Jeffrey Earnhardt, fourth generation NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series driver, sets forth a partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing and Xtreme Concepts Inc. for nine races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2019.
Earnhardt will drive the No. 18 at the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in February, and Earnhardt understands completely the opportunity with the winning organization.
“I’ve worked incredibly hard for this opportunity and I’ve got to thank Xtreme Concepts for making it happen,” Earnhardt shared with the media. “You see the level of expertise Joe Gibbs Racing has and the caliber of equipment they bring to the racetrack every week. As a driver, it’s exactly where you want to be. It’s the best opportunity I’ve had in my career and I plan to make the most of it.”
Xtreme Concepts has already sponsored the No. 96 Cup car with Gaunt Brothers Racing in ten races, along with one of its own brands, iK9, a provider of canine detection and service dogs, along with professional handler education and services. Nine of these races were with Earnhardt behind the wheel.
“We believe motorsports is an incredibly strong platform to highlight the many services Xtreme Concepts can provide, and we also believe in Jeffrey Earnhardt,” said Landon Ash, founder, Xtreme Concepts. “I know firsthand how just having the opportunity to show what you can do is all you need to find success. It’s how we’ve grown Xtreme Concepts since our founding in 2008 to a worldwide leader in security concepts and solutions. Jeffrey has been an excellent representative for Xtreme Concepts and our brands like iK9, and through this endeavor with Joe Gibbs Racing we plan to grow together.”
Earnhardt has made over 150 starts across the top three touring series in NASCAR, but this will be his first with a championship-winning organization. Ryan Preece had a similar experience, resulting in two victories over the last two years. Earlier this year, Ross Chastain took the opportunity for three races with Chip Ganassi Racing and earned his first career win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Matt DiBenedetto is taking a leap of faith as well in the Cup Series with Levine Family Racing in 2019 and their new affiliation with Joe Gibbs Racing, essentially replacing the defending championship team of Furniture Row Racing.
“From the time we first came to NASCAR in 1992, we’ve always put forth maximum effort to have the best possible results on the racetrack,” said Coy Gibbs, Vice Chairman and COO of JGR. “Our Xfinity Series program is the perfect example of what happens when preparation meets execution. We’ve had both up-and-coming and veteran drivers achieve success in our racecars, and that success has translated to the partners they’ve represented. We think Jeffrey Earnhardt has the talent to win races and deliver strong results for Xtreme Concepts.”
Joe Gibbs Racing plans to announce the other eight races for Earnhardt during the off-season.
On Friday at ISM Raceway, it was announced that Ross Chastain would be the next full-time driver for the No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet with Chip Ganassi Racing for 2019.
“I’m trying not to throw up right now. It’s surreal,” Chastain said as he shared the announcement in the media center with team owner Chip Ganassi and CEO of DC Solar, Jeff Carpoff.
Chastain ran three races in 2018 with the No. 42 team, and did not disappoint. He dominated at Darlington Raceway, snagged his first career pole and was on pace for a victory until a late-race crash with Kevin Harvick delayed his first career win. That took place later in the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he started his tradition of smashing a watermelon at the start-finish line in celebration. His runner-up finish at Richmond would be the third and final time driving the Chip Ganassi Racing car in 2018. But it was enough proof for both Ganassi and DC Solar.
“DC Solar is a great example of partnership,” said Ganassi. “Since coming to our organization, both of our teams have worked together to build a platform that is beneficial to their business. When we first talked about putting Ross in the car this year, this was something that Jeff and Paulette felt strongly about and Ross made the most of the opportunity running well in all three races and bringing home a win and a runner-up finish. We are looking forward to him continuing that success in 2019 and competing for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship.”
Most of the exposure and convincing caught the eye of Carpoff, and Ganassi saw the success Chastain produced in a short amount of races behind the wheel. In the media center, as the announcement was made, Carpoff gave a fist pump in celebration. He was asked if he had any say with hiring Chastain full-time.
