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  • 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.

  • Allmendinger three-peats at the Charlotte Roval, Playoff’s Round of 8 set

    Allmendinger three-peats at the Charlotte Roval, Playoff’s Round of 8 set

    A week after being eliminated in an early accident at Talladega Superspeedway, AJ Allmendinger raced his way into the Round of 8 in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs after leading the final 21 laps and winning the Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for a third consecutive season on Saturday, October 9.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Playoff contender Austin Cindric started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Justin Allgaier.

    Prior to the event, Michael Annett, who returned as driver of the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro for the first time since Richmond Raceway in September, started at the rear of the field due to replacing Josh Berry, who was originally on the entry list.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric and Allgaier battled dead even for the lead entering the first turn while Jeb Burton and Noah Gragson made a four-wide move on Harrison Burton and Justin Haley to move up towards the top five.

    From Turn 1, the six additional infield turns of the Roval and entering Turn 8, Cindric managed to remain with the lead ahead of Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and the field. Behind, Tommy Joe Martins spun entering Turn 8, but the race remained under green as the field scattered to avoid Martins. Shortly after, Kris Wright, who sustained a flat tire, spun entering the backstretch chicane.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Cindric was able to lead the first lap ahead of Allgaier, Hemric, Brandon Jones and Gragson, who was being challenged by Haley.

    As the field made their way out of the infield turns in Turn 8, the first caution flew when Sage Karam spun in Turn 6 following on-track contact. At the same time, Jade Buford, who was trying to dodge Karam, pinned his car against Brett Moffitt and the wall as the field behind was forced to scatter. 

    By the fifth lap, the race restarted on the frontstretch. At the start, Allgaier challenged Cindric side-by-side through the infield turns before Cindric prevailed entering Turn 7. While battling Hemric for the runner-up spot, Allgaier locked up his tires entering the backstretch chicane, but managed to keep his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro straight and through the chicane clean, though he lost the spot to Hemric.

    Three laps later, Allgaier slipped and made contact with the wall in Turn 2, damaging the right side of his Camaro. The incident forced Allgaier to pit under green and fall below the running order. At the same time, Cindric, who was leading, missed the backstretch chicane and served his penalty by stopping on the frontsretch chicane, thus surrendering the lead to Daniel Hemric. 

    Another three laps later, the second caution of the event flew due to Gray Gaulding stalling in the backstretch. Under caution, some like Michael Annett, Brandon Brown and Allgaier pitted while the rest led by Hemric remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 14, Hemric retained the lead over Cindric entering the infield turns as the field fanned out to multiple lanes and jostled for positions. Through the infield turns, the oval turns and the chicanes in the backstretch and frontstretch, Hemric was able to remain ahead of Cindric, Gragson, AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Justin Haley while the field battled in a single-file line.

    With five laps remaining in the first stage, Hemric was leading by nearly a second over Cindric while Allmendinger, Gragson and Haley were in the top five. Brandon Jones was in sixth ahead of Gibbs, Herbst, Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton. Meanwhile, Josh Williams spun in the backstretch chicane, but the race remained under green.

    Just as the pit road closed with two laps remaining in the second stage, Cindric peeled his No. 22 Richmond/Menards Ford Mustang to pit road for service and in preparation for the second stage. Meanwhile, Hemric continued to lead by more than three seconds over runner-up Allmendinger and nearly second seconds over third-place Gragson. By then, Gibbs overtook Haley to move into fourth place.

    On the final lap of the first stage, the third caution of the event flew due to possible fluid on the course and when No. 15 Toyota driven by Kris Wright, who was smoking through the backstretch, came to a stop in Turn 12 due to a broken track bar. The caution was enough for the first stage scheduled on Lap 20 to conclude under a cautious pace as Hemric claimed his eighth stage victory of the season. AJ Allmendinger settled in second followed by Gragson, rookie Ty Gibbs, Haley, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton and Jeremy Clements.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Hemric pitted while few led by Cindric, who pitted prior to the first stage’s conclusion, remained on the track. 

    The second stage started on Lap 22 as Cindric and rookie Sam Mayer filled the front row. At the start, Cindric retained the lead over Mayer entering the first turn while the field fanned out to three and four lanes. Behind, Hemric muscled his pink No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra to third followed by Gragson, who made a four-wide move prior to the first turn to move up into the top five.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Cindric was the leader of a four-car breakaway stretched out by less than a second. Meanwhile, Allmendinger was in fifth, trailing by three seconds, while Austin Hill, Haley, Preston Pardus, Brandon Jones and Gibbs were in the top 10.

    By Lap 25, Cindric continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Mayer while Hemric, Gragson and Allmendinger remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Allgaier was mired in 29th in between Loris Hezemans and Stefan Parsons.

    Three laps later, the fourth caution of the event flew when Josh Bilicki ran over the curbs through the backstretch chicane and destroyed the front spitter of his car, where the front of his car went airborne before he limped to pit road in a cloud of smoke and ended up in the garage. The debris and damage towards the backstretch was enough for the event to be red-flagged for approximately five minutes.

    When the red flag was lifted following the cleanup and repairs to the chicane, names like Herbst pitted under caution while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    Down to the final laps of the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Cindric powered ahead on the inside lane while Mayer struggled to launch on the outside lane. Through the infield turns and the circuit turns while the field jostled for positions, Cindric was leading ahead of Hemric, Haley, Gibbs and Mayer.

    A lap later, Jeb Burton made contact with the wall entering Turn 2, but he proceeded under green and just outside of the top 15.

    When the field surpassed the halfway mark on Lap 35, Cindric stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Hemric. Meanwhile, Gibbs moved his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra up to third place while Haley and Mayer remained in the top five. 

    Just then, the caution returned due to debris reported on the frontstretch. Under caution, some led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Hemric remained on the track.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage, the race resumed under green. At the start, Hemric fended off Haley to maintain the lead entering and exiting the infield turns. He also continued to stabilize his lead through the backstretch chicane, the oval turns and the frontstretch chicane.

    On the final lap of the second stage, Haley started to close in and challenge Hemric for the top spot. Despite getting close to Hemric’s rear bumper through the infield, Hemric continued to lead over Haley. Haley issued a final challenge on Hemric entering the frontstretch chicane, but the latter managed to hold him off to win the second stage on Lap 40 and record his ninth stage victory of the season. Haley settled in second followed by Myatt Snider, Gragson, Clements, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, Gibbs, Jeb Burton and Mayer. By then, Hemric and Allgaier secured their spots for the Round of 8 in the 2021 Xfinity Series Playoffs based on points.

    Under the stage break, some led by Hemric pitted while the rest led by Gibbs and Mayer remained on the track.

    With 25 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Gibbs jumped ahead from the field following a strong start while the rest of the field jostled for positions through multiple lanes.

    The following lap, Gibbs was out in front by one-and-a-half seconds over Mayer, who had Allmendinger and Cindric challenging behind. Herbst, who was now placed in a “must win” situation to keep his title hopes alive, was in fifth ahead of Sage Karam, Allgaier, Ty Dillon, Alex Labbe and Haley while Hemric was mired in 13th. Meanwhile, cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton, both of whom were battling one another for a Playoff spot, were in 16th and 18th.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Gibbs continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Allmendinger, who was methodically closing in for the lead. Behind, Cindric moved up to third while Mayer fell back to fourth. Karam was in fifth ahead of Haley, Allgaier, Hemric, Herbst and Labbe. By then, cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton were in 15th and 16th.

    Just then, Gibbs, who was battling brake issues, missed the backstretch chicane and was forced to come to a complete stop on the backstretch before proceeding. Gibbs’ misfortune allowed Allmendinger to take the lead as Cindric and Mayer moved up to second and third, thus dropping Gibbs to fourth ahead of Karam.

    Five laps later, Allmendinger was leading by nearly four seconds over Cindric while Mayer, Haley and Hemric were in the top five. Karam was in sixth ahead of Gibbs while Allgaier and Herbst battled for eighth in front of Labbe. Harrison Burton was mired in 15th ahead of teammate Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, Clements and Gragson while Michael Annett was in 21st.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over Cindric and Mayer. Haley, who was in fourth, trailed by nearly nine seconds while Hemric, who was mired in fifth, trailed by more than 13 seconds. 

    Not long after, Cindric got loose approaching Turn 7, which allowed Mayer to briefly move into second before Cindric fought back through the oval turns. While both Cindric and Mayer battled, Allmendinger extended his advantage to more than six seconds. In addition, Haley started to close in on Cindric and Mayer for the runner-up spot.

    With five laps remaining, Allmendinger remained as the leader by nearly nine seconds over Cindric, who was under fire by Mayer, Haley, Hemric and Gibbs for the runner-up spot. By then, Herbst took his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang to the garage due to a rear end issue. The late misfortune ended Herbst’s hopes of advancing to the Round of 8.

    A lap later, the caution flew due to an incident involving Tommy Joe Martins in Turn 14. The caution all but evaporated Allmendinger’s advantage of nearly nine seconds.

    Under caution, names like Hemric, Labbe, Allgaier, Gragson, Snider, Michael Annett and Ryan Sieg pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

    With two laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger launched ahead on the inside lane while Cindric spun the tires on the outside lane. Through the infield turns and the chicanes while the field battled for late positions, Allmendinger maintained the lead ahead of Mayer while Gibbs and Cindric battled for third. 

    When the final lap started, Allmendinger continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Gibbs and Mayer, both of whom battled for second ahead of Cindric and Hemric. Then entering Turn 5, Mayer sent Gibbs in a spin, dropping Gibbs back to sixth as Cindric, Mayer, Haley and Hemric moved up the leaderboard. Soon after, Mayer missed the backstretch chicane and came to a stop before proceeding. By then, Mayer dropped out of the top 10.

    In the midst of the late spins and battles, Allmendinger was long gone as he made his way through the frontstretch chicane and cruised his No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet Camaro across the finish line for the win.

