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  • Gragson survives triple-overtime attempts for first Xfinity victory at Talladega

    Gragson survives triple-overtime attempts for first Xfinity victory at Talladega

    Noah Gragson outlasted the carnage and the competition through three overtime attempts to etch his name as a winner at Talladega Superspeedway after fending off Jeffrey Earnhardt on the final lap to win the Ag-Pro 300 on Saturday, April 23.

    The 23-year-old Gragson from Las Vegas, Nevada, led twice for seven of 124 over-scheduled laps and was able to both grab the lead and maintain it ahead of AJ Allmendinger and the field during the third of three overtime attempts after teammate Justin Allgaier ran out of fuel and fell out of contention. From there, Gragson fended off a hard-charging Jeffrey Earnhardt to streak to his second victory of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Friday, Jeffrey Earnhardt, who was piloting the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing on a one-race deal while having support from legendary crew chief and current FOX NASCAR analyst, Larry McReynolds, started on pole position for the first time in his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 182.560 mph in 52.454 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate and Xfinity rookie Austin Hill, who posted a fast lap at 182.351 mph in 52.514 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Matt Mills, Brandon Jones, Ryan Ellis, Caesar Bacarella, Shane Lee, Riley Herbst and David Starr dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Earnhardt quickly moved his No. 3 ForeverLawn Chevrolet Camaro to the outside lane in front of teammates Hill and Sheldon Creed while Ty Gibbs was the lead competitor on the inside lane. Through Turns 3 and 4, however, Gibbs managed to muscle his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra to the lead as the field stacked up and started to fan out to multiple lanes through the tri-oval. 

    Through the first lap, Gibbs was leading ahead of Earnhardt while Landon Cassill and Hill battled for third place. Behind, a three-wide battle ensued between Creed, Daniel Hemric and Ryan Sieg.

    By the fifth lap, Earnhardt moved into the lead for the first time followed by his Richard Childress Racing teammates Hill and Creed.

    Five laps later, the first caution of the even flew when Ryan Ellis lost a left-rear tire and spun in Turn 2. Under caution, the entire field pitted as names like Anthony Alfredo, Ryan Vargas, Chandler Smith, JJ Yeley. Jeremy Clements, Mason Massey, Noah Gragson, Brandon Brown, Sam Mayer, Shane Lee and Alex Labbe took only fuel on their stops. The rest of the competitors elected for fresh tires.

    On Lap 14, the race proceeded under green. At the start, teammates Hill and Earnhardt dueled for the lead as Hill had teammate Creed pushing him while Earnhardt had Cassill drafting him through Turn 2 and the backstretch. Then entering Turns 3 and 4, Hill moved his No. 21 Bennett Transp. and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro from the outside to the inside lane and managed to muscle ahead of teammate Creed to retain the lead.

    With five laps remaining in the first stage, Creed drew himself in a side-by-side battle against teammate Hill for the lead through the tri-oval before Hill managed to pull in front of Creed’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro to retain the lead. A few laps later, however, Josh Berry managed to gain a run through the inside lane to lead a lap for himself. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 25, Berry, who managed to clear Hill and pull away from the field the lap prior, claimed his second stage victory of the season. Gibbs settled in second followed by AJ Allmendinger, Cassill, Hill, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Anthony Alfredo, Sam Mayer and Brett Moffitt.

    Under the stage break, some led by Berry pitted while the rest including Alfredo, Brandon Brown, JJ Yeley, Mason Massey and Alex Labbe remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 30 as Alfredo and Brown occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch as Yeley made his way to the front followed by Gragson, Mayer, Alfredo and Brandon Jones while Massey drifted towards the back.

    By Lap 35 and with the field still fanned out through three lanes and in a tight pack, Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro was leading ahead of Brett Moffitt, Berry, Brandon Jones and Alfredo.

    Five laps later, Hill, who reassumed the lead on Lap 39, was back out in front ahead of Alfredo, Brown, Gragson, Mayer, Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones, Massey, Earnhardt and Allgaier.

    At the Lap 45 mark, all but one of the 38 starters, Josh Williams, were separated by six-and-a-half seconds as Mayer was out in front in a side-by-side battle against teammate Allgaier while Brandon Jones, Hill, Drew Dollar, Gibbs, Earnhardt, Creed, Jeb Burton and Alfredo were scored in the top 10.

    Three laps later, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck that started when Massey lost a tire, shot up the track and bumped against Berry’s No. 8 PUBG Mobile Chevrolet Camaro entering Turn 2 before spinning through the infield, clipping Yeley and pounding the inside wall as his car briefly came off the ground before coming to a rest with a wrecked car. In the midst of Massey’s hard wreck, Berry and Yeley also collided and wrecked with Moffitt and newcomer Chandler Smith getting collected. 

    The incident concluded the second stage scheduled on Lap 50 under caution as Allgaier claimed his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Mayer settled in second followed by Hill, Brandon Jones, Gibbs, Dollar, Brown, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Myatt Snider and Jeb Burton.

    Under the stage break, the field pitted. During the pit stops, Hill, Mayer, Gibbs, Snider, Jeb Burton, Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Herbst, Kaz Grala, Jeremy Clements and Gray Gaulding pitted for two tires while the rest of the field opted for four fresh tires. In addition, Brandon Jones was penalized for not remaining in a single file line with the field while entering pit road.

    With 59 laps remaining, the final stage started as Hill and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start, Hill received a big push from Gibbs to retain the lead ahead of Mayer and the competitors running in the outside lane. When the field returned to the start/finish line and as the field fanned out to multiple lanes, Hill was leading ahead of Gibbs, Creed, Herbst and Allgaier with the top-five competitors breaking away from the side-by-side action while Mayer and Ryan Sieg battled for sixth place.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 56 and 57, Hill continued to lead ahead of Gibbs, Creed, Herbst, Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, AJ Allmendinger, Alfredo, Cassill and Hemric.

    With 45 laps remaining, the caution flew due to a rear bumper cover from Berry’s car being reported on the backstretch. At the moment of the caution, Hill remained the leader ahead of Gibbs, Creed, Allgaier and Gragson. During the caution period, the field returned to pit road for tires and fuel except for Ryan Sieg.

    With 42 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hill received a strong push from Gragson to move into the lead. When the field returned to the start/finish line, Hill retained the lead ahead of Gragson, Gibbs, Creed and Herbst. 

    Under the final 40 laps, Hill was placed on defense mode as he worked to fend off Gibbs on the outside lane and Gragson on the inside lane amid the tight pack running towards the front. 

    Then with 36 laps remaining, Gibbs, who went wide and lost touch with the leaders, made contact with Daniel Hemric through the backstretch before he veered sideways and made contact with teammates Brandon Jones and Drew Dollar along with David Starr, Sieg and Ellis before pounding the inside wall as his strong afternoon came to an end.

    With 32 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, teammates Hill and Creed dueled for the lead as Hill had Gragson drafting him while Herbst tucked in behind Creed on the outside lane before Creed managed to stabilize himself into the runner-up spot on the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4. Soon after, Allmendinger moved up to fourth place followed by a side-by-side battle against Cassill and Herbst.

    Under the final 30 laps of the event, the front-runners settled in a long single-file line as Hill was leading teammate Creed, Gragson, Allmendinger, Cassill and Snider. Not long after, Mayer started to formulate a line on the outside lane as he tried to challenge Snider for the sixth spot.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event and with the field fanning out to double lanes while in a tight pack, Hill was placed back on defense mode from the bottom to the inside lane as he retained the lead ahead of Allmendinger, Allgaier, Herbst, Creed, Mayer, Gragson, Alex Labbe, Moffitt and Cassill.

    Then with 16 laps remaining and as the intensity towards the front pack continued to brew, the caution flew when Matt Mills hit the Turn 1 wall after blowing a right-front tire as he shredded debris across the track. 

    With 12 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Hill and Allmendinger battled dead-even for the lead through the first two turns as Allmendinger had Mayer drafting him while Hill had support from Allgaier. With the field locked in a side-by-side battle, Hill managed to clear the field through Turns 3 and 4 and he went to work to defend the lead through both lanes.

    During the following lap, Mayer made a bold three-wide move on Allmendinger to move him out of the way in his bid to the front as Ryan Sieg and Jeb Burton also charged to the front. Meanwhile, Hill retained the top spot ahead of Allgaier. 

    Then with nine laps remaining, the caution returned due to a heavy multi-car wreck in Turn 1 that involved Brandon Jones, Snider, Drew Dollar, Joe Graf Jr., Brandon Brown, Kaz Grala and Ryan Vargas.

    Down to the final four laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hill and Allgaier dueled for the lead with Jeb Burton pushing Hill while Allgaier had teammate Mayer and Allmendinger drafting him. Then through the backstretch, Mayer got loose off the front nose of Allmendinger and veered into Hill as both competitors were sent sideways into the inside wall with Mayer suffering heavy front nose damage and Hill, who led a race-high 67 laps, sustained left-side damage. In the midst of the incident, Allgaier emerged with the lead followed by Allmendinger, Creed, Jeb Burton and Cassill as the field was sent into overtime. 

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Allgaier and Allmendinger dueled for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 before Allmendinger emerged with the lead through the backstretch ahead of Allgaier and Jeb Burton. Then, the event was sent into a second overtime attempt due to a hard incident in Turn 3 that involved Creed and Caesar Bacarella.

    During the second overtime attempt, Allgaier and Allmendinger dueled until Allgaier broke free from the pack with the lead through the backstretch. Then the event was sent into a third overtime attempt when Clements ran out of fuel as his car came to a stop below the apron between Turns 1 and 2.

    At the start of the third overtime attempt, Allgaier, who restarted on the front row and on the outside lane, ran out of fuel and pulled his car out of line while teammate Gragson, who received a strong start, rocketed to the lead ahead of Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg and the field. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gragson was leading ahead of Allmendinger, Sieg, Jeb Burton, Jeffrey Earnhardt and the field. In Turn 1, Sieg nearly got turned off the front nose of Jeb Burton, but he managed to straighten his car and proceed forward without wrecking. This allowed Earnhardt to gain a run on Allmendinger for the runner-up spot as Herbst, Moffitt and Cassill made their move to the front. 

    Then in Turns 3 and 4, Allmendinger and Herbst rubbed fenders, which allowed Earnhardt to make a bold three-wide move to move into second place as he tried to challenge Gragson for the win. With Earnhardt unable to gain a draft from the field to overtake Gragson for the top spot, Gragson was able to stabilize himself through both lanes and streak across the finish line in first place with the victory by 0.131 seconds over Earnhardt.

    The victory was the seventh of Gragson’s Xfinity Series career and the second superspeedway victory for him after he won at Daytona International Speedway in February 2020. He also became the second Xfinity Series regular to achieve multiple victories this season alongside Ty Gibbs. 

    “Our 50th anniversary Bass Pro Shops Chevy Camaro was awesome,” Gragson said on FS1. “This JR Motorsports team, they never quit. Thanks to everybody back at JR Motorsports. The Fab shop. Everybody that helps get all four [JR Motorsports] cars to the race track. We had four really fast cars. [Crew chief] Luke Lambert and the rest of this Bass Pro Shops team. They called one hell of a race. It came down to fuel strategy. There’s one point where I was like, ‘Man, I can’t get up there.’ We just don’t have the car fast enough, but we never quit. That’s the most important thing…I’ve got to run in the Cup race [on Sunday], but the Talladega Boulevard looks a lot more enchanting right now and inviting, so I might have to go out there and then throw some beads. We’ll go have some fun tonight, baby.”

    While Gragson celebrated with the fans on the frontstretch, Jeffrey Earnhardt was left with smiles on pit road as he notched a career-best second-place result in his 136th start in the Xfinity circuit and at a track instilled with a rich legacy towards the Earnhardt name, most notably towards Jeffrey’s late grandfather, Dale Earnhardt Sr., and uncle, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

    “[I needed] Just a push there at the end,” Earnhardt said. “Everyone spreads apart and it’s really hard to build a run by yourself without someone at the back. Unfortunately, our teammates got wiped out early. Man, I’m living a dream here. I’m so thankful to get this opportunity. So thankful for everyone to allow me to come do this…[Richard Childress Racing] for building this amazing race car. We were fast all weekend long. We just fell a little short there and I hate it, but congrats to Noah. He’s good at plate races. Fell up a little bit short, but hopefully, this will lead to a lot more to come in the future and we’ll be able to come back and give’em a run for their money. Just very thankful to even be here. I’ll forever be grateful for this opportunity.”

    Meanwhile, Allmendinger Came home in third place and captured the third Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus, which was his second of this season.

    “This place makes me shake,” Allmendinger said. “That last lap, I thought I wrecked at least seven times. The first thing, just to get out with a clean race car, finish in the top five was a big deal, but to win another Xfinity Dash 4 Cash [bonus]. Comcast, Xfinity, thank you so much for what you do. For allowing us to go for a hundred grand in these four races. To win two of them is a big deal…We get to do it again at Dover.”

    Teammate Landon Cassill and Ryan Sieg finished in the top five as they will join Gragson and Allmendinger to battle for the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash bonus next weekend at Dover Motor Speedway. Alfredo, Herbst, Joe Graf Jr., Snider and Brett Moffitt finished in the top 10. 

    There were 25 lead changes for 14 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 39 laps.

    With his third-place result, AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by 40 points over Noah Gragson and 45 over Ty Gibbs.

    Results.

    1. Noah Gragson, seven laps led

    2. Jeffrey Earnhardt, 10 laps led

    3. AJ Allmendinger, six laps led

    4. Landon Cassill

    5. Ryan Sieg

    6. Anthony Alfredo, three laps led

    7. Riley Herbst

    8. Joe Graf Jr.

    9. Myatt Snider

    10. Brett Moffitt

    11. Josh Berry, five laps led, Stage 1 winner

    12. Alex Labbe

    13. Drew Dollar, one lap led

    14. Shane Lee

    15. Jeb Burton

    16. Joey Gase

    17. Bayley Currey

    18. Kyle Sieg

    19. Josh Williams

    20. Ryan Vargas

    21. Gray Gaulding, one lap led

    22. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Fuel pressure, 13 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    23. Jeremy Clements, two laps down

    24. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    25. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

    26. Brandon Jones – OUT, Dvp

    27. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident, 67 laps led

    28. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    29. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

    30. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    31. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    32. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Dvp

    33. David Starr – OUT, Dvp, one lap led

    34. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Dvp

    35. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    36. JJ Yeley – OUT, Dvp, two laps led

    37. Mason Massey – OUT, Accident

    38. Chandler Smith – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone event at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware, where the fourth and final Xfinity Dash 4 Cash initiative will occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, April 30, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Brandon Jones capitalizes with a wild Xfinity victory at Martinsville

    Brandon Jones capitalizes with a wild Xfinity victory at Martinsville

    Brandon Jones seized an opportunity in the second of two overtime attempts to overtake teammate Ty Gibbs on the final lap and win the Call 811 Before You Dig 250 on April 8. It was a wild Friday night at Martinsville Speedway with on-track chaos, a multitude of cautions and flaring tempers ensuing throughout the event, and even between two young guns.

    The 25-year-old Jones from Atlanta, Georgia, utilized pit strategy to win the second stage in a one-lap dash while on worn tires. After pitting prior to the start of the final stage, he methodically carved his way to the front and was up in the top five under the final 10 laps. Then through a series of late carnages and with the event sent into two overtime attempts, Jones intimidated his teammate Gibbs before managing to draw dead even with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate through the backstretch on the final lap. He then managed to clear Gibbs as Gibbs got tangled with Sam Mayer, whom he confronted following the event, to muscle away and claim his first victory of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Thursday, Ty Gibbs, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Richmond Raceway, notched his third consecutive Xfinity pole position in recent weeks after posting a pole-winning lap at 95.985 mph in 19.728 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Justin Allgaier, who posted a fast lap at 95.496 mph in 19.829 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Noah Gragson, Derek Griffith, Kyle Weatherman and Howie Disavino III dropped to the rear due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Another competitor who dropped to the rear due to unapproved adjustments was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was making his lone Xfinity start of the season. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started amid a brief delay due to rain, Gibbs launched ahead of rookie Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier and the field with an early advantage as he went on to lead the first lap. Shortly after, the first caution of the event flew due to a blown engine and smoke billowing out of the No. 47 car piloted by Brennan Poole that started in the first turn. 