“DC Solar is excited to continue its partnership with CGR, and we’re extremely proud to sponsor Ross during the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity season,” Carpoff declared. “From the moment I met Ross, I knew there was something special about him, so the decision to support him came easy. Witnessing his raw talent, as well as his humility and gratitude for the opportunity, only confirmed that he would be a great representative for the DC Solar brand.”
Chastain was definitely nervous, yet excited about the new opportunities.
“I’m an eighth-generation farmer from Florida who was fortunate enough to get a shot in top-flight equipment. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone, especially my family, who helped me get to this point.
“I’ve had a great run with Johnny Davis Motorsports and it’s obvious I wouldn’t be in the position I am today without Johnny’s support. I have been racing everything that I can since breaking into NASCAR seven years ago. Until DC Solar and Chip (Ganassi) gave me a shot in Darlington, nobody knew who I was. I want to remain humble. I enjoy being the underdog.
“Excited or thrilled doesn’t begin to capture how I feel about joining CGR full time. I’m eager to take full advantage of the opportunity in front of me. The obvious goal is to win races, compete for an Xfinity Series Championship and represent DC Solar to the best of my ability.”
Chastain shared that he planned to still race with the Monster Energy Cup Series, as long as schedules did not conflict.
The pressure is on for young Christopher Bell but he is not letting it affect him. It’s been a forgettable last two weeks for Bell after having issues during the races. Getting involved in two spins, in two different venues, has ended his days.
Bell now has to win next week at Phoenix in order to advance to the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 in Miami. The driver from Oklahoma is focused on doing just that.
“It doesn’t matter that my back is up against the wall, we’re going to go out there and try to win two races and that’s the only thing we can do. At least we know what we have to do,” said Bell.
Phoenix is a track that Bell performed well at during the spring. He started fourth and also finished fourth.
“I love Phoenix and ran good there in the past so I think we’ll have a really good shot at it and if it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be and I’ll have another shot next year,” Bell stated.
It’s been a championship looking year for Bell. Winning six races really shows that Bell can take the next two races and win a championship. This all means that he stays out of trouble and runs a clean race.
The format is something that one could blame but Bell is not looking at it in that way.
“This format, it’s very tough and it creates a lot of drama. I’ve always been proud of myself for winning races and I’ve won six races this year and I’ve got a chance to win two more. I’m going to go out there and try to win races,” Bell said.
Like all the other drivers, Bell knows the format is one that can change a lot of things. So many unpredictable things can happen when you enter the last 10 weeks of the season.
At the end of the day, it’s all about winning for Bell. It surely would be historic if he comes out swinging next week at Phoenix and wins. Also, it’ll be even bigger if he wins the next two and takes home the championship. Momentum needs to go his way starting from unloading the car next weekend at Phoenix.
“The good thing that we have going for us is that we’re competitive and can fight for the win every single week,” said Bell.
The confidence is there. He and his team just need to execute and they’ll have a shot at bringing home a win next weekend.
Chase Briscoe earned his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series win in Saturday’s Race For The Cure 200 on Charlotte’s Roval, becoming the first driver to earn the checkered flag on the new layout. Briscoe took the checkered flag 1.478 seconds ahead of Justin Marks, who started off his final NASCAR weekend on a high note. Pole sitter Austin Cindric took home third, with Ryan Preece and Christopher Bell rounding out the top-five. Matt Tifft, Cole Custer, Kaz Grala, Tyler Reddick, and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top-10.
Although competitors were uncertain about the race on Saturday thanks to some wild practice and testing sessions, Saturday’s event proved to be tame as there were only five cautions during the race’s 55 laps, slowing the field down for 10 laps. Briscoe proved the dominant car, leading 33 of those laps after starting ninth.
Briscoe was quick to thank team co-owner Tony Stewart, a fellow Indiana native and dirt track staple, in helping his approach to taking on the Roval.
“This is unreal,” Briscoe said. “I was four seconds off in practice, and my guys stuck behind me and kept working with me. It’s just an honor and privilege to drive a race car and to do it for my hero, Tony Stewart, and get a win.”
