,257,045
    Post-Xfinity Race: NASCAR Press Pass

    Sunday, August 20

    3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen
    Distance: 90 Laps = 220.5 miles
    Stages end on Lap 20, Lap 40, Lap 90
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $7,154,312
    Post-Cup Race: NASCAR Press Pass

  • Ty Gibbs aces Indianapolis Road Course for first Xfinity victory of 2023

    Ty Gibbs aces Indianapolis Road Course for first Xfinity victory of 2023

    A late strategic move by exiting pit road ahead of AJ Allmendinger enabled Ty Gibbs to assume the lead and muscle away from the field during a 16-lap dash to the finish to win the fourth annual running of the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard on Saturday, August 12.

    The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion from Charlotte, North Carolina, led twice for a race-high 28 of 62-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row alongside Allmendinger before he made his presence known early after assuming the lead on the third lap. Despite losing the lead by Lap 13 to pit for slick tires amid an early lightning delay followed by a brief round of precipitation, Gibbs remained within striking distance of the front-runners throughout the event.

    Then with 19 laps remaining, an opportunity struck for Gibbs, who managed to exit pit road ahead of Allmendinger amid a late cycle of green flag pit stops just as the caution flew for a stalled car off the course in Turn 1. Once a handful of competitors who had not yet pitted did so, Gibbs cycled into the lead. He then managed to fend off Allmendinger before distancing himself from the field during a restart with 16 laps remaining to cruise to his first Xfinity victory in his seventh start of the season and his first at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, AJ Allmendinger notched his third pole position of the 2023 Xfinity season and the 11th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 92.985 mph in 94.428 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 92.352 mph in 95.075 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following competitors that included Brennan Poole, Jeremy Clements, Brad Perez and Blaine Perkins dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Joe Graf Jr. also dropped to the rear of the field for missing driver introductions.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Allmendinger rocketed away from the field while entering the new restart zone in between Turns 13 and 14 as he also fended off Ty Gibbs through the frontstretch entering the first braking turn. Gibbs then tried to pull a crossover move on Allmendinger through Turns 1 and 2, but Allmendinger retained the lead as the field navigated its way from Turns 2 to 6 before entering a long straightaway prior to another braking zone in Turn 7. With the field behind fanning out and jostling for early positions, Allmendinger continued to lead from Turns 7 to 14 before he returned to the frontstretch and led the first lap. By then, Ty Gibbs kept Allmendinger within his sights and within close margins while Josh Berry, Austin Hill and Daniel Hemric were in the top five.

    Through the second lap, Gibbs drew himself alongside Allmendinger entering Turns 3 and 4 in a bid for the lead, but Allmendinger gained the upper advantage and the preferred lane through Turn 5 as he retained the lead while Gibbs settled in second. Allmendinger would proceed to lead the second lap while continuing to fend off Gibbs’ early challenge. By the third lap, however, Ty Gibbs gained a run on Allmendinger exiting the frontstretch and assumed the lead in his No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra through the first braking turn.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Ty Gibbs was leading by nearly two seconds over Allmendinger while Berry, Cole Custer and Austin Hill were in the top five. Behind, John Hunter Nemechek, Hemric, Sheldon Creed, Riley Herbst and Justin Allgaier were in the top 10 while Ross Chastain, Parker Kligerman, rookie Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and Connor Mosack occupied the top 15 on the track. With Brett Moffitt, Josh Bilicki, Kaz Grala, Miguel Paludo and rookie Chandler Smith running in the top 20, Sage Karam was mired in 21st ahead of Jeb Burton, rookie Parker Retzlaff, Brandon Jones and Alex Labbe.

    Another lap later, the first caution of the event flew due to lightning occurring near the speedway. By the seventh lap, the field led by Ty Gibbs was directed to pit road and the event was red-flagged amid the lightning strike and as light precipitation began to increase.

    When the red flag was lifted following a delay period spanning nearly 44 minutes, the competitors returned to the track’s racing surface under a cautious pace on the eighth lap in spite of the track conditions still being slightly wet from the precipitation. Prior to the red flag being lifted, the pit crews were given the option to change to wet tires for their respective entries.

    During the caution laps, however, some led by Allmendinger and including Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, Retzlaff, Kyle Weatherman and Blaine Perkins pitted to change from wet to slick tires while the rest led by Ty Gibbs remained on the track.

    When the race resumed under green flag conditions on Lap 11 and amid a single-file restart formation, Ty Gibbs retained the lead through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1 followed by Custer as the field fanned out. Then as the field navigated its way from Turns 2 to 7, Ross Chastain spun after getting hit by Connor Mosack’s No. 24 Toyota Genuine Parts Supra in Turn 7, but the event remained under green flag conditions as he proceeded without getting hit by the field. Back at the front of the pack, Ty Gibbs stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Custer during the proceeding laps while Berry, Nemechek and Austin Hill were in the top five ahead of Hemric.

    By Lap 14, Ty Gibbs surrendered the lead to pit for slick tires under green along with Custer, Moffitt, Kaz Grala, Chastain, Jeb Burton, Ryan Sieg, Brennan Poole and Josh Williams. More names that included Nemechek, Austin Hill, Miguel Paludo, Sage Karam and Josh Bilicki would then pit on Lap 15 as Berry cycled into the lead followed by Hemric and Creed, who would pit on Lap 16. Shortly after, however, Hemric overtook Berry for the lead as Parker Kligerman joined the battle. By Lap 17, more names that included Herbst, Sammy Smith and Alex Labbe pitted as Hemric continued to lead.

    Then on Lap 18, Allmendinger, who methodically carved his way through the field while on slick tires and from starting midfield since the restart, overtook teammate Hemric for the lead in Turn 13. Allmendinger would proceed to stretch his advantage to more than three seconds by the time he entered Turn 7 over teammate Hemric before Mayer, who also pitted prior to the restart, overtook Hemric for the runner-up spot.

    At the conclusion of the first stage period on Lap 20, Allmendinger captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Mayer settled in second followed by Hemric, Kligerman and Allgaier while Ty Gibbs, Retzlaff, Chandler Smith, Berry and Custer were scored in the top 10.

    With the race remaining under green just past the Lap 20 mark to start the second stage period, Allmendinger continued to extend his advantage to more than five seconds over Mayer while third-place Hemric trailed by more than 14 seconds. Nearing the Lap 21 mark, the following names that included Hemric, Allgaier, Kligerman and Berry pitted for slick tires. By then, Josh Williams nursed his car to the garage amid smoke billowing out of his entry nearing the conclusion of the first stage period.

    By Lap 25 and with the entire field running on slick tires, Allmendinger was leading by more than six seconds over Mayer while Ty Gibbs was in third and trailing by more than 15 seconds. Behind, Custer and Retzlaff were in the top five while Chandler Smith, Creed, Austin Hill, Nemechek and Kyle Weatherman occupied the top 10 in front of Herbst, Moffitt, Grala, Paludo and Ryan Sieg. Meanwhile, Kligerman was mired back in 35th while a lap down after pitting a few laps earlier due to a flat left-front tire on his No. 48 Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet Camaro stemming from a valve stem being knocked out.

    A lap later, the caution flew when Brad Perez came to a stop on the oval circuit near Turns 13 and 14 as smoke started to billow out of his No. 53 entry due to a mechanical issue. By then, Allmendinger was leading by more than six seconds over Mayer while Ty Gibbs, Custer and Retzlaff continued to run in the top five.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Mayer and including Custer, Moffitt, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier and Berry remained on the track.

    As the event restarted under green and in double-file formation on Lap 30, Mayer muscled ahead from Custer with the lead as the field fanned out through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1. From Turn 2 to Turn 6, Mayer retained the lead as Custer also retained second in front of Allgaier while Allmendinger, who restarted eighth, had quickly carved his way up to fourth while on four fresh tires. With the field continuing to jostle for positions around each of the remaining 14 turns, Mayer would lead the following lap, Lap 31, as the event reached its halfway mark.

    By Lap 34, Allmendinger battled and reassumed the lead from Mayer through the first three turns. Allmendinger would proceed to increase his advantage to more than a second over Mayer during the following lap while Ty Gibbs, who overtook Custer for third place the lap prior, trailed by more than two seconds.

    Then on Lap 36, Custer, who was battling Allgaier for fourth, made slight contact with Allgaier in Turn 13. Allgaier then ran over the curb entering Turn 14 and made contact again with Custer as Custer ran off the circuit and into the grass before he spun back onto the course while trying to straighten his car. Custer would manage to proceed without sustaining significant damage to his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang and without drawing a caution while Creed, Herbst and Hill managed to overtake Allgaier for positions fourth through sixth amid the chaos. Another lap later, Allgaier pitted under green along with teammate Paludo, Moffitt, Custer and Andre Castro while Allmendinger retained the lead over Ty Gibbs and Mayer.

    At the conclusion of the second stage period on Lap 40, Allmendinger captured his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season and second of the day as he was leading by more than three seconds over Ty Gibbs. Gibbs settled in second while Mayer, Creed, Herbst, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, Nemechek, Hemric and Jeremy Clements were scored in the top 10.

    With the final stage commencing under a continuous green flag period with 22 laps remaining, Allmendinger retained the lead by more than two seconds over Ty Gibbs. Another lap later, names including Nemechek, Mayer, Hemric and Chandler Smith pitted under green. Herbst would pit from fourth place with 20 laps remaining while Allmendinger continued to lead by nearly three seconds over Ty Gibbs with 20 laps remaining. By then, Nemechek and Herbst were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    A lap later, Allmendinger surrendered the lead to pit under green followed by Ty Gibbs, Austin Hill, Grala, Brandon Jones while Creed cycled into the lead. Shortly after, however, the caution flew for Andre Castro parking his car off the course in Turn 1 due to a mechanical issue. By then, Creed had made a pit stop, but had failed to enter pit road in time just as the caution flew and was sent to the rear of the field for the proceeding restart.

    During the caution period, some led by Clements and including Josh Bilicki, Karam, Retzlaff, Jeb Burton, Preston Pardus, Paludo and Kligerman pitted while the rest led by Ty Gibbs, who had managed to overtake Allmendinger during the green flag pit stops, remained on the track.

    Down to the final 16 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Ty Gibbs fended off Allmendinger to retain the lead through the frontstretch as the field fanned out. Then in Turn 1, Allmendinger tried to draw even with Gibbs, but Gibbs muscled ahead on the inside lane in Turn 2. Gibbs would continue to lead during the proceeding turns as Brandon Jones spun in Turn 1 after getting bumped by Sammy Smith, but without drawing a caution. After fending off another charge from Allmendinger amid contact through Turn 7 while Hemric went off the course after getting hit by teammate Chandler Smith and an oncoming Connor Mosack, Gibbs continued to lead while Mayer pressured Allmendinger for the runner-up spot.