    With the victory, Allmendinger captured his sixth road course win, which was the most all-time for an Xfinity competitor. In addition, he captured his fifth victory of the season and his 10th triumph in the Xfinity circuit as he took another step closer in capturing his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    “I knew [the final caution] was coming out,” Allmendinger said on NBC. “It wasn’t gonna go simple like that. That was a fight today. We had to be kind of on defense early, worried about the points. This place was tough to pass. The track was really slick to begin with, obviously with all the rain. [I] Can’t thank all the men and women at Kaulig Racing enough, [team owner] Matt Kaulig, [team president] Chris Rice. This Hyperice Chevy, once it got into the lead, it was stupid fast. The big picture’s the championship, but getting another win, three in a row here at the Roval, that means the world to me…What an awesome day.”

    As the cars were approaching the finish line, a multi-car melee struck that involved Gibbs, Josh Williams, Brandon Brown and Ty Dillon.

    Cindric, who secured his spot for the Playoffs based on points a week ago at Talladega Superspeedway, finished in second place after leading a race-high 22 laps while Hemric, who won both stages and led 17 laps, made his way up to third place on fresh tires.

    “Pretty solid round,” Cindric said. “I feel like today’s a bit of a missed opportunity. I feel like I was able to drive as hard as I wanted to today. I made some mistakes because of it, but learned some things. [I] Thought we were gonna be a bit better today, but it should set us up for Texas. I know we put in a fast lap early. Finishing second and good in points. I had fun today.”

    Haley, Brandon Jones and Gragson secured their spots for the Round of 8 after finishing fourth, fifth and sixth while Preston Pardus, Snider, Allgaier and Mayer ended up in the top 10 on the track.

    “I think me and AJ probably had the best cars there,” Haley said. “His points gap coming into today just allowed him to short-pit and get the lead, and I had to go through traffic through that second stage. I think we had a pretty good LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet. A second-place car. I don’t know. We never really got towards AJ, but awesome day. Locked into the Round of 8.”

    “Pretty much, all the road courses this year haven’t been too bad to us,” Jones said. “Lot of time, lot of effort into trying to make something of this. There’s been a lot of additions at road courses, so it’s a big part of our schedule now. Today paid off for us, I think, having a lot of preparation to come into this weekend and have a run like we did. [I] Did exactly what I really needed to do. I know when when we step into a race track, we wanna win. That’s our main goal, but we sat down as a team and said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna make it to the next round.’ It’s all about being smart…All that went perfect.”

    “[Today] was alright,” Gragson said. “I didn’t really feel like we had the speed we did here in the rain or the dry in the past. [I] Salvaged a fourth- or fifth-place car. To come home sixth from starting at the back there at the end, we’re just focused on points the whole time. Pretty much, just race the race at 80 percent, 85 percent. There’s a lot at risk, but there’s a lot of reward here at this race track for speed and it’s a big penalty when you go off…Came back, did our job, collected points in all three stages and came home a sixth-place finish. We’ll keep on pushing. On to the next round in the Playoffs.”

    In the midst of the late chaos and battles, Harrison Burton coasted his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra across the finish line in 15th and secured the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 over his cousin Jeb Burton, who had his title hopes come to an end.

    “Yeah, it was a boring race for us ’cause it was just pins and needles,” Harrison Burton said. “We had two decent first stages where we ran about seventh or eighth or wherever. Then we come into this race, the last stage, and it’s like, ‘OK, just stay wherever [Jeb] is.’ It wasn’t the most fun. I wasn’t able to be aggressive, be like myself, just kind of cruising, so that was boring. Glad it worked out. Now we can go and we’ll go win and get into Phoenix. That’s all that matters is getting to Phoenix with a chance. These next three races, [we] might have to win one. These are all great tracks for us, so I’m excited to go try.”

    “I made a couple of mistakes,” Jeb Burton said. “I got in the wall and I was side by side with Harrison. Luckily, it didn’t end our day, but I just need some more laps here. I hadn’t raced here before. I was getting better and better. [I] Appreciate Kaulig [Racing] and everything they’re doing for me. Congrats to AJ. He helped me a lot. Just needed a little bit more.”

    AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, Daniel Hemric, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton have transferred into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs. Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements have been eliminated from title contention.

    “I made a rookie mistake there,” Snider said. “I pulled out too soon on the restart, knowing there were a couple of slow cars in front of me. I was just trying to get all I could and misunderstood the rule that I follow. That’s on me. [Crew chief] Andy Street made a great call to get us tires there at the end, help us get back up there to eighth and get ourselves a fight for it, but finished eighth and we’re still 15 points out, we’re gonna need a lot more than that. Really proud of everybody on the TaxSlayer crew for slaying it. That’s what I gotta learn for next year’s ride. It’s just to not make those rookie mistakes…Something to build on.”

    “We just got in a wreck the first [Playoff] race we couldn’t avoid, broke a rocker arm at Talladega, lost a cylinder and rode around, and battled hard here today with our pink All South Electric Chevrolet,” Clements said. “We weren’t as fast as Xfinity internet this round, but we’re gonna keep digging deep and give it all we got. We got four more races to learn and try to get better for next year. I’m proud of our effort. This is how we should’ve ran the last two races, so it is what it is. We were dealt the cards we had and we were in a big whole, but just proud of our group. I’m proud we made the Playoffs and we’re gonna keep trying to get faster.”

    There were six lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 13 laps.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 21 laps led

    2. Austin Cindric, 22 laps led

    3. Daniel Hemric, 17 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    4. Justin Haley

    5. Brandon Jones

    6. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    7. Preston Pardus

    8. Myatt Snider

    9. Justin Allgaier

    10. Sam Mayer

    11. Josh Williams

    12. Jeremy Clements

    13. Jeb Burton

    14. Alex Labbe

    15. Harrison Burton

    16. Jade Buford

    17. Landon Cassill

    18. Austin Hill

    19. JJ Yeley

    20. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    21. Ty Gibbs, seven laps led

    22. Brandon Brown

    23. Kyle Weatherman

    24. Stefan Parsons

    25. Sage Karam

    26. Ty Dillon

    27. Michael Annett

    28. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    29. Will Rodgers, one lap down

    30. Matt Mills, one lap down

    31. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    32. Ryan Sieg, two laps down

    33. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Accident

    34. Riley Herbst – OUT, Suspension

    35. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Electrical

    36. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Axle

    37. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    38. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    39. Kris Wright – OUT, Suspension

    40. Gray Gaulding – OUT, Rear gear

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    2. Austin Cindric – Advanced

    3. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

    4. Noah Gragson – Advanced

    5. Daniel Hemric – Advanced

    6. Justin Haley – Advanced

    7. Harrison Burton – Advanced

    8. Brandon Jones – Advanced

    9. Jeb Burton – Eliminated

    10. Myatt Snider – Eliminated

    11. Riley Herbst – Eliminated

    12. Jeremy Clements – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will commence next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway for a 300-mile feature. The event will occur on Saturday, October 16, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • Brandon Brown achieves first NASCAR Xfinity career win at Talladega

    Brandon Brown achieves first NASCAR Xfinity career win at Talladega

    An ultimate underdog story was made on a dark afternoon in Talladega, Alabama, after Brandon Brown dodged two late multi-car wrecks and emerged out in front of the field to win the weather-shortened Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 2, and score his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win.

    Brown, who achieved his first Xfinity win in his 114th career start, had managed to remain as the leader ahead of Playoff contenders Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier when the caution flew for a late multi-car wreck involving Harrison Burton. During the cleanup session, the track was beginning to darken and NASCAR eventually made the call for the race to be deemed official six laps shy of the scheduled distance and under caution, thus handing a first career win for the Woodbridge, Virginia, native and his family operated team.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Playoff contender Justin Allgaier started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Austin Cindric.

    Prior to the event, Justin Haley, winner of both Xfinity events at Talladega in 2020, started at the rear of the field due to illegally applied decals that were found on the rear roof of his car during pre-race inspection. In addition, he was forced to serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the race.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Allgaier jumped ahead with an early advantage through the first turn until Cindric fought back on the inside lane entering the backstretch. 

    With the field fanning out to double lanes and running in a tight pack for a full turn, Cindric, who moved in front of Allgaier through the backstretch, led the first lap by a nose over Allgaier. Cindric was the lead car on the inside lane followed by Josh Berry while Allgaier led the outside lane, where he received drafting help from teammate Noah Gragson.

    Two laps later, Berry, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Las Vegas, gained a draft on Cindric through the frontstretch and pulled a slingshot move to lead a lap for himself.

    Through the first six laps of the event, Cindric, who reassumed the lead two laps earlier, was leading followed by Berry, Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger and Gragson while Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton, Myatt Snider and John Hunter Nemechek were in the top 10 as Jeb Burton, winner of the spring Talladega event, was in 11th.

    By Lap 10, Allmendinger was leading ahead of Brandon Jones, Cindric and a steaming pack of cars competing in close quarters and double lanes. By then, three different competitors (Allmendinger, Cindric and Berry) had led a lap, comprising of six lead changes.

    Five laps later and as the field fanned out to three and four lanes, Brandon Jones, who took over the lead on Lap 13, was leading followed by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Harrison Burton, Nemechek and Hemric while Allmendinger settled in fifth ahead of teammate Jeb Burton and Myatt Snider. 

    A lap later, Harrison Burton took the lead after Jones got stalled by Justin Haley in Turn 1, who was trying to remain on the lead lap following his opening lap penalty. Behind, Allgaier and Jeb Burton made contact and nearly wrecked in the middle of the field. 

    The following lap, Jones shoved Haley out of the draft with the pack, placing him a lap behind the leaders as Harrison Burton continued to lead ahead of the field. 

    Then through the frontstretch, Harrison Burton was placed in a three-wide battle with teammates Jones and Nemechek before he got shuffled out, which allowed Nemechek to take the lead on Lap 20. By then, the field started to get dicey with multiple competitors fanning out as high as four lanes and trying to formulate a run to the front.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage, the caution flew when rookie Sam Mayer got turned out of a four-wide battle with Allmendinger, Brandon Brown and Brett Moffitt before he made hard contact into the outside wall in Turn 3, collecting Allmendinger as both competitors were taken out with demolished race cars. 