“It’s huge to me. Everybody had to adapt to [the Roval] and figure it out, and I don’t know that I’m necessarily the best at it, but I felt like I just tried not to hit anything, and this thing hardly has a scratch on it.”
Playoff contenders Justin Allgaier and Ryan Truex had the worst luck of the playoff drivers, as both found contact with the wall or other drivers. Coming off of pit road in the second stage contact with the 22 of Cindric sent Allgaier around, where the 39 of Ryan Sieg piled into his left rear. Allgaier rebounded for a 15th-place finish, keeping himself well above the playoff bubble line.
Truex found the wall in the first turn on lap 35, collecting Brendan Gaughan, Michael Annett, Ty Majeski, Andy Lally, and Dylan Mercott. Truex would finish 16th in the final running order.
The next race on the XFINITY Series schedule will be at Dover International Speedway for the Bar Harbor 200, which will be at 3:00 PM ET on NBCSN.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Unofficial Race Results for the 37Th Annual Drive For The Cure 200 Presented By Blue Cross Blue Shield Of North Carolina – Saturday, September 29, 2018 Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course – Concord, NC – 2.28 Mile Paved
The NASCAR Xfinity Series held their first race of the championship Playoffs at Richmond International Raceway Saturday night for the Go Bowling 250, and one driver got one step closer to the championship trophy.
Christopher Bell, piloting his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, captured the win and earned that first Playoff spot moving him on to the second round. Bell took the lead from fellow championship contender Matt Tifft late in the race on what was the final restart of the night.
“It’s not very often you get to win with a car that’s not a winning car, so we’ll take it,” Bell commented. “Just thank you to my pit crew for the awesome pit stops tonight. I’m just pumped. I couldn’t be happier.”
Last week’s winner, Ross Chastain, had another great run in his final race driving the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. He finished the night in the runner-up spot.
“I just wanted to come in and do my job, I hope I did enough. That’s the scariest thing not knowing where this leads, but I know I’ve got a great group of people behind me in Florida,” Chastain stated. “I’ll let them keep guiding me through this crazy NASCAR world.”
Coming in third place was fan favorite driver Daniel Hemric in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
“I’m proud of how I executed here in the first race, first round Playoffs,” Hemric said, “We had a ton of speed from the time we unloaded it. We knew this was a really good opportunity race track for us, it’s one of my favorite race tracks if not the favorite race track I get to come to.”
Making the night of racing even more exciting was the return of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the track. Earnhardt Jr. came out of retirement to run tonight and dominated much of the race, even capturing his first Xfinity stage win in Stage 2 of the event. He brought his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet home in fourth.
“It got my expectations all messed up,” Earnhardt said after the race. “Man, I’m like, ‘Dang, I’ve got to win now.’ But we didn’t have the car at the end. We started on the outside (on the final restart), which was kind of tough. Just didn’t have what we needed at the end. But I’m glad that we got to lead a lot of laps. We ran really good for all the people that came down to watch us.”
Rounding out the top five was Tifft as Elliott Sadler, Tyler Reddick, Brandon Jones, Shane Lee, and Reed finished sixth through 10th, respectively.
Stage 1 ran flag to flag without any cautions. Regular season champion Justin Allgaier proved strong as he, Hemric, and Bell all battled for the lead. Bell would come out on top and win the stage.
Stage 2 slowed the pace for one caution period when Ryan Reed got into the bumper of teammate Ty Majeski sending him hard into the wall. Bell and Hemric fought each other for the lead, however, late in the stage, Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Bell to score the stage win. The driver on the move was Chastain after his pit crew told him that it was time to go.
The final stage had a few caution periods, most of which were minor. However, the race end came a little early for Allgaier after Cole Custer got into the back of him and spun him around. Earnhardt Jr. saw his win slip away when he lost the lead on the final pit stop of the night. Bell took the lead with 13 laps to go and didn’t look back until he took the checkered flag.
The Playoff leaderboard has Bell in first place with 2090 points, and moving on to round two with his win. Hemric is in second with 2062 points, Allgaier is third (2056) and Chastain is fourth with 2053 points. Elliott Sadler (2051), Tifft (2047), Tyler Reddick (2046) and Brandon Jones (2035) round out the top eight Playoff contenders.