    Thirteen laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs prevailed in a full side-by-side battle against Allgaier to retain the lead while Creed battled and prevailed in a brief battle with Allgaier for the runner-up spot. In the midst of the battles, Brett Moffitt pitted after falling off the pace due to a transmission issue. 

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Allgaier followed by Ryan Truex, Landon Cassill and Creed while Daniel Hemric, Ryan Sieg, AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst and Josh Berry were in the top 10. By then, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in 31st. 

    On Lap 39, the caution returned due to Howie Disavino III stopping on the track in Turn 4. Under caution, some drivers including Earnhardt Jr., Noah Gragson, Jade Buford and Myatt Snider pitted while the rest, led by Gibbs, remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 45, Gibbs retained the lead while Allgaier retained second ahead of Ryan Truex. Behind, Creed and Cassill battled for fourth place while Ryan Sieg and Hemric battled for sixth. In addition, Josh Berry and Allmendinger battled for eighth place.

    By Lap 50, Gibbs was leading by nearly half a second over Allgaier followed by Truex, Cassill and Hemric while Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Berry, Sam Mayer and Creed were in the top 10. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Gibbs claimed his second stage victory of the season. Allgaier settled in second followed by Truex, Cassill, Hemric, Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Berry, Mayer and Creed. By then, Gragson was up in 13th place while Earnhardt Jr. was in 22nd place.

    During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted, while the rest, led by Gragson remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 69 as Gragson and Myatt Snider occupied the front row. At the start, Gragson retained the lead while Snider and rookie Austin Hill battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Gibbs was in fourth in front of Earnhardt Jr. 

    Four laps later, the caution flew when a bump from Joe Graf Jr. sent Jade Buford spinning against the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4. 

    By Lap 79, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gragson rocketed away with the lead entering the first turn while Gibbs fended off Austin Hill to retain the runner-up spot. Behind, Earnhardt Jr. battled with Snider for fourth place in front of Truex and Allgaier. Shortly after, Earnhardt Jr. was slowly being overtaken and was falling out of the top 10 as he was trapped on the outside lane. 

    Back at the front by Lap 90, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead over Gragson on two laps earlier, was leading by half a second over Gragson followed by Hill, Brandon Jones and Allgaier, who wheel-hopped but managed to lose one spot in the process. Behind, Snider was bumped and shuffled out of the racing groove by Creed while racing in the top 15. 

    Through the first 100 laps of the event, Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second over Gragson while Hill, Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Truex, Allmendinger, Mayer, Cassill and Hemric were in the top 10. Berry, Earnhardt Jr., Riley Herbst, Creed and Jeremy Clements were in the top 15 followed by Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton, Brandon Brown, Derek Griffith and Alex Labbe. 

    Two laps later, the caution returned when Joe Graf Jr. sent Stefan Parsons for a spin between Turns 1 and 2.

    By Lap 107, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs continued to lead followed by teammate Brandon Jones while Gragson fell back to third place in front of Hill and Allgaier. 

    As the laps in the second stage dwindled, Gibbs remained as the leader by nearly a second over teammate Brandon Jones and Gragson while Allgaier was up in fourth place in front of Hill, Truex, Allmendinger, Mayer, Cassill and Berry.

    Then on Lap 115, the caution flew when Anthony Alfredo turned Derek Griffith in Turn 1. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted while the rest led by Brandon Jones remained on the track. 

    During a one-lap dash to conclude the second stage scheduled for Lap 120, Brandon Jones was able to muscle away from Cassill and the field to claim his first stage victory of the season. Cassill retained second place followed by Ryan Sieg, Brandon Brown, David Starr, Anthony Alfredo, Stefan Parsons, Jeremy Clements, Riley Herbst and Shane Lee while Gibbs settled in 11th.

    Under the stage break, some led by Brandon Jones pitted while the rest led by Stefan Parsons remained on the track. 

    With 122 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Parsons retained the lead through the first two turns until Herbst and Gibbs made a three-wide move on Parsons through the backstretch to move into first and second. Shortly after, a Monster Energy duo occurred between Herbst and Gibbs for the top spot before the latter prevailed. 

    With 115 laps remaining, Gibbs was out in front by nearly nine-tenths of a second over Herbst, who was being pressured by Allgaier for more. Gragson, Truex, Allmendinger, Earnhardt Jr., Parsons, Berry and Hemric followed pursuit in the top 10.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second over Allgaier while third-place Gragson trailed by one-and-a-half seconds. Ryan Truex and Allmendinger were in the top five while Herbst, Berry, Hemric, Earnhardt Jr. and Creed were running in the top 10. 

    Six laps later, the caution flew when the runner-up competitor of Allgaier slapped the outside wall in Turn 1 after wheel-hopping, thus sustaining rear-end damage to his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted while others like Creed, Brandon Jones, Brandon Brown, Anthony Alfredo and Matt Mills remained on the track.

    With 88 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Creed retained the lead ahead of Jones and Mills while Gibbs muscle his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra to fourth place.

    Four laps later, the caution flew when Ryan Truex spun his No. 18 ShopUSAPickleball.com Toyota Supra between Turns 1 and 2 following contact with Alex Labbe.

    Another five laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Brandon Jones continued to lead followed by teammate Gibbs and the field. Just then, the caution returned when Berry spun in Turn 3 after cutting a left-rear tire on his No. 8 Harrison’s Chevrolet Camaro, an issue that started when he made contact with his boss Earnhardt Jr. entering the backstretch. 

    With 72 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Brandon Jones retained the lead followed by Gibbs, Creed and the field through the first two turns. Then, the caution returned when Matt Mills backed his car into the outside wall in Turn 3 after receiving contact from Herbst.

    Eight laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, teammates Brandon Jones and Gibbs battled for the lead until he took over the lead another two laps later. Following a brief duel with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Gibbs managed to retain the top spot. Shortly after, Gragson moved into second place followed by Allmendinger while Jones was trapped on the outside lane. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Gragson while third-place Allmendinger trailed by more than two seconds. Brandon Jones and Creed were in the top five followed by Herbst, Hemric, Mayer, Cassill and Brandon Brown while Earnhardt Jr. was in 11th place in front of Alfredo, Jeb Burton, Hill, Ryan Sieg and Ryan Truex.

    Fifteen laps later and with the leaders surrounded in lapped traffic, Gibbs continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Gragson, who continued to pressure the leader for the lead and with a potential win in sight. Allmendinger, meanwhile, remained in third place followed by Jones and Mayer while Creed, Herbst, Cassill, Hemric and Earnhardt Jr. occupied the top 10.

    Then with 30 laps remaining, the caution flew when Parsons lost his brakes and got into the outside wall in Turn 2. 

    Down to the final 24 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs cleared Gragson to retain the lead while Gragson managed to fend off Allmendinger and Mayer to retain second place. Soon after, Mayer moved into third place over Allmendinger while Brandon Jones was in fifth place. 

    Just then, the caution flew when Hemric, who made contact with both Creed and Hill entering Turn 2, lost a left-rear tire and spun his No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro between Turns 3 and 4. In the midst of Hemric’s incident, Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Sieg made contact as Sieg’s rear bumper ripped off.

    With 16 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs retained the lead with a strong race car while Mayer battled and overtook teammate Gragson for second place. Behind, Brandon Jones and Allmendinger remained in the top five ahead of Herbst. 

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Jade Buford spun in Turn 1 as Derek Griffith sustained front-nose damage.

    Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. Just as Gibbs and Mayer briefly dueled for the top spot, the caution quickly returned when a stack-up and a bump from Berry sent Clements into Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro, which sent Earnhardt sideways in the midst of the incoming field, though he was able to continue.

    Under caution, some like Creed and Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

    With the event sent into overtime, the first overtime attempt did not last long as Mayer, who spun the tires on the outside lane, was bumped as he clipped Gragson, which sent Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro backward into the outside wall before he was t-boned by Jeb Burton. The incident sparked a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch that involved Alex Labbe, Mason Massey, Bayley Currey, Allgaier, Parsons, Derek Griffith, Parker Retzlaff, Alfredo, Snider, Berry, Kyle Weatherman and Brown while the second half of the field was blocked off by the carnage. The wreck forced NASCAR to place the event in a red flag situation as the on-track safety crew went to work to clear the carnage.

    When the red flag was lifted and the second overtime attempt commenced under green, Gibbs briefly launched ahead of Mayer until Brandon Jones made the slightest of contact against teammate Gibbs, which got Gibbs loose entering the first turn as Jones tried to draw himself alongside Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota for the top spot through the backstretch.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gibbs continued to lead while teammate Jones launched another attack on Gibbs for the lead entering the first turn. Through the first two turns, Jones, this time, managed to draw dead even with Gibbs. Then between Turns 3 and 4, Jones muscled his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra out in front on the bottom lane while Mayer rubbed against Gibbs, which stalled the latter’s run to the finish. This allowed Jones to pull away as he crossed the finish line to steal the win in upset fashion.

    With his first victory at Martinsville, Jones claimed his fifth Xfinity Series career victory in his 211th series start and his first since winning at Darlington Raceway in September 2020. He also became the sixth different winner, fifth series regular, through the first eight scheduled Xfinity events.

    “What a day!” Jones exclaimed on FS1. “I can’t say that we could’ve played it out any better. I loved the call we made to get stage points. [I] Drove the thing all the way from the back to the front and had older tires than all those guys at the end. This is a driver’s race track right here. I’ve won in a lot of different places now and this is one that you have to get after it. Ty [Gibbs] ran a really hard race. [I] Can’t believe he cleared me there really early in Stage 3. Fun to beat him. He’s hot right now. He’s tough to beat, so that’s a good one…Really happy with the way it ended.”

    In the midst of the on-track chaos, Landon Cassill came home in a career-best second place followed by Allmendinger, who claimed the second Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus a week after missing out on the bonus at Richmond Raceway. Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Cassill and fourth-place finisher Austin Hill will contend for the third Dash 4 Cash bonus at Talladega Superspeedway scheduled for April 23.

    Mayer completed the top five while Herbst, Ryan Truex, Gibbs, Ryan Sieg and Clements finished in the top 10. 

    Following the event, tempers flared on pit road between Gibbs and Mayer following their final lap incident. The post-race activity started with Gibbs ramming into the rear of Mayer’s car before both competitors confronted one another face-to-face as the punches and the shoves ensued, with Gibbs throwing punches across Mayer’s face and Mayer getting his left eye cut as the crew members and NASCAR officials got involved to separate both competitors. In the midst of the fight, a NASCAR official was injured and taken to the care center for evaluation. Following the chaos, both Gibbs and Mayer were summoned to the NASCAR hauler to meet with the officials.

    “I tried to talk to [Mayer] and then, he got all over my face,” Gibbs said. “At that point, you got to start fighting. We got put in a bad position. The only thing I’m mad about is [Mayer] wasn’t gonna get past [Allmendinger] there and I just got hit in the left rear. It’s just frustrating. I just got drove into the fence at the end. I was on the other side of it last week, so that’s just part of it.”

    “I had $100,000 in my sights and I was gonna do what I had to do to try and get that,” Mayer said. “I put the bumper to [Gibbs]. In my opinion, and we talked in the trailer, it was just a clean bump-and-run – and [Cassill)]kinda stuck it in there and kinda got us both crossed up and that’s kinda when it went to crap. I put the bumper to him. He came back over and he was upset and decided to throw a couple punches, but that’s fine by me. We talked about it. We’ll be good going forward, especially at Talladega. That’s a place where you don’t want to be enemies, so we’re gonna move on and be A-OK, keep our head down and go out and try to get a win next time.”

    Following his late spin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. managed to finish 11th in his lone Xfinity start of the season.

    There were 12 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 16 cautions for 100 laps.

    With his top-five result and a $100,000 bonus added to his paycheck, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 20 points over Ty Gibbs, 42 points over Noah Gragson, 89 over Brandon Jones and 94 over Josh Berry.

    Results.

    1. Brandon Jones, 28 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Landon Cassill

    3. AJ Allmendinger

    4. Austin Hill

    5. Sam Mayer

    6. Riley Herbst, one lap led

    7. Ryan Truex

    8. Ty Gibbs, 197 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Ryan Sieg

    10. Jeremy Clements

    11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    12. Parker Retzlaff

    13. Daniel Hemric 

    14. Anthony Alfredo

    15. Alex Labbe

    16. Kyle Weatherman

    17. Bayley Currey

    18. Matt Mills

    19. Josh Berry

    20. Noah Gragson, 23 laps led

    21. Derek Griffith

    22. Jade Buford, one lap down

    23. David Starr, one lap down

    24. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    25. Ryan Vargas, one lap down

    26. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    27. Shane Lee, one lap down

    28. Stefan Parsons, one lap down, five laps led

    29. Justin Allgaier, one lap down, one lap led

    30. Sheldon Creed, two laps down, six laps led

    31. JJ Yeley, two laps down

    32. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

    33. Mason Massey – OUT, Dvp

    34. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident

    35. Natalie Decker, 19 laps down

    36. Howie Disavino III – OUT, Driveshaft

    37. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Driveshaft

    38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Clutch

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits to Talladega Superspeedway, where the third Dash 4 Cash event will occur. The event is scheduled to occur on April 23 at 4 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Ty Gibbs overtakes teammate Nemechek for an Xfinity win at Richmond

    Ty Gibbs overtakes teammate Nemechek for an Xfinity win at Richmond

    In a classic short-track style of racing between two teammates who dominated and refused to lift out of the throttle, Ty Gibbs overtook, bumped, and fended off teammate John Hunter Nemechek on the final lap to win the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, April 2.

    The 19-year-old grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, started on pole position and was out in front for 114 of 250-scheduled laps, but came under attack from teammate John Hunter Nemechek, who led a race-high 135 laps, under the final five laps. Following a side-by-side duel, Nemechek appeared to have the upper hand at the start of the final lap until Gibbs bumped and mounted a challenge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate entering the backstretch. He then made slight contact with Nemechek that sent the latter out of the racing groove before snatching the lead back and having enough momentum to win for the third time in 2022.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Ty Gibbs notched his second consecutive pole of this season after posting a pole-winning speed at 121.836 mph. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 121.098 mph and was making his first of three scheduled starts with Joe Gibbs Racing.

    Prior to the event, Daniel Hemric, Jeb Burton and JJ Yeley dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Gibbs jumped ahead with an early advantage entering the first turn. Through the first lap, Gibbs retained the lead ahead of teammate Nemechek, Noah Gragson, rookie Austin Hill and Brandon Jones while a series of early battles ensued.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Gragson, Brandon Jones and Ryan Preece while Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg were in the top 10. 

    Two laps later, however, Nemechek muscled his No. 18 Safeway Toyota Supra to the lead over Gibbs’ No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra.

    By Lap 25, Nemechek was leading by more than three-tenths of a second over Gragson, who was reeling in the leader for the top spot. Gibbs was back in third ahead of Allmendinger, the leading contender for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, and Brandon Jones.

    Twenty-five laps later at the Lap 50 mark, Nemechek continued to lead as his advantage was more than four seconds over Allmendinger, who continued his methodical march to the front with a fast race car. Gragson was back in third followed by Gibbs and Josh Berry while Brandon Jones, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Mayer and Parker Retzlaff were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Justin Allgaier was mired in 11th place.