    “I just got hung up there and once you get back [to the field] with the people that you’re racing, there’s a chance of [a wreck] happening,” Allmendinger, who was released from the infield care center, said. “At the end of the day, it’s disappointing, but that’s why you work hard in the regular season, to gain all those bonus points. [It] Doesn’t completely put you in a hole. We’re going to a pretty good race track for us [next weekend]…It is what it is.”

    The wreck involving Allmendinger and Mayer ended the first stage scheduled on Lap 25 under caution as Nemechek, who zigged and zagged through the inside and outside lanes to maintain the lead, claimed the stage victory. Jeb Burton settled in second followed by Riley Herbst, Cindric, Harrison Burton, Snider, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Blaine Perkins and Daniel Hemric. By then, six different competitors led at least one lap.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Herbst, who opted for a two-tire service, left his pit stall with the lead followed by Nemechek, Snider, Cindric and Harrison Burton. Jeb Burton, who was second, got boxed behind Tommy Joe Martins while exiting his stall and came out in 10th.

    Not long after, the race was red-flagged for five minutes due to repairs being made on the SAFER barriers in Turn 3 where Mayer and Allmendinger wrecked.

    When the red flag lifted and the second stage started on Lap 30, Herbst gained a brief advantage through the first turn until Nemechek fought back on the inside lane. With the field running in close quarters and double lanes through the backstretch and entering the frontstretch, Herbst managed to maintain a brief advantage ahead of Nemechek and Cindric.

    By Lap 35, Herbst was leading ahead of Cindric, Hemric, Blaine Perkins and Gragson while Nemechek, Brandon Brown, Brett Moffitt, Jeb Burton and Snider were in the top 10. By then, Haley, who received the free pass under the first stage, was up in 12th behind Allgaier.

    Five laps later and with the field running in a long, single file line, Herbst continued to lead followed by Cindric, Hemric, Perkins, Brown and Jeb Burton.

    In the closing laps of the second stage, the field started to fan out to multiple lanes and charge to the front as Herbst continued to lead by a narrow margin. 

    Then on the final lap of the second stage, Blaine Perkins challenged Herbst for the top spot through the backstretch. Despite the field gaining a run on him through the frontstretch, Perkins managed to claim the stage 2 victory on Lap 50. Moffitt settled in second followed by Nemechek, Herbst, Allgaier, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Haley, Cindric and Gragson. By then,  the race featured nine different leaders for 14 lead changes.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Herbst reassumed the lead followed by Haley. During the pit stops, names like Joe Graf Jr., Bayley Currey, Ryan Vargas and Mason Massey remained on the track, though all pitted prior to the restart.

    With 59 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Herbst and Haley started on the front row. At the start, Herbst jumped ahead of Haley followed by Allgaier before Allgaier moved to the lead the following lap. With Allgaier leading, he was followed by Cindric and Harrison Burton.

    The following lap, Cindric moved to the front followed by Herbst, Allgaier, Harrison Burton and the field.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading ahead of Moffitt, Gragson, Jeb Burton and Berry while Hemric, Haley, Perkins, Cindric and Herbst were in the top 10. Harrison Burton was in 11th while teammate John Hunter Nemechek was in 13th. 

    A lap later, Moffitt moved into the lead. Another two laps later, Jeb Burton led a lap for himself before Cindric re-took the top spot. 

    Shortly after, Moffitt joined Berry, Allgaier and Gragson in pitting under green. A few laps later, names like Cindric, Harrison Burton, Herbst, Hemric and Nemechek pitted under green. While most of the Toyota competitors pitted, Brandon Jones failed to dive on to pit road with his teammates. 

    Soon after, names like Jeb Burton, Haley, Jones, Jade Buford, Snider, Jordan Anderson and others pitted under green. 

    With 40 laps remaining, names like Mason Massey, Kyle Weatherman, CJ McLaughlin and Jason White had yet to pit while the first 10 competitors, running in a single file line on fresh tires and full fuel led by Herbst, were trailing by 20 seconds. 

    Just then, the caution flew when Bayley Currey stalled his car on pit road. Under caution, names like Massey, Weatherman, McLaughlin, White and Moffitt pitted while the rest led by Herbst and Cindric remained on the track. Playoff contender Jeremy Clements also pitted due to experiencing cylinder issues in his car.

    With 34 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Herbst received a push from Allgaier to jump ahead with the lead and in front of Cindric. Then through the backstretch, Herbst and Cindric moved up to the outside lane as Gragson challenged for the lead on the inside lane.

    As Gragson took the lead, Herbst challenged on the outside lane followed by Cindric and Allgaier while Josh Berry closed in on teammate Gragson’s rear bumper.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event and with the field fanning out to multiple lanes in a pack, Gragson was leading ahead of teammate Berry, Moffitt, Jeb Burton, Snider, Brandon Jones, Cindric, Jordan Anderson, Haley and Herbst. Allgaier was in 12th, Henric was in 14th and Harrison Burton was in 17th in front of teammate John Hunter Nemechek.

    Five laps later, Moffitt and Gragson challenged in a side-by-side battle for the lead. Then, the caution flew for a vicious crash that started when Jeb Burton and Moffitt made contact in Turn 3, which sent Moffitt turning into Gragson as Gragson pounded into the outside wall and was hit by Myatt Snider. As more cars wrecked behind, Gragson received another vicious hit by McLaughlin and Caesar Bacarella before his battered No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro came to a rest below the apron. Among those involved included Jeb Burton, Moffitt, Berry, Brandon Jones, Bacarella, Vargas, Garrett Smithley, McLaughlin, Santino Ferrucci, Ryan Sieg and Mason Massey. The wreck was enough to pause the race for more than 15 minutes as all competitors, including Gragson, were okay.

    Following an extensive cleanup period and with the skies darkening as rain was being reported near the superspeedway, the race restarted with 20 laps remaining as Jeb Burton and Brandon Jones occupied the front row. 

    At the start, Brandon Jones jumped to the lead followed by Allgaier, Hemric and Haley while Jeb Burton was falling behind on the outside lane. 

    The following lap, Jeffrey Earnhardt made contact with the outside wall near the pit entrance and spun, but he was able to nurse his car to pit road as the race remained running in green. 

    Back on the track, Jones continued to lead followed by Allgaier, Hemric, Haley, Brown, Jade Buford, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Jordan Anderson and Austin Cindric. 

    With 15 laps remaining, Brandon Jones was leading a long single-file line ahead of Allgaier, Hemric, Haley and Brown as Jeb Burton led a charge on the outside lane. Burton’s momentum, though, stalled was the leaders moved up the outside lane.

    A few laps later, the field fanned out to multiple lanes and in a tight pack as Brandon Brown and Jordan Anderson challenged for the lead alongside Brandon Jones. 

    Then with 11 laps remaining, the caution returned when Harrison Burton got sideways entering Turn 3 and turned back across the track and into the Turn 3 outside wall, where he collected Nemechek, Moffitt, Herbst, Josh Williams, Alex Labbe, Jason White and Jeb Burton, who bumper cover got clipped off. At the time of caution, NASCAR ruled that Brown was the leader ahead of Brandon Jones and Allgaier.

    Following the cleanup, the field continued to run behind the pace car and under caution as darkness began to overshadow the track. With darkness looming and beginning to cover the superspeedway, NASCAR then decided to declare the race official six laps shy of the finish. The decision handed the victory to Brandon Brown, who crossed the finish line under cautious pace with the lead.

    With his victory, Brown became the 169th different competitor to win in the Xfinity Series. He also became the fifth first-time Xfinity winner of 2021 and the sixth to do so at Talladega.

    While celebrating on the frontstretch amid a chorus of cheers from the crowd, Brown dedicated the win to his family operated organization, Brandonbilt Motorsports.

    “Oh my God!” Brown, who celebrated on the frontstretch, exclaimed. “This is a dream come true! Wow, Talladega, winner in NASCAR! Oh my God! Dad, we did it! Let’s go! This is everything we hoped and dreamed for. Everything I’ve wanted to do was to take the trophy home for mom and dad. Oh my God. Thank you so much. Thank you to all our partners. It’s just such an unbelievable moment. We saw our moment and we seized it. I’m just so proud of Brandonbilt Motorsports, so proud of everybody on our team, here and at home. Everybody that’s worked on our team since the beginning. We did it, we did it, we did it.”

    Brandon Jones was the highest-finishing Playoff competitor in second place while Justin Allgaier ended up in third place.

    “First off, let me just say how grateful I am to have Menards on our Supra,” Jones said. “It’s a big day for us. You look at the whole day and all the scenarios that happened. I think that’s probably the best option without us winning, to have [Brown] win. Good for him. Also, I think that it obviously doesn’t affect the point too bad for us. [I] Had some solid moments there. Don’t know how we missed the Big One there in [Turns] 3 and 4 early on in the day. Lot of positives, but we’re close. It’s tough to swallow.”

    “It’s disappointing to get that close and not being able to race for [the win],” Allgaier said. “Congrats to Brandon. Those guys worked really, really hard. It’s cool to see a first-time winner. Obviously, they did what they needed to do there at the end. Really proud of my team. The BRANDT Professional Agricultural Camaro was really good. We did what we needed to do. We come out of here with a good points gap. We didn’t lock our way into the next round, but we can go to the [Charlotte] Roval next week, have some fun and hopefully, go for it. “

    Daniel Hemric ended up in fourth for his 11th top-five result of the season while Jordan Anderson emerged with his first top-five result in the Xfinity Series by finishing fifth.

    Haley, teammate Jeb Burton, Cindric, Berry and Joe Graf Jr. completed the top 10 on the track.

    Cindric’s eighth-place result was enough for him to clinch his spot in the Playoff’s Round of 8 based on points as he continues his pursuit to defend his series title. Meanwhile, names like Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements are below the top-eight cutline entering next weekend’s Playoff elimination event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

    There were 33 lead changes for 17 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 21 laps.

    Results.