    Gibbs would proceed to lead with 15 laps remaining ahead of Allmendinger and Mayer while Allgaier and Austin Hill battled for fourth. By then, select competitors like teammates Chandler Smith and Hemric along with Sammy Smith pitted under green amid their contact and off-track incident in Turn 7. Gibbs would proceed to extend his advantage to more than two seconds over runner-up Allmendinger during the proceeding laps while Mayer trailed in third place by more than four seconds followed by Austin Hill and Allgaier. By then, Custer rallied to sixth while Grala, Nemechek, Moffitt and Kligerman were running in the top 10.

    With 10 laps remaining, Gibbs continued to lead by more than three seconds over Allmendinger while Mayer, Hill and Allgaier remained in the top five. Behind, Custer, Grala, Nemechek, Moffitt and Kligerman also remained in the top 10 while Creed, Labbe, Jeb Burton, Herbst and Berry were mired in the top 15. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones was down in 23rd, Hemric was in 28th ahead of Sammy Smith while a lap down and Chandler Smith was in 33rd.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Ty Gibbs extended his advantage to more than four seconds over Allmendinger while third-place Mayer trailed by more than six seconds ahead of Austin Hill and Allgaier. By then, Blaine Perkins, who went off the course in between Turns 8 to 10 after making contact with Ryan Ellis, was mired in 33rd as he eventually pitted. Chandler Smith, who was two laps down in 32nd, locked up the front tires and went off the course in Turn 12 while earlier, Ryan Sieg was assessed a stop-and-go penalty after missing Turn 6 as he was currently running in 27th.

    Shortly after, trouble struck for Grala, who was running sixth before he went off the course entering Turn 1. Then as he tried to blend back into the racing surface, he clipped Nemechek and sent Nemechek’s No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra spinning in Turn 2 as Nemechek fell out of the top 10 on the track. Despite the incident, the race remained under green flag conditions as Ty Gibbs retained the lead by more than five seconds over Allmendinger.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Ty Gibbs remained as the leader by more than seven seconds over Mayer, who battled and overtook Allmendinger’s No. 10 LeafHome Water Solutions Chevrolet Camaro for the runner-up spot a lap prior. Amid the late on-track chaos and having a clear view in front of him, Gibbs was able to smoothly navigate his way around the 14-turn circuit for a final time and cruise back to the frontstretch to claim his first checkered flag of the 2023 NASCAR season and his first at Indianapolis.

    With the victory, Gibbs, who is currently competing in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, notched his 12th career victory in the Xfinity Series and his first since winning both the 2022 season finale and championship at Phoenix Raceway this past November. In addition to winning at Indianapolis for the first time and becoming the fourth different winner in four Xfinity events on Indy’s road course venue, he achieved his fourth victory on a road course venue and the second of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 “all-star” entry led by veteran crew chief Jason Ratcliff while also becoming the 13th different winner of this year’s Xfinity season.

    Gibbs’ victory capped off an eventful IndyCar-NASCAR doubleheader feature at Indianapolis on Saturday as six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon fended off pole-sitter Graham Rahal amid a late battle to win the Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indy Road Course hours earlier.

    “It’s definitely about time [that I won],” Gibbs said on USA Network. “Really cool to get one here at the Brickyard. I grew up racing go-karts at New Castle right down the street, so really special to me. Awesome car! Great car. Thank you, Jason Ratcliff. This is the man right here. Jason does such a great job. This is just so special. We got the Brickyard! Let’s go!”

    Mayer, who led five laps in his No. 1 Huck’s Market Chevrolet Camaro, settled in the runner-up spot for the third time this season while Allmendinger, who led 21 laps and swept both stages, ended up third in his fifth Xfinity event of the season. Austin Hill and Allgaier finished in the top five while Custer, Kligerman, Creed, Grala and Moffitt came home in the top 10.

    Notably, Nemechek ended up 13th in between Herbst and Berry, Brandon Jones settled in 21st ahead of teammate Miguel Paludo, Hemric ended up 27th in front of Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith retired in 34th due to a suspension failure.

    There were 10 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured three cautions for nine laps. In addition, 26 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With four Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 11 points over John Hunter Nemechek and 34 over Justin Allgaier.

    Results.

    1. Ty Gibbs, 28 laps led

    2. Sam Mayer, five laps led

    3. AJ Allmendinger, 21 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    4. Austin Hill

    5. Justin Allgaier

    6. Cole Custer

    7. Parker Kligerman

    8. Sheldon Creed, one lap led

    9. Kaz Grala

    10. Brett Moffitt

    11. Alex Labbe

    12. Riley Herbst

    13. John Hunter Nemechek

    14. Josh Berry, two laps led

    15. Sage Karam

    16. Jeb Burton

    17. Parker Retzlaff

    18. Josh Bilicki, one lap led

    19. Jeremy Clements, one lap led

    20. Kyle Weatherman

    21. Brandon Jones

    22. Miguel Paludo

    23. Anthony Alfredo

    24. Preston Pardus

    25. Brennan Poole

    26. Connor Mosack

    27. Daniel Hemric, one lap down, three laps down

    28. Sammy Smith, one lap down

    29. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    30. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    31. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    32. Ryan Sieg, five laps down

    33. Josh Williams, five laps down

    34. Chandler Smith – OUT, Suspension

    35. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Axle

    36. Andre Castro – OUT, Suspension

    37. Ross Chastain – OUT, Suspension

    38. Brad Perez – OUT, Brakes

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is another road course event as the series travels east from Indiana to New York for Watkins Glen International. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, August 19, at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • John Hunter Nemechek rallies from early spin to notch milestone Xfinity victory for Joe Gibbs Racing at Michigan

    John Hunter Nemechek rallies from early spin to notch milestone Xfinity victory for Joe Gibbs Racing at Michigan

    From a Lap 10 multi-car wreck that involved himself and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, John Hunter Nemechek rallied in dominant fashion by notching a milestone victory for the JGR organization in the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, August 5.

    The 26-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led twice for a race-high 65 of 125-scheduled laps in an event where he started 10th and quickly raced his way towards the front. Amid a Lap 3 incident for a single car spin and a Lap 9 restart, Nemechek’s event quickly went south when he made contact with teammate Ty Gibbs entering the backstretch that sent Gibbs spinning while his third teammate, Sammy Smith, was also collected after making ensuing contact with Nemechek. Despite falling down the leaderboard, Nemechek, who pitted prior to the first stage’s conclusion, gained an advantage during the stage break when he remained on the track and moved up the leaderboard. From there, Nemechek assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 55 and proceeded to win the second stage. He then gained control of the field throughout the final stage spanning the final 59 laps and held off the field during a seven-lap dash to the finish to notch his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2023 season and record the 200th Xfinity career win for Joe Gibbs Racing.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, August 4, Josh Berry notched his second Xfinity pole position of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 189.549 mph in 37.985 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Justin Allgaier, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 188.289 mph in 38.239 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Connor Mosack, Sage Karam, Kyle Weatherman and Josh Williams dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Berry surged ahead with a strong start from the outside lane through the backstretch, but teammate Allgaier gained a strong run from the inside lane through the first two turns as he then assumed the lead entering the backstretch. With Allgaier placing a reasonable gap between himself and Berry exiting the backstretch before entering Turns 3 and 4, Allgaier proceeded to lead the first lap while Austin Hill and Sam Mayer battled for third place behind Berry.

    During the second lap, Allgaier stretched his lead to half a second over teammate Berry while teammate Mayer trailed in third place by less than a second. By then, Austin Hill was in fourth ahead of rookie Chandler Smith while Ty Gibbs, Carson Hocevar, John Hunter Nemechek, rookie Sammy Smith and Ross Chastain were in the top 10.

    On the third lap, the first caution of the event flew when Kaz Grala, who was battling within the top 20, slipped sideways entering Turn 4 and spun off the front nose of Sheldon Creed as Grala spun his No. 26 Toyota Genuine Parts Supra below the track and backwards on the frontstretch grass.

    When the race restarted on the ninth lap, teammates Allgaier and Berry dueled for the top spot until Allgaier muscled ahead in his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro to retain the lead. As the field fanned out and jostled for positions, contact was made between Mayer and Chandler Smith entering Turn 3 as Mayer went up the track and lost a multitude of spots while Allgaier continued to lead.

    A lap later, the caution returned when Nemechek, who was battling amid close-quarters racing with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Ty Gibbs and Sammy Smith, ran into the rear bumper of Gibbs’ No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra entering the backstretch, which got Gibbs loose and spinning sideways as Nemechek also spun after getting hit by Sammy Smith. In the ensuring mayhem, Nemechek spun his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra towards the bottom of the track in the backstretch while Smith collided into the side of Hocevar and nearly sent his No. 77 Premier Security Chevrolet Camaro flipping over before Hocevar’s car quickly came back down on all four wheels and spun through the backstretch. While Nemechek and Gibbs, who was left sour over the incident with Nemechek, continued along with Hocevar, Sammy Smith’s event came to an early end.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 16, Allgaier retained the lead amid another strong restart while teammate Berry, who elected to restart on the second row, gained a strong start to move up to second followed by Chandler Smith while Hill, who moved up to restart on the inside lane on the front row, fell back to fourth.

    Approaching Lap 19, the caution flew for a third time when Mason Maggio, who was involved in the previous caution period for a multi-car wreck, went dead straight after blowing a right-front tire and smacked the outside wall towards Turn 2 as his event came to an early end. During the caution period, Nemechek, Karam and Josh Williams pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

    The following restart on Lap 23 featured Allgaier and Custer dueling for the lead on the front row as Allgaier retained the lead while the field fanned out through the first two turns. As Allgaier retained the top spot, Berry moved back into the runner-up spot followed by Custer while Chandler Smith and Herbst followed suit along with Brandon Jones. Amid the continuous on-track battles, Allgaier would retain the lead at the Lap 25 mark.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Allgaier claimed his eighth stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Teammate Berry settled in second while Custer, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Brandon Jones, Austin Hill, Ryan Sieg, Mayer and Anthony Alfredo were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Allgaier pitted for service while the rest led by Ty Gibbs, Nemechek and Grala remained on the track amid mixed strategy ensuing. Amid the pit stops, Jeb Burton spun while trying to entering his pit stall and was penalized for a safety violation.

    The second stage started on Lap 36 as Ty Gibbs and Creed, who pitted for two fresh tires, occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs took off with the lead ahead of Creed and the field that proceeded to fan out entering the first two turns. By the following lap, Ty Gibbs stretched his advantage to half a second while teammate Nemechek battled and overtook Creed for the runner-up spot.