    By Lap 70, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Allmendinger while third-place Gragson trailed by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, Berry was up in fourth place ahead of Gibbs while names like Jeremy Clements, Ryan Preece and Brett Moffitt along with newcomers Derek Griffith and Rajah Caruth were a lap behind the leaders.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Nemechek captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the season. Behind, JR Motorsports’ Gragson and Berry settled in second and third followed by Allmendinger, who was held up by the lapped competitor of  Rajah Caruth. Gibbs settled in fifth ahead of Ryan Sieg, Parker Retzlaff, Brandon Jones, Hill and Mayer. By then, Creed was in 12th ahead of Riley Herbst while Daniel Hemric was in 15th ahead of teammate Landon Cassill, and Allgaier.

    Under the stage break and prior to pit lane being open for the competitors to pit, Gragson pitted to address potential brake issues to his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro. When pit lane opened, the field pitted and Nemechek retained the lead. Following the pit stops, Hemric was penalized for speeding on pit road,

    The second stage started on Lap 85 as Nemechek and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek jumped ahead to retain the lead followed by teammate Gibbs, who dueled with Allmendinger for the runner-up spot.

    Three laps later, the caution returned due to a brake rotor reported on the track in Turn 1 that came off of Gragson’s No. 9 Chevrolet as the Las Vegas driver continued to battle with brake issues.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 95, Nemechek rocketed away with another strong restart with the lead followed by teammate Gibbs while Sieg challenged Allmendinger for third place. 

    At the Lap 100 mark, Nemechek was leading by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Gibbs, who started to pressure his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot, while Allmendinger, Sieg and Berry were in the top five. Hill was in sixth ahead of Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Creed and Anthony Alfredo. Meanwhile, driver Kyle Sieg pitted after falling off the pace.

    When the race reached its halfway mark on Lap 125, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than half a second over teammate Gibbs while Berry, Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Hill, Brandon Jones, Alfredo, and Creed were in the top 10. Herbst was in 11th followed by Mayer, Cassill, Parker Retzlaff and Hemric while Alex Labbe, Jeb Burton, Preece, Gragson and Clements were in the top 20. In addition, 23 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    With six laps remaining in the second stage, Gibbs moved into the top spot and started to pull away from teammate Nemechek.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 150, Gibbs, who was mired in lapped traffic, captured his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Nemechek settled in second ahead of Berry, Ryan Sieg, Allmendinger, Alfredo, Mayer, Allgaier, Herbst and Parker Rtzlaff. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road for service and Gibbs retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by teammate Nemechek, Berry, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg. Following the pit stops, Berry was penalized for speeding along with Retzlaff for an uncontrolled tire violation. In addition, Stefan Parsons was penalized for removing the jack out of his pit box and onto the track.

    With 90 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as teammates Gibbs and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs muscled with the lead followed by teammate Nemechek, Allmendinger, Allgaier and Sieg, who was locked in a battle with Mayer.

    Fifteen laps later, Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Nemechek while Allgaier, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones were in the top five. Ryan Sieg was in sixth followed by Hemric, Mayer, Preece and Cassill while Hill, Alfredo, Herbst, Jeb Burton, and Brandon Brown were in the top 15. By then, 22 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Allmendinger, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Ryan Sieg, Preece, Hill, Mayer, Hemric, Herbst, Berry, Alfredo, Cassill and Jeb Burton.

    Then under the final 40 scheduled laps, the battle for the lead ignited between teammates Nemechek and Gibbs with the former having caught the latter as they dueled amid lapped traffic. With both making slight contact in Turn 1, Gibbs continued to fend off teammate Nemechek on the outside lane. Following an intense duel, Nemechek managed to clear teammate Gibbs and reassume the lead with 33 laps remaining. Gibbs, however, fought back during the following lap after overtaking Nemechek entering Turn 3 and reassuming the lead despite getting bumped by Nemechek’s No. 18 Toyota. 

    With 25 laps remaining, Gibbs was leading by more than four-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Allmendinger, who was in position to claim the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, trailed by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, Sam Mayer, who was battling Allmendinger for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, was up in fourth place ahead of Ryan Sieg while Allgaier, Herbst, Brandon Jones, Berry and Preece were in the top 10. Racing in 11th place was Austin Hill, who was also contending for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus. 

    Five laps later, the gap between teammates Gibbs and Nemechek dwindled down to less than four-tenths of a second with Gibbs carving his way through lapped traffic while also trying to fend off Nemechek for the win. Behind, third-place Allmendinger was less than a second ahead of Mayer in a battle for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus.

    Another four laps later, Mayer overtook Allmendinger to move into third place as he placed himself to claim the first Dash 4 Cash bonus. By then, Gibbs overtook two lapped competitors to retain a steady advantage ahead of Nemechek. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gibbs remained as the leader by half a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Mayer was more than three seconds ahead of Allmendinger in a bid for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus.

    With five laps remaining, Nemechek narrowed the gap to less than three-tenths of a second over Gibbs as he launched another challenge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot.

    Shortly after, both dueled dead even for the next two laps until Nemechek peaked ahead with three laps remaining. Just as he cleared Gibbs for the lead, Gibbs fought back entering the first turn as he bumped his teammate. During the following lap, he bumped his teammate again in Turn 1 before drawing even with him through the backstretch. Gibbs then slid up the track and nearly spun his teammate, but Nemechek retained the lead by a narrow margin. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, teammates Nemechek and Gibbs were running in a close single-file line of one another before Gibbs bumped and launched a final challenge on Nemechek for the lead entering the backstretch. Then with both dead even entering Turn 3, Gibbs made contact against Nemechek’s No. 18 Toyota, which sent Nemechek wide on the outside lane and allowed Gibbs to reassume the lead and have all lanes in control entering the final straightaway. With Nemechek unable to regain his momentum, Gibbs streaked across the finish line with the win while nearly sideways by 0.116 seconds just ahead of Nemechek.

    Just after both crossed the finish line, Nemechek was quick to run into the rear bumper of Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota to express his displeasure before nursing his car back to pit road while Gibbs celebrated with victorious burnouts on the frontstretch.

    The Richmond victory was Gibbs’ third of the 2022 season, thus making him the first three-time winner of this year’s Xfinity season, and the seventh of his Xfinity Series career. All told, Gibbs and Nemechek led all but one of the 250-scheduled laps.

    “I definitely deserve one back,” Gibbs said on FS1. “We’re racing for wins and they’re hard to come by. I had to take it. We were just fighting tight [conditions] all day. Just couldn’t hold the bottom. John Hunter was just a little bit faster and we had a great race. Good for Toyota to finish one, two. [I] Just got in there deep, had to bump him out of the way up the track, so we’re short track racing. Thank you to Monster Energy. What a great car. This is awesome for Toyota. Cool to get our third win, so hopefully, we can keep it rolling ”

    “[Gibbs] and I will settle it on Monday,” Nemechek, who was left disappointed on pit road, said. “I don’t want to say too much to get myself in trouble, but [I] just got drove through. He didn’t even try to make the corner there, so racers never forget. That’s for sure.”

    Meanwhile, Sam Mayer came home in a career-best third-place, nearly six seconds ahead of Allmendinger, and claimed the first Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of the season. Mayer’s first Dash 4 Cash bonus also marks the fifth consecutive Dash 4 Cash initiative that has been claimed by a JR Motorsports competitor.

    Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images).

    “By the end of it, our Accelerate [Professional Talent Solutions] Chevy Camaro was as fast as Xfinity Internet,” Mayer said. “That’s a really feels good moment for us. Obviously, my best career finish and a hundred grand to go with it. It’s unbelievable. This team definitely deserves it.”

    Sam Mayer, race winner Ty Gibbs, fourth-place finisher AJ Allmendinger and fifth-place finisher Riley Herbst have qualified for the second Dash 4 Cash event that will occur next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

    Hemric finished in sixth place while Berry, Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg and Parker Retzlaff completed the top 10. Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier and Landon Cassill finished in the top 15 followed by Ryan Preece, Mason Massey, Austin Hill, Alex Labbe and Jeremy Clements. Noah Gragson settled in 21st place following his brake issues while Rajah Caruth and Derek Griffith finished 24th and 26th in their Xfinity debuts.

    There were eight lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 24 laps.

    With a fourth-place result, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 20 points over both Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson while Josh Berry trails by 76 and Justin Allgaier trails by 87.

    Results.

    1. Ty Gibbs, 114 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. John Hunter Nemechek, 135 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Sam Mayer

    4. AJ Allmendinger

    5. Riley Herbst

    6. Daniel Hemric

    7. Josh Berry, one lap led

    8. Brandon Brown

    9. Ryan Sieg

    10. Parker Retzlaff

    11. Jeb Burton

    12. Anthony Alfredo

    13. Brandon Jones 

    14. Justin Allgaier

    15. Landon Cassill

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. Mason Massey

    18. Austin Hill

    19. Alex Labbe

    20. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    21. Noah Gragson, one lap down

    22. Sheldon Creed, one lap down

    23. David Starr, two laps down

    24. Rajah Caruth, two laps down

    25. Brett Moffitt, two laps down

    26. Derek Griffith, two laps down

    27. Josh Williams, three laps down

    28. Kyle Weatherman, four laps down

    29. Joe Graf Jr., four laps down

    30. Myatt Snider, four laps down

    31. Bayley Currey, four laps down

    32. JJ Yeley, five laps down

    33. Jade Buford, five laps down

    34. Joey Gase, five laps down

    35. Stefan Parsons, five laps down

    36. Ryan Vargas, seven laps down

    37. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Engine

    38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Rear gear

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits this season to Martinsville Speedway, where the second of four Dash 4 Cash events will also occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Friday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Allmendinger grabs a dominant Xfinity victory at COTA

    Allmendinger grabs a dominant Xfinity victory at COTA

    After finishing in the top 10 through the first six scheduled NASCAR Xfinity Series events, AJ Allmendinger broke through the win column for the first time in 2022 after claiming a dominant victory in the Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, March 26.

    The 40-year-old veteran from Los Gatos, California, led for the first time on the fourth lap and went on to lead twice for a race-high 27 of 46-scheduled laps, including the final 14, to muscle away from rookie Austin Hill and the field to become the fifth different winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season and the fourth Xfinity regular through the first six scheduled events.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Friday, Ty Gibbs, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 91.258 mph. Joining him on the front row was Ross Chastain, who was piloting the No. 92 TicketSmarter Chevrolet Camaro for DGM Racing.

    Prior to the event, Brett Moffitt, Landon Cassill, Brandon Jones, Will Rodgers, Ryan Sieg, Josh Bilicki, JJ Yeley and Brandon Brown dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Gibbs launched ahead briefly until Chastain assumed the top spot entering a series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 through Turn 10) while the field scrambled and fanned out behind. In the midst of the early racing, driver Patrick Gallagher was penalized for a restart violation. 

    Through the 3.41-mile, 20-turn circuit, Chastain led the first lap ahead of Gibbs while AJ Allmendinger, Cole Custer and Alex Labbe were in the top five. Rookie Sheldon Creed was in sixth ahead of Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Hemric. Behind, teammates Josh Berry and Miguel Paludo made contact in Turn 14, which resulted with Paludo spinning with Sage Karam and Berry sustaining front nose damage to his No. 8 PUGB Mobile Chevrolet Camaro.

    By the second lap, Chastain was ahead by nearly a second over Gibbs follows by Allmendinger, Custer and Labbe. Meanwhile, Stefan Parsons spun in Turn 6, but proceeded as the race remained under green.

    On the third lap, Allmendinger overtook Gibbs and Chastain through Turns 13 and 14 to assume the lead for the first time. Not long after, trouble ensued in Turn 12 when Justin Allgaier spun following contact with teammate Gragson.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Allmendinger was leading by nearly half a second over Gibbs followed by Chastain, Custer and Labbe while Creed, Wallace, Hemric, rookie Austin Hill and Gragson were in the top 10. Sam Mayer was in 11th ahead of Jade Buford, Preston Padres, Parker Kligerman and Allgaier while Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo, Parker Chase, Myatt Snider and Jeremy Clements were in the top 20. Brandon Jones was in 21st, Riley Herbst was in 23rd ahead of Landon Cassill and Brett Moffitt. Following his early incident, Miguel Paludo was in 32nd ahead of Brandon Brown while Josh Berry was mired in 38th, dead last.

    A few laps later, an early battle for the lead ensued as Gibbs pressured Allmendinger to take the lead while Chastain and Custer settled in third and fourth. By the seventh lap, Gibbs rocketed his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Supra to the lead in Turn 1, but Allmendinger was quick to reassume the lead in his No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro while Chastain and Custer started to gain ground on the two leaders.

    By Lap 10, Allmendinger continued to lead by nearly nine-tenths of a second over Gibbs while third-place Custer trailed by more than a second. Chastain trailed in fourth place by four seconds while Labbe and Wallace trailed by more than 10 seconds.

    A few laps later and with pit stops under green flag ensuing, Gibbs pitted along with Custer and Chastain while Allmendinger remained on the track and retained the lead. By then, Wallace, Hill, Mayer, Brandon Jones, Cassill, Jeb Burton and Creed had pitted.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 14, Allmendinger collected his second stage victory of the season. Labbe was scored in second ahead of Hemric, Kligerman, Allgaier, Preston Padres, Jade Buford, Parker Chase, Clements and Gibbs. By then, NASCAR reported possible fluid in Turn 12 that was coming off of Bayley Currey’s car.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 17. At the start, Chastain battled and bumped Gibbs through the first turn, forcing Gibbs wide, to take the lead followed by Sam Mayer and Bubba Wallace while Gibbs fell back to fourth ahead of Custer. 

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Chastain was out in front by nearly a second over Wallace while Gibbs and Custer battled for third. Mayer, who was running towards the front, slipped back to fifth place after missing a gear ahead of teammate Gragson, Hill, Jeb Burton, Creed and Cassill while Allmendinger was in 11th. 

    Through the first 20 laps of the event, Chastain continued to lead by more than two seconds over Wallace follows by Custer, Mayer and Gragson. Allmendinger was up in sixth followed by Creed, Hill, Cassill and Hemric while Jeb Burton, Labbe, Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Buford, Kligerman, Brett Moffitt, Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Brown and Clements were in the top 20. By then, Gibbs, who had fallen back to sixth place, pitted under green due to a flat right-front tire and a broken valve stem on his No. 54 Toyota. Paludo was in 21st, Berry was in 25th, Herbst was mired in 27th and Snider was in 29th behind Ryan Sieg.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 23, Chastain was leading by more than three seconds over Custer while Wallace trailed in third place by more than four seconds. Mayer was back in fourth ahead of Allmendinger while Gragson, Hill, Creed, Hemric and Labbe were in the top 10. Way behind the leaders, Karam spun in Turns 15 and 16.

    Nearing the Lap 30 mark, another round of pit stops under green struck as Allmendinger pitted along with Wallace, Hill, Hemric, Labbe, Jeb Burton, Cassill, Brandon Jones, Clements, Kligerman, Paludo, Preston Pardus, Parker Chase, Sieg, Parsons, Snider, Alfredo, Brown, Gibbs and Creed while Chastain continued to lead ahead of Custer. By then, Gragson and Josh Bilicki also pitted while Patrick Gallagher spun in Turn 9. Not long after, Chastain pitted along with Custer while Sam Mayer cycled into the lead. Following the pit stops, Preston Pardus, Parker Chase and Custer were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 30, Mayer captured his first stage victory of this year’s Xfinity season. Buford settled in second followed by Allgaier, Berry, Herbst, Custer, Sage Karam, Chastain, Allmendinger, Gragson and Scott Heckert.

    Under the stage break, some led by Mayer pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track. During the pit stops, Wallace pitted again to address a shifter issue to his No. 18 Dr. Pepper Toyota Supra.