    1. Brandon Brown, eight laps led

    2. Brandon Jones, 12 laps led

    3. Justin Allgaier, seven laps led

    4. Daniel Hemric

    5. Jordan Anderson

    6. Justin Haley

    7. Jeb Burton, seven laps led

    8. Austin Cindric, 10 laps led

    9. Josh Berry, three laps led

    10. Joe Graf Jr., one lap led

    11. Ryan Sieg

    12. Jade Buford

    13. Blaine Perkins, two laps led, Stage 2 winner

    14. Josh Williams

    15. Joey Gase

    16. JJ Yeley

    17. Santino Ferrucci

    18. Tommy Joe Martins

    19. Garrett Smithley

    20. Kyle Weatherman

    21. Alex Labbe

    22. John Hunter Nemechek, eight laps led, Stage 1 winner

    23. Matt Mills, one lap down

    24. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

    25. Harrison Burton -OUT, Accident, two laps led

    26. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    27. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident, 26 laps led

    28. Jason White – OUT, Accident

    29. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    30. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident, eight laps led

    31. Myatt Snider – OUT, Accident

    32. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

    33. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Accident

    34. CJ McLaaughlin – OUT, Accident

    35. Mason Massey – OUT, Accident, four laps led

    36. Bayley Currey – OUT, Drifeshaft, two laps led

    37. Landon Cassill – OUT, Engine

    38. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    39. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    40. David Starr – OUT, Engine

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Austin Cindric – Advanced
    2. Justin Allgaier, +55
    3. Daniel Hemric, +41
    4. AJ Allmendinger, +33 
    5. Justin Haley, +24
    6. Brandon Jones, +21
    7. Noah Gragson, +18
    8. Harrison Burton, +8
    9. Jeb Burton, -8
    10. Myatt Snider, -24
    11. Riley Herbst, -32
    12. Jeremy Clements, -48

    The 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will continue next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course venue, where the Round of 8 field will also be determined. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, October 9, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Berry wins Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    Berry wins Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    On a night where the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs commenced, a non-title contender stole the show as Josh Berry outran teammate Justin Allgaier to win the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 25.

    The victory was Berry’s second of his Xfinity Series career and in his 20th start of this season. The victory also occurred as Berry filled in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro as a relief competitor for veteran Michael Annett.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger, both of whom wrecked and battled for the win last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, started on the front row. 

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric had Justin Haley pushing him on the outside lane while Allmendinger had Justin Allgaier pushing him on the inside lane through Turn 1. Through Turns 1 and 2, Cindric and Allmendinger battled dead even for the top spot until Cindric was able to clear Allmendinger in Turn 3 and lead the first lap.

    Entering the second lap, Cindric was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allmendinger as the field fanned out to two lanes while battling for positions.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Cindric continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Allmendinger while Justin Haley, Justin Allgaier and rookie Ty Gibbs were in the top five. Harrison Burton was in sixth followed by Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson and Myatt Snider.

    Five laps later, Cindric stabilized his advantage to over Allmendinger. Behind, Allgaier overtook Haley for third while Gibbs, Harrison Burton, Hemric, Gragson, Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst were scored in the top 10.

    Another 10 laps later, Cindric stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Allmendinger. Teammates Gibbs and Hemric were up in third and fourth while Allgaier fell back to fifth.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Cindric remained as the leader of the field. Under the competition caution, some led by Allgaier, who had concerns of oil leaking from his car, pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, Cindric and Allmendinger battled for the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes approaching the first turn. Just then, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 1 that involved Joe Graaf Jr., Ty Dillon, Alex Labbe, Dylan Lupton, BJ McLeod, JJ Yeley, Brandon Brown, Bayley Currey and rookie Sam Mayer. Also involved were Playoff contenders Jeb Burton, Jeremy Clements and Riley Herbst, all of whom were eliminated from the race. At the time of caution, Allmendinger had managed to take the lead.

    Following an extensive cleanup period, the race restarted under green on Lap 40 as Allmendinger and Cindric started on the front row. At the start, Allmendinger received a strong start on the outside lane to retain the lead while Cindric moved up to second. Through the backstretch, Hemric challenged teammate Gibbs for third while Harrison Burton and Gragson battled for fifth. Behind, Brett Moffitt moved up to seventh ahead of Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Allmendinger earned his 10th stage victory of the season. Hemric made his way up to second followed by Cindric, Gibbs, Gragson, Harrison Burton, Sieg, Brandon Jones, Josh Berry and Moffitt. Meanwhile, Snider, Haley and Allgaier were in 11th, 12th and 14th.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hemric emerged with the lead after beating Allmendinger off of pit road by a narrow margin. Back on the track, however, Ty Dillon and Brandon Brown moved up to first and second after both elected to remain on the track. During the pit stops, Gragson was sent to the rear for driving through multiple pit boxes while trying to enter his along with Sieg, who was penalized for an equipment interference

    The second stage started on Lap 51. At the start, Ty Dillon jumped ahead with the lead followed by Hemric as the field fanned out to multiple lanes again through the first turn. Through the backstretch, Brandon Jones muscled his way to third place followed by teammate Harrison Burton and Allgaier, all of whom overtook Brown on fresh tires.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Sieg spun in Turn 2 as he collected Jade Buford. Under caution, Brandon Jones surrendered third place to pit due to a vibration on the right rear of his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra. 

    On Lap 59, the race restarted under green. At the start, Ty Dillon retained the lead followed by Allgaier and Harrison Burton while Hemric fell back to fifth in front of Cindric, Gibbs and Berry.

    On Lap 65, the battle for the lead intensified was Allgaier closed in on Ty Dillon’s No. 31 South Point Chevrolet Camaro for the top spot. Behind, Harrison Burton was in third followed by Cindric, Gibbs and Hemric. Meanwhile, Gragson worked his way up to ninth ahead of Allmendinger, Haley, Brandon Jones and Myatt Snider.

    A lap later, Allgaier motored his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro to the lead. 

    By Lap 75, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Ty Dillon while Cindric, Gibbs and Hemric were in the top five. Gragson was in sixth followed by Moffitt, Berry, Harrison Burton and Allmendinger while Haley, Brandon Jones and Snider were in 11th, 12th and 13th.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier claimed his third stage victory of the season. Behind, Ty Dillon fended off Cindric to settle in second followed by Gragson, Hemric, Berry, Gibbs, Moffitt, Allmendinger and Haley.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead followed by Cindric, Hemric, Gragson and Gibbs. Following the pit stops, Gragson was penalized again, this time for speeding on pit road. 

    With 105 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead ahead of Hemric, Cindric and the field as the track fell into night conditions. The following lap, Cindric and Allmendinger overtook Hemric’s No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra for spots in the top three

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by half a second over Cindric while Allmendinger was in third. Hemric and Gibbs were in the top five followed by Berry, Haley, Snider, Moffitt and Brandon Jones.

    Ten laps later, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Cindric and by more than two seconds over Allmendinger. Behind, Gibbs and Berry moved up to fourth and fifth while Hemric settled in sixth ahead of Gragson. 

    Another 10 laps later, the caution flew when a bump from Moffitt sent Haley and his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro spinning in Turn 3. Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Allgaier retained the lead followed by Cindric, Gibbs, Allmendinger and Gragson.

    With 76 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead on the outside lane despite being challenged by Gibbs and Cindric. Behind, Cindric bolted his way to second while Gibbs retained third ahead of Allmendinger and Gragson. 

    Six laps later, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Cindric. Meanwhile, Berry, Gibbs and Allmendinger battled for fifth ahead of Gragson. 

    Another three laps later, Cindric powered his No. 22 Odyssey Battery Ford Mustang to the lead over Allgaier. By then, Allmendinger worked his way up to third. 

    With 63 laps remaining, Allgaier reassumed the lead. Not long after, a battle for the runner-up spot between Cindric and Josh Berry occurred as Berry prevailed. During this battle, Gragson closed in on the top-three leaders followed by Allmendinger and Gibbs.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by nearly a second over teammate Berry while Cindric, Gragson and Gibbs were in the top five.  Allmendinger was in sixth followed by Hemric, Brandon Jones, Haley and Ty Dillon. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton was in 12th while Myatt Snider was back in 15th.

    Nine laps later, Berry, who filled in as an interim competitor in JR Motorsports’ No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro for veteran Michael Annett, made his way into the lead over teammate Allgaier.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Brandon Jones pitted under green. Soon after, Allgaier pitted along with Hemric, Gibbs, Ty Dillon, Moffitt, Gragson, Allmendinger. Berry, the leader, also pitted during this sequence. During the green flag pit stops, Gibbs was penalized for speeding his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Supra on pit road.

    Under the final 20 laps, Haley, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Snider, Allgaier, Berry and Gragson. Once Haley pitted, Allgaier, who overtook teammate Berry on the track, made his way back to the lead. Another two laps later, however, Berry reassumed the lead. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Berry was leading by more than three seconds over teammate Allgaier while teammate Gragson was in third, trailing by nearly nine seconds in his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro. Cindric was up in fourth followed by Hemric and Brandon Jones while Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Haley and Harrison Burton were in the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Berry stabilized his advantage to four seconds over teammate Allgaier while teammate Gragson trailed by nine seconds in third place.

    When the white flag waved and the final laps started, Berry continued to lead by more than four seconds over teammate Allgaier. Following a smooth navigation around the circuit for a final time, Berry came back around and claimed the checkered flag for his first series win since Martinsville Speedway in April.

    In addition to securing his second Xfinity Series career victory, Berry became the first non-Playoff contender to win the Playoff opening race since Tyler Reddick made the last accomplishment at Kentucky Speedway in September 2017. Berry also recorded the 57th Xfinity career victory for JR Motorsports and the first win for JRM’s No. 1 team since Daytona International Speedway in February 2019.

    “Oh my gosh,” Berry, who led 38 laps, said on NBCSN. “This [car] was fast. It just took me a while to figure it out. I knew the race would go down to the bottom at the end, I felt like. I just wanted to really work hard, make sure my car ran good on the bottom [lane] and I just had to stay disciplined and keep working on it. [The No. 1 crew] made the right adjustments. I knew it was fast. Just finally got a long run, put everything together and I was able to do it.”