    On Lap 38, the caution flew when Connor Mosack got turned by Joe Graf Jr. towards the outside wall exiting the frontstretch and approaching Turn 1 as Mosack limped back to pit road with extensive damage on his No. 24 Toyota Racing Development Supra.

    When the race restarted on Lap 42, Ty Gibbs pulled ahead from Riley Herbst with a push from teammate Nemechek as Gibbs assumed the lead while Nemechek and Herbst battled for second.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Ty Gibbs was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Herbst, Cole Custer and Allgaier while Mayer, Austin Hill, Berry, Brandon Jones and Chandler Smith were in the top 10. Behind, Brett Moffitt was in 11th ahead of Creed, Anthony Alfredo, Parker Kligerman and Ryan Sieg while Daniel Hemric, Ross Chastain, Parker Retzlaff, Jeb Burton and Grala occupied the top 20.

    Five laps later, the top-nine competitors were separated by less than two seconds as Nemechek cycled his way around teammate Ty Gibbs to assume the lead. With Nemechek leading by four-tenths of a second and half a second over Herbst, Allgaier and Austin Hill settled in the top five.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 60, Nemechek fended off the field to claim his fifth Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Allgaier, who moved from fourth to second two laps earlier, settled in the runner-up spot while Ty Gibbs, Herbst, Austin Hill, Custer, Berry, Mayer, Brandon Jones and Moffitt were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, trouble struck for Allgaier as he got bumped and turned by Ty Gibbs while approaching his pit stall as the field entered pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited first ahead of Herbst, Hill, Custer, Berry and Ty Gibbs.

    With 59 laps remaining, the final stage started as Nemechek and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek jumped ahead to retain the lead over the field that fanned out with the competitors jostling for positions.

    With 50 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by three-tenths of a second over Austin Hill followed by Herbst, Berry and Brandon Jones while Ty Gibbs settled in sixth. With Custer and Mayer running in seventh and eighth, Allgaier, following his pit road incident during the stage break, had carved his way back up to ninth after restarting 30th while Chastain was in 10th.

    Ten laps later, Nemechek continued to lead by more than a second over Austin Hill while Berry, Herbst and Brandon Jones retained their respective spots in the top five. By then, Ty Gibbs and Custer were running sixth and seventh while Allgaier was in eighth followed by teammate Mayer and Chastain.

    Another 10 laps later, Nemechek increased his advantage to nearly two seconds over Berry while Hill, Herbst and Brandon Jones remained in the top five. Not long after, green flag pit stops commenced as Mayer and Chandler Smith pitted. A series of names that included Ty Gibbs, Allgaier and Custer would pit during the ensuing lap before the leader Nemechek pitted with 28 laps remaining along with Brandon Jones, Hill, Chastain, Berry, Creed, Hemric, Jeb Burton and Jeremy Clements. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier was penalized due to a crew member jumping over the pit wall too soon while Moffitt, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead. In addition, Austin Hill reported a transmission issue to his No. 21 United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro as he was exiting pit road, which resulted with him losing ground of the leaders.

    Then with 22 laps remaining, Nemechek cycled his way back into the lead after Sage Karam, who led a lap for himself, pitted. In the process, Berry moved up to second as he trailed Nemechek by two seconds as Ty Gibbs would follow suit to third place.

    With 15 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by more than a second over Berry while Gibbs, Jones and Custer were in the top five.

    Then two laps later, the caution flew when Patrick Emerling blew a left-front tire and went dead straight towards the outside wall in Turn 3. During the caution period, names that included Custer, Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Karam and Moffitt pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track.

    Down to the final seven laps of the event, the race restarted under green as teammates Nemechek and Ty Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek retained the lead over the field as Berry and Ty Gibbs battled for second ahead of Brandon Jones and Mayer. With the field fanning out through the first two turns and the backstretch, Nemechek stabilized his advantage while starting to place a gap from the field.

    With five laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by three-tenths of a second over Berry and six-tenths of a second over Brandon Jones while Ty Gibbs and Mayer were in the top five. Behind, Herbst was in sixth followed by Chastain, Kligerman, Retzlaff and Jeb Burton. Nemechek would then stretch his advantage to nearly a second over Berry while Brandon Jones would slowly lose touch of the top-two competitors as the laps dwindled.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than a second over Berry and Brandon Jones while Ty Gibbs and Mayer trailed by more than two seconds. Having no close competition lurking behind him, Nemechek was able to cycle his way around the circuit for a final time and cruise back to the frontstretch to notch his fifth checkered flag of the 2023 Xfinity season.

    With the victory, Nemechek notched his seventh Xfinity Series career victory in his 88th series start and his first at Michigan as he became the first five-time race winner of the 2023 season. In addition to delivering the seventh Xfinity victory of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing, Nemechek bestowed the honors of achieving the 200th career win for the JGR organization, with six of them coming from Nemechek.

    “Man, I’m grateful for this whole No. 20 bunch,” Nemechek, who accepted responsibility over the contact and incident with Ty Gibbs, said on NBC. “[I’m] Grateful for Joe Gibbs Racing, this opportunity. All of our great partners that help us get to the racetrack. I have to apologize to Ty [Gibbs]. I’ve been the one that’s been very vocal about teammates recently. I put him in a bad aero spot, got him loose and then, couldn’t check up. It’s my mistake. I hate that we both spun early, but at least, we both rebounded decently. I know he’s not too happy with me. He has every right not to be. I’m thankful for my team, all the guys. Win number five. After the last two weeks, we said that we needed to come out here and answer. We were able to do that today here at Michigan.”

    Berry, who did not lead a lap despite starting on pole position, ended up in the runner-up spot for the second time this season as he continues to pursue his first victory of the season while teammate Brandon Jones claimed his second top-five result of the season by notching a strong third-place result.

    “Yeah, we just built really tight that last run,” Berry said. “I thought I was kind of inching in on [Nemechek] for a while and then, we kind of leveled out. It was tough there. I felt like I needed to pick behind [Nemechek] there [on the final restart], but the bottom [lane] just got so slick there at the end. I felt like that was gonna give us our best chance. Overall, we were just a little too tight to make a run at him there. Overall, [I’m] really proud of these guys. Obviously, we’ve had a good couple of weeks, so we just got to keep working, keep getting better. We’re just gonna keep after it. We’re getting better at the right time. Definitely, a good day for JR Motorsports and we’ll be in Victory Lane soon.”

    Ty Gibbs, who led 22 laps, rallied from his early incident to finish fourth in his sixth Xfinity start of the season while Mayer, winner of last weekend’s event at Road America, finished fifth.

    Herbst, Ross Chastain, Kligerman, rookie Parker Retzlaff and Jeb Burton completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Austin Hill ended up 11th in front of teammate Sheldon Creed, Allgaier settled in 14th following his late-race pit road penalty, Custer finished 16th behind Daniel Hemric and rookie Chandler Smith, who had a late-race run-in with Hill that led to a post-race discussion with Hill, fell back to 20th.

    There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 31 laps. In addition, 20 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With five Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill are tied for the lead in the regular-season standings, with Justin Allgaier trailing by 34 points and Cole Custer trailing by 86.

    Results.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek, 65 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Josh Berry

    3. Brandon Jones

    4. Ty Gibbs, 22 laps led

    5. Sam Mayer

    6. Riley Herbst, one lap led

    7. Ross Chastain

    8. Parker Kligerman

    9. Parker Retzlaff

    10. Jeb Burton

    11. Austin Hill

    12. Sheldon Creed

    13. Ryan Sieg

    14. Justin Allgaier, 32 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    15. Daniel Hemric

    16. Cole Custer

    17. Bret Moffitt, four laps led

    18. Anthony Alfredo

    19. Kyle Sieg

    20. Chandler Smith

    21. Kaz Grala, one lap down

    22. Josh Williams, one lap down

    23. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    24. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down

    25. Sage Karam, one lap down

    26. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    27. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    28. Dawson Cram, one lap down

    29. Brennan Poole, two laps down

    30. Garrett Smithley, two laps down

    31. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

    32. Carson Hocevar, two laps down

    33. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    34. Patrick Emerling, five laps down

    35. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Electrical

    36. Connor Mosack – OUT, Accident

    37. Mason Maggio – OUT, Accident

    38. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ fourth annual running of the Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, August 12, at 5:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Weekend schedule for Michigan

    Weekend schedule for Michigan

    This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series head to Michigan International Speedway with only four races remaining in the regular season. Twelve drivers have already earned a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of wins. The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is off until August 11 at Indianapolis Raceway Park when the series Playoffs begin with the Round of 10.

    Friday, August 4

    1:30 p.m.: ARCA Practice (All entries) No TV
    2:30 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying – Impound (Timed, All Entries) No TV
    3:35 p.m.: Xfinity Practice (All entries) USA
    4:05 p.m.: Xfinity Qualifying – Impound (Single Vehicle/1 Lap/All Entries) USA
    6 p.m.: ARCA Henry Ford Health 200 (100 Laps = 200 Miles) FS1/FloRacing/MRN

    Saturday, August 5

    12:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (Groups A & B) USA/MRN
    1:20 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – Impound
    Groups A & B (Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds) USA/MRN
    3:30 P.M.: Xfinity Series Cabo Wabo 250 – NBC//MRN
    125 Laps = 250 Miles (Stages 30/60/125 Laps)
    Purse: $1,367,625

    Sunday, August 6

    2 p.m.: Cup Series Driver Intros
    2:30 p.m.: Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 – USA/MRN/SiriusXM
    200 Laps = 400 Miles (Stages 45/120/200 Laps)
    Purse: $7,544,696

  • Sam Mayer scores first Xfinity career victory at Road America in wild double overtime finish

    Sam Mayer scores first Xfinity career victory at Road America in wild double overtime finish

    On a day where veteran Justin Allgaier dominated, teammate Sam Mayer captured the main spotlight and the delight of his home crowd with his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory in the 14th annual running of the Henry 180 at Road America on Saturday, July 29.

    The 20-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led the final two of 49 over-scheduled laps in an event that was dominated by teammate Allgaier, but marred with late caution periods and incidents that sent the event into two overtime attempts. During the second and final overtime attempt, Mayer capitalized in a battle with Allgaier, Sage Karam and Parker Kligerman to move into the lead for the first time prior to the final lap. With the lead in his possession, Mayer smoothly navigated his way around his home track for a final time and fended off Kligerman to triumph for the first time in his 71st career start in the Xfinity Series.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, July 28, AJ Allmendinger notched his second Xfinity pole of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 111.606 mph in 130.574 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Cole Custer, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 111.352 mph in 130.872 seconds.