    With 14 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Chastain squeaked ahead entering the first turn, but Allmendinger was able to keep his car alongside Chastain’s before Allmendinger moved into the lead entering a series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 through Turn 10). As the field scrambled and fanned out behind, Chastain and Allmendinger battled hard for the lead entering Turn 12 while Gragson started to close in on the two leaders. 

    Not long after, however, the caution returned due to debris reported in Turn 9. In addition, Berry and Josh Bilicki spun in Turn 20. 

    Down to the final 11 laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. At the start and going up the include prior to the first turn, Allmendinger retained the lead while Gragson muscled his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro alongside Chastain in a brief battle for second before the latter prevailed. 

    Through the series of turns from Turns 3 to 10, the left-hand turn in Turn 11 and the long straightaway prior to Turn 12, Allmendinger continued to lead ahead of Chastain. Behind, Austin Hill overtook Gragson for third place in Turn 16 as Allmendinger continued to lead through a series of turns from Turn 17 to 20 and back to the start/finish line with 10 laps remaining. 

    Then with nine laps remaining, the caution flew due to debris on the backstretch. By then, Brandon Jones sustained right-rear damage to his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra while Stefan Parsons also sustained damage to the right side of his car. Under caution, some like Gibbs, Hemric and Wallace pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

    With six laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger maintained the lead following a push by Austin Hill while Chastain got bumped and turned by Cassill in Turn 1. With the field scattering to avoid Chastain, Allmendinger was clear out in front followed by Hill, Gragson, Clements, Jeb Burton and Custer.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line for the final five laps, Allmendinger continued to lead by more than a second over Hill while Clements challenged Gragson for third place. Jeb Burton settled in fifth ahead of Custer, Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Snider and Buford. Chastain, meanwhile, was all the way back in 31st place.

    Then with three laps remaining, both Jeb Burton and Clements were penalized for having their respective cars running off the course with all four tires near the esses. With both Burton and Clements having to drive through pit road to serve their penalty, Allmendinger continued to lead by a stable margin over Hill while Custer moved up to third place followed by Gragson and Snider.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allmendinger remained in the lead by nearly three seconds over Hill and more than 10 seconds over Custer. With no close competition lurking behind, Allmendinger was able to smoothly navigate his No. 16 Chevrolet through the 20-turn circuit for a final time as he made his way through the final straightaway and streaked across the finish line to claim his first checkered flag of the 2022 season.

    With his first victory at Circuit of the Americas, Allmendinger notched his seventh win on a road course and his 11th overall in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In addition, he recorded the first victory of the season for Kaulig Racing.

    “Man, I was hard on myself yesterday,” Allmendinger said on FS1. “I was not happy with where I put ourselves, the setup that I made for us. This Nutrien Ag Chevy was really good. It was hard to drive. I had to drive it a certain way. Honestly, it’s all these men and women here at Kaulig Racing between the Cup side of it and the Xfinity side to it. They don’t sleep during the week. They’re busting their tails and that’s why I’m so frickin hard on myself sometimes ‘cause they deserve to win more than anybody here, and I just wanna do it for them. So thankfully, we got one done today.”

    Austin Hill finished in second place for the second consecutive week followed by Cole Custer while teammates Gragson and Mayer finished in the top five. 

    “All in all, it was a solid effort for our Global [Industrial] Chevy Camaro,” Hill said. “[Crew chief] Andy [Street] and all the guys at the shop, they did a heck of a job building this piece and bringing it here. I’ve always felt like I could get around road courses. I felt like I proved it last year in the Trucks [Series], winning at Watkins Glen. It just kind of built the confidence, the momentum going forward to this year when we come to road courses that we could get the job done. I guess AJ was just a little bit better than I was ‘cause I felt like we had a really good car. There was certain spots that I thought he was a little better than us, but it just shows that we can run with AJ. Maybe just make the car a little bit better and I think personally as a driver, I need to work on a few things ‘cause he was just doing some things a little bit better than I was inside the cockpit, so we’ll go back, debrief and look it over and just see where I can be better as a driver on these road courses…We’ll go get the job done next time.”

    With their top-five results, Allmendinger, Hill, Gragson and Mayer have qualified for the first Dash 4 Cash event at Richmond Raceway scheduled for next Saturday.

    Myatt Snider, Brett Moffitt, Jade Buford, Miguel Paludo and Sheldon Creed finished in the top 10. Notably, Ty Gibbs finished 15th, Chastain settled in 17th following his late spin, Jeb Burton and Clements fell back to 23rd and 24th, Hemric ended up 25th ahead of Herbst and Berry, Wallace came home in 28th and Allgaier finished 33rd.

    There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured four cautions for eight laps. In addition, 35 of the 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With his top-five result, Noah Gragson continues to lead the regular season standings by a single point over AJ Allmendinger, 31 over Ty Gibbs, 68 over Justin Allgaier and 77 over Josh Berry.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Austin Hill

    3. Cole Custer

    4. Noah Gragson

    5. Sam Mayer, three laps led, Stage 2 winner

    6. Myatt Snider

    7. Brett Moffitt

    8. Jade Buford

    9. Miguel Paludo

    10. Sheldon Creed

    11. Ryan Sieg

    12. Parker Kligerman

    13. Anthony Alfredo

    14. Preston Pardus

    15. Ty Gibbs, one lap led

    16. Sage Karam

    17. Ross Chastain, 14 laps led

    18. Brandon Jones

    19. Parker Chase

    20. Brandon Brown

    21. Stefan Parsons

    22. Patrick Gallagher

    23. Jeb Burton

    24. Jeremy Clements

    25. Daniel Hemric

    26. Riley Herbst

    27. Josh Berry

    28. Bubba Wallace

    29. JJ Yeley

    30. Ryan Vargas

    31. Landon Cassill

    32. Scott Heckert

    33. Justin Allgaier, one lap led

    34. Joe Graf Jr.

    35. Josh Bilicki

    36. Alex Labbe – OUT, Rear gear

    37. Will Rodgers, 12 laps down

    38. Bayley Currey – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone annual visit of this season to Richmond Raceway, where the first of four Dash 4 Cash events will occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, April 2, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Ty Gibbs storms to a final lap Xfinity victory at Atlanta

    Ty Gibbs storms to a final lap Xfinity victory at Atlanta

    In the first NASCAR Xfinity Series event at the newly reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway that featured close-quarters competition from start to finish, including through two overtime attempts, Ty Gibbs used a bold crossover move on Ryan Sieg on the final lap to win the Nalley Cars 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 19.

    The 19-year-old grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, survived a chaotic afternoon featuring nine cautions as he only led the final lap and became the first repeat winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season.

    The starting lineup for the event was determined through the Performance Metrics formula based on four statistics: drivers’ results, owners’ race and points results and the fastest lap from the previous Cup event. With that, Noah Gragson, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Phoenix Raceway, started on pole position. Joining him on the front row was teammate Josh Berry.

    The use of the Performance Metrics formula occurred after rain cancelled all on-track activities on Friday, which resulted with the Xfinity competitors receiving a single practice session on Saturday in place of on-track qualifying.

    Prior to the event, Matt Mills, Jeffery Earnhardt, Loris Hezemans, Ryan Sieg and Stefan Parsons dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustment to their respective machines. In addition, Riley Herbst pitted prior to the start due to a tire issue.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Gragson took off with an early advantage followed by teammate Josh Berry, Ty Gibbs, Brandon Jones, Trevor Bayne and Justin Allgaier.

    By the fifth lap, Gragson was leading by over Brandon Jones followed by Trevor Bayne, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger and the field.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event, Gragson continued to lead by more than a tenth of a second over Jones while Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Gibbs were in the top five. Bayne was back in sixth followed by Justin Allgaier, Brandon Brown, Berry and Brett Moffitt were in the top 10.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Gragson fended off Allmendinger to retain the lead and the field. Under the competition caution, some led by Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Gragson remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hemric, who initially pitted under the completion caution, pitted again.

    On Lap 26, the race restarted under green. At the start, Brandon Jones peaked ahead before Gragson reassumed the lead on the inside lane and when the field returned to the start/finish line. 

    By Lap 30, Gragson was leading by more than a tenth of a second over Jones followed by Gibbs, Allgaier, Berry and the field. 

    Shortly after, Berry used the inside lane to his advantage as he challenged Jones for the runner-up spot before teammate Gragson moved to the inside lane to retain the lead. That, however, allowed Jones, who was the lead competitor on the outside lane, to challenge Gragson for the lead. 

    As the field continued to battle dead even towards the front, Gragson continued to lead followed by Jones and Berry as teammate Sam Mayer joined the battle for the lead.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 40, Berry managed to overtake and edge teammate Gragson to claim the stage victory, which was also his first of the season. Behind Berry and Gragson were teammates Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer while Trevor Bayne settled in the top five. Austin Hill, Jeb Burton, Brandon Brown, Brandon Jones and Brett Moffitt were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Allmendinger remained on the track while the rest led by Berry pitted.

    The second stage started on Lap 47 as Allmendinger and teammate Landon Cassill occupied the front row. At the start, the Kaulig Racing teammates battled dead even until Allmendinger pulled ahead through the frontstretch. With Allmendinger ahead by a narrow margin, Cassill battled Jade Buford for the runner-up spot followed by rookie Austin Hill and Daniel Hemric. 

    Just past the Lap 50 mark, Gragson, who was trying to carve his way back to the front, pitted under green after making contact with the outside wall. Not long after, Riley Herbst pitted to address an overheating issue to his Ford.

    Back on the track, Allmendinger was leading ahead of teammate Hemric while Jade Buford, Tommy Joe Martins and Sage Karam were in the top five. 

    On Lap 60, Allmendinger continued to lead by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Hemric followed by Buford, Martins, Karam, Brandon Brown, Bayne, Allgaier, Jeb Burton and rookie Sheldon Creed.

    Ten laps later, Allmendinger remained in the lead ahead of teammate Hemric, Buford, Martins, Karam and the field, with the top-15 competitors separated by less than two seconds. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 80, Allmendinger retained the top spot as he claimed his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Hemric settled in second followed by Buford, Martins, Karam, Creed, Brown, Hill, Jeb Burton and Cassill.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for adjustments as Creed emerged with the top spot.

    With 75 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start, Creed received a push from teammate Hill to lead ahead of Allmendinger while the field jostled for positions.

    Five laps later, Creed was leading followed by teammate Hill, Jones, Bayne and Buford while Allmendinger, Mayer, Allgaier, Myatt Snider and Gibbs were in the top 10.

    Another six laps later, Bayne stormed to the front followed by Snider and Gibbs while Creed and Hill were left battling with Gragson in the top five. Then, an intense side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between Snider and Bayne while Gibbs, Gragson, Creed and Hill were left battling in the top six. 

    Under the final 60 laps of the event, the top-15 competitors were separated by a second as Bayne was out in front followed by teammate Gibbs and Gragson. 

    Then with 57 laps remaining, the caution flew when Jade Buford spun and wrecked in the backstretch as he also collected Jeremy Clements, Jeb Burton and Anthony Alfredo. The incident spoiled Buford’s strong run towards the front as he parked his car in the garage.

    Under caution, some led by Bayne remained on the track while others led by Gragson pitted.

    With 51 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Bayne and Hill battled dead even for the lap. Just as the field returned to the start/finish line, the caution returned when Hemric, who battling Joe Graf Jr. and Brandon Brown in a three-wide battle, slid in front of Joe Graf Jr. and made hard contact against the Turn 4 outside wall.

    Following an extensive clean-up session, the race restarted under green with 41 laps remaining. At the start, Hill battled for the lead on the inside lane, but Bayne used the outside lane to fight back on the outside lane. 

    During the following lap, Bayne received a push from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Gibbs and Brandon Jones to storm clear with the lead as Brandon Brown moved into fourth place while Hill was left battling Allmendinger for fifth place.

    A few laps later, Hill slipped back to eighth place in front of teammate Sheldon Creed as the front-runners settled in a long single-file line towards the outside wall. By then, Bayne remained as the leader followed by teammates Gibbs and Jones.

    Then with 34 laps remaining, the caution flew when Sam Mayer spun across the frontstretch and near the pit road entrance. 

    Four laps later and with darkness looming over the track, the race restarted under green. At the start, Bayne rocketed with the lead followed by teammates Gibbs and Jones. Soon after, Brown moved up to fourth followed by Hill while Allmendinger launched a challenge as the lead competitor on the inside lane. Hill, however, moved to the inside lane as he then made a bid for the lead against Bayne.

    With 25 laps remaining, the caution flew when Brandon Brown spun in Turn 1 after making contact with Creed, which Brown barely clipped Berry before he spun below the apron. At the moment of caution, Hill emerged with the lead over Bayne. During the caution period, Allgaier pitted while the rest of the field pitted.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Hill and Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Bayne gave Hill a shove for the latter to lead and clear the field. 

    With 15 laps remaining, the top-nine competitors were separated under a second as Hill was leading ahead of Allmendinger, Cassill, Berry, Gibbs, Brandon Jones, Kyle Weatherman, Bayne and Ryan Sieg. 

    Then with 11 laps remaining, Bayne, who was trying to overtake Hill for the lead on the outside lane, made contact with the outside wall in Turn 1. With the field scrambling and moving to the inside lane, Bayne made contact with Berry in Turn 2, which sent Berry and teammate Gragson around as a multi-car wreck ensued. Among those involved included Allgaier, Mayer, Jeb Burton, Alex Labbe, Martins, Karam, Gibbs and Parsons.

    Following another extensive clean-up period, the race restarted with three laps remaining. Just as Hill started to peak ahead of Snider with drafting help from Ryan Sieg, the caution flew and the race was sent into overtime when Riley Herbst clipped and turned Myatt Snider in Turn 1.

    During the first overtime attempt, Sieg briefly battled against Hill for the lead when the caution flew due to a three-car wreck that involved Matt Mills, Stefan Parsons and Tommy Joe Martins. The wreck placed the competition in a red flag period before the competitors were sent into a second overtime attempt.

    At the start of the second overtime attempt, Hill and Sieg battled dead even through the first two turns and the backstretch before Sieg pulled ahead in Turn 3. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sieg was out in front until a strong crossover move by Gibbs enabled the No. 54 Sport Clips Toyota Supra to storm to the lead entering Turn 1. Meanwhile, Sieg was being overtaken by the field as he received no drafting help to return back to the lead. As the battles continued behind him, Gibbs was gone as he returned to the finish line uncontested and claimed his second checkered flag of this season.

    In addition to claiming his second victory of the 2022 Xfinity season, Gibbs recorded his first win in his first NASCAR national touring series start at Atlanta and his sixth career victory in his 23rd series start.

    “First of all, I wanna say all glory to God!” Gibbs exclaimed on FS1. “I wanna say thank you for letting Him be able to get me in these moments. Second of all, I wanna say thank you to my team. What the heck? Oh my gosh. I did not expect this at all. That was one of those where I learned a big lesson. Just never give up. Let’s go!”

    Hill, who notched his first Xfinity career win at Daytona International Speedway in February, settled in second place followed by AJ Allmendinger while Herbst and Landon Cassill finished in the top five.

    Mason Massey, a 25-year-old native from Douglasville, Georgia, notched his first top-10 career result in sixth place while Brandon Jones, Kyle Weatherman, Creed and Sieg completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were 11 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 56 laps.

    Despite finishing 26th, Gragson retains the lead in the regular season standings by 19 points over Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger with Justin Allgaier trailing by 51, Josh Berry by 59 and Brandon Jones over 70.

    Results.