The Xfinity Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway next week on Saturday, Sept. 29.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Unofficial Race Results for the 38Th Annual Gobowling 250 – Friday, September 21, 2018 Richmond Raceway – Richmond, VA – .75 Mile Paved
Ross Chastain wins the final race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series regular season and the first of his career at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the DC Solar 300.
“We did it!” Chastain yelled on the frontstretch after celebrating with donuts over the race sponsor’s logo on the frontstretch grass, who also sponsored his car for that race.
Chastain first made headline news in NASCAR media a few weeks ago after the run-in with Kevin Harvick at Darlington. Harvick pinched him into the outside wall, and Chastain immediately retaliated by spinning him out on the same straightaway. His main concern was quickly turned to car owner Chip Ganassi, as he wasn’t sure how his boss would take his reaction on track. A tweet and a phone call showed nothing but pride and confidence in his driver.
“It was so scary when the call was made to take this deal,” Chastain shared in the media center. “[Johnny Davis] believed in me to drive the 4 car and to put me in that car years ago. That’s what my career needed. This [win] is bigger than the playoffs. I’m not trying to spin the story, but this is literally a kid from Florida, eighth generation farmer who started hobby racing when I was 13. It was never supposed to be this way, so that’s why it’s so much bigger.”
Runner-up finisher, Justin Allgaier, was the regular series champion, and will take 15 additional points into the playoffs, but isn’t planning to relax going into the Playoffs.
“Yes and no,” Allgaier said when asked if he felt comfortable with the extra point cushion. “I wanted those extra five bonus points. You gotta go for race wins, you gotta go for stage wins because it’s so challenging to keep the speed but also execute.”
Cole Custer was the third driver that battled at the front all race long, but finished in the third position after what he called a race with insane restarts.
“The restarts were insane,” Custer stated. “If you were fourth on back, you were fighting for your life to try to stay in front of guys because the track position was so important. So you’re trying to block and get as many runs as you can. I feel like every track we go to, we compete for a win but it’s about having it all fall into place.”
Christopher Bell and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top five. Ryan Preece, Brandon Jones, Ryan Truex, Austin Cindric and Spencer Gallagher finished in the remaining top ten positions.
Chastain wins both stages at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the DC Solar 300. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
Chastain Leads Most Laps, Wins Stage 1
Cole Custer started on pole and led the opening two laps, but Ross Chastain was able to get by him. Matt Tifft failed post-qualifying inspection four times, so had to serve a pass-through penalty on Lap 1, putting his car one lap down early on.
On Lap 5, the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Michael Annett slid through the grass after contact with Ryan Preece. A three-wide pass was attempted on the exit of Turn 4 with Ryan Sieg to the far outside. Annett noticed this at the last second and tried to turn sharper. This caused the rear tires to lose grip, and as he caught the car, he made contact with Ryan Preece which sent his car into the grass. Annett tried to drive around onto pit road, but his car expired on the apron of Turn 1. He finished 40th with his fifth DNF.
The track was slick all stage long, but Ross Chastain was able to lead the most laps and win the first stage. He lifted off the throttle to allow Ryan Preece to get a lap back. John Jackson, Jeff Green and Annett were the only three cars out of the race at this point.
The Field Continued to Hunt Down Chastain in Stage 2
Ryan Reed takes heavy damage after contact with Matt Tifft on the exit of Turn 4 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Both drivers were treated and released from the infield care center. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
Chastain’s pit crew were able to keep their driver in the lead. Most of the front runners kept their positions, except for Christopher Bell who lost a couple spots on pit road.
On Lap 65, Matt Tifft and Ryan Reed made heavy contact. In the middle of Turns 3 and 4, Tifft got loose and Reed had nowhere to go, as Reed drove into the left front of Tifft’s No. 2 car. That sent Tifft spinning in the opposite direction, and Reed with no right front panels and heavy damage to his right front wheel. His car rested along the frontstretch. Reed sat next to his car to catch his breath, but thankfully was able to walk away under his own power. Tifft took longer to get out of his car because his car rested with the driver’s side against the frontstretch wall. Both drivers were checked and released from the infield car center.