    Prior to the event, several names that included Kyle Weatherman, Josh Berry, Joe Graf Jr., Ryan Sieg and Ryan Ellis dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Daniel Hemric and Alex Labbe also dropped to the rear of the field due to engine change to their respective entries while Brandon Jones, rookie Sammy Smith and Jeremy Clements started at the rear of the field in backup entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Allmendinger rocketed ahead with the lead entering the first turn while the field behind jostled for positions amid two stacked lanes. The field continued to jostle for positions through Turns 2 to 4 before entering a long straightaway prior to a braking zone in Turn 5 as Allmendinger maintained the lead. As Custer and Allgaier battled for the runner-up spot through Turns 6 and 7, Allmendinger started to extend his advantage and muscle away from the pack entering Turns 8 to 10. Following another series of turns from the Kink in Turn 11, Canada Corner in Turn 12 and towards Turns 13 and 14 before entering the long uphill climb to the frontstretch, Allmendinger proceeded to lead the first lap.

    By the second lap, Allmendinger extended his advantage to nearly three seconds over runner-up Allgaier followed by Custer while Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst battled for fourth.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Allmendinger continued to lead by less than four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Allgaier while third-place Custer trailed by eight-tenths of a second in his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang. Behind, Herbst and Mayer were still in the top five while John Hunter Nemechek, Sage Karam, Kaz Grala, Sheldon Creed and Connor Mosack were in the top 10. By then, Austin Hill, coming off his victory at Pocono Raceway, was in 11th ahead of Parker Kligerman, Brett Moffitt, rookie Chandler Smith and rookie Sammy Smith while Josh Bilicki, Daniel Hemric, Josh Williams, Jeb Burton and Josh Berry occupied the top 20.

    Not long after and still during the fifth lap, the battle for the lead ignited as Allgaier gained a run and overtook Allmendinger entering the braking zone in Turn 5. Custer followed suit in the runner-up spot while Allmendinger fell back to third. Custer would then settle within close quarters of Allgaier’s rear bumper in his attempt to gain the lead, but the latter did not relent as he proceeded to lead the following lap.

    Two laps later, Custer, who continued to stalk Allgaier, attempted to make a move beneath Allgaier entering Turn 6. Allgaier, however, fought back while running the outside lane before gaining the upper lane entering Turn 7. Custer then tried to feign a move on Allgaier for another lead attempt entering Turn 8, but Allgaier kept his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro out in front with the top spot. By then, Allmendinger was trailing the two leaders by more than two seconds while Herbst and Mayer remained in the top five.

    Then on the ninth lap, the first caution period of the event flew when Katherine Legge stalled her car in between Turns 5 and 6. The caution period for Legge’s issue served as the competition caution planned for Lap 10 as Allgaier was scored the lead ahead of Custer, Herbst, Mayer and Allmendinger while Nemechek, Karam, Grala, Mosack and Austin Hill were scored in the top 10.

    During the competition caution period, the entire lead lap field led by Allgaier pitted for a non-competitive pit service.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 12, where Allgaier and Allmendinger occupied the front row, Allgaier fended off Allmendinger through the first turn to retain the lead as Custer drew himself into a side-by-side battle with Allmendinger for the runner-up spot. As the field battled through close-quarters racing from Turns 2 to Turn 5, Allmendinger forced his way into the runner-up spot over Custer, who then quickly blocked Mayer to retain third place, while Allgaier retained the lead. With the field then filing in a long single file line through the remaining nine turns, Allgaier, who led the proceeding lap, started to extend his advantage to nearly a second over Allmendinger while Custer trailed by more than a second.

    At the Lap 15 mark, Allgaier was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Allmendinger followed by Custer, who trailed by more than a second, while Sage Karam and Mayer battled dead even for fourth place in front of Nemechek and Herbst. Behind, Grala was in eighth followed by Austin Hill and Mosack while Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Creed, Bilicki, Moffitt, Hemric, Jeb Burton, Chandler Smith, Berry and Alex Labbe were in the top 20.

    Six turns later, Custer overtook Allmendinger to reclaim the runner-up spot. By then, Karam, who overtook Mayer in Turn 1, retained the spot followed by Mayer, Nemechek, Herbst and Grala, all of whom battled intensely towards the front, as Allgaier retained the lead.

    The following lap, Mayer got loose and briefly went off the course entering Turn 6 as Nemechek overtook him for fifth place. By the time Mayer returned to the track, he fell back to seventh as Herbst also overtook him. Meanwhile, Allgaier stretched his advantage to more than a second over Custer while third-place Allmendinger trailed by more than three seconds.

    On Lap 17 and amid a series of on-track battles occurring towards the front, Dexter Stacey spun in Turn 1, but the event remained under green flag conditions as Allgaier extended his advantage to more than three seconds over runner-up Custer and more than four seconds over third-place Allmendinger. By then, Nemechek was up in fourth while Karam was in fifth.

    Three laps later and at the Lap 20 mark, the caution flew when Chandler Smith, who was battling Berry for 17th, had parts and pieces flying out beneath his No. 16 Quick Tie Chevrolet Camaro due to a brake rotor failure through the frontstretch. With no alternative option to slow his car, he then steered his car left and off the course to try to scrub speed while veering through the grass before slamming into the wall driver’s side at full speed before his car with the entire left side sheet metal from the car shredded off came to a stop near Turn 1. Despite his event coming to an early end, Smith emerged uninjured. The caution for Smith’s incident served as the concluding period of the first stage segment scheduled for Lap 22 as Allgaier, who had extended his advantage to more than three seconds, claimed his sixth stage victory of the 2023 season. Custer settled in second while Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek, Karam, Herbst, Kaz Grala, Austin Hill, Mayer and Sammy Smith were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the field, led by Allgaier returned to pit road for non-competitive pit service spanning for three minutes.

    The second stage started on Lap 24 as Allgaier and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier fended off Custer to retain the lead entering Turn 1 before pulling ahead entering Turns 2 and 3. Then through Turn 3, trouble ignited as Herbst got bumped by Nemechek as Herbst spun, which caused the entire field to scatter and Austin Hill to go off the course, while Ryan Ellis also spun and collided with Herbst. With the field then jostling amid two lanes entering the braking zone in Turn 5 before navigating from Turns 6 to 10, the caution returned when Herbst, who came into the event 26 points above the top-12 cutline to make the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs, stalled his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang on the course in Turn 3.

    During the following restart on Lap 27, Allgaier and Allmendinger dueled for the lead amid a stacked restart before Allmendinger went wide and briefly off the course through Turn 1. This allowed Allgaier to rocket away with the lead followed by Custer and Grala while Allmendinger fell back to fourth in front of Mayer, Karam, Parker Kligerman and Nemechek. As the field fanned out from Turns 3 to 8 with bumping within the field and jostling for positions occurring, Allgaier pulled away from the Custer as Grala, Karam and Allmendinger were in the top five. Then through the Kink corner, Nemechek, who was mired in 10th and was placed in a tight three-wide battle in Turn 5 that involved teammate Connor Mosack, briefly went off the course and dropped to 12th. Nemechek would then go off the course again, this time in the braking zone in Turn 5 during the following lap, as he was strapped in 14th while Allgaier maintained the lead over a hard-charging Custer.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Allgaier continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Custer while third-place Karam trailed in third place by more than three seconds. Karam’s teammate Grala was in fourth followed by Allmendinger while Mayer, Kligerman, Berry, Mosack and Hemric were in the top 10.

    A lap later, more trouble struck for Nemechek, who went off the course entering Turn 13 and hit the access road as he plowed through the grass and ripped the front splitter of his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra. As Nemechek tried to return to the course, he struggled to steer his car to the right in Turn 14, which caused a hard-charging Austin Hill to go off the course as he was trying to navigate his way around Nemechek, while Herbst spun behind for a second time in Turn 14 as the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage. Amid the issues, the caution flag returned as Nemechek’s event came to an end.

    With the event restarting for a one-lap shootout to conclude the second stage period, Allgaier retained the lead over Custer as the field fanned out to nearly three lanes entering Turn 1. With Custer following suit in second followed by Karam, Allmendinger, Grala and Kligerman, Allgaier continued to lead through the frontstretch and entering the braking zone in Turn 5. Allgaier remained out in front through Turns 6 to 11 as more battles ensued behind. Despite Custer’s late effort in gaining a run entering Canada Corner in Turn 12, Allgaier did not flinch for the final two turns and proceeded to claim his second Xfinity stage victory of the day and seventh of the year at the second stage’s concluding period on Lap 34. Custer settled in second while Karam, Allmendinger, Mayer, Grala, Berry, Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Josh Bilicki were scored in the top 10.

    Following another round of non-competitive pit stops for the entire field that spanned three minutes, the final stage started with nine laps remaining as Allgaier and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier rocketed ahead with the lead through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1 while Custer briefly went off the course in Turn 1. This allowed Sage Karam to move into the runner-up spot through Turns 2 and 3 followed by Mayer while Custer fell back to fourth alongside Grala. With the field fanning out to two lanes before settling in a single file line approaching the frontstretch, Allgaier stretched his advantage to more than a second over a three-car battle ensuring between Mayer, Custer and Karam as Mayer received a push from Custer through the frontstretch to move into the runner-up spot. Custer then tried to make his move beneath Mayer through Turns 5 and 6 during the following lap, but the latter retained the spot as Allmendinger tried to join the battle. This, however, allowed Allgaier to muscle ahead as he was leading by more than two seconds.

    Then with seven laps remaining, the caution returned for a hard single-car accident involving Alex Labbe, who was running 13th, lost his brakes through the frontstretch and collided head-on into the tire barriers in Turn 1 at full speed. Despite climbing out of his demolished No. 08 Compass Team Schuler Ford Mustang before laying down on the ground, Labbe emerged uninjured as he was slowly escorted to the ambulance and to the infield care center. At the exact timing of Labbe’s wreck, Creed, who endured numerous on-track issues throughout the event, was shown to have sustained a flat right-rear tire on his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro.