    1. Ty Gibbs, one lap led

    2. Austin Hill, 27 laps led

    3. AJ Allmendinger, 41 laps led

    4. Riley Herbst

    5. Landon Cassill

    6. Mason Massey

    7. Brandon Jones, one lap led

    8. Kyle Weatherman

    9. Sheldon Creed, 15 laps led

    10. Ryan Sieg, six laps led

    11. JJ Yeley

    12. Ryan Vargas

    13. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    14. Brett Moffitt

    15. Jeb Burton

    16. Anthony Alfredo

    17. Shane Lee

    18. Brandon Brown

    19. Alex Labbe

    20. Tommy Joe Maartins

    21. Sam Mayer

    22. Josh Williams

    23. Joe Graf Jr.

    24. Kyle Sieg

    25. Stefan Parsons

    26. Noah Gragson, 38 laps led

    27. Jesse Iwuji

    28. Trevor Bayne, 38 laps led

    29. Bayley Currey

    30. Myatt Snider, one lap down, two laps led

    31. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    32. Sage Karem – OUT, Accident

    33. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    34. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

    35. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

    36. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Accident

    37. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    38. Jade Buford – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ second trip to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, March 26, at 4:30 p.m ET on FS1.

  • Gragson shines with a dominant victory at Phoenix

    Gragson shines with a dominant victory at Phoenix

    Following three consecutive top-three results three races into the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, Noah Gragson broke through the win column after scoring a dominant victory in the United Rentals 200 at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, March 12.

    The 23-year-old Gragson from Las Vegas, Nevada, started on the front row before leading seven times for a race-high 114 of 200 laps en route to his first Xfinity victory of the season after beating runner-up Brandon Jones by more than two seconds and becoming the fourth different winner through the first four scheduled events of the 2022 Xfinity season.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Trevor Bayne notched his first Xfinity pole since Iowa Speedway in August 2014 after posting a pole-winning lap at 131.839 mph. Despite enduring a kill switch issue while trying to roll his car off of pit road, Bayne’s crew was able to repair the issue as he retained the top starting spot. Joining him on the front row was Noah Gragson, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 131.565 mph.

    Prior to the event, Sam Mayer, Ryan Vargas, Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry and Stefan Parson dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines. In addition, Anthony Alfredo took his No. 23 Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to the garage due to an early mechanical issue.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, the field fanned out through the dogleg turn as Bayne retained the lead and led the first lap ahead of Gragson, Brandon Jones and Ty Gibbs.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Bayne continued to lead by half a second over Gragson followed by Jones, Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek. Behind, Daniel Hemric was in sixth ahead of Ryan Sieg, rookie Sheldon Creed, AJ Allmendinger and Parker Retzlaff. 

    Five laps later, Bayne stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Gragson while Jones, Gibbs and Nemechek remained in the top five.

    By Lap 20, Bayne extended his advantage to more than a second over Gragson, who was fending off Jones for the runner-up spot. Gibbs and Nemechek continued to run in the top five followed by Hemric, Allmendinger, Creed, Landon Cassill and Ryan Sieg. Meanwhile, Justin Allgaier, who started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro, was up in 12th behind Jeb Burton.

    A lap later, the first caution of the event flew when Riley Herbst spun and pounded the Turn 3 outside wall after his brake pedal fell to the floor, thus destroying his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang as his event came to an early end. 

    When the field restarted on Lap 33, Gragson challenged and emerged with the advantage over Bayne as the field fanned out and battled for positions. Meanwhile, John Hunter Nemechek, who made a bold move below the dogleg during the the restart, was in third ahead of Brandon Jones.

    By Lap 40, Gragson stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Bayne while Jones, Nemechek and Gibbs were in the top five. 

    Shortly after, a side-by-side battle for the lead occurred between Bayne and Gragson as Bayne challenged to reassume the top spot while Gragson refused to relinquish the lead. As they battled, Brandon Jones started to join the battle.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Bayne edged Gragson to claim the stage victory and his second of his part-time campaign. Jones settled in third followed by Nemechek, Gibbs, Allgaier, Landon Cassill, Allmendinger, Josh Berry and Sam Mayer while Daniel Hemric fell back to 11th.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Jones emerged with the lead after exiting pit road first followed by JR Motorsports’ Gragson, Allgaier and Mayer while Bayne came out in fifth ahead of Gibbs. Following the pit stops, however, Mayer and Brandon Brown dropped to the rear of the field after both were busted for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 54 as Jones and Gragson occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Jones and Gragson battled dead even for the lead before Gragson peaked ahead. Just then, Gibbs, who was in the top five, spun after Josh Berry clipped Gibbs’ No. 54 Sport Clips Toyota Supra in Turn 2. As the field scattered to avoid hitting Gibbs, the caution returned.

    When the race restarted on Lap 61, Josh Berry engaged in a battle with teammate Allgaier for third place as Brandon Jones used the outside lane to his advantage as he assumed the lead for the first time ahead of Gragson. 

    Nine laps later, Gragson reassumed the lead after closing in and persevering in a battle with Jones while Allgaier settled in third. 

    Through the first 75 laps of the event, Gragson was leading by less than three-tenths of a second over Jones while Allgaier, Bayne and Berry were in the top five. Behind, Allmendinger was in sixth ahead of Nemechek, Ryan Sieg, Hemric and Cassill while Sheldon Creed, Jeb Burton, Brett Moffit, Mayer and rookie Austin Hill were in the top 15. Meanwhile, Gibbs was mired in 26th ahead of JJ Yeley.

    Despite encountering lapped traffic, Gragson was able to extend his advantage to more than a second and claim the second stage victory on Lap 90, thus claiming his third stage victory of the 2022 season. Behind, Allgaier overtook and fended off Jones to settle in second followed by Bayne, Berry, Nemechek, Allmendinger, Hemric, Cassill and Mayer, who rallied from speeding on pit road prior to the start of the second stage,

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Allgaier emerged with the lead followed by Jones, Gragson, Allmendinger and Mayer. Following the pit stops, Bayne and Mayer were both busted for speeding on pit road and sent to the rear of the field.

    With 101 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start and with the field fanning out, Allgaier went wide and got loose through Turns 1 and 2 as Jones moved into the lead ahead of Nemechek and Gragson. Shortly after, Jones was being challenged by John Hunter Nemechek before the latter took over with 98 laps remaining.

    With 90 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by nearly half a second over Gragson while Jones, Allgaier and Berry were in the top five. Allmendinger was in sixth ahead of Kaulig Racing’s Hemric and Cassill while Gibbs was back up in ninth ahead of Ryan Sieg.

    Three laps later, Gragson reassumed the lead over Nemechek.

    Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Gragson extended his advantage to more than a second over Jones while Nemechek fell back to third. Teammates Allgaier and Berry were in the top five followed by Allmendinger, Hemric, Gibbs, Cassill and Bayne, who was trying to work his way back to the front. 

    Fifteen laps later, Gragson stabilized his advantage to less than two seconds over Jones while Allgaier, Berry and Nemechek remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Bayne carved his way up in sixth place followed by teammate Gibbs while Allmendinger slipped back to eighth ahead of teammates Hemric and Cassill. Mayer was in 12th in between Ryan Sieg and Creed while Austin Hill was in 16th behind Jeb Burton.

    Another 10 laps later and with the teams plotting their final scheduled pit stops of the event, Gragson continued to lead by more than two seconds over Jones.

    With less than 40 laps remaining, pit stops under green commenced as Austin Hill pitted. Soon after, Allmendinger pitted along with Allgaier, Mayer, Creed, Berry, Jones, Bayne, Nemechek, race leader Gragson, Gibbs and others. During the pit stops, Mayer was busted twice for speeding on pit road on two separate occasions: once during his scheduled stop and again while serving his first penalty. In addition, Allgaier was penalized for running over an air hose on pit road.

    Back on the track and with less than 30 laps remaining, Brandon Jones cycled to the lead by more than a second over Gragson. 

    With 20 laps remaining, Jones, who encountered lapped traffic, continued to lead by half a second over Gragson, who continued to narrow the deficit behind Jones’ No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra.

    Six laps later and following a close side-by-side battle with Jones amid lapped traffic, Gragson reassumed the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gragson started to extend his advantage to more than a second over Jones while third-place Berry trailed by more than three seconds. Bayne was up in fourth followed by Nemechek. Meanwhile, Kaz Grala scrapped the outside wall in Turn 4, but the race proceeded under green.

    With five laps remaining, Gragson stabilized himself to more than a second over Jones with victory in sight.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap commenced, Gragson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Jones while Berry trailed by five seconds. Having no challengers narrow the gap between himself and victory, Gragson cycled his way back to the finish line as he claimed his first checkered flag of the season.

    With the victory, Gragson, who blew both of his rear tires during his victorious burnout before climbing the fence and saluting the fans, claimed his first win at Phoenix, the first win of the 2022 season for JR Motorsports and his sixth NASCAR Xfinity Series career triumph in his 106th series start. In addition, Gragson claimed his first win with new crew chief Luke Lambert, who joined JR Motorsports prior to the season and claimed his first Xfinity victory as a crew chief since 2012. 

    “It feels great to get the 50th anniversary Bass Pro Shops Camaro in Victory Lane,” Gragson said on FS1. “Most importantly, thank you all you race fans for coming out. You guys are awesome. You guys are loud. We love you. Thanks for coming to Phoenix. This team, the pit crew, everybody who makes this possible…The pit crew executed great. This team’s been on a roll so far this year. All top three finishes [through the] first four races. [I] Can’t thank everybody enough for all their hard work and try to keep in going.

    Jones, a former winner at Phoenix, claimed his first top-five result of the season after finishing in second place followed by Berry, who claimed his third consecutive top-five result of this season.

    “This is, first off, exactly what this No. 19 team needed,” Jones said. “To kind of turn the season around. We’ve had speed at all these race tracks so far. Just haven’t quite got finishes yet that we need. It’s really early in the season still. I thought when we came out of the pits there and came ahead of [Gragson] there that it was gonna be pretty good because aero situations were pretty tough today. It seemed like whoever was leading the race kind of was difficult to pass…Still all in all, really happy to come home second. I think this is the right momentum we need to turn this deal around.”

    Trevor Bayne recorded his second top-five result in his second start of this year’s Xfinity season in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota Supra by finishing fourth while Nemechek came home in fifth place while driving Sam Hunt Racing’s No. 26 Toyota Supra.

    Gibbs, Allmendinger, Hemric, Cassill and Allgaier completed the top 10 on the track as the top-10 competitors were the only competitors to finish on the lead lap.

    Notably, Creed and Austin Hill finished 14th and 17th while Mayer, who was busted with four pit road speeding penalties, settled in 22nd place.

    There were 16 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 33 laps.

    With his victory, Noah Gragson continues to lead the regular season standings by 39 points over Ty Gibbs, 42 over Justin Allgaier, 43 over AJ Allmendinger and 53 over Josh Berry.

    Results.

    1. Noah Gragson, 114 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Brandon Jones, 30 laps led

    3. Josh Berry

    4. Trevor Bayne, 38 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    5. John Hunter Nemechek, 11 laps led

    6. Ty Gibbs

    7. AJ Allmendinger

    8. Daniel Hemric

    9. Landon Cassill

    10. Justin Allgaier, five laps led

    11. Ryan Sieg, one lap down, two laps led

    12. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    13. Brandon Brown, one lap down

    14. Sheldon Creed, one lap down

    15. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

    16. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    17. Austin Hill, one lap down

    18. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    19. Alex Labbe, one lap down

    20. Bayley Currey, one lap down

    21. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

    22. Sam Mayer, two laps down

    23. Mason Massey, two laps down

    24. Myatt Snider, two laps down

    25. JJ Yeley, two laps down

    26. Nicholas Sanchez, two laps down

    27. Joe Graf Jr., three laps down

    28. Jade Buford, three laps down

    29. Ryan Vargas, three laps down

    30. Kyle Weatherman, three laps down

    31. David Starr, four laps down

    32. Kyle Sieg, four laps down

    33. Kaz Grala, four laps down

    34. Jeffrey Earnhardt, four laps down

    35. Josh Williams – OUT, Ignition

    36. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Fuel Pump

    37. Anthony Alfredo, 53 laps down

    38. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits to the newly reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, March 19, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Custer grabs a dominant Xfinity win at Fontana

    Custer grabs a dominant Xfinity win at Fontana

    Cole Custer rallied from two slow pit stops and through three overtime restarts to score a dominant win in the Production Alliance 300 at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday, February 26.

    The 24-year-old native from Ladera Ranch, California, led five times for a race-high 80 of 165 laps to beat Noah Gragson by half a second in his first of select NASCAR Xfinity Series starts this season with SS-Green Light Racing, which achieved their first career victory in NASCAR.

    Qualifying on Saturday determined the starting lineup for the event. AJ Allmendinger, coming off his runner-up result at Daytona International Speedway, started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 179.829 mph. He was joined on the front row with Cole Custer, who qualified with a fast lap at 179.793 mph.

    Prior to the event, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Jeb Burton, Jesse Iwuji, Joey Gase, Tommy Joe Martins and Josh Williams dropped to the rear for unapproved adjustments. Kyle Sieg also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change along with Joe Graf Jr. due to a driver change after he replaced Timmy Hill.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Allmendinger and Custer battled dead even ahead of the field before the former cleared the latter through the backstretch and went on to lead the first lap. 

    During the following lap, Allmendinger continued to fend off early challenges from Custer to retain the top spot. Behind, Austin Hill, coming off his first Xfinity career victory at Daytona, made an unscheduled pit stop after sustaining right-side damage to his No. 21 Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro due to contact with Josh Berry through the backstretch. 

    By the fifth lap, Allmendinger and Custer continued to battle for the lead followed by Trevor Bayne, Noah Gragson and Brandon Jones. Ryan Sieg was in sixth ahead of Daniel Hemric, Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry and Justin Allgaier. 

    A lap later, the first caution flew when flames erupted out of the No. 10 Carnomoly Chevrolet Camaro piloted by Landon Cassill, who was running in 11th place. Cassill, though, was able to park his car below the apron in Turn 1 as he exited his flaming car. 

    Following an extensive cleanup, the race restarted on Lap 13. During the following lap, Trevor Bayne, making his first of select starts in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Devotion Nutrition Toyota Supra, flexed his muscles as he moved into the lead followed by Allmendinger, Custer and the field.

    On Lap 19, the caution returned when Mason Massey cut a left-front tire and shredded debris in Turn 2.

    When the race restarted on Lap 24 and as the field fanned out, Noah Gragson peaked ahead with the lead followed by Bayne, Custer and the field. When the field returned to the frontstretch, however, Bayne retained the lead followed by Custer, Gragson, Gibbs and Allmendinger.

    By Lap 30, Bayne was leading by a tenth of a second over Custer. Gragson was in third followed by teammate Justin Allgaier and Gibbs while Allmendinger, Hemric, Berry, Sieg and Sam Mayer were in the top 10.

    In the closing laps of the first stage, Custer started to close in and challenge Bayne for the top spot while Gragson was trailing by more than two seconds. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 35, Bayne, making his first start in NASCAR in two years, claimed his first career stage victory. Custer settled in second while Allgaier overtook teammate Gragson in Turn 3 after Gragson scraped the wall to settle in third. Gibbs, Allmendinger, Berry, Sieg, Hemric and Mayer rounded out the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the field pitted and Hemric utilized the first pit box to his advantage to move into the lead. Gibbs followed in second along with Gragson, Berry, Allgaier and Custer while Bayne dropped to 10th following a slow pit stop. During the pit stop, Ryan Sieg missed his pit box and had to return to pit road for service.

    The second stage started on Lap 42 as Hemric and Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs challenged Hemric for the top spot through the backstretch while Gragson, Custer and Allgaier battled ahead of the field that was fanning out. Then in Turn 4, Gibbs, who battled dead even with Hemric, bumped against Hemric’s No. 11 Poppy Bank Chevrolet Camaro before he spun wildly across the frontstretch and through the infield grass, all while sustaining no significant damage to his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra.