    “Me and Justin [Allgaier] have raced together a lot this year,” Berry added. “Most of them, he’s got the better of me. Today, we were able to get one. This is cool. This moves the No. 1 car to the next round in the owner’s points. That was really important for this group. They’ve worked so hard, they’ve been through so much and they deserve this. I wanna say hey to Michael [Annett] at home and thank him and his group for trusting me in driving this race car…One, two three finish [for JR Motorsports], that’s pretty cool.”

    With teammates Allgaier and Gragson finished second and third, JR Motorsports achieved its first 1-2-3 finish in NASCAR history.

    Allgaier was the highest-finishing Xfinity drivers’ title contender in second place on the track while teammate Gragson rallied from his pair of pit road penalties to settle in third place at his home track. With the results, Allgaier is ranked in third place in the Playoff standings, 38 points above the top-eight cutline, while Gragson is in fourth place in the standings, 37 points above the cutline.

    “It’s super tough,” Allgaier, who led a race-high 90 laps, said. “First of off, hats off to Josh and the No. 1 team. They, obviously, had a lot of adversity this year, so for them to come home with a victory was really cool. Just proud of our guys, everybody on this No. 7 team. I was disappointed in the middle of the race there. We felt like we were really good and then as the sun went down, we just needed a little bit more right-rear grip. That’s where I feel like [Berry] had us beat. We’ll rebound, we’ll go next week to Talladega. [We] Should’ve gotten some decent points tonight and hopefully, have a good week next week.”

    “I’m really frustrated, but I think the Bass Pro Shops No. 9 team and everybody at JR Motorsports should be really frustrated with me,” Gragson said. “Just ’cause it’s two weeks in a row and I need to get better. [The crew] brought an unbelievable race car to the track. I’m happy, happy for Josh, happy for Justin, happy everybody at JR Motorsports. Wish we could’ve beaten the guy…We’ll go on to Talladega, hopefully don’t get in a wreck, knock on wood and can transfer to the next stage.”

    Austin Cindric, the pole-sitter who led 33 laps, finished fourth and he leads the Xfinity Playoffs by four points over AJ Allmendinger, the 2021 Xfinity Series regular season champion, while Hemric, who was announced as a Kaulig Racing competitor for the 2022 Xfinity Series season, finished fifth and is in fifth place in the Playoff standings, 34 points above the cutline.

    Brandon Jones, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Justin Haley and Harrison Burton finished in the top 10 on the track.

    There were 13 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 32 laps.

    Results.

    1. Josh Berry, 38 laps led

    2. Justin Allgaier, 90 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    4. Austin Cindric, 33 laps led

    5. Daniel Hemric

    6. Brandon Jones

    7. AJ Allmendinger, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Ty Dillon, 17 laps led

    9. Justin Haley, two laps led

    10. Harrison Burton

    11. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

    12. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

    13. Bayley Currey, one lap down 

    14. Tommy Joe Martins, one lap down

    15. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    16. Landon Cassill, one lap down

    17. Ryan Sieg, two laps down

    18. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    19. Ryan Vargas, two laps down

    20. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    21. David Starr, four laps down

    22. Brandon Brown, four laps down

    23. Mason Massey, four laps down

    24. Josh Williams, five laps down

    25. Spencer Boyd, five laps down

    26. Jade Buford, six laps down

    27. Matt Jaskol, six laps down

    28. Matt Mills, seven laps down

    29. Jeffrey Earnhardt, seven laps down

    30. BJ McLeod, eight laps down

    31. Carson Ware – OUT, Electrical

    32. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Overheating

    33. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    34. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    35. Dylan Lupton – OUT, Accident

    36. Jeb Burton – OUT, AAccident

    37. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

    38. Alex Labbe – OUT, Accident

    39. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    40. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Austin Cindric, +66

    2. AJ Allmendinger, +59

    3. Justin Allgaier, +38

    4. Noah Gragson, +37

    5. Daniel Hemric, +34

    6. Justin Haley, +17

    7. Harrison Burton, +13

    8. Brandon Jones, +10

    9. Myatt Snider, -10

    10. Jeb Burton, -27

    11. Riley Herbst, -32

    12. Jeremy Clements, -36

    With the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs underway, the series will next travel to Talladega Superspeedway for the second Round of 12 event of the season. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, October 2, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Allmendinger spins and wins a wild finish at Bristol; locks up Xfinity regular season championship

    Allmendinger spins and wins a wild finish at Bristol; locks up Xfinity regular season championship

    The conclusion of the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 17, left a bevy of race cars wrecked and tempers flaring amongst a number of competitors, including the top-two finishers fighting for both the win and the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship.

    In a late overtime shootout between two potential championship favorites, AJ Allmendinger bumped and rubbed Austin Cindric for the lead before overtaking him on the final lap and just had enough to stay ahead of Cindric, who sent both competitors spinning and wrecking across the finish line, to win both the race and claim the regular season title. The finish of the event also provided a possible preview of this year’s Xfinity Series championship battle between two dominating competitors throughout this year’s Xfinity regular-season stretch.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Noah Gragson, winner of last weekend’s event at Richmond Raceway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Justin Allgaier.

    Prior to the event, Josh Berry dropped to the rear of the field for filling in for veteran Michael Annett, who re-injured his right leg while working out. The move eliminated Annett in making the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs for the first time since 2018.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Gragson powered ahead with the lead on the outside lane followed by Daniel Hemric and the field. As Gragson led the first lap, Hemric retained second while Allgaier was trying to fend off Harrison Burton, rookie Ty Gibbs and Justin Haley in third.

    On the fifth lap and while the field battled competitively early, Hemric emerged with the lead after passing Gragson, who led the first four laps, on the inside lane through Turns 4 and 1. Behind, Gibbs muscled his way into fourth behind Allgaier while Harrison Burton was left battling with Kaulig Racing’s Haley and Jeb Burton near the top five.

    On the ninth lap, the first caution of the race flew when Brett Moffitt made contact with the outside wall in Turn 2, an incident that ended his hopes to make the Playoffs. By then, Harrison Burton fell back to eighth behind Austin Cindric while Josh Berry was up in 27th behind Spencer Boyd.

    Seven laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hemric retained the lead while Allgaier overtook teammate Gragson to move into second. Behind, Gibbs and Haley battled for fourth while Cindric and Jeb Burton battled for sixth.

    By Lap 20, Hemric was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Gragson, Haley and Jeb Burton were in the top five. Cindric, Harrison Burton, Gibbs, Jeremy Clements and Brandon Jones were in the top 10 while AJ Allmendinger was in 12th behind Ryan Sieg.

    Ten laps later, Hemric, who was approaching lapped traffic, continued to lead by a narrow margin over Allgaier while Haley was in third. Meanwhile, Cindric was up in fourth followed by Gragson. Behind, Gibbs was up in sixth followed by cousins Jeb and Harrison Burton. In addition, Allmendinger cracked the top 10.

    On Lap 36, Allgaier made a move on Hemric, who was trapped behind the lapped car of Jade Buford, to move into the lead. Shortly after, Haley moved into second while Hemric got shuffled back to third.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 40, Allgaier was leading by three-tenths of a second over Haley while Hemric, Cindric and Gragson were in the top five. Gibbs, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones were in the top 10. By then, Ryan Sieg, Riley Herbst and Brandon Brown, all of whom were battling for spots in the Xfinity Series Playoffs, were in 11th, 12th and 13th, Myatt Snider was in 15th and Berry was in 19th.

    Under the competition caution, some like Sieg and Jeremy Clements pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Spencer Boyd, who also pitted, dragged a gas can out of his pit box and on the track. When the gas can came off of Boyd’s machine, fuel spilled out on the racing surface, which required safety crews to remove the can.

    When the race restarted on Lap 51, Allgaier continued to lead over the field.

    By Lap 60, Allgaier was ahead by four-tenths of a second over Hemric and nearly seven-tenths of a second over teammate Gragson. Mayer was in fourth followed by Allmendinger, Cindric, Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton and Harrison Burton. Meanwhile, Gibbs was back in 11th, but locked in a battle with teammate Harrison Burton and Riley Herbst.

    Fifteen laps later, Allgaier remained in the lead by nearly half a second over Hemric while third-place Gragson trailed by nearly a second. Meanwhile, light smoke and possible fluid was billowing out of the No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro driven by Berry. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 85, Allgaier, who led 50 laps, was able to capture his second stage victory of the season. Hemric settled in second followed by Gragson, Haley, Mayer, Allmendinger, Cindric, Brandon Jones, Gibbs and Harrison Burton. By then, Berry, who pitted for fresh tires and to have the smoke assessed, took his car behind the wall.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead ahead of the field following his pit service. Meanwhile, Jeremy Clements moved up to third after opting for no fresh tires during his pit service.

    The second stage started on Lap 93 as teammates Allgaier and Gragson occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier muscled into the lead on the outside lane while Hemric overtook Gragson for the runner-up spot. Behind, a pair of side-by-side battles occurred between Clements, Haley, Allmendinger and Cindric.

    Two laps later, Haley, who was in fourth, slipped in Turn 1, which nearly placed him in a four-wide battle with teammate Allmendinger, Cindric and Clements entering Turn 2. With the field jumbled up, Allgaier continued to lead.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Allgaier was leading by two-tenths of a second over Hemric followed by Gragson, Haley and Allmendinger. Cindric was in sixth ahead of Ty Gibbs while Jeb Burton, Mayer and Brandon Jones were in the top 10. 

    Three laps later, the caution flew when BJ McLeod bumped and turned Tommy Joe Martins in the backstretch.

    Another five laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allgaier jumped ahead with a slight advantage over Hemric, who fought back on the inside lane. A lap later, Hemric muscled his way back into the lead. Not long after, the caution returned when Matt Mills wrecked on the frontstretch following contact from Boyd. After exiting his car, Mills expressed his displease to Boyd with an obscene gesture.