    Down to the final four laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Allgaier and Custer occupied the front row ahead of Mayer and Allmendinger. At the start, Allgaier wasted no time launching away from the field as he rocketed away through the first turn while teammate Mayer followed suit in second as he overtook Custer for the spot. With Custer being challenged by Karam for third through Turn 3, Allgaier continued to lead through a long straightaway before entering the braking zone in Turn 5. The braking zone would serve as the site where the caution returned when Berry got loose and made contact with Sammy Smith which caused Smith to turn sideways and collide into the side of Allmendinger’s No. 10 LeafHome Water Solutions Chevrolet Camaro. With both Smith and Allmendinger spinning entering Turn 5, Custer was collected as Smith collided with him as both, including Allmendinger, veered off the right-hand side of the turn while Karam just avoided the incident. The multi-car incident, which damaged Sammy Smith and Allmendinger’s cars while also breaking the rear axle off of Custer’s Mustang, would send the event into overtime.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, where teammates Allgaier and Karam occupied the front row ahead of Mayer and Berry, Allgaier retained the lead through the frontstretch and entering the first turn while Karam settled in second. As Mayer occupied third, Kligerman made his move up to fourth followed by Grala while Berry fell back to sixth. The field continued to jostle and battle dead even for spots around the circuit as Allgaier maintained the lead entering Turn 8. Shortly after, the caution returned and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt when Connor Mosack, who had smoke billowing out of his No. 19 Porter Pipe and Supply Toyota Supra entry and was leaking fluid, came to a stop just off the course in Turn 6. The event would then be placed in a red flag period due to the extensive fluid that spewed on the track from Mosack’s entry.

    Once the red flag period was lifted amid a delay that spanned nearly 10 minutes, the start of the second overtime attempt featured Allgaier and Kligerman lining up dead even on the front row ahead of Karm, Berry, Mayer and Grala. At the start, Allgaier received a strong shove from Karam to rocket ahead of Kligerman with the lead through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1. As Allgaier continued to lead Karam through Turns 2 and 3, the field behind fanned out and jostled for spots as Mayer tried to join the battle between the two leaders. Then exiting Turn 5, Allgaier got loose, which allowed Karam to muscle ahead in his No. 24 Carousel Online Toyota Supra with the lead through Turn 6. Then as Mayer, Karam and Allgaier went three wide for the lead through Turns 7 and 8, Allgaier slipped sideways in Turn 8, went off the course and spun as his hopes of winning the race were evaporating.

    Back at the front, Karam, who also went wide with Mayer in Turn 8 but managed to keep his car running straight, retained the lead through Turns 9 and 10 with Mayer closing in. Karam then got loose through the Kink, but he maintained the lead as the field approached Canada Corner. Then through Canada Corner, Mayer tried to make a move to Karam’s outside, but he went wide as Karam retained the lead. Just then, Karam went off the course entering Turn 13, which allowed Kligerman to move his No. 48 Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet Camaro into the lead. Mayer then made slight contact with Kligerman in Turn 14 as he moved his No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet Camaro into the lead while Karam fell back to fourth.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Mayer, the hometown hero, was leading a four-car breakaway from the field that included Kligerman, Austin Hill and Karam. While leading throughout the 14-turn circuit for a final time, Mayer was able to place a reasonable gap between himself and Kligerman without slipping through the turns and corners. As Kligerman tried to close back towards Mayer’s rear bumper through Turns 13 and 14, the gap was large enough for Kligerman to not draw close to Mayer’s rear bumper as Mayer was able to make the final uphill climb to the finish line and claim his first checkered flag in the Xfinity circuit.

    With the victory, Mayer, a two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion in 2019-20, became the fourth first-time winner of the 2023 Xfinity Series season and the 175th competitor overall to win in the Xfinity circuit. He also became the 14th different winner in the series 14-year running at Road America and the sixth to claim a first NASCAR Xfinity triumph at Road America as he recorded the second victory of the season and the 75th overall in the Xfinity circuit for JR Motorsports. The victory was also the first for crew chief Mardy Lindley, a former Craftsman Truck Series crew chief for Kyle Busch Motorsports, in the Xfinity circuit and the first for JRM’s No. 1 entry since teammate Josh Berry won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September 2021.

    “Oh my god,” Mayer said on NBC. “It was just about getting track position. We had [the lead] there at the end. I lost it for a second and then, all hell broke loose there at the end. We ended up on top. This team, it’s so special to get that first win and that monkey off your back. It feels so good. I felt it all day, like if I can do this one, I can do anything, and we came here today and did that. All’s well that ends well, I guess.”

    Amid the late turn of events, Kligerman settled in a career-best runner-up result while Austin Hill, who emerged as the new leader in the regular-season standings, came home in third place. Sage Karam, who was two laps away from notching his first NASCAR victory, settled in a career-best fourth place while Herbst rallied late to finish fifth.

    Berry, Grala, Josh Bilicki, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones finished in the top 10. Notably, Daniel Hemric ended up 11th, Parker Retzlaff ended up as the highest-finishing rookie in 14th and Allgaier fell back to 18th.

    There were two lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 15 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With six Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 14 points over John Hunter Nemechek, 40 over Justin Allgaier and 84 over Cole Custer.

    Results.

    1. Sam Mayer, two laps led

    2. Parker Kligerman

    3. Austin Hill

    4. Sage Karam

    5. Riley Herbst

    6. Josh Berry

    7. Kaz Grala

    8. Josh Bilicki

    9. AJ Allmendinger, five laps led

    10. Brandon Jones

    11. Daniel Hemric

    12. Jeb Burton

    13. Ryan Sieg

    14. Parker Retzlaff

    15. Brennan Poole

    16. Anthony Alfredo

    17. Blaine Perkins

    18. Justin Allgaier, 42 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    19. Brad Perez

    20. Kyle Weatherman

    21. Josh Williams

    22. Patrick Emerling

    23. Joe Graf Jr.

    24. Stanton Barrett

    25. Dexter Stacey

    26. Sheldon Creed

    27. Jeremy Clements

    28. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Transmission

    29. Connor Mosack – OUT, Rear gear

    30. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident

    31. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident

    32. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Brakes

    33. Alex Labbe – OUT, Accident

    34. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

    35. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

    36. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Hub

    37. Chandler Smith – OUT, Accident

    38. Katherine Legge – OUT

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of the season to Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, August 5, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Weekend schedule for Richmond-2 and Road America

    Weekend schedule for Richmond-2 and Road America

    This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series head to Richmond Raceway while the Xfinity Series competes at Road America. There are only five races remaining in the Cup Series regular season and eight of the active drivers have previously won at the 0.75-mile track.

    Kyle Busch leads with six victories while Kevin Harvick (the defending race winner) and Denny Hamlin have four victories each. Martin Truex Jr. has collected 3 checkered flags while Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson and Joey Logano have each won twice and Alex Bowman has claimed one win.

    Eleven Cup Series drivers (Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch, William Byron, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney) have already earned a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of wins, leaving five open spots in the 16-driver post-season field.

    As the Xfinity Series heads to Road America, seven drivers have secured a spot in the 12-driver playoffs – John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill, Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, and Jeb Burton. This leaves five open spots in the Xfinity Series Playoffs with seven races to go.

    There are seven CRAFTSMAN Truck Series drivers who have clinched a spot in the 10-driver Playoff field – Corey Heim, Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes and Carson Hocevar. Richmond is the last race of the regular season.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available throughout the weekend.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, July 28

    5 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – Road America – USA
    6 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – Road America – USA
    5:05 p.m.: Truck Series Practice at Richmond (All entries) No TV
    5:35 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying at Richmond (Impound) No TV
    Single Vehicle/2 Laps/All Entries

    Saturday, July 29

    12:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice at Richmond
    Groups A & B
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM

    1:20 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying at Richmond (Impound)
    Groups A & B – Single Vehicle/2 Laps/2 Rounds
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM

    3 p.m.: Xfinity Road America 180 at Road America
    45 Laps = 182.16 Miles
    Stages end on Laps 22/34/45
    NBC/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $1,347,310

    7:30 p.m.: Truck Series Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond
    250 Laps = 187.5 Miles
    Stages end on Laps 70/140/250
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $808,354

    Sunday, July 30

    3 p.m.: Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond
    400 Laps = 300 Miles
    Stages end on Laps 70/230/400 LAPS
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $7,565,800

  • Austin Hill rallies for dramatic Xfinity victory in overtime at Pocono

    Austin Hill rallies for dramatic Xfinity victory in overtime at Pocono

    In an event dominated by JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill stole the spotlight after outdueling Berry during an overtime attempt to win the eighth annual running of the Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 22.

    The 29-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led the final two of 92 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started 11th and nabbed a single point at the conclusion of the first stage. After being penalized with a speeding penalty prior to the final stage, Hill and his No. 21 RCR Chevrolet Camaro team led by crew chief Andy Street rolled the dice by pitting for fuel during a caution period with less than 45 laps remaining amid a two-car wreck that collected fellow competitors John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer.

    From a restart with 40 laps remaining through a late caution period with 11 laps remaining and prior to a six-lap dash to the finish, Hill elected to remain on the track amid concerns of running low of fuel. Despite losing a brief lead to Berry at the start of the six-lap dash, an opportunity presented itself for Hill as another late-race incident sent the event into overtime. During the event’s lone overtime attempt, the Georgian capitalized on a late mistake made by Berry slipping up the track in Turn 1 that enabled Hill to muscle into the lead. Despite being placed in a duel against Berry on the final lap, Hill managed to rocket away from Berry with a push from Berry’s teammate Sam Mayer and retain the lead just as a final lap incident involving Berry concluded the event under caution and handed Hill his fourth Xfinity victory of the 2023 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, July 21, Josh Berry notched his first Xfinity Series pole of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 167.951 mph in 53.587 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Daniel Hemric, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 167.128 mph in 53.851 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Garrett Smithley, Chad Chastain and Blaine Perkins dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Berry fended off a brief duel with Hemric through the frontstretch to launch ahead with the lead through the first turn. As the field battled two by two through Long Pond Straight, the Tunnel Curve and Turns 2 and 3, Berry managed to rocket ahead in his No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro and lead the first lap followed by Hemric while Sheldon Creed, Connor Mosack, John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Sammy Smith pursued within the top six.

    Through the second lap, more battles ensued within and outside the top 10 as Cole Custer was trying to protect ninth place ahead of Austin Hill, rookie Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier, Corey Heim, Jeb Burton and others while Brandon Jones and Sam Mayer tried to close in on the top-six competitors. Meanwhile, the leader Berry proceeded with a reasonable advantage ahead of Hemric.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Berry was leading by more than a second over Hemric followed by Creed, Mosack and Sammy Smith while Nemechek, Brandon Jones, Mayer, Custer and Austin Hill were in the top 10. Behind, Allgaier occupied 11th in front of Chandler Smith, Corey Heim, Ryan Sieg and Jeb Burton while Chase Elliott, Brett Moffitt, Daniel Suarez, Kaz Grala and Jeremy Clements occupied the top 20. By then, Ty Dillon was mired in 21st in front of Riley Herbst, Parker Kligerman, rookie Parker Retzlaff and Anthony Alfredo.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Berry stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Hemric while Creed retained third place in his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro. Behind, Sammy Smith moved up to fourth followed by teammate Nemechek and Brandon Jones while Mosack fell back to seventh. In addition, Custer and Mayer battled for eighth, Allgaier cracked the top 10 as he was running in 10th, Hill fell back to 12th and Elliott was up to 14th.