    On Lap 48, the race restarted under green as Hemric and Gragson occupied the front row. At the start, Hemric retained the top spot until Custer stormed back to the lead during the following lap. With Hemric back in second, Gragson challenged for second ahead of Brandon Jones, Allgaier and Berry.

    By Lap 50, Custer was leading by a second ahead of Gragson while Hemric, Brandon Jones and Allgaier were in the top five. Allmendinger was in sixth ahead of Berry, rookie Sheldon Creed, Riley Herbst and Sam Mayer. Behind, Bayley Curry pitted under green after sustaining a flat right-rear tire.

    Five laps later, Custer stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Gragson while third-place Allgaier trailed by more than three seconds. 

    Another lap later, Brandon Jones, who was running in sixth place, spun his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra in Turn 4.

    When the field restarted under green on Lap 60, the field battled through two lanes entering the first turn before fanning out to multiple lanes entering the backstretch. In the midst of the battles, Custer retained the lead and Gragson was in second ahead of teammate Allgaier, Allmendinger, Hemric, Berry and Mayer.

    Five laps later, Custer remained as the leader by a second and a half over Allgaier while Gragson, Allmendinger and Hemric were in the top five. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 70, Custer claimed his 17th career stage victory. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones, who made a late charge on fresh tires following his spin, settled in second followed by Allgaier, Gragson, Gibbs, Hemric, Allmendinger, Mayer, Berry and Riley Herbst.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Brandon Jones exited with the lead followed by Allgaier, Gragson, Berry and Hemric while Custer, who endured a slow pit stop, dropped to eighth.

    With 74 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start, Jones powered ahead with a brief advantage on the outside lane as the field fanned out entering the first two turns. When the field returned to the frontstretch, Custer, who restarted eighth, used a fast race car to his advantage by barreling his way back to the lead as Gragson challenged Brandon Jones for the runner-up spot.

    With less than 70 laps remaining, Allmendinger pitted under green to address a potential loose wheel to his No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro as he lost a lap to the leaders.

    Back on the track, Custer was leading by more than a second over Gragson. Brandon Jones was in third, trailing by more than two seconds, while Allgaier was in fourth. Meanwhile, Gibbs, who rallied from his early spin, was in fifth ahead of Hemric, Trevor Bayne, Berry, Mayer and Creed.

    Ten laps later, Custer extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Gragson while Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Gibbs were in the top five. Behind was Hemric, who had Berry, Bayne, Creed and Mayer battling behind him.

    Another 10 laps later, Custer’s advantage narrowed to less than two seconds as he continued to lead ahead of Gragson while Allgaier, Jones and Hemric were in the top five. Gibbs, Berry, Bayne, Creed and Herbst were scored in the top 10.

    With 48 laps remaining, Brandon Brown spun in Turn 2 as he drew the caution. Under caution, the field pitted and Justin Allgaier exited with the top spot followed by Jones, Gragson, Berry and Herbst. Meanwhile, Custer, who endured another slow pit stop, fell back to seventh.

    With 42 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allgaier retained the top spot through the first two turns as the field jostled for positions. Not long after, Gragson muscled to the lead while Allgaier was back in second ahead of Berry and a hard-charging Custer.

    Down to the final 35 laps of the event, JR Motorsports’ competitors occupied four of the top-five spots as Gragson was leading by more than a second over teammate Berry while teammate Allgaier trailed by more than two seconds. Custer was back in fourth while Mayer, the fourth JRM competitor, was in fifth.

    Then with 27 laps remaining, the caution flew when Jade Buford wrecked in Turn 2 after getting loose before being hit by Creed. Under caution, some led by Gragson pitted while Gibbs and Anthony Alfredo remained on the track. During the pit stops, Gragson slid through his pit box and ran over his air hose as he exited pit road out of the top 10 while Allgaier was the first competitor on fresh tires and fuel to exit pit road.

    With 22 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start and with the field fanning out to multiple lanes, Allgaier reassumed the lead through Turn 1 while Bayne moved into second along with Berry.

    During the following lap, a five-car battle for the lead ensued as Allgaier led ahead of Bayne, Gragson, Berry and Custer. Soon after, Gragson muscled his way back to the lead. Not long after, Custer moved into second. By then, Myatt Snider fell off the pace after he lost an engine to his car.

    Back on the track, Gragson continued to lead, but he had Custer narrowing the advantage to less than three-tenths of a second. 

    Then with 15 laps remaining, Custer stormed back to the lead beneath Gragson.

    Just then, the caution flew with 10 laps remaining due to debris in Turn 1 as Mason Massey lost a left-front tire. At the time of caution, Custer had extended his advantage to more than a second over Gragson, more than two seconds over Josh Berry, more than three seconds over Bayne and more than four seconds over Allgaier.

    With six laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gragson mounted a brief challenge on Custer before the latter cleared the field through the backstretch. Behind, Bayne challenged Gragson for the runner-up spot as Custer started to pull away.

    During the following lap, the caution returned due to an incident involving Creed and Brett Moffitt in Turn 1.

    With the field set to overtime, Custer and Gragson occupied the front row as the race resumed to green flag conditions. At the start, Custer, who spun the tires, managed to retain the lead ahead of Bayne and Gragson as the field fanned out to multiple lanes. Then in Turn 1, Hemric made contact with Brandon Jones as Jones spun across the track and dodged by the oncoming field. The incident, however, sent the race into another overtime attempt.

    At the start of the second overtime attempt, Custer received a strong start to retain the lead as the field fanned out. Then entering Turn 4, a multi-car wreck struck that involved Creed, Stefan Parsons and Brandon Jones, who spun down to the infield and collided against the sand barriers near the pit road entrance, which destroyed the barriers in a sandstorm. The incident occurred before Custer could start the final lap of the event as the race was sent into third overtime attempt.

    Prior to the overtime attempt, the red flag was displayed for 23 minutes for repairs towards the pit road entrance. When the red flag was lifted and the third overtime attempt commenced under green, Custer received another strong start to retain the lead while Gragson and Bayne moved up to second and third followed by Alfredo, who restarted on the front row. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Custer was leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Gragson and the field. With a fast race car, Custer was able to circumnavigate his way around the circuit for a final time and cycle back to the finish line to grab the victory.

    With the victory, Custer claimed his 10th Xfinity Series career win in his 106th series start, his second at Fontana and his first since winning at Dover Motor Speedway in September 2019.

    “Man, it was just an awesome car,” Custer said on FS1. “That [car] was just a rocket ship all day. I can’t thank [owner] Bobby Dotter enough, everybody who was involved on this car. It was just unreal how fast we were. Production Alliance Group, this is awesome, it’s [Dotter’s] race. It’s the Production Alliance Group 300 and we got him to Victory Lane. It’s awesome to win at home, so [I] can’t wait for tomorrow. ”

    Gragson settled in second place while Bayne notched a strong third-place result in his first Xfinity start in six years. 

    “We had the lead there and then came down pit road, slid through the pit box and then, had a really good restart from 11th, got back up to the lead in like a lap or two,” Gragson said. “I felt like the Bass Pro Shops Camaro was really close all day. Just struggled with the cloud cover and the temperature change, being too loose or too tight. Hats off to all the guys on the No. 07 car and Cole Custer. He was really fast today. We finished third last weekend, finished second here this weekend. Hopefully, [we] got some good points. This is not one of my good tracks, so I’ll take a second-place finish…Came up short today, but hey, top threes through the start of two races this season, I’ll take it.

    Josh Berry grabbed his first top-five result of the season by finishing fourth and Anthony Alfredo made the late decision to remain on old tires work to perfection as he finished in fifth place.

    Mayer, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Herbst and Ryan Sieg finished in the top 10.

    There were 19 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured 12 cautions for 58 laps.

    After rallying for a top-10 result, Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by a single point over Gragson, three over Allgaier and 19 over Herbst, Ryan Sieg and Gibbs.

    Results.

    1. Cole Custer, 80 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Noah Gragson, 25 laps led

    3. Trevor Bayne, 24 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Josh Berry

    5. Anthony Alfredo

    6. Sam Mayer

    7. AJ Allmendinger, 13 laps led

    8. Justin Allgaier, seven laps led

    9. Riley Herbst

    10. Ryan Sieg

    11. Brandon Brown

    12. Daniel Hemric, 10 laps led

    13. Ty Gibbs, three laps led

    14. Jeb Burton

    15. Joe Graf Jr.

    16. Kyle Weatherman

    17. Jeremy Clements

    18. Kyle Sieg

    19. Brett Moffitt

    20. Joey Gase

    21. Josh Williams

    22. JJ Yeley

    23. Matt Mills

    24. Alex Labbe

    25. Kaz Grala, two laps down

    26. Myatt Snider, two laps down

    27. Austin Hill, three laps down

    28. Mason Massey, three laps down

    29. Jeffrey Earnhardt, four laps down

    30. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident

    31. Tommy Joe Martins, seven laps down

    32. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident

    33. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    34. Bayley Currey, 11 laps down

    35. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Accident

    36. Jesse Iwuji, 34 laps down

    37. Jade Buford – OUT, Accident

    38. Landon Cassill – OUT, Engine

    The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season proceeds with its second of a three-race West Coast swing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which will occur on Saturday, March 5, at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Austin Hill scores first Xfinity Series career win at Daytona

    Austin Hill scores first Xfinity Series career win at Daytona

    In his first event as a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor, Austin Hill overtook AJ Allmendinger at the moment of caution due to a harrowing multi-car wreck to win the season-opening Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 19, and claim his first Xfinity Series career victory in his 16th series start.

    The 27-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led four times for a total of 23 of the 120-scheduled laps as he made a bold move beneath Allmendinger to emerge out in front and claim the victory in his first event driving the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing.

    The starting lineup was determined through a qualifying session earlier in the day. Daniel Hemric, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 182.849 mph. Joining him on the front row was Austin Hill, an Xfinity rookie candidate who qualified with a lap at 182.423 mph. 

    Ronnie Bassett Jr., Natalie Decker, Gray Gaulding, Alex Labbe, Mason Massey, Stefan Parsons, Harrison Rhodes, David Starr and Tim Viens failed to qualify into the 38-car field.

    Prior to the event, Shane Lee, Sam Mayer and Ryan Truex started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Hemric jumped with an early lead through the first two turns and through the backstraightaway. With the field fanning out to double lanes in the early stages of the event, Hemric led the first lap before he moved to the outside lane to block Sheldon Creed. At the same time, Jade Buford challenged Hemric for the lead, but was unable to clear Hemric as he retained the lead through the following lap.

    Then in Turn 1, Hill pulled his No. 21 Bennett Transportation/United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro beneath Hemric’s No. 11 Athletic Greens Chevrolet as he challenged for the lead. While Hill had teammate Creed behind him, Hemric received drafting support from his new teammate Landon Cassill. 

    Through the first five laps of the event, Hemric and Hill continued to duel for the lead followed by Sheldon Creed, Cassill, Buford, Riley Herbst, Brett Moffitt, Josh Berry, Drew Dollar, Brandon Jones and the field. By then, Anthony Alfredo was black-flagged and was forced to pit to replace a right-side window that fell out of his car.

    Five laps later, Hill was out in front ahead of Hemric, Cassill, Herbst and Gragson. By then, Creed was back in 12th ahead of Brandon Jones. In addition, Ty Gibbs was in 16th and AJ Allmendinger was in 20th.

    On Lap 13, the first caution of the event flew when Drew Dollar got loose in front of Jade Buford entering the backstraightaway and shot his No. 18 Lynx Capital Toyota Supra back across the track into the path of Jeremy Clements as both competitors made hard contact against the outside wall. Behind, Sam Mayer spun, but continued. Under caution, some like Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Hemric remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Gragson was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 19, Hemric, who restarted with the lead, retained the top spot for a full lap as the field jostled behind for positions. 

    By Lap 25 and with the field fanning out to three lanes through close-quarters racing, Hemric continued to lead ahead of Hill, Herbst, Ty Gibbs and Berry while Allmendinger, Cassill, Allgaier, Brandon Brown and Myatt Snider were in the top 10. By then, Gragson was in 12th behind Brandon Jones, Buford and Mayer were in 14th and 15th and Creed was in 19th in between Brett Moffitt and Kyle Weatherman.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage 1, Hill mounted a challenge on Kaulig Racing’s Hemric and Allmendinger for the first stage victory. Entering Turn 3, Hill briefly got by Allmendinger, but the latter fought back entering the frontstretch. Allmendinger, however, was unable to formulate a charge for the stage victory over his new Kaulig Racing teammate as Hemric claimed the first stage victory on Lap 30. Allmendinger settled in second followed by Herbst, Hill, Gragson, Gibbs, Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Brown and Mayer.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Hemric pitted and Brown exited first after electing to not have his tires changed. Mayer and Jeb Burton also pitted for only fuel, some like Hill and Gragson pitted for two fresh tires and others like Hemric pitted for four fresh tires. Back on the track, few like Joe Graf Jr. and Ryan Vargas remained on the track. Prior to the restart, Vargas pitted while Graf remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 36 as Graf and Brown occupied the front row. At the start, both competitors dueled for the lead before Brown pulled ahead entering the backstraightaway while Graf slipped out of the top five. 

    By Lap 40, Brown was out in front of a long line of competitors running towards the outside wall while Gragson, Hill, Gibbs and Ryan Sieg were in the top five. Allgaier, Josh Berry, Buford, Herbst and Creed were in the top 10 while Snider, Hemric, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger and Landon Cassill were in the top 15. Graf was back in 16th ahead of Brett Moffitt, rookie Jesse Iwuji, Shane Lee, Josh Bilicki and Jeb Burton while Mayer was in 23rd.

    Ten laps later on Lap 50, Gragson was out in front of the field after he muscled his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro into the lead during the previous lap. By then, Ryan Sieg was in second ahead of Hill and Kaulig Racing’s Hemric and Allmendinger. 

    Soon after and as the field began to fan out to multiple lanes towards the front, Hemric and Allmendinger moved up to second and third as Gragson retained the lead. By then, Gibbs emerged in the top five as he formed a second line of competitors running on the inside lane ahead of Hill.

    Through the closing laps of the second stage, the field settled in a long single file line towards the outside wall as Gragson led Hemric, Allmendinger, Brown, Sieg and the field. By then, Gibbs had drifted out of the top 15. 

    Then on the final lap of the second stage, Hemric and Gragson made contact while battling for the lead entering Turns 1 and 2, which sent Gragson nearly sideways before he slipped up the track and out of the draft as the former returned to the lead ahead of Sieg and Mayer. With the field unable to gain a draft for a final mount, Hemric was able to claim the second stage victory on Lap 60, which marked the halfway mark of the event. Sieg settled in second ahead of Mayer, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Brown, Gibbs, Berry, Jones and Herbst while Gragson, who managed to preserve his car from wrecking, fell back to 14th.

    Under the stage break, the field returned to pit road and Hemric retained the lead ahead of teammate Allmendinger following a two-tire pit service. Jones, Gibbs and Gragson exited pit road in the top five. During the pit stops, Jesse Iwuji dropped to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation along with Jeb Burton, who had a crew member jump over his pit stall too early. In addition, Allgaier pitted for a second time to address missing lug nuts on his No, 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro.

    With 54 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start, Hemric jumped ahead and pulled in front of teammate Allmendinger to retain the lead while Gibbs mounted a challenge for the lead on the outside lane with drafting help from Sheldon Creed.

    By the next scheduled lap, Gibbs led a lap for himself before Hemric fought back on the inside lane.

    With 50 laps remaining, Hemric was laeding ahead of teammate Allmendinger, Gibbs, Creed and Cassill.