    On Lap 116, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hemric retained the lead following another strong start while JR Motorsports’ teammates Gragson and Allgaier battled for second. Behind, Cindric was in fourth followed by Haley and Allmendinger.

    By Lap 125, Hemric was out in front by six-tenths for a second over Allgaier while Gragson, Cindric and Haley remained in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Gibbs and the field.

    On Lap 136, Allgaier seized an opportunity to retake the lead after Hemric was mired behind lapped traffic.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 150, Allgaier continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Hemric while Gragson, Cindric and Haley remained in the top five. Behind, Brandon Jones and Allmendinger battled for sixth while Gibbs, Maayer and Jeb Burton were in the top 10. Harrison Burton was in 12th behind Myatt Snider, Sieg was in 13th ahead of Herbst and Brandon Brown was in 17th area of Jeremy Clements and Sage Karam.

    A few laps later, the caution flew when Allgaier, the leader who was trying to navigate his way through lapped traffic, made contact with the lapped car of Joe Graf Jr., wiggled and got sideways in Turn 1. Despite sliding sideways in the first turn, Allgaier managed to straighten his car and continue without sustaining any damage. 

    Under caution, some led by Mayer pitted while the rest led by Hemric remained on the track. Under caution, Snider was busted for speeding on pit road.

    With nine laps remaining in the second stage, the race resumed under green. At the start, Hemric fended off Allgaier on the outside lane to retain the lead while Gragson, Cindric and Haley battled in the top five. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 170, Hemric secured his seventh stage victory of the season. Allgaier settled in second followed by Gragson, Haley, Cindric, Allmendinger, Gibbs, Brandon Jones, Sieg and Jeb Burton.

    Under the stage break, some led by Allgaier pitted while others led by Jeb Burton, including those who pitted under the previous caution prior to the second stage’s conclusion, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, teammates Allgaier and Gragson were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 121 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Jeb Burton moved and cleared Herbst for the lead in Turn 2. A lap later, though, Mayer used the outside lane to overtake Burton and move into the lead. 

    Eleven laps later, Mayer was leading by a second over Jeb Burton while Herbst, Hemric and Cindric were in the top five. 

    Nearing the final 100 laps of the event, the caution flew when Carson Ware cut a left-front tire in Turn 1 and went up the racetrack, though he managed to keep the car off the wall. 

    With 96 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Mayer retained the lead on the outside lane while Jeb Burton and Hemric battled for second. Soon after, Hemric and Cindric overtook Jeb Burton for second and third before Cindric muscled into the runner-up spot.

    Down to the final 90 laps of the event, Mayer was leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Cindric while Hemric, Herbst and Allmendinger were in the top five. Jeb Burton was back in sixth ahead of Brandon Jones, Haley, Gibbs and Snider.

    With 75 laps remaining, Mayer continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Cindric while third-place Hemric trailed by more than two seconds. Herbst and Allmendinger remained in the top five followed by Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones and Allgaier, who rallied from his late pit road penalty. Gibbs and Snider were in the top 10 while Haley slipped back to 11th ahead of Sieg, Brandon Brown, Harrison Burton, Gragson and Jeremy Clements.

    Four laps later, Cindric took advantage of Mayer getting stuck behind the lapped car of Tommy Joe Martins to challenge Mayer for the lead. After drawing himself alongside Mayer for a full lap, Cindric then made contact with Mayer and the outside wall in Turn 4 while trying to clear himself for the lead. Despite the contact, Cindric and Mayer continued to run in first and second

    With 62 laps remaining, the caution flew for a two-car spin involving David Starr and Tommy Joe Martins on the frontstretch.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Cindric remained as the leader ahead of Mayer and the field following his pit service.

    With 53 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Cindric jumped ahead with a strong start while Allgaier challenged teammate Mayer for the runner-up spot. Behind, Brandon Jones moved up to fourth ahead of Herbst and Allmendinger.

    With less than 50 laps remaining, Cindric was out in front by more than a second over Mayer while Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Allmendinger battled for third. Herbst was back in sixth ahead of Hemric, who had a slow pit stop under the previous caution. 

    Soon after, Jeb Burton made contact with the wall after racing hard with Snider, which dropped him off the pace and eventually livid with Snider. After spending a lap below the apron, Burton then pitted under green to have the damaged right side of his car addressed.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Cindric, who was mired behind lapped traffic, was leading by three-tenths of a second over Mayer while Allgaier kept the two leaders in his sight. Allmendinger was in fourth while Hemric moved back up to fifth.

    Seven laps later, Mayer drew himself towards Cindric, who was mired in lapped traffic, and attempted to take the lead, but Cindric fought back on the outside lane. By the time Cindric retained the lead to a reasonable margin, Mayer was left to battle with teammate Allgaier for the runner-up spot.

    With 15 laps remaining, Cindric extended his advantage to more than a second over Mayer and Allgaier while fourth-place Allmendinger trailed by more than three seconds and fifth-place Hemric trailed by four seconds.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Cindric continued to lead by a second over Mayer, who was able to place a half-a-second gap over teammate Allgaier. 

    With five laps remaining, Cindric, who continued to deal with lapped traffic, retained the lead by nearly a second over Mayer, who had teammate Allgaier reeling back in.

    Just then, the caution flew coming to the final four laps when Allgaier, who was trying to navigate his way to the front through lapped traffic, made contact with teammate Mayer and sent him spinning along with Josh Williams entering Turn 2. The contact and the incident between the two JR Motorsports competitors erased a comfortable advantage for Cindric and sent the race into overtime.

    When the race restarted in overtime, Cindric held a narrow lead over Allmendinger, who fought back on the inside lane through the first two turns. Then in Turn 3, Allmendinger bolted his way alongside Cindric and rubbed Cindric’s No. 22 Menards Ford Mustang through Turn 4. As both competitors got sideways, Allgaier drew his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro beneath both as the final lap started.

    Just as Cindric and Allgaier were locked in a dead heat for the win, Allgaier made contact with Cindric in Turn 1, which opened the door for Allmendinger to overtake both competitors in a bold three-wide move entering Turn 2. As Cindric pursued Allmendinger for the win, Allgaier rubbed with Riley Herbt for third.

    Then, entering the final turn, Cindric, knowing he was battling Allmendinger for the regular season title, made his way beneath Allmendinger and made contact with the Californian as both competitors veered sideways and headed for the inside wall. In the process, Allmendinger managed to edge Cindric by 0.082 seconds to claim the win. Moments after both slid across the finish line, though, Allmendinger and Cindric then made contact into the inside wall as Allmendinger veered back across the racetrack and was hit by teammate Haley and Snider.

    Despite the accident, Allmendinger managed to claim his ninth career win in the Xfinity Series, fourth of the season and first at Bristol. In addition, he became the fifth different competitor to claim the Xfinity Series regular season title.

    Moments after climbing out of his wrecked race car, Allmendinger, who was livid towards Cindric over being wrecked, saluted the fans before hopping into the ambulance and making the trip to the infield care center while Cindric was welcomed with mixed reaction from the crowd. While both competitors expressed no ill feelings towards one another, their on-track battle left both setting their sights for the series’ title.

    “That was crazy at the end,” Allmendinger, who was released from the infield care center, said on NBCSN. “We had about a fourth-place car. My team did a great job. We just kept trying to work on it. You got a chance on the bottom [lane] and got in there. I slid into Austin trying to throttle up and stay on the bottom. Then into [Turn] 1, Allgaier had a run and there was contact there. [I] Went down into the last corner, I expected to get run into. It happened in the previous corner. It’s frustrating to get hit that hard coming to the checkered, but we’re battling for the win. It’s Bristol, baby. It’s what it’s all about. I haven’t had a lot of chances to ever in my life win at Bristol, so you know what, you get a chance to go do it, you got to do it. If I don’t take that chance, I don’t belong in a race car because my team deserves to win. Not the way you want to finish the race like that, destroying a lot of race cars. It’s a dream come true for this year. Thank you so much. Whether you love me or hate me for that, you know what, just keep being you guys [fans] because this is what makes this sport bad ass.”

    “I thought we had a really great battle all season long up to this point,” Cindric said. “Congratulations to Kaulig [Racing] and AJ. Those guys didn’t want us to win really bad and I hate it completely destroyed our Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang. That’s all I got, man. I know what happened. I got drove into the door…AJ just drove straight through us. You’ll have that green-white-checkered racing. Man, what a hell of a race. I tried. That’s a big bummer. Sorry to everybody else that got involved in that wreck as well. That was really unfortunate…I just got booed and just got cheered. I don’t know what’s going on. Welcome to Bristol.”

    Meanwhile, Riley Herbst came home in third place and secured his spot in the Playoffs along with fifth-place finisher Brandon Jones and 13th-place finisher Jeremy Clements. Names like Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg and Josh Williams failed to qualify for the postseason battle for the title.

    Allgaier and Jones finished in the top five on the track followed by Haley, Harrison Burton, Snider, Mayer and Hemric.

    AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Daniel Hemric, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Myatt Snider, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements have made the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, and will compete for this year’s series title.

    There were 11 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 72 laps. Only 14 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, one lap led

    2. Austin Cindric, 75 laps led

    3. Riley Herbst

    4. Justin Allgaier, 92 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    5. Brandon Jones

    6. Justin Haley

    7. Harrison Burton

    8. Myatt Snider

    9. Sam Mayer, 49 laps led

    10. Daniel Hemric, 78 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    11. Ty Gibbs

    12. Noah Gragson, four laps led

    13. Jeremy Clements

    14. Brandon Brown

    15. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    16. Sage Karam, one lap down

    17. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    18. Gray Gaulding, one lap down

    19. Alex Labbe, one lap down

    20. Josh Williams, one lap down

    21. Brandon Gdovic, one lap down

    22. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

    23. Tommy Joe Maartins, two laps down

    24. Jeb Burton, three laps down

    25. Jeffrey Earnhardt, three laps down

    26. BJ McLeod, three laps down

    27. Jade Buford, four laps down

    28. Jesse Little, four laps down

    29. Kyle Weatherman, five laps down

    30. David Starr, six laps down

    31. Spencer Boyd, eight laps down

    32. Carson Ware, nine laps down

    33. Chad Finchum, 24 laps down

    34. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Fuel pump

    35. Josh Berry, 91 laps down

    36. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    37. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Brakes

    38. Bayley Currey – OUT, Brakes

    39. Landon Cassill – OUT, Electrical

    40. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    The 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to commence next Saturday, September 25, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with the event scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Gragson goes back-to-back with a win at Richmond

    Gragson goes back-to-back with a win at Richmond

    One week after snapping a 49-race winless drought at Darlington Raceway, Noah Gragson benefitted through a handful of late-race restarts and four fresh tires to lead the final 14 laps and win the Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 11.