    Five laps later, Berry extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Hemric while third-place Creed trailed by nearly three seconds. By then, teammates Sammy Smith and Nemechek retained fourth and fifth while Mosack had fallen back to 10th as Mayer, Allgaier and Custer moved up the leaderboard in the top 10.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 20, Berry, who has led since the drop of the green flag, captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Hemric settled in second, trailing by more than a second, while Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Creed, Jones, Mayer, Allgaier, Mosack and Austin Hill were scored in the top 10. By then, Custer, who pitted for service under green on Lap 17 and just as pit road closed to signify the conclusion of a stage period, was mired back in 37th place, the next-to-last spot.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Berry pitted while select names that included Custer, who pitted prior to the stage’s conclusion, along with Alex Labbe, Brennan Poole and Garrett Smithley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Berry exited first ahead of Hemric, Smith, Jones and Nemechek. Amid the pit stops, Josh Williams was penalized for equipment interference.

    The second stage started on Lap 25 as Custer and Berry occupied the front row. At the start and amid a stacked two-by-two restart, Custer received a push from Hemric while running on the outside lane to battle Berry for the lead until the latter reassumed the top spot through Long Pond Straight. Behind, Hemric slipped in Turn 1 and fell back to seventh while Brandon Jones rocketed to third along with Sammy Smith, Nemechek and Allgaier. With Berry back in the lead, Jones would then move his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro into second after overtaking Custer through Turns 2 and 3 as Allgaier followed suit. Not long after, trouble struck for Jeffrey Earnhardt, who fell off the pace after cutting a left-front tire while the event remained under green flag conditions.

    During the proceeding laps, Berry was leading ahead of teammates Jones and Allgaier while Custer was overtaken by Sammy Smith and Nemechek for top-five spots amid older tires compared to the field. Behind, Hemric retained seventh as Herbst and Mayer tried to close in.

    By Lap 30, Berry was leading by more than a second over teammate Allgaier while teammate Jones, who was in third, trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Nemechek was in fourth while Custer was being challenged by Sammy Smith for fifth place. Meanwhile, Hemric continued to run in seventh ahead of Herbst and Mayer while Chandler Smith was in 10th ahead of Chase Elliott. In addition, Creed, who was boxed in during his previous pit stops, was in 14th behind Austin Hill and Ryan Sieg.

    Five laps later, Berry’s advantage decreased to a tenth of a second over a hard-charging, teammate Allgaier while teammate Jones retained third as he trailed by less than two seconds. Shortly after, the battle for the lead between JR Motorsports’ Berry and Allgaier intensified as Allgaier started to intimidate Berry for the top spot. Behind, the battle for third place also intensified as Nemechek started to gain ground on Brandon Jones for the spot. By then, Parker Kligerman was mired in 36th after pitting under green and remaining on the lead lap. Creed, Ryan Sieg and Daniel Suarez would then pit just as pit road closed with two laps remaining in the second stage.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage, Allgaier drew even on teammate Berry for the lead and for the stage victory. With Berry pulling ahead and retaining the spot from Allgaier entering the straightaways while Allgaier gained runs through the turns, Berry managed to fend off Allgaier by a tenth of a second to claim his second stage victory of the day and the third of the 2023 Xfinity season on Lap 40. Nemechek settled in third while Brandon Jones, Custer, Sammy Smith, Mayer, Herbst, Hermic and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Berry pitted while some led by Allgaier and including Garrett Smithley, Brennan Poole, Suarez, Creed, Ryan Sieg and Kligerman remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Austin Hill was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 45 laps remaining, which marked the halfway point of the event, the final stage started as Allgaier and Suarez occupied the front row. At the start, however, the caution quickly returned amid a stacked restart when Nemechek, who restarted in the top 10 and was getting boxed in behind Kligerman after Kligerman struggled to launch, got sideways after getting bumped by teammate Sammy Smith as Nemechek then got turned before colliding into Custer’s No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang with both spinning and hitting the outside wall through the frontstretch. Amid the carnage, Suarez managed to emerge as the leader over Allgaier while Ryan Sieg, Berry and Creed were in the top five. During the caution period, names that included Mayer, Ryan Ellis, Patrick Emerling, Herbst, Nemechek, Custer and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by Suarez remained on the track. In addition, Chad Chastain was sent to the rear of the field for laying back during the previous restart.

    During the proceeding restart with 40 laps remaining, Suarez and Allgaier dueled for the lead as the field fanned out entering the first turn. Through Turn 1, Suarez tried to muscle ahead with the lead, but Allgaier fought back entering Long Pong Straight as Berry tried to launch a three-wide move on both. With Berry backing out, Allgaier rocketed ahead to assume the lead. Behind and during the proceeding lap, Berry continued to battle Suarez for the runner-up spot as Creed battled Ryan Sieg for fourth place.

    With 36 laps remaining, Allgaier retained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Berry while Suarez fell back to third and trailed the lead by less than two seconds. A lap later, Suarez surrendered third place to pit his No. 10 LeafHome Water Chevrolet Camaro under green as Creed, Elliott and Kligerman moved up the leaderboard in the top five. In addition, Berry navigated his way around teammate Allgaier for the lead. Another lap later, Chandler Smith and Corey Heim pitted under green.

    Then with 33 laps remaining, Allgaier pitted his No. 7 Reese’s Ice Cream Chevrolet Camaro under green followed by Hemric and Jeb Burton, with Hemric exiting ahead of Allgaier after opting for only fuel to his No. 11 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet Camaro. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sammy Smith and Connor Mosack would pit during the proceeding lap, with Smith pitting for only fuel, as Kligerman and Kaz Grala both pitted for only fuel with 31 laps remaining.

    With 30 laps remaining, Berry surrendered the lead to pit for four fresh tires and fuel under green as Elliott cycled into the lead. Creed would also pit for four fresh tires as Berry was mired outside the top 20 by the time he returned to the track.

    With 25 laps remaining and with mixed strategies continuing to ensue, Elliott, who has yet to pit, was leading by more than six seconds over Brandon Jones while Ryan Sieg, Ty Dillon and Herbst were in the top five. With Mayer and Moffitt running sixth and seventh, Hill, who topped off on fuel during the previous caution period and aiming to finish the event on his current fuel tank, was running in eighth. By then, Berry, the first competitor with enough fuel to finish the event, cycled his way up to 20th with teammate Allgaier following pursuit.

    Five laps later, Elliott surrendered the lead to pit his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro under green followed by Parker Retzlaff as Brandon Jones cycled into the lead. In addition, Kaz Grala ran into late issues after spinning, but he managed to proceed without drawing a caution.

    Another five laps later, Brandon Jones retained the lead by more than eight seconds over Ty Dillon while Ryan Sieg occupied third place. Behind was Herbst, who was aiming to stretch his fuel tank to the distance, along with fifth-place Mayer while Moffitt and Hill were in sixth and seventh. Meanwhile, Berry cycled his way up to eighth while Anthony Alfredo and Allgaier were in the top 10. By then, Elliott, who pitted five laps earlier, was in 12th in front of Chandler Smith and Creed, Hemric was in 16th and Suarez was in 17th.

    Then with 11 laps remaining, the caution flew when Allgaier hit and sent the lapped competitor of Joey Gase spinning exiting Turn 2 as Allgaier also sustained damage to the right-front fender of his car. At the moment of caution, Brandon Jones was leading by more than 12 seconds over Herbst while Mayer, Hill and Berry were in the top five. By then, Ty Dillon, Moffitt and Ryan Sieg had made pit stops under green.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Brandon Jones, who was set to pit prior to Gase’s incident, and including Allgaier, who sustained a flat right-rear tire amid the contact with Gase, pitted while the rest led by Herbst and including Mayer, Hill, Berry, Elliott, Creed and Ryan Sieg remained on the track.

    Down to the final six laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Herbst and Hill occupied the front row ahead of Mayer and Berry. At the start, Hill muscled his way into the lead on the inside lane followed by Berry. Berry then wasted no time cycling his way back to the lead after overtaking Hill through Long Pond Straight as the field behind jostled for late spots. With Herbst and Mayer falling back to third and fourth in front of Elliott and behind Hill, Berry retained the lead as the event reached its final five-lap mark. Then amid the on-track battles, the caution returned when Connor Mosack wrecked his No. 19 IRWIN Toyota Supra in the Tunnel Curve in Turn 2. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime with Berry leading the field.

    During the first overtime attempt, where teammates Berry and Mayer occupied the front row, Berry received a push from Hill while restarting on the outside lane to pull ahead of teammate Mayer. Then in Turn 1, Berry missed the turn and went wide, which allowed Hill to rocket his No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro into the lead while Berry was trying to straighten his car while falling back to third. Amid stacked racing through Turns 2 and 3, Berry quickly reassumed the runner-up spot as he then ignited his pursuit on Hill for the lead and win.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill remained as the leader by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Berry. Through Turn 1, Berry lightly bumped into the rear of Hill to get Hill loose through the turn. With both then making light contact against one another entering Long Pond Straight, Berry and Hill dueled for the lead until Mayer drafted Hill clear of Berry and to the lead. In the process, Berry made contact against teammate Mayer’s No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet Camaro as Mayer moved into second. Then entering the Tunnel Curve, Berry’s event went south after he went dead straight toward the outside wall with a flat right-front tire and wrecked against the wall. In front of him, Ryan Sieg, who was vying for a top-10 spot, spun just exiting Turn 2. The incidents forced NASCAR to draw the caution and deem the event official on the final lap as Hill navigated his way back to the frontstretch and claim his fourth checkered flag of the 2023 Xfinity season.

    With the victory, Hill notched his sixth career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and fourth of the season, thus joining John Hunter Nemechek as a four-time race winner in 2023. He also became the eighth different winner in the Xfinity Series’ eight-year span at the Tricky Triangle as he also recorded the fourth Xfinity victory of the season for Richard Childress Racing and the 10th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    “We didn’t have the best car all day,” Hill said on USA Network. “[Crew chief] Andy [Street] and everybody back at [Richard Childress Racing] and ECR Engines worked really hard. We got the car better. I thought that we were maybe a top-five, top-seven car, but I didn’t think that we had anything for the leaders. [Berry] was so fast today. On that [overtime] restart, he drove into [Turn] 1 and he got really loose on entry. I was just trying to hit my line and I throttled up, cleared him. Then taking the white [flag], I backed it up way too much into [Turn] 1, just not wanting to do what [Berry] did and he packed air on me, ended up getting into my back bumper and then, we drag-raced down the backstretch. I thought [Mayer] was about to split us three wide. He had a big run, me and [Berry] both closed it up and he just had to push me at that point. Once I cleared him, I just knew I had to hit my marks and obviously, the caution came out.”