On the restart, Daniel Hemric got a great push from Custer to lead a couple laps, but Chastain was able to quickly hunt him down and put his No. 42 Chevrolet in the lead. He led the rest of the laps to close out the stage. Three more cars were declared out of the race: Stan Mullis, Matt Tifft and Ryan Reed. Timmy Hill spent 24 laps behind the wall to make some repairs, but was able to rejoin the race.
Everything Goes Wild in the Final Stage at Vegas
Again, Chastain’s pit crew, who are the same members for Kyle Larson’s NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series team, puts their Xfinity driver out on top. Custer lost five spots on this pit stop, allowing everyone else to gain a spot. However, NASCAR issued two penalties: Ryan Preece for speeding on pit road, and Cole Custer for an uncontrolled tire during his pit stop.
Daniel Hemric edges ahead of Ross Chastain on the restart. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
On the restart, Chastain started to get pressure throughout the entire first run as Daniel Hemric started to side draft on the exit of Turns 2 and 4, getting to his rear bumper or side drafting along the straights. That didn’t last too long as Chastain was able to get back around and continue leading. As the run went longer, it appeared that Chastain’s car handled better as the run continued. Toward the beginning of the final stage, both Timmy Hill and Mike Harmon retired from the race.
As the field was facing one of the longest green flag runs of the day so far, Ryan Preece spun on the exit of Turn 2, bringing out the yellow flag around Lap 125. The whole field came down for pit stops. Similar to the other pit stops in the day, the drivers at the front continued to keep most of their positions. Hemric lost a few spots and dropped to the fifth position. Brandon Jones received a penalty for an uncontrolled tire, and went to the back of the field for the restart from his sixth place position after his pit stops.
On the restart, Chastain continued to hold the lead. However, about ten laps into the run, Allgaier moved himself into the second position. After a few side by side battles and pass attempts, he was able to eventually move his No. 7 Chevrolet into the lead and become the first driver besides Chastain to lead more than five laps.
Later in the run on Lap 149, Allgaier radioed to his crew that the car was getting tight. He was passed by Chastain and Custer, but was able to keep pace with them. At the same time, David Starr went behind wall. Ten laps later, Chastain was able to battle through lap traffic faster and grow his lead to over two seconds.
The next yellow flag came out right as green flag stops began. Vinnie Miller spun on the track to bring out that yellow flag.
As for the green flag pit stops, Daniel Hemric, Shane Lee and Cole Custer were all on pit road. Hemric got full service, Lee elected to drive down all of pit lane by skipping his pit box, but Custer’s crew called an audible. They went from a four tire stop to a two tire stop, and with all the chaos over their radio, Custer started to leave his pit box before his jackman was able to clear his path. The crew member climbed over the hood of the car all while holding onto the jack, preventing a penalty of pit equipment leaving the pit box.
As the field came down pit road under yellow, Custer stalled the car and was in position to be in the top three, but lost a spot from that. Hemric was able to get back on the lead lap from all the pit cycles, but had to take the ‘wave around’ before the restart.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. calling the race from Turns 3 and 4 with NBC Sports. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
Green flag waved for the restart with 20 laps to go. Allgaier was to the outside of Chastain as both drivers slightly spun their tires but got great pushes from Custer and Reddick. As the leaders continued to battle side by side, the field had three-wide battles behind them. They started to go four-wide on the front stretch, but Custer put a block to keep it three-wide. That allowed Christopher Bell to clear him and hold the outside line in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. Contact from the driver on his inside made him loose on the exit of Turn 2. Since the field was already so close to each other, everyone stacked up quickly, and the worse of the accordion effect was Chase Briscoe. He was sent spinning to the inside wall. His No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford made heavy contact with the curvature of the safety crew’s track access. All four tires came off the ground from the impact and the car caught fire, but Briscoe was able to get out of his car under his own power.