    The victory made Gragson the fourth multi-winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season as he claimed his fourth career win in the Xfinity circuit. This also marked the first time in Gragson’s racing career where he claimed back-to-back victories across NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Austin Cindric started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Harrison Burton. Prior to the event, Ty Dillon and Bayley Currey started at the rear of the field due to driver change of their respective machines. Akinori Ogata also dropped to the rear for missing driver introductions.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric jumped ahead with an early advantage over Harrison Burton to lead the first lap. Behind, Justin Haley boosted his way to third place followed by teammate Jeb Burton and Noah Gragson.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Cindric was leading by a narrow margin over Harrison Burton. Jeb Burton was up in third followed by Gragson and Justin Allgaier while Haley fell back to sixth. AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Sieg and Daniel Hemric were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was making his lone Xfinity scheduled start of the season, was up in 24th after starting.

    By Lap 10, Cindric continued to lead by nearly half a second over Harrison Burton. By then, NASCAR crew members and fans paused for a moment of silence through Laps 9 to 11 and saluted with American fans in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

    Through Lap 20 and when the competition caution flew on Lap 35, Cindric was still out in front of the field. Under the competition caution, the leaders remained on the track. During this time, Jeb Burton’s car was pushed to pit road due to a battery issue.

    When the race restarted on Lap 43, Allmendinger and Harrison Burton challenged Cindric for the top spot, but Cindric maintained his ground and continued to lead. Two laps later, however, Allmendinger made his move beneath Cindric to take the lead. Shortly after, Allgaier and Harrison Burton moved up to second and third while Cindric slipped to fourth in front of Ty Gibbs.

    By Lap 70, Tommy Joe Martins, who pitted for fresh tires under the competition caution, emerged with the lead over Allmendinger.

    When the final lap of the first stage occurred, Martins was still leading by a narrow margin over Allmendinger. Then in Turn 3, Martins got briefly stalled behind the lapped car of David Starr. While Martins went high, Allmendinger went low and was able to edge Martins at the start/finish line to win the first stage on Lap 75 and claim his ninth stage victory of the season. Cindric rallied for third followed by Gibbs, JJ Yeley, Harrison Burton, Daniel Hemric, Gragson, Spencer Boyd and Patrick Emerling settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for service. During the pit stops, Allmendinger got boxed into his pit stall while Allgaier encountered steering issues.

    The second stage started on Lap 84 as Cindric and Hemric filled out the front row. At the start, Hemric battled dead even with Cindric for a full lap before the former prevailed the following lap. Then the following lap, the caution flew when Tommy Joe Martins, who had a strong run in the first stage, spun following contact from Spencer Boyd.

    Five laps later, the race restarted and Hemric retained the top spot. By Lap 98, Ty Gibbs made his way to the lead.

    With four laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when CJ McLaughlin spun and wrecked off the front nose of Jade Buford in Turn 3. The wreck was enough for the second stage scheduled on Lap 150 to conclude under caution as Gibbs claimed his third stage victory of the season. Allmendinger ended up in second followed by Harrison Burton, Gragson, Hemric, Cindric, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg and John Hunter Nemechek.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hemric emerged with the lead followed by Gragson, Gibbs, Harrison Burton and Allmendinger.

    With 92 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Gragson managed to peak ahead of Hemric and Gibbs on the inside lane to take the lead for the first time. 

    Five laps later, Gragson was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Hemric, who was pursued by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Gibbs and Harrison Burton. Behind, Sam Mayer was in fifth followed by Allmendinger, Cindric, Allgaier, Earnhardt Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek.

    Another three laps later, Gibbs made a move to the outside of Gragson to reassume the lead. While Harrison Burton challenged Gragson for the runner-up spot, Hemric, meanwhile, fell back to 10th.

    Nearing the final 80 laps of the event, the caution flew for a spin involving Bayley Currey. Under caution, Ryan Sieg pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track. 

    With 74 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Harrison Burton overtook teammate Gibbs to lead for the first time. While Mayer was up in third, Allgaier charged his way up to fourth after overtaking teammate Gragson. 

    Six laps later, the caution returned due to Landon Cassill coming to a stop at the pit road entrance. Under caution, some led by Harrison Burton and Gibbs pitted while the rest led by Mayer, Haley and Earnhardt Jr. remained on the track.

    Under the final 63 laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, Mayer took off with the lead while the field bumped and fanned out to multiple lanes for a full lap between competitors on old or fresh tires. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton bolted his way up to third place on fresh tires after overtaking a multitude of competitors, including Earnhardt Jr.

    With 58 laps remaining, Harrison Burton reassumed the lead. A few laps later, Ty Gibbs took over the runner-up spot while Allmendinger challenged Mayer for third. Joining the battle were John Hunter Nemechek, Haley and Cindric. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Harrison Burton was leading by a second over teammate Gibbs, with Allmendinger, Nemechek and Cindric in the top five. Allgaier was in sixth followed by teammate Gragson, Alex Labbe, Hemric and Sieg. Meanwhile, Haley was in 12th ahead of Michael Annett, Mayer and Riley Herbst while Myatt Snider was in 16th, Brandon Jones was in 18th and Earnhardt Jr. was in 21st behind Jeb Burton.

    Ten laps later, Harrison Burton continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Gibbs. Meanwhile, Allmendinger continued to run in third followed by Nemechek, Cindric, Allgaier and Gragson. Behind the front-runners, Mayer and Earnhardt Jr. were in 20th and 21st.

    With 27 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Josh Williams spinning and backing his car into the Turn 2 outside wall following contact with Akinori Ogata. Under caution, the leaders led by Harrison Burton pitted while Allmendinger, Cindric and Brandon Jones remained on the track. During the pit stops, Earnhardt Jr. was penalized for speeding while Jeb Burton was also penalized for an uncontrolled tire.

    Down to the final 21 laps of the event, the rare restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger peaked ahead with the lead and Cindric spun the tires on the outside lane while the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the first turn and through the backstretch. Then, the caution returned for Martins wrecking in Turn 1.

    With 14 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger jumped ahead of Brandon Jones, who spun the tires, as the field fanned out to multiple lanes again through the first turn and the backstretch. 

    A lap later, the caution flew due to Clements spinning on the frontstretch after getting turned by Myatt Snider. During the incident, Earnhardt Jr. made contact with the frontstretch outside wall while battling Kyle Weatherman. By then, Gragson emerged with the lead followed by Nemechek while Allmendinger slipped back to third. Under caution, Cindric pitted for tires.

    Down to the final seven laps of the event, the race restarted. At the start, Gragson retained the lead following a strong start followed by Nemechek and Allgaier while Allmendinger fell back to fourth ahead of Gibbs.

    With five laps remaining and the field fanning out across the track, Gragson continued to lead by half a second over Nemechek as Allgaier challenged Nemechek for more.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gragson was ahead by half a second. Behind, Haley made his way to second followed by Nemechek, Allgaier and others. While Haley had a late charge established, Gragson was able to retain the lead and come back around to claim his second consecutive checkered flag of this season and his first at Richmond.

    After celebrating with his burnout, Gragson, who saluted the fans with an American flag, took a moment to pay tribute to the victims and those affected by the September 11 attacks 20 years ago today.

    “I knew [Haley] had tires, but the thing that really kept us alive were those two cautions at the end,” Gragson said on NBCSN. “Today’s not about this team or this win. It’s about everybody who lost their life 20 years ago. You got a lot of heavy hearts. At least in America, we can come together on this day. [I] Appreciate all you race fans for coming out. Man, it’s an emotional day. It’s a special day, but it’s not about us today.”

    “It’s really special to be able to come here to Richmond, to beat Dale [Earnhardt] Jr., which is pretty cool,” Gragson added. “I never thought I’d say that. We’re starting to get momentum at the right time. Appreciate everything, for sure. Very emotional.”

    Haley, winner at Daytona International Speedway in late August, finished in second place at Richmond for a second consecutive season while Nemechek, making his second Xfinity start of the season in the No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota Supra, finished third. 

    “I was fully prepared to do anything it took to win,” Haley said. “We had better tires. We were so fast. We showed a championship-caliber team there coming back through the field, taking a bad day and making it okay. That one’s definitely tough. It hurts, it stinks.”

    Allgaier placed fourth followed by Riley Herbst. Hemric, Gibbs, Brandon Brown, Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton finished in the top 10.

    Mayer finished 12th while Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 14th in his lone NASCAR start of the season.

    Cindric and Allmendinger shuffled back to 16th and 18th while Brandon Jones, Annett, Josh Berry, Snider and Clements finished 20th, 22nd, 24th, 25th and 26th.

    There were 15 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 58 laps.

    AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by five points over Austin Cindric. With their top-20 runs, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst occupy the final three open spots to the 2021 Xfinity Series Playoffs with one regular-season event remaining. Herbst, the 12th-place competitor in the standings, is ahead by 66 points over Michael Annett, 93 over Ryan Sieg, 109 over Brandon Brown and 198 over Josh Williams.

    Results.