    “Man, such a special win,” Hill added. “Obviously with fuel saving and had to save fuel there, didn’t know if we were gonna make it and that was on my mind on the last lap. Going into the Tunnel Turn, I was like, ‘Man, I gotta get back to the start/finish line’. [I] Had enough fuel for a burnout, so we saved enough.”

    Mayer came home in a career-best runner-up spot for the third time in his career while Elliott, Herbst and Hemric finished in the top five.

    Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Moffitt, Kligerman and Suarez finished in the top 10. Notably, Creed ended up 11th, Ty Dillon settled in 14th and Allgaier fell back to 23rd after wrecking on the frontstretch along with Chandler Smith that resulted in a rear bumper cover coming off of Allgaier’s car before the veteran went dead straight and wrecked against the Turn 1 outside wall.

    Meanwhile, Berry, who led a race-high 51 laps and swept both stages, ended up 24th after wrecking on the final lap and having his first victory of the season slip out of his grasp as he was unable to finish the event.

    “It was just a wild restart,” Berry said in the infield care center. “I think [Hill] pushed me a little bit longer and a little harder than I wanted to go into [Turn] 1, and just got loose, got up the track and [into] the marbles. [I] Was able to battle back there and race with him. I was trying to time the run. I got there quicker than I wanted in the center and that’s why I got into [Mayer] and we just lost momentum there. The deal with me and Sam [Mayer], I knew Sam was coming with a huge run and obviously, I just tried to cover it to get next to [Hill]. He moved left and I moved right. It was just a racing deal. Just hate that we didn’t get the finish we deserved today, but man, what a really, really fast Tire Pros Chevrolet. I know that if we can continue to have that kind of speed, we’ll win plenty of races. Tough way to end, but still a lot of positives from today and things that I know I could’ve done better to at the end.”

    There were 11 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 72 laps. In addition, 23 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    With seven Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, John Hunter Nemechek continues to lead the regular-season standings by 13 points over Austin Hill, 55 over Justin Allgaier and 85 over Cole Custer.

    Results.

    1. Austin Hill, two laps led

    2. Sam Mayer

    3. Chase Elliott, nine laps led

    4. Riley Herbst, three laps led

    5. Daniel Hemric

    6. Sammy Smith

    7. Brandon Jones, 12 laps led

    8. Brett Moffitt

    9. Parker Kligerman

    10. Daniel Suarez, five laps led

    11. Sheldon Creed

    12. Jeb Burton

    13. Anthony Alfredo

    14. Ty Dillon

    15. Jeremy Clements

    16. Kyle Sieg

    17. Joe Graf Jr.

    18. Ryan Ellis

    19. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    20. Chandler Smith

    21. Garrett Smithley

    22. Ryan Sieg

    23. Justin Allgaier, eight laps led

    24. Josh Berry, one lap down, 51 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    25. Kaz Grala, one lap down

    26. Patrick Emerling, one lap down

    27. Blaine Perkins, one lap down

    28. Alex Labbe, one lap down

    29. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    30. Chad Chastain, one lap down

    31. Joey Gase, two laps down

    32. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down

    33. Cole Custer, five laps down, two laps led

    34. Connor Mosack – OUT, Accident

    35. Parker Retzlaff, eight laps down

    36. Josh Williams, 10 laps down

    37. Corey Heim – OUT, Suspension

    38. Sage Karam – OUT, Transmission

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ annual return to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, July 29, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Weekend schedule for Pocono

    Weekend schedule for Pocono

    NASCAR travels to Pocono Raceway this weekend for another full schedule of competition. The ARCA Menards Series will jump-start the on-track action Friday evening in the Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150.

    Chase Elliott is the defending Cup Series race winner. His road to victory lane last year was unusual with the top two finishers, Denny Hamlin (first) and Kyle Busch (second) both being disqualified after failing post-race inspection. However, a victory would propel Elliott, who is 60 points behind the cutoff, to the Playoffs. There are six races remaining in the regular season with eight open spots.

    The Xfinity Series has only competed at the Tricky Triangle seven times and has produced seven different winners. Cole Custer, who won from the pole in 2019, is the only previous race winner entered in this weekend’s race. There are eight upcoming regular season races and five open spots available in the series Playoffs.

    There are two races left in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular season. Corey Heim, with two wins his year, currently leads the driver standings by 26 points.

    Six Truck Series drivers are locked into the Playoffs by virtue of wins – Zane Smith (Daytona, COTA), Christian Eckes (Atlanta, Darlington), Carson Hocevar (Texas, Nashville), Corey Heim (Martinsville, Mid-Ohio), Grant Enfinger (Kansas, WWTR), and Ben Rhodes (Charlotte).

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, July 21

    11:30 a.m.: ARCA Practice – No TV
    12:30 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying – No TV

    1:35 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – All Entries – FS1
    2:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound)
    Single Vehicle/1 Lap/All Entries – FS1
    Post Truck Series Qualifying on Press Pass

    3:35 p.m.: Xfinity Practice – All Entries
    4:05 p.m.: Xfinity Qualifying (Impound)
    Single Vehicle/1 Lap/All Entries
    USA/NBC Sports App
    Post Xfinity Series Qualifying on Press Pass

    6 p.m.: ARCA Menard Series Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150
    60 laps = 150 miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM

    Saturday, July 22

    Noon: Truck Series CRC Brakleen 150
    Stages end on Laps 15/30/60 Laps = 150 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $757,274
    Post Truck Series Race on Press Pass

    2:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (3 p.m. ET on USA)
    Groups A & B
    NBC Sports App/MRN/SiriusXM

    3:20 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying
    (Impound) Group A & B/Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
    Post-Cup Qualifying on Press Pass

    5:30 p.m.: Xfinity Pocono 225
    Stages end on Laps 20/40/90 Laps = 225 Miles
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
    Purse: $1,411,027
    Post Xfinity Race on Press Pass

    Sunday, July 23

    2:30 p.m.: HighPoint.com 400
    Stages end on Laps 30/95/160 = 400 Miles
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
    The Purse: $7,243,361
    Post Cup Race on Press Pass

  • John Hunter Nemechek caps off dominant run with overtime Xfinity victory at New Hampshire

    John Hunter Nemechek caps off dominant run with overtime Xfinity victory at New Hampshire

    A week after capturing a thrilling overtime victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, John Hunter Nemechek doubled down with a second consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series win in overtime after marching away from the field and winning the Ambetter Health 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 15.

    Compared to a week ago where he led the final three laps en route to victory, the 26-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led four times for a race-high 137 of 206 over-scheduled laps at the Magic Mile. After assuming the lead for the first time on the ninth lap before spending the majority of the event as the leader, Nemechek assumed the lead for good with 36 laps remaining during a late caution period.

    Amid two late restarts and two caution periods due to on-track incidents, the latter of which sent the event into overtime, Nemechek capitalized in overtime by muscling away from rookie Chandler Smith and Cole Custer and started the final lap under green flag conditions just before a two-car wreck on the final lap involving Custer and Sheldon Creed concluded the event under caution and handed Nemechek his fourth Xfinity victory of the 2023 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, July 14, rookie Chandler Smith scored his second consecutive Xfinity pole and third of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 126.291 mph in 30.159 seconds. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 126.123 mph in 30.199 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included rookie Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, Patrick Emerling, Ryan Sieg and Greg Val Alst dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Rajah Caruth also dropped to the rear of the field due to a tire change along with Kaz Grala, who started the event in a backup car after being involved in a two-car wreck with Ryan Sieg during Friday’s practice session.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Chandler Smith rocketed ahead with the lead on the outside lane while Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry attempted to go three wide on John Hunter Nemechek for the runner-up spot entering the first two turns. As the field fanned out and jostled early for positions through the backstretch and entering Turns 3 and 4, Smith fended off Allgaier to lead the first lap.

    During the second lap and amid a series of on-track battles, Allgaier made his move beneath Chandler Smith through the backstretch and claimed the lead entering Turn 3. Nemechek would then move into the runner-up spot two laps later while Berry and Cole Custer battled for fourth behind Chandler Smith. As Brandon Jones and Daniel Hemric tried to close in on the top-five runners, Allgaier was leading by two-tenths of a second over Nemechek during the fifth lap mark.

    A lap later, however, an early battle for the lead ignited between Allgaier and Nemechek as both dueled and rubbed for the top spot while the former fended off the latter for the top spot. Despite Allgaier’s efforts in retaining the lead while running the second lane and to Nemechek’s outside during the proceeding laps, Nemechek was able to assume the lead for himself by the ninth lap after Allgaier got loose in Turn 2. All in the process, Custer kept the two leaders in front of him followed by Chandler Smith and Berry while Jones and Hemric battled for sixth.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by half a second over Allgaier followed by Cole Custer, Chandler Smith and Berry while Jones, Hemric, Austin Hill, Austin Dillon and Sam Mayer were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Parker Kligerman was in 11th ahead of Sheldon Creed, rookie Parker Retzlaff, Riley Herbst and Brett Moffitt while Jeremy Clements, Anthony Alfredo, Josh Williams, Sammy Smith and Joe Graf Jr. were in the top 20.

    Ten laps later, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Allgaier, who started to regain ground on the former for the lead, while Custer, Chandler Smith and Berry remained in the top five. In addition, Jones, Hemric, Hill, Austin Dillon and Mayer continued to run sixth through 10th, respectively.

    Another 10 laps later, Allgaier, who reassumed the lead from Nemechek on Lap 27 amid another on-track battle and contact while navigating through lapped traffic, was leading by three-tenths of a second over Nemechek. Meanwhile, third-place Custer trailed by half a second as he tried to join the battle while Chandler Smith and Berry were in the top five. Allgaier would then slowly stretch his advantage to eight-tenths of a second by Lap 35 and to more than a second by Lap 40 while Nemechek retained second.

    On Lap 41, the first caution of the event flew when Chris Hacker spun on the backstretch. Not long after, Rajah Caruth ran into early issues after his car emerged with heavy smoke and was leaking fuel. Hacker’s incident was enough for the first stage period set to conclude on Lap 45 to conclude under caution as Allgaier claimed his fifth stage victory of the 2023 season. Nemechek ended up second while Custer, Chandler Smith, Berry, Brandon Jones, Austin Dillon, Mayer, Hemric and Hill were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Allgaier pitted. Following the pit stops, Chandler Smith exited first followed by Allgaier, Nemechek, Hill, Jones and Berry. Amid the pit stops, Sammy Smith and Joe Graf Jr. were penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Allgaier, who opted for two fresh tires after sliding through his pit box and reversing his car followed by the audible two-tire service, would then be penalized for pitting outside his pit box while having a right-rear lug nut removed when the car was over the pit line.