The next restart was similar on the front row with Chastain on the inside and Allgaier to the outside, but the second row had a new set of pushers: Bell on the outside and Gallagher to the inside. Bell was able to push Allgaier, but Chastain got a stronger restart and pulled away from Gallagher. Going into Turn 1, Chastain slammed the door on Allgaier to clear him and secure the top spot.
On the second lap of the restart, Tyler Reddick hit the outside wall along the frontstretch while trying to block Brandon Jones, and came down in front of the second half of the field. As Reddick came down across the field, he clipped the right rear of Shane Lee, which sent him up into the field and collected his Richard Childress teammate, Daniel Hemric. Jones was the only one able to continue in the race.
With six laps to go, the field took the final restart. Chastain seemed to be flawless everywhere with his team: setup, pit stops and restarts. This was no different. Going into Turn 1, Chastain was able to clear Allgaier once again and never looked back. He led the most laps, as well as the one that counted to take the checkered flag.
“With two laps to go, I had a tear come down my face and I told myself, ‘Don’t cry,’” the Florida watermelon farmer told himself as he completed the closing laps.
The NASCAR XFINITY Series holds their Playoff opener at Richmond Raceway on September 21.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Unofficial Race Results for the Inaugural Dc Solar 300 – Saturday, September 15, 2018 Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV
In the last race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season, Cole Custer sets the pace for the pole position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the inaugural DC Solar 300 with a speed of 179.295 mph at 30.118 seconds.
“Yeah, that was one of the craziest qualifying sessions I’ve had,” Custer shared on pit road after winning his fifth career pole in the XFINITY Series.
Custer was over two-tenths faster than Austin Cindric, who edged out Elliott Sadler and Christopher Bell by thousands of a second between those three drivers. Ross Chastain fought his way to a fifth place effort.
Shane Lee in his first 1.5 mile oval attempt stayed in the top ten of qualifying all day, and will start in sixth. JR Motorsports teammates Tyler Reddick, Justin Allgaier and Michael Annett will start seventh through ninth respectively. The last two drivers to attempt a qualifying time in the final round were Ryan Sieg and Ryan Reed.
Jeremy Clements was the only driver in the final round that did not make an attempt to qualify, so his No. 51 Chevrolet will start in the 12th spot in today’s race.
Last Second Lap gives Custer the Pole in the First Round of Qualifying
The No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford set the pace early in qualifying with a speed of 177.032 mph in the first round of qualifying. After struggling to get through the inspection line, Custer was able to finally pass inspection, finish their final preparations and cross the start/finish line to begin their qualifying attempt with 40 seconds left on the clock. JR Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and Tyler Reddick were close in the top three. Christopher Bell and Elliott Sadler completed the top five, but Shane Lee was the one who held the top spot the longest for his first 1.5 mile race.
During the first stage of qualifying, many cars failed inspection, mostly in the rear end. A few teams even failed the second time, putting the car chiefs in jeopardy. According to NASCAR’s rulebook, if a team fails inspection three times, the car chief is ejected from the race and facility for the rest of the weekend. Because of this, some teams elected to not to go through inspection. Matt Tifft was one driver that failed inspection for a third time, so his car chief was ejected for the remainder of the weekend.
David Starr qualified 24th in the first round to be the last driver to move into the second round. He will start in that spot for Saturday’s DC Solar 300. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
Qualifying was halted for a red flag incident with Garrett Smithley, who collided with the outside wall. In qualifying, any incidents that would usually be a yellow flag in race conditions is a red flag. This halts the timer, but inspections continued to give teams a little extra time. Smithley would have to start at the rear of the field in a backup car.
David Starr held the last transferable spot going into the second round, as he beat Timmy Hill.
The drivers that either elected to not attempt a qualifying run or were held up with tech inspection included Daniel Hemric, Stan Mullis, Matt Tifft, Brandon Jones, Ryan Preece and Ryan Truex.