    Four laps later, Kaulig Racing’s Hemric, Allmendinger and Cassill pitted under green. During the following lap, a next wave of competitors, including Mayer, Buford, Creed, Gragson and Hill pitted, but Mayer spun prior to reaching the pit road entrance. Despite the spin, Mayer was able to straighten his car into his pit stall as the race proceeded under green, but he returned not long after for a new bumper cover.

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event and with most of the field having made a pit stop, Josh Bilicki was leading ahead of Matt Mills, Ryan Vargas, Bayley Currey and Josh Williams, all of whom needed to pit, while Shane Lee, CJ McLaughlin, Hill, Gragson and Allmendinger were in the top 10. Cassill, Hemric and Gibbs were in 11th, 12th and 13th ahead of Creed and Brandon Jones.

    Four laps later, the caution returned due to Mayer’s bumper replacement coming off of his car in Turn 4. Under caution, some led by Bilicki pitted while the rest led by Austin Hill remained on the track. Among those who pitted included Hemric, who had all four tires on his car changed due to concerns of flat-spotting his tires.

    With 29 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hill and Gragson dueled for the lead before Hill received a push from Allmendinger on the inside lane to retain the lead for a full lap. 

    Shortly after, the caution flew when the No. 38 Ford Mustang piloted by CJ McLaughlin got loose entering the frontstretch and came back across the middle of the track, which triggered a multi-car wreck that collected Moffitt, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Iwuji, Lee, Tommy Joe Martins, Joey Gase, Josh Williams, Kyle Weatherman and Hemric.

    With 23 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Hill muscled with an early advantage before he moved up the track entering Turns 1 and 2. This allowed Allmendinger to storm to the lead with drafting help from new teammate Landon Cassill.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Allmendinger continued to lead ahead of teammate Cassill and Hill while Gibbs, Gragson, Jones, Herbst, Allgaier, Buford and Jeb Burton were in the top 10. 

    Three laps later, Hill cleared Allmendinger to control both lanes with the lead as he had drafting help from Gragson and Riley Herbst. 

    With less than 15 laps remaining, Allmendinger returned to the lead as Allgaier charged his way to the front ahead of Hill. Allgaier, however, slipped back into the top 10 as Hill led a parade of competitors running towards the outside lane behind Allmendinger’s No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Allmendinger remained as the leader followed by Hill, Gragson, Herbst and Creed, who was back in the top five. Snider, Buford, Bilicki, Brown and Allgaier were in the top 10 ahead of Cassill, Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo, Gibbs and Sieg.

    With five laps remaining and the top-25 competitors separated by five seconds, Allmendinger led ahead of Hill, Gragson, Herbst and Creed. 

    Then with two laps remaining, Gragson made his move to the front on the inside lane and drew himself alongside Allmendinger as the field fanned out to two lanes and close quarters racing. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap commenced, Allmendinger continued to lead ahead of Hill, Gragson and the field. Then on the backstraightaway, Hill, who had drafting help from Herbst, made a crossover move beneath Allmendinger to challenge him for the lead. Behind, a multi-car wreck ensued that started when Myatt Snider got bumped and turned off the front bumper of Anthony Alfredo, which he was then hit by a pack of oncoming cars as his car was sent airborne and caught the catchfence while upside down before landing back on the track right-side up and in a shower of sparks with the front and rear ends of the car shredded off. Among those involved in the wreck included Matt Mills, Buford, Martins, Jeb Burton, Cassill and Gibbs.

    The wreck forced NASCAR to declare the event official and conclude under caution. At the moment of caution, Austin Hill was ruled the winner after emerging out in front of Allmendinger.

    The victory made Hill the 171st overall competitor to achieve a win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the 18th to do so while driving for Richard Childress Racing as RCR achieved their first Xfinity victory at Daytona International Speedway since July 2015. This also marked the first time since RCR’s No. 21 car won an Xfinity event since Kevin Harvick made the last accomplishment at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2007.

    In addition, Hill achieved his second NASCAR national touring series victory at Daytona, the track where he achieved his first Camping World Truck Series in 2019, and he became the first Xfinity Series competitor to score a first career victory at Daytona since Noah Gragson made the last accomplishment in 2020.

    “Me and [spotter] Derek Kneeland worked really well tonight,” Hill said on FS1. “I was learning all night. I kept telling him, ‘Hey, I’m putting that in the bank, I’m putting that in the bank. I’m just putting that in the memory bank to remember for late in the race.’ We timed [the pass] perfectly. Obviously, that caution came out, but we had a heck of a run, so who knows what would’ve happened there. I was able to drag back, [Herbst] gave me a heck of a push, we were able to get by [Allmendinger]. This is so crazy. [I] Won [Daytona] back in 2019 with a new team. Now we’re with RCR, first race with them, we were able to get the job done. Our United Rentals Chevrolet was just as fast as Xfinity Internet. Man, I’m speechless. [Crew chief] Andy Street, [team owner] Richard Childress, just all these guys back at RCR for believing in me. It’s been a fun off-season and now we get to go race for a championship.”

    Despite enduring a wild ride on the final lap, Snider emerged uninjured from his battered No. 31 TaxSlayer Chevrolet Camaro and made the mandatory trip to the infield car center, where he was evaluated and released.

    Allmendinger settled in second place while Gragson, Herbst and Allgaier completed the top five on the track. Creed, Alfredo, Ryan Sieg, Josh Bilicki and Brandon Brown finished in the top 10.

    There were 18 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 28 laps.

    Following the first event of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, Allmendinger leads the regular season standings by four points over Hill, nine over Herbst and Allgaier, 10 over Sieg and 11 over Gragson.

    Results.

    1. Austin Hill, 23 laps led

    2. AJ Allmendinger, 18 laps led

    3. Noah Gragson, 12 laps led

    4. Riley Herbst

    5. Justin Allgaier

    6. Sheldon Creed

    7. Anthony Alfredo

    8. Ryan Sieg

    9. Josh Bilicki, 10 laps led

    10. Brandon Brown, 12 laps led

    11. Ty Gibbs, three laps led

    12. Ryan Truex

    13. JJ Yeley

    14. Landon Cassill

    15. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    16. Josh Berry, one lap led

    17. Brandon Jones

    18. Ryan Vargas

    19. Jeb Burton

    20. Bayley Currey

    21. Kyle Sieg

    22. Myatt Snider – OUT, Accident

    23. Jade Buford – OUT, Accident

    24. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Accident

    25. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    26. Joey Gase, one lap down

    27. Jesse Iwuji, two laps down

    28. Daniel Hemric, four laps down, 38 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    29. Joe Graf Jr., 10 laps down, three laps led

    30. Sam Mayer, 15 laps down

    31. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    32. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

    33. Shane Lee – OUT, Accident

    34. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    35. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Accident

    36. Drew Dollar – OUT, Accident

    37. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    38. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ return to Auto Club Speedway, which also commences a three-week West Coast swing for the series. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, March 26, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Larson wins first Daytona 500 pole, teammate Bowman completes front row grid

    Larson wins first Daytona 500 pole, teammate Bowman completes front row grid

    Kyle Larson picked up right where he left off from the previous season and saved his best for last after the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, claimed the pole position for the 64th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday, February 16.

    The qualifying format that determined the front row of this year’s Daytona 500 was based on two single-car qualifying sessions, each comprised of a single-lap qualifying session for each competitor, where the top-10 fastest qualifiers from a total of 42, transferred from the first to the second round and contended for the pole position.

    Larson, who was the second-to-last competitor to roll his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the track to post a qualifying lap through the first and second sessions, secured the pole position with a pole-winning time at 49.680 seconds at 181.159 mph. With his accomplishment, Larson, who notched his 11th Cup Series career pole, became the 44th different competitor to win the pole for the Great American Race and the first pole winner in the new Next Gen stock cars as he seeks his first 500 victory this weekend. The 500 pole award also was the 15th for Hendrick Motorsports and the 31st overall, 10th in a row, for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    “Yeah, it’s really neat,” Larson said on FS1. “You are really proud of your team to get a pole here because this is the littlest it has to do with us drivers; qualifying at superspeedways. Just a huge thank you to the engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports. Everybody who’s had a part in touching these vehicles; whether it be on the computer, engineering, or just hands-on. It’s really neat. Just awesome the speed in our HendrickCars.com Chevy. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a really good weekend…I think it just be even more special if we could win the Duels tomorrow and go on Sunday and win the [Daytona] 500.”

    Joining Larson on the front row will be teammate Alex Bowman, who made history by claiming his record-setting fifth consecutive front-row starting spot for the 500 as Hendrick Motorsports’ competitors swept the front row for the 500 for the seventh time in 13 seasons. Bowman, the reigning two-time Daytona 500 pole winner, posted the second-fastest qualifying time of 49.711 seconds at 181.046 mph in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    “It’s unbelievable,” Bowman said. “I’ve come down here not locked in, qualified poorly, had to race our way in. It just says so much about Hendrick Motorsports and all these guys. Congrats to [Larson] on getting the pole. It’s cool to be like to have the record, but I feel like [crew chief] Greg Ives and my race team should be the ones that should get the credit for that record because the driver doesn’t really have much to do with it, but glad I didn’t mess it up for them and really happy for Ally and Chevrolet. Cool to be a part of it. We’ve found out every way to lose a 500, so hopefully, we can figure out how to win in on Sunday.”

    William Byron, the 2019 Daytona 500 pole winner, posted the third-fastest qualifying time of 49.711 seconds at 180.850 mph in his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 followed by Aric Almirola, the fastest non-HMS competitor who commenced his swan song season as a full-time NASCAR competitor by posting the fourth-fastest qualifying time of 49.854 seconds at 180.529 mph in his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang. Chase Elliott settled in fifth place with the fifth-fastest qualifying time of 49.913 seconds at 180.314 mph, thus placing all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors in the top five.

    Rounding out the top 10 in qualifying time and speed were Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez and rookie Harrison Burton.

    Daniel Hemric, the reigning Xfinity Series champion who was the first competitor to roll off the grid and was one of 32 competitors that did not transfer to the second qualifying round, posted the 11th-fastest qualifying time of 50.160 seconds at 179.429 mph ahead of Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon.

    Meanwhile, Noah Gragson and Jacques Villeneuve were also left victorious after both raced their way into the Daytona 500 after emerging as the fastest two qualifiers competing for non-chartered teams.

    Gragson, a five-time Xfinity Series race winner who failed to qualify for the 2021 Daytona 500 after being collected in a late multi-car wreck during the second Daytona Duel event, posted the 33rd-fastest qualifying time of 50.689 seconds at 177.553 mph, which was enough for him and his No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team to emerge as the fastest of the non-chartered competitors and teams on the leaderboard. With his accomplishment, Gragson will make his debut in NASCAR’s premier series and in the Great American Race this upcoming weekend.

    “It’s pretty special,” Gragson said. “We have one employee [at Beard Motorsports] with [crew chief] Darren Shaw. We have a lot of help from [Richard Childress Racing] and a great power unit under the hood with ECR. The Beard family, Mrs. Beard and the rest of the family, they allowed me to come drive this race car. [Brendan Gaughan] called me about a year and a half ago, he asked me to come drive this car, and we came up short last year. To be able to make my first Cup start on Sunday, it’s really special. We were the fastest out of all the open cars, so that’s pretty good. [I’m] Gonna be busy this year with JR Motorsports and now the Beard Motorsports’ car this weekend, so super excited, super thankful, and just very proud.”

    Villeneuve, who made his return to the Cup Series for the newly formed Team Hezeberg, posted the 36th-fastest qualifying time of 51.010 seconds at 176.436 mph as he guaranteed himself a starting spot for the 500 based on his speed. With his accomplishment, the 50-year-old Quebec veteran will be making his first Cup career start since competing at Sonoma Raceway in June 2013 and his first career start in the Daytona 500.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Obviously, it’s not a win,” Villeneuve said. “It’s not like winning the Indy 500 or the [Formula One] championship. But at this point in my career, the last time I tried to qualify here was 14 years ago, just to make the show is incredible. Because we’re a small team, we didn’t link up with a big team to get the car ready, and it’s highly unexpected to be able to make it on time. So it ranks right after these big wins.”

    The remaining four open competitors that includes Kaz Grala, Greg Biffle, J.J. Yeley and Timmy Hill will compete for the final two open spots for the Daytona 500 through the Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday night.

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule are a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona International Speedway that will determine the rest of the starting lineup for this year’s 64th running of the Daytona 500 scheduled for February 20 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX. The first Bluegreen Vacations Duel will occur on Thursday, February 17, at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 while the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel will occur approximately two hours later at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Hemric earns first NASCAR Xfinity Series win and championship at Phoenix

    Hemric earns first NASCAR Xfinity Series win and championship at Phoenix

    In a racing career highlighted with numerous heartbreaks and “what-ifs” moments, Daniel Hemric defied the odds and silenced his doubters by capturing two firsts following the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 6: first win and first championship.

    Following an overtime finish for the ages, Hemric, a 30-year-old native from Kannapolis, North Carolina, dueled and rubbed fenders against the reigning series champion Austin Cindric on the final lap and final corner to come out on top by a fender and achieve both his first elusive NASCAR Xfinity Series race win and the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.

    The championship occurred in Hemric’s 208th NASCAR national touring series start (120th in the Xfinity Series) and following 10 runner-up results in the Xfinity circuit while competing for three different teams, including this season with Joe Gibbs Racing.

    Qualifying occurred on Saturday, November 6, to determine the starting lineup and Austin Cindric, the reigning series champion, started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 131.902 mph. John Hunter Nemechek, piloting the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra, qualified alongside Cindric on the front row. 

    With Cindric starting as the highest of four Xfinity competitors vying for this year’s title, Daniel Hemric started fourth, Noah Gragson qualified sixth and AJ Allmendinger lined up in 12th.

    Prior to the event, Harrison Burton dropped to the rear of the field due to multiple inspection failures. JJ Yeley also started at the rear of the field in a backup car after spinning in practice along with David Starr, who dropped back due to unapproved adjustments to his car.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric and Nemechek dueled for the lead through the dogleg, the frontstretch and for a full lap before Nemechek was able to power through and lead the first lap. 

    As the field fanned out and jostled early for positions, Cindric was in second behind Nemechek followed by Hemric, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Gragson. Allmendinger, meanwhile, was in the top 12. 

    Through the first 10 laps of the finale, Nemechek was leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Cindric, who was the highest-running title contender on the track. Hemric settled in third followed by Allgaier, Gragson, Haley, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Allmendinger and Michael Annett. Jeb Burton was in 11th, Sam Mayer was in 13th ahead of Myatt Snider and Ryan Sieg, Brandon Brown was in 16th and Harrison Burton was battling for a top-20 spot. 

    Ten laps later, Cindric made a strong move beneath Nemechek through the frontstretch and the dogleg to take the lead for the first time, though Nemechek kept Cindric’s No. 22 CarShop Ford Mustang within his sights. Hemric remained in third place on the track ahead of Allgaier, Gragson settled in fifth and Allmendinger was mired in 10th behind Annett. 

    Another 10 laps later, Cindric, who navigated his way through lapped traffic, continued to lead by more than seven-tenths of a second over Nemechek’s No. 54 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra. Hemric stabilized himself in third place, but his No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra trailed the two leaders by nearly two seconds as he also had Allgaier closing in for position. Gragson continued to run in fifth while Allmendinger was up in ninth.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Cindric received the early upper hand in his bid to defend his series title as he captured his season-high 13th stage victory of the season. Behind, Hemric edged teammate Nemechek to settle in second followed by Allgaier, Gragson, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger, Annett, Herbst and Haley.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for adjustments and Hemric emerged with the lead following a stellar work from his pit crew that enabled him to exit pit road with the top spot. Cindric exited in second followed by Jones, Gragson, Allgaier, Nemechek and Allmendinger.