    The second stage started on Lap 54 as Chandler Smith and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Chandler Smith received a push from Hill from the outside lane to briefly retain the lead over Nemechek through the first two turns before Nemechek made his move beneath Smith and reassumed the lead through Turns 3 and 4. With Nemechek leading Chandler Smith, the following competitors that included Hill, Brandon Jones, Berry and Custer battled for top-six spots in front of Herbst while Hemric, Austin Dillon and Mayer started to fan out and battle for eighth.

    Just past the Lap 60 mark, Nemechek was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith while third-place Hill trailed by more than a second. Behind, Custer and Berry were running in the top five while Brandon Jones, Herbst, Mayer, Hemric and Dillon were in the top 10.

    Five laps later and as Nemechek continued to lead ahead over Chandler Smith, Custer, Berry, Hill and Herbst, the event’s second caution flew when Chad Finchum stalled in the middle of pit road.

    Then as the field attempted to restart under green on Lap 70, the caution quickly returned when the front-runners did not launch early and stacked the field behind as Parker Kligerman sustained heavy front nose damage after running into the rear of Hemric. A multi-car wreck would then ensue on the frontstretch amid the stack up and within the middle of the pack after Allgaier rear-ended Ryan Sieg and Jeremy Clements while Anthony Alfredo collided into Allgaier as more including Blaine Perkins, Mason Massey, Parker Retzlaff, Chris Hacker, Patrick Emerling, Ryan Ellis and Alex Labbe wrecked.

    During the caution period, some including Brandon Jones, Joe Graf Jr., Creed, Sammy Smith and Dillon pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 81, Nemechek rocketed ahead with the lead from the outside lane as he retained the top spot through the first two turns while Berry battled and overtook Chandler Smith for second. In addition, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer and Herbst started to close in on Chandler Smith for third while Mayer and Hill battled for sixth in front of Jeb Burton and Hemric. In the process, Nemechek stretched his advantage to more than a second over Berry. The caution, however, would return on Lap 84 when Connor Mosack slipped sideways and slapped the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2.

    During the caution period, some led by Nemechek pitted while others led by Retzlaff remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited first followed by Berry, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Custer, Hemric and Hill.

    As the event restarted with two laps remaining in the second stage, Retzlaff and Sammy Smith dueled for the lead followed by Creed, Josh Williams and Brandon Jones while Allgaier and Joe Graf Jr. battled for sixth. Then prior to the final lap of the second stage, Sammy Smith muscled his No. 18 TMC Toyota Supra into the lead while Retzlaff battled Creed for second.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Sammy Smith claimed his first stage victory of the 2023 season. Retzlaff settled in second followed by Creed while Brandon Jones, Williams, Allgaier, Graf, Nemechek, Dillon and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, some led by Retzlaff and including Josh Williams, Kyle Weatherman, Clements, Blaine Perkins and Ryan Ellis pitted while the rest led by Sammy Smith remained on the track.

    With 103 laps remaining, the final stage started as Sammy Smith and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Smith and Creed briefly dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Smith gained the advantage from the outside lane and retained the lead. With Sammy Smith out in front, Nemechek battled Brandon Jones for third, and he succeeded in gaining the spot during the following lap as Nemechek battled Creed for second. Behind, Allgaier was in fifth ahead of a multi-car battle ensuing behind that involved Graf, Berry, Chandler Smith, Custer, Herbst and Dillon.

    Then with 99 laps remaining, the caution flew when Herbst, who was battling Dillon for a top-10 spot, drove across the front left-front fender of Dillon’s No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet Camaro entering the frontstretch as Herbst squeezed and forced Dillon into the outside wall. Dillon then proceeded to turn and send Herbst spinning sideways and into the wall with Herbst sustaining damage to his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang.

    When the event restarted with 93 laps remaining, Nemechek fended off teammate Sammy Smith, who briefly got loose after receiving a push from Creed, to assume the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Nemechek stabilized his advantage over teammate Sammy Smith, Creed was in third followed by a four-car battle that included Graf, Berry, Allgaier and Custer. Behind more battles ensued as Hemric was fighting to remain in 10th ahead of Mayer, Hill, Grala, Moffitt, Retzlaff, Williams and Jeb Burton.

    With 85 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Sammy Smith as Creed, Brandon Jones and Graf were in the top five. Nemechek would proceed to stretch his advantage to more than a second over Smith with 80 laps remaining and to nine-tenths of a second with 75 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Nemechek extended his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Sammy Smith while third-place Jones trailed by more than six seconds. By then, Creed also trailed by more than six seconds in fourth while Custer and Chandler Smith were in fifth and sixth.

    Six laps later, green flag pit stops started to ensue as Creed pitted along with Kyle Weatherman, Connor Mosack and Sammy Smith pitted. Berry would also pit not long after along with teammate Jones and Custer. Then with 50 laps remaining, the race leader Nemechek pitted along with Hill, Kaz Grala and Mayer. Following his pit stop, Nemechek managed to exit pit road and blend back on the track ahead of teammate Sammy Smith while the green flag pit stops ensued.

    Then with 41 laps remaining, the caution flew when Kyle Sieg spun in front of Berry through Turns 3 and 4. By then, Austin Dillon, who had yet to pit, was leading ahead of Graf, Allgaier and Josh Williams, all of whom had yet to pit, while Nemechek, the first competitor who pitted, was in fifth followed by teammate Sammy Smith. During the caution period, however, some including Graf and Dillon pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track as Nemechek cycled his way back to the lead.

    During the proceeding restart with 33 laps remaining, Nemechek rocketed ahead with the lead as the field fanned out entering the first two turns. Behind, smoke emerged out of the left-front fender of Berry’s No. 8 Jarrett Logistics Systems Chevrolet Camaro amid contact from Creed and Jones after Jones nearly got turned by Chandler Smith in Turn 1. With the race remaining under green flag conditions and the field fanning out while jostling for late positions, Nemechek retained the lead over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Mayer and Chandler Smith.

    With 25 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by more than a second over Custer while Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith and Mayer continued to run in the top five. Nemechek would retain the lead by nearly a second and a half over Custer while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by more than two seconds with 20 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Nemechek continued to lead by a second and a half over Custer while Chandler Smith trailed in third by more than two seconds in his No. 16 Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet Camaro. Behind, Sammy Smith trailed in fourth by more than seven seconds while fifth-place Mayer trailed by more than 10 seconds. A lap later, however, the caution flew when Retzlaff spun and smacked the outside wall in Turn 1 after losing a right-rear tire.

    As the event attempted to restart under green with four laps remaining, the caution quickly returned when Mayer was tapped in the rear end by Sammy Smith as he spun before getting hit by Dillon and Graf, whose car caught on fire amid heavy front nose damage to his No. 19 Rocky’s ACE Hardware Toyota Supra. The incident, which also collected Brandon Jones and Connor Mosack, was enough to send the event into overtime as Nemechek had retained the lead over Chandler Smith, Custer, Creed and Hill.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Nemechek received a huge push from Chandler Smith, who elected to restart on the outside lane behind Nemechek instead of next to Nemechek on the front row. Smith’s push enabled Nemechek to drive away in his No. 20 Persil Toyota Supra from the field while Chandler Smith was left to battle Creed, Custer and Hill for second as the field fanned out.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith. Shortly after, Custer turned Creed across the frontstretch and into the outside wall as Custer was also sent spinning in the middle of the frontstretch, which caused the field to scatter to avoid both competitors. The incident was enough to conclude the event under caution as Nemechek cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed his fourth checkered flag of the 2023 season.

    With the victory, Nemechek became the first four-time winner of this year’s Xfinity season. He also recorded his sixth career victory in the Xfinity circuit, his first at New Hampshire, the sixth of the season for Toyota and the 199th Xfinity career win for Joe Gibbs Racing. This also marked the first time in his Xfinity career that he achieved back-to-back victories.

    “Man, I am so proud of this No. 20 team and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Nemechek said on USA Network. “Man, [sponsor] Persil ProClean, this [car] looked clean on the racetrack today. [I] Had, I think, our first clean race all year. I was a little worried there on the last restarts. We kept getting really good launch and we were able to clear [the field], but I didn’t know who was saving what. I was trying to save in front of Cole [Custer] until he started pushing there. He definitely was gonna give us a run our the money, but hats off to all the men and women at Joe Gibbs Racing, everyone at Toyota, [Toyota Racing Development]. Just blessed to have this opportunity. I’m the lucky guy that gets to sit behind the wheel of this No. 20 car every weekend.”

    With Nemechek winning the event, Chandler Smith, who led 10 laps from pole position, ended up in the runner-up spot for the first time in his career while Austin Hill, Hemric and Sammy Smith finished in the top five.

    Allgaier, who rallied from his early pit road penalty and wreck, nursed his damaged No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro in sixth while Jeb Burton, Josh Williams, Moffitt and Mason Massey finished in the top 10. Notably, Austin Dillon ended up 16th in his second Xfinity start of the season while Creed and Custer ended up 21st and 22nd, respectively, following their last lap wreck.

    There were 13 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 60 laps. In addition, 20 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With eight Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, John Hunter Nemechek continues to lead the regular-season standings 33 points over Austin Hill, 60 over Justin Allgaier and 74 over Cole Custer.

    Results.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek, 137 laps led

    2. Chandler Smith, 10 laps led

    3. Austin Hill

    4. Daniel Hemric

    5. Sammy Smith, 18 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    6. Justin Allgaier, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    7. Jeb Burton

    8. Josh Williams

    9. Brett Moffitt

    10. Mason Massey

    11. Brandon Jones

    12. Alex Labbe

    13. Kaz Grala

    14. Patrick Emerling

    15. Jeremy Clements

    16. Austin Dillon, four laps led

    17. Josh Berry

    18. Sam Mayer

    19. Ryan Ellis

    20. Riley Herbst

    21. Sheldon Creed

    22. Cole Custer

    23. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    24. Brennan Poole, two laps down

    25. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    26. Connor Mosack, three laps down

    27. Kyle Weatherman, four laps down

    28. CJ McLaughlin, five laps down

    29. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident, eight laps led

    30. Chris Hacker, 11 laps down

    31. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    32. Parker Kligerman – OUT, Accident

    33. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident

    34. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    35. Chad Finchum – OUT, Suspension

    36. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Suspension

    37. Rajah Caruth – OUT, Oil line

    38. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Brakes

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of the season to Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, July 22, at 5:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.