Custer Sweeps Both Stages of Qualifying
Cole Custer kept his top spot in the second round of qualifying with a speed of 178.406 mph. Ross Chastain found himself in the top 10 of qualifying for the first time with a runner-up effort. Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell completed the top five of the second round.
Roughly four drivers made some last run attempts to get into the final round of qualifying but fell short of the top 12. The closest of these was Chase Briscoe, but as he took the green flag, the car got loose and was close to hitting the outside wall at the exit of Turn 4. He pulled out onto the track earlier in the session, but after he took the green flag, the car bobbled in the bumps of Turns 1 and 2, so he wisely backed out to get a better attempt later in the session.
Four drivers in the second stage did not set a qualifying time: Ray Black II, Cole Rouse, BJ McLeod and David Starr.
Starting Lineup Las Vegas Motor Speedway Inaugural DC Solar 300
Yogi Berra’s oft-used saying, “It’s never over ’til it’s over,” was certainly appropriate for Christopher Bell in Saturday’s U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway.
Certainly, Bell had the strongest car, leading 94 of 257 laps. However, Bell’s chance to win at Iowa appeared to be in jeopardy during the first overtime restart.
Veteran racer Justin Allgaier made a bold, outside, four-wide pass to nab the lead from Bell in Turn 1. While the field raced toward the stripe, the caution came out for a hard crash involving Matt Tifft and Max Tullman.
Following a somewhat lengthy red flag period, Allgaier held the top spot in the final restart of the race. As the late Benny Parsons would’ve summarized, Bell, who restarted fourth, appeared to have been shot out of a cannon.
Suddenly, Bell found himself back in position for the win. The points leader caught Allgaier while knocking on his rear bumper on lap 256. Racing off Turns 3 and 4, Bell was alongside Allgaier before these two gritty racers traded paint along the frontstretch.
Eventually gaining the top spot, Bell pulled away from Allgaier to score his fourth win of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season and his third in a row.
“When it’s your day, it’s your day,” Bell observed. “I’ll take them any way I can. It’s special to win for these guys. My crew chief Jason (Ratcliff) kept making the car better and better. This thing was so good. The races are hard to win.”
Impressively, Bell has bested some of NASCAR’s top drivers like Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and series stalwart Allgaier.
When asked about his bold, aggressive pass for the win, the 23-year-old Norman, OK native may have offered some candor.
“I mean, I haven’t seen it,” Bell said. “The spotter was yelling ‘clear.’ If I’m clear, it was clean.”
Naturally, second place finisher Allgaier expressed some displeasure following the race, coming oh-so-close at sweeping the season at Iowa.
“I’m salty,” Allgaier remarked. “At the end of the day, we raced clean all day. We raced clear here in the spring. It’s disappointing to get run over like that. It’s disappointing. As racers, we’re disappointed to finish second.”
Despite coming one position short, Allgaier led the Chevrolet contingency and was ahead of the last lap carnage.
Ultimately, Bell and Allgaier took the top two spots, with Kyle Benjamin, Ross Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Reed, Ryan Truex, Cole Custer, and Chase Briscoe coming home with top-10 finishes.
Following some exciting short track action at Iowa, the NASCAR XFINITY Series kicks off “Road Course August” with the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International on Saturday, August 4th at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
Friday the 13th is a day known for superstition. For Christopher Bell, however, it would turn out to be his lucky day.
Bell drove his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory in the Xfinity Series ALSCO 300 at Kentucky Speedway Friday night to score his third series career win in only 25 starts. He started out his day, however, with a little bad luck when he spun during qualifying and had to start the race from the rear of the field. But he battled the entire race so that he could be in contention for the win at the end.
“Your job is to just go out there and drive the race car as fast as you can,” Bell said. “My guys have been doing a great job all night picking up spots. I’m just really proud of this team. It’s a ton of fun to be here and I am thankful I get to stand in Victory Lane one more time.”
Stage 1 would go flag to flag green without any cautions. Pole sitter Cole Custer led at the start of the stage but it didn’t take driver Kyle Busch long to make his way into the top spot, and he would go on to be the stage winner.