    The second stage started on Lap 52 as Hemric and Gragson occupied the front row followed by Jones, Cindric, Allmendinger and Allgaier. At the start, Hemric rocketed away with the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch and the dogleg. 

    The following lap, Cindric muscled his way back to second as Allgaier challenged teammate Gragson for third along with Nemechek.

    Nearing the Lap 60 mark, the caution flew due to an on-track incident and long spin for Jeffrey Earnhardt on the backstretch as the incident also involved Joe Graf Jr. and Kyle Weatherman. At the time of caution, Hemric was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Cindric. In addition, Allgaier and Nemechek, both of whom were battling for third place, had made on-track contact twice towards the frontstretch in front of Gragson while Allmendinger was in sixth ahead of teammate Justin Haley.

    On Lap 65, the race restarted under green as Hemric and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Hemric and Allgaier dueled for the lead as the field again fanned out through the frontstretch. Through the backstretch, however, Hemric was able to clear Allgaier to retain the top spot until Nemechek, who gained a strong run entering the frontstretch, muscled his way back to the top spot the following lap.

    With Nemechek leading teammate Hemric, Allgaier retained third ahead of Cindric while Allmendinger and Gragson battled for fifth. 

    Through the first 75 laps of the event, Nemechek was leading by nearly a second over teammate Hemric and Cindric. Teammates Allgaier and Gragson were in the top five followed by Allmendinger, Haley, Jeb Burton, Annett and Harrison Burton, who methodically worked his way from the rear of the field. 

    Five laps later, Nemechek extended his advantage to more than a second while Hemric and Cindric challenged one another for the runner-up spot and for the championship lead.

    With four laps remaining in the second stage, Hemric, who managed to cut his deficit to Nemechek amid lapped traffic, overtook teammate Nemechek entering the frontstretch to reassume the lead. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Hemric echoed his challenge for his first NASCAR national touring series title against his fellow competitors by capturing his 10th stage victory of the season. Cindric managed to overtake Nemechek to move into second followed by Allgaier, Gragson, Allmendinger, Haley, Harrison Burton, Annett and Herbst.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Hemric retained the lead following another strong service from his crew followed by Cindric, Nemechek, Allgaier, Allmendinger and Harrison Burton while Gragson, who dodged an uncontrolled tire pit road penalty, dropped to 10th.

    With 103 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch and through the first turn. Amid the start, Hemric retained the lead ahead of Cindric, Nemechek, Allmendinger, Harrison Burton and Allgaier. 

    The following lap, the caution returned due to a hard accident involving Joe Graf Jr. in Turn 1 after making contact with Sage Karam.

    Under the final 93 laps of the finale, the field restarted under green. At the start and with the field again fanning out through the frontstretch, Hemric dueled and managed to fend off Nemechek to retain the lead ahead of a steaming pack of cars. 

    During the following lap, however, the caution returned when Sage Karam made contact with Matt Mills, which sent Mills into the Turn 1 outside wall and with right-side damage.

    Under caution, Gragson pitted his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro for a chassis adjustment while the rest led by Hemric remained on the track.

    With 87 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hemric retained the lead by a narrow margin over Cindric and Nemechek as Harrison Burton made his way up to fourth ahead of Allgaier. 

    Two laps later, Cindric made a bold move beneath Hemric entering the frontstretch and nearly slid in front of Hemric’s No. 18 Toyota to take the lead. Behind, Harrison Burton challenged Nemechek and Allgaier for third while Allmendinger was battling teammate Haley and Annett for sixth.

    With approximately 75 laps remaining, the caution returned due to possible fluid on the track when the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro driven by Stefan Parsons erupted in flames past the start/finish line as he parked his car on the dogleg in the frontstretch. At the time of the caution, Cindric was leading by a reasonable margin over Hemric, Nemechek, Allgaier and Harrison Burton.

    Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Cindric retained the lead following a strong service from his pit crew ahead of Nemechek, Allgaier, Allmendinger and Hemric.

    With 66 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Cindric and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier pulled ahead on the inside lane in front of Cindric and the field.

    Not long after, the caution returned when Jade Buford spun in Turn 2. Then, Allgaier, the leader, was penalized for dropping below the apron and the yellow line prior to crossing the start/finish line during the previous restart. Allgaier’s penalty moved Cindric back to the lead ahead of Hemric. In the midst of the restart, Gragson, who restarted 13th, was up to seventh.

    Down to the final 60 laps of the finale, the field restarted under green as Cindric and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric retained the lead while Hemric moved up to second after Allmendinger made contact with Nemechek entering the first turn. Behind, Gragson challenged Harrison Burton and Allmendinger for fourth as Jeb Burton joined the party. 

    Ten laps later, Cindric continued to lead by more than a second over Nemechek and Hemric, both of whom were battling for the runner-up spot before the former prevailed. Gragson was in fifth behind Harrison Burton while Allmendinger was in sixth.

    With 40 laps remaining, Cindric stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Nemechek while third-place Hemric kept the two leaders within his sights as close as possible. Behind, Gragson was up in fourth ahead of Harrison Burton while Allmendinger was mired back in sixth, trailing the lead by more than five seconds.

    Under the final 30 laps of the finale, Cindric increased his advantage to nearly two seconds over Nemechek. Hemric trailed by more than two seconds while Gragson and Allmendinger remained in fourth and sixth.

    Down to the final 24 laps of the finale, Hemric’s charge for the championship began as he overtook teammate Nemechek for second place. By then, Cindric continued to lead amid lapped traffic, but was only approximately two seconds ahead.

    Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution flew when Allmendinger, who was in sixth and trying to pit under green amid vibration issues, spun his No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet Camaro below the Turn 2 apron and near the pit road entrance. The caution all but erased Cindric’s advantage over Hemric, Nemechek and the field.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Cindric retained the lead following another stellar service from his pit crew. Hemric exited in second followed by Gragson, Harrison Burton, Nemechek and Haley.

    Down to the final 13 laps of the finale, the field restarted under green. At the start and with the field fanning out through the dogleg, Cindric dueled against Hemric while Gragson challenged behind. Through the first two turns and the backstretch, Cindric, who had Gragson trailing behind him, managed to fend off Hemric on the outside lane to retain the lead back to the frontstretch and past the start/finish line. Just then, the caution flew when Jeb Burton, who was in a three-wide battle, spun following contact with Sheldon Creed in Turn 3, which drew the caution as Burton continued without sustaining any serious damage.

    With eight laps remaining, the field restarted under green. At the start and with the field again fanning out through the dogleg, Hemric dueled against Cindric trough the first two turns followed by Gragson, but Cindric managed to clear Hemric through the backstretch. 

    The following lap, Gragson, who tried to narrow the gap between himself and his two title rivals, slid up and hit the Turn 1 outside wall. Though he continued to run under power, he was losing spots on the track and losing ground towards his championship bid. Meanwhile, Hemric started to launch an attack beneath Cindric for the lead through Turns 3 and 4.

    Just then, the caution returned when Buford and Josh Williams wrecked in Turn 3. The wreck was enough to send the finale into overtime.

    In overtime, Cindric and Hemric again dueled for the lead through the first two turns ahead of the field. Remaining side-by-side through the backstretch, Hemric wiggled slightly underneath Cindric entering Turn 3 and barely clipped Cindric, but both continued running straight approach the frontstretch. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Cindric was still leading by a narrow margin over Hemric as Harrison Burton tried to spoil the battle. 

    Entering the first turn, Cindric had Hemric cleared for the top spot. Hemric then tried to draw himself alongside Cindric entering the backstretch, but Cindric fought back on the outside lane and Hemric chose to settle behind Cindric through the straightaway. Then on the final corner, Hemric sent his No. 18 Toyota as hard as he could to the inside lane and managed to move Cindric up the track entering Turn 4. As both competitors dueled and rubbed fenders coming to the finish line, Hemric managed to pull ahead and beat Cindric by 0.030 seconds to win the race and the championship. 

    With his accomplishment, Hemric became the 31st different competitor to achieve an Xfinity Series championship, the third to do so while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, the third to do so while driving a Toyota and the 170th different competitor to win an Xfinity race. In addition to becoming the sixth first-time Xfinity winner of 2021, Hemric became the first competitor to record a first career race win and series championship in the same event. The win and the championship occurred in Hemric’s final ride with Joe Gibbs Racing as he will be moving to Kaulig Racing and attempt to defend his series title in 2022.

    The Xfinity championship was also the first for veteran crew chief Dave Rogers, who kept Hemric poised and composed to attack late for the win and the title.

    Ironically, Hemric and his No. 18 JGR Toyota team rallied from an early scare to the weekend, where his primary hauler that was transporting his car broke down while commuting to Phoenix and had to be transported on an alternate hauler. The hauler was able to arrive with the car as Hemric was able to hit the track for the series’ lone Xfinity practice session on Friday, November 5.

    Upon claiming his championship flag and performing a long victorious burnout, Hemric capped off his long-awaited first win in NASCAR by performing a victorious backflip in front of his crew and the Phoenix fans.

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[I] Lost my breath! Unbelievable!” Hemric said on NBCSN. “These guys right here, they’ve been asking me all year, ‘How bad do you want it?’ I gave [the win] away here [at Phoenix] in the spring. [I] Felt like we had to give one up last week to get here. We were not going to be denied. Thank you, Dave Rogers, Bill and Cindy Gallaher, everyone at Poppy Bank, Lou Gallaher, Jr., I’m talking to you. Man, they took a chance on me. 2015, some form or fashion. They stuck with me through times. They probably shouldn’t have, to be honest with you. How about those race fans? That backflip good enough for you? I’ve been waiting a long damn time to do that. Thank you Joe Gibbs, everyone at [Toyota Racing Development], Toyota…Everyone here that makes this program what it is. I know I’ve given up a lot. People doubted me. I’ll do it all over again for a night like this. I’m blacked out. Just knew I had to be the first one to the [finish] line…This is what it’s all about. Winning at the second-highest level in all of motorsports. What an honor. Unbelievable! I’ll do it all over again. I’ll take all the heartbreaks again to live this right here. That’s the greatest feeling in the world.”

    While on the championship stage and hoisting the trophy, Hemric took a moment to evoke a powerful message about perseverance and emerging victorious amid the struggles in life.

    “[This championship] ain’t for all those kids about racing trying to get to a level,” Hemric said. “It’s about people in life. It’s about coming from nothing and making yourself all that you work for. That’s what it’s all about. This is the American dream. I’m living a history of it, living proof of it. Un-be-lievable.”

    Cindric, who was trying to become the eighth different competitor to achieve back-to-back Xfinity titles, settled in second place in a season highlighted with five victories and his last in the series as a full-time competitor, where he will be moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series to pilot the No. 2 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2022. Despite the result, Cindric, who managed to wrap up the sixth Xfinity Series owner’s title for team owner Roger Penske, kept his head high over the late battle for the driver’s title.

    “If everyone in the stands enjoyed it, it’s good racing,” Cindric said. “I’m very appreciative of the opportunity to race on such a big stage, the opportunity to race for Roger Penske, to represent Ford Performance, our companies and all of our sponsors that have helped us this season. It would’ve been awesome to finish this out. I felt like we had a dominant race car. I felt like we did everything right. Come up a little short. Sometimes, it’s like that way. Unfortunately, at the end of both seasonal championships [regular and season] this year, I’m getting moved out of the way and doored, but that’s hard racing. That’s why everyone enjoys watching this series. It’s because there’s a lot on the line. Thankful for the opportunity and pissed to be second for like the third week in a row.”‘

    Gragson, meanwhile, never recovered following his late contact into the wall and slipped back to 12th place in the final running order, which left him in a career-best third-place result in the final standings and in a season where he captured three victories. During his post-race interview, Gragson gave props to his crew chief Dave Elenz, who will be moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022, while the driver will be remaining as a full-time competitor for JR Motorsports for the upcoming season.

    “Just disappointed,” Gragson said. “I’m not really sure what happened there on that second-to-last restart. I got just sideways off into [Turn] 1, like there’s oil down or something. I’m kind of mind-blown on what happened. [I] Hit the wall there running third. We rebounded really well, I thought, from pit road, mistake early on in the race. Everybody just dug deep, kept working hard. A lot of big adjustments. We didn’t have the car nearly where we wanted it to be all weekend, practice, qualifying. Those guys, they beat us tonight. Just not enough this weekend. We didn’t bring out best car. Just thankful, really thankful. We’ll go on next year.”

    Like Gragson, Allmendinger, who struggled with pace throughout the finale, could not recover from his late spin and ended the season in 14th place on the track and with a career-best fourth-place result in the final standings. Despite the late misfortune during the finale, Allmendinger praised his team, Kaulig Racing, for the season-long performance that included five victories and the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship. Like Hemric and Gragson, Allmendinger will be remaining in the Xfinity circuit with Kaulig in 2022.

    “I just probably need to be a little better here [at Phoenix] as well to kind of lead us in a better direction,” Allmendinger said. “That’s part of growth here at Kaulig Racing. Of course, you’d like to have at least contended for [the championship]. Then I thought at worst, we’re gonna finish fifth or sixth. Then, the wheel was coming off on the right rear. I apologized to Austin [Cindric] because I think he had the race probably won. I don’t want to be a part of the storyline like that. I’d like to have been a better storyline, but part of the growth. Definitely not what we wanted today, tonight. We’ll come back strong. Thanks to all the men and women at Kaulig Racing, [owner] Matt Kaulig, [team president] Chris Rice for making this such a dream season. We kept making the Hyperice Chevy just a little bit better, but never really had the speed we needed to go run with [Cindric] or [Hemric]…We’ll come do this again next year.”

    Harrison Burton, who made his final start with Joe Gibbs Racing before moving up to the Cup circuit to drive for the Wood Brothers Racing team, finished third on the track followed by Riley Herbst and Justin Haley. John Hunter Nemechek, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Michael Annett finished 11th in his 436th and final NASCAR national touring series start before retiring from full-time competition.

    Despite not competing in the Xfinity finale, Ty Gibbs earned the 2021 Xfinity Series Rookie-of-the-Year title in a season where he won his first four career races in 18 starts.

    The 2021 Xfinity finale was the final race aired on NBCSN as USA Network will covering the majority of NASCAR Xfinity and Cup events during the second half of the 2022 season.

    There were 16 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 61 laps.

    Results.

    1. Daniel Hemric, 48 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Austin Cindric, 113 laps, Stage 1 winner

    3. Harrison Burton

    4. Riley Herbst

    5. Justin Haley

    6. John Hunter Nemechek, 39 laps led

    7. Brandon Jones

    8. Brett Moffitt

    9. Justin Allgaier

    10. Sheldon Creed

    11. Michael Annett, one lap led

    12. Noah Gragson, three laps led

    13. Sam Mayer

    14. AJ Allmendinger

    15. Dylan Lupton

    16. Blaine Perkins

    17. Ryan Sieg

    18. Jeremy Clements

    19. Myatt Snider

    20. Brandon Brown

    21. David Starr

    22. JJ Yeley

    23. Jeb Burton

    24. Tommy Joe Martins

    25. Sage Karaam

    26. Kyle Weatherman

    27. Kyle Sieg

    28. Ryan Vargas

    29. Matt Mills

    30. Alex Labbe, two laps down

    31. Bayley Currey, four laps down

    32. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    33. Jade Buford – OUT, Accident

    34. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Engine

    35. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    36. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    Bold indicates championship finale contenders.

    Final standings.

    1. Daniel Hemric

    2. Austin Cindric

    3. Noah Gragson

    4. AJ Allmendinger

    5. Justin Allgaier

    6. Justin Haley

    7. Brandon Jones

    8. Harrison Burton

    9. Myatt Snider

    10. Jeb Burton

    11. Riley Herbst

    12. Jeremy Clements

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ teams and competitors enters its off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 19, to commence the 2022 season. The event is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.