Stage 2 also ran flag to flag without any caution periods. John Hunter Nemechek had a great run going and took the top spot from Busch. Driver Ty Majeski tapped the wall but it did not bring out the yellow flag and Nemechek would go on to win this stage gaining his first Xfinity stage win.
The final stage, unlike the first two, would see several cautions. Busch had a good pit stop which put him back into the top spot for the start of the stage. It was looking as if Busch would be the car to beat but as the saying goes, “cautions breed cautions,” which is primarily what happened. Restarts were crazy with drivers trying to gain any advantage they could. The cautions consisted mainly of two car incidents with one driver making contact with another and that driver ending up tapping the wall. Late in the race, Daniel Hemric was able to get around Busch for the lead and he would not lead again. Justin Allgaier was able to get up to the front to lead as well but with 16 laps to go Bell took the lead and won the race. Hemric brought his No.21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy home in second place.
“Unbelievable, frustrated on my end. I’m just not getting the job done for everybody at RCR,” a disappointed Hemric said after the race. “I wish I had the opportunity to undo a couple of things there on my end, but I just didn’t do my job.”
Taking third place was Busch in his No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
“Good for a teammate to win, obviously for Christopher and those guys for their chances this year,” he said. “The NOS Energy drink Camry was a top three car all day today, I thought it was a top one car. The No. 42 car was probably the best car overall. We came home third, but that’s not what we are here for. We need to win these things so, next time.”
Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer would round out the top five. Tyler Reddick, Nemechek, Ryan Reed, Paul Menard, and Austin Cindric finished sixth through 10th, respectively.
Elliott Sadler leads the Xfinity Series standings with 608 points while Hemric is shown in second, also with 608 points. Custer is in third with 605 followed by Bell in fourth with 591 points and Allgaier rounds out the top five with 569 points.
The Xfinity Series heads next to New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 21.
On Wednesday, Spencer Gallagher was reinstated by NASCAR and is eligible to compete once again in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Two months ago, he was indefinitely suspended for violating the substance abuse policy.
In a press release by GMS Racing, the team announced Gallagher will return to the No. 23 Chevrolet next weekend at Kentucky Speedway. Currently, Chase Elliott is listed as the entry driver for the No. 23 car in Friday’s Xfinity race in the Coca-Cola 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Other drivers to act as substitutes during Gallagher’s absence include Johnny Sauter, Justin Haley and Alex Bowman
“The whole GMS organization is very proud of Spencer (Gallagher) for getting reinstated after completing NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program after the results we received post-Talladega,” GMS Racing’s president Mike Beam said in that release. “Spencer will return to the No. 23 at Kentucky Speedway and then again after our agreed contracts are fulfilled.”
NASCAR posted the article on their website around 2 p.m. on July 4 that Gallagher successfully completed the necessary requirements within NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program to be considered for reinstatement.
Gallagher was suspended a day after his first series victory at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this season. Despite that victory, he is no longer eligible for the Xfinity Playoffs, mainly due to the failure to attempt to qualify for each race of the season. However, the No. 23 car is still eligible for an owners championship and currently sits 11th in the owners’ standings at 171 points behind the top spot.
When Gallagher was suspended, he shared an assurance to both his fans and the NASCAR community.
“I want to assure everyone in the NASCAR community this one-time error in judgment will never happen again.
“I would like to say that I am sorry to all of the GMS organization for my actions, especially my team and team owner, who have worked so hard this year and have put faith in me. I also want to apologize to NASCAR, Chevrolet and my fans for letting them down. I have not upheld the behavior that is expected of me. I promise you all here and now, I will do whatever it takes to make this right.”
Now that this is behind him, Gallagher only looks to the horizon as the team plans to have the 28-year-old back in the driver’s seat at Kentucky Speedway.
Time for the next chapter boys and girls. Been a tough road, but it’s through adversity that you learn true strength. Can’t thank the entire garage, the fans and everyone at @GMSRacingLLC enough for their support through this. See you guys at Kentucky ❤?? #nowbacktoit