    1. Noah Gragson, 22 laps led

    2. Justin Haley

    3. John Hunter Nemechek

    4. Justin Allgaier

    5. Riley Herbst

    6. Daniel Hemric, 17 laps led

    7. Ty Gibbs, 67 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    8. Brandon Brown

    9. Harrison Burton, 43 laps led

    10. Jeb Burton

    11. Ty Dillon

    12. Sam Mayer, seven laps led

    13. Ryan Sieg

    14. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    15. Kyle Weatherman

    16. Austin Cindric, 50 laps led

    17. Mason Massey

    18. AJ Allmendinger, 39 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    19. Alex Labbe

    20. Brandon Jones

    21. Matt Mills

    22. Michael Annett

    23. Josh Williams

    24. Josh Berry

    25. Myatt Snider

    26. Jeremy Clements

    27. Bayley Currey

    28. David Starr, one lap down

    29. JJ Yeley, two laps down

    30. Jeffrey Earnhardt, two laps down

    31. Joe Graf Jr., two laps down

    32. Patrick Emerling, two laps down

    33. Spencer Boyd, two laps down

    34. Akinori Ogata, three laps down

    35. Ryan Vargas, four laps down

    36. Jade Buford, four laps down

    37. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    38. Stephen Leicht, 30 laps down

    39. Landon Cassill – OUT, Ignition

    40. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway, the final regular-season event of the season and where this year’s Xfinity 12-car Playoff field will be determined. The event is scheduled to occur on Friday, September 17, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Haley wins a thrilling three-wide photo finish at Daytona

    Haley wins a thrilling three-wide photo finish at Daytona

    Saving their absolute best for the last, Kaulig Racing utilized teamwork to storm to another victory at Daytona International Speedway. On this occasion, Justin Haley edged teammate AJ Allmendinger by a nose and in a three-wide photo finish including their other teammate, Jeb Burton, to win the rain-postponed Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 28.

    The victory was Haley’s first of the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, AJ Allmendinger, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Michigan International Speedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Noah Gragson.

    The race started on Friday evening, August 27, and Allmendinger received a push from Justin Allgaier on the outside lane to jump to an early lead and lead the first lap ahead of Noah Gragson and a steaming pack of cars. He went on to lead the following two laps before Gragson peaked ahead during the fourth lap. Allmendinger, however, quickly snatched the lead back the following lap.

    By the ninth lap, Brandon Jones, who was the lead car on the inside lane, encountered early issues when he made an unscheduled pit stop under green due to overheating issues as a result of a piece of debris.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 15, Gragson, who reassumed the lead on Lap 14, was scored the leader ahead of Allmendinger and the field. Under the competition caution, some led by Gragson pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track. By then, Jones retired due to his mechanical issue.

    Just as the field was set to restart, rain fell on the track and the field was brought to pit road as the race was red-flagged for a weather delay on Lap 19. Over an hour later, NASCAR declared that the race would be postponed to Saturday afternoon and run prior to the Cup event due to inclement weather continuing throughout Friday evening. At the time of, Allmendinger was leading ahead of Christopher Bell, Myatt Snider, Austin Cindric, Brett Moffitt, Justin Haley, Jeb Burton, Daniel Hemric, Jeremy Clements and Caesar Bacarella.

    When the race resumed under green on Lap 21 and on Saturday afternoon, Allmendinger jumped ahead with another strong start on the outside lane followed by Cindric, Haley and Bell while Snider mounted a charge on the inside lane.

    By Lap 25, Allmendinger continued to lead followed by teammate Haley while Cindric challenged as the lead car on the outside lane. Snider and Jeb Burton were in the top five followed by Bell, Michael Annett, Hemric, Allgaier and Moffitt.

    A lap later, the caution flew when a bump from Snider sent Cindric making hard contact into the outside wall in the frontstretch. The incident ignited a chain reaction wreck that involved Snider, rookie Sam Mayer, Hemric and Annett. The wreck was enough to knock Cindric, who won the Xfinity opener at Daytona in February, out of contention.

    With the caution period and cleanup surpassing the first stage’s conclusion on Lap 30, the first stage concluded under caution as Haley, who overtook teammate Allmendinger at the moment of caution, claimed his fifth stage victory of the season. Teammates Allmendinger and Jeb Burton settled in second and third followed by Bell and Allgaier. Scored in the top 10 were Moffitt, Gragson, Bacarella, Brandon Brown and Harrison Burton.

    Under the stage break, everyone pitted except for Brandon Brown, Herbst, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Sieg and Jason White.

    The second stage started on Lap 33 and Herbst jumped ahead with the lead on the outside lane followed by Briscoe as the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstraightaway.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Brown mounted a challenge on the inside lane against Herbst for the lead. As the field continued to battle through Turns 2 and 3, the caution returned due to debris from Michael Annett’s car coming out in Turn 2.

    When the race restarted on Lap 39, Herbst jumped ahead with the lead on the inside lane before he moved up to the outside lane in front of Briscoe and a bevy of cars.

    Two laps later, the inside lane led by Brown mounted a charge for the lead through the tri-oval and entering the first turn. Herbst, however, was able to fight back through the backstraightaway and when the field returned to the start/finish line.

    By Lap 45, Brown took the lead followed by Allmendinger, Allgaier, Gragson, Jeb Burton and Sam Mayer while Herbst fell back to eighth alongside Harrison Burton. A lap later, though, Allmendinger muscled his way back into the lead followed by Allgaier, Gragson and Mayer while Brown got shuffled back to fifth.

    Three laps later, the caution returned due to debris coming off of Caesar Bacarella’s car in the frontstretch following contact from Blaine Perkins. Under caution, some including Allmendinger, Allgaier, Gragson, Mayer, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Haley, Sieg and Bell pitted while the rest led by Brown and Herbst remained on the track.

    With eight laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted. At the start, Brown rocketed with the lead followed by Herbst. Through the backstraightaway, though, the field fanned out to multiple lanes and caught Brown through Turns 3 and 4 as Sam Mayer made his way into the lead with drafting help from teammate Gragson.

    By Lap 54, all three Kaulig Racing competitors lined up on the inside lane resulted with Jeb Burton taking the lead ahead of teammates Allmendinger and Haley. They were then quickly pursued by three JR Motorsports competitors featuring Mayer, Gragson and Allgaier, respectively.

    In the closing laps of the second stage, the battle for the lead intensified as Jeb Burton continued to lead by a narrow margin over his Kaulig Racing teammates, a trio of JR Motorsports competitors and the field. By then, Brown pitted as the hood of his car went up.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 60, Jeb Burton, who was blocking all comers through both lanes, managed to claim his first stage victory of the season. Teammates Allmendinger and Haley settled in second and third followed by Herbst and Bell. Gragson, Hemric, Allgaier, Briscoe and Mayer settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Jeb Burton pitted while the rest led by Bell and Gragson remained on the track.

    With 36 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Bell and Gragson battled dead even for the lead as the field fanned out to double lanes and in a pack behind the two leaders.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, the field settled in a long single-file lane as Gragson was leading followed by Bell, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Snider, Allgaier, Mayer, Herbst, Briscoe and Moffitt while Allmendinger and Haley were in 11th and 15th. By then, Hemric was back in 14th.

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Colin Garrett spun and wrecked in Turn 4 as he ended up getting his car stuck in the tri-oval muddy grass. Colby Howard also spun to avoid Garrett.

    With 23 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Bell and Gragson battled dead even for the lead through the backstraightaway as the field fanned out to three lanes. 

    Back to the start/finish line, Bell was leading followed by Jeb Burton while Gragson fell back to fourth while battling Snider. 

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the majority of the field settled in a single-file line as Bell was leading followed by Jeb Burton, Gragson, Allgaier, Herbst, Allmendinger, Snider, Harrison Burton, Hemric, Haley and Mayer while Chase Briscoe was in 13th.

    A few laps later, the caution flew when Caesar Bacarella made contact with Jordan Anderson and hit the outside wall in the backstretch. While trying to straighten his car, Jade Buford and Matt Mills also wrecked to avoid Bacarella.

    Under caution, some including Briscoe pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track.

    With 14 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Jeb Burton had drafting help from Gragson to take a narrow lead before Bell fought back on the outside lane.

    The following lap, Bell cleared the field with the lead followed by Allgaier and Allmendinger while the Burton cousins battled for fourth.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Bell continued to lead followed by Allgaier, Allmendinger, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Haley, Hemric, Snider, JJ Yeley, Jason White and the field, all running in a single-file line. By then, Joe Graf Jr.’s car was smoking through the frontstretch, but the field continued to run under green as Graf took his car below the apron and out of the racing groove.

    With five laps remaining, Bell continued to lead, but a bevy of cars behind started to fan out to multiple lanes while challenging Bell for the lead. A lap later, Allmendinger stormed to the lead followed by teammates Jeb Burton and Haley while Allgaier also moved up, dropping Bell to fifth.

    A few laps later, all three Kaulig Racing competitors led by Jeb Burton were at the front followed by Bell, Harrison Burton, Allgaier and the field.

    When the final lap started, Allmendinger was leading by a narrow margin over teammate Jeb Burton, Bell and the field. Through the backstretch, Jeb Burton peeked to the inside of teammate Allmendinger, who tried to block Burton, for the lead while Bell got shuffled out on the inside lane with no drafting help. In addition, Haley made his move to the outside of Allmendinger, thus placing all three Kaulig Racing competitors in a dead three-wide heat for the win in Turns 3 and 4.

    Entering the tri-oval and with the field fanning out to three lanes, Allmendinger peaked ahead with a push from Allgaier, but Haley started to gain a run on the outside lane as he had Hemric behind him. At the finish line, Haley managed to edge teammate Allmendinger by 0.023 seconds to grab the checkered flag and the win.

    Photo by Andrew Boyd for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    The victory guaranteed Haley a spot in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs as he also captured his fourth career victory in the series. All four of Haley’s Xfinity victory have occurred on superspeedway venues (Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway). In addition, Kaulig Racing captured its third win at Daytona.

    “It’s just not been the best season,” Haley said on NBCSN. “It’s been really, really hard on this No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection team all year. We’ve had a lot of bad luck. I was trying to formulate the plan there and obviously, team orders, saw it out of there, they were so good. Hats off to Kaulig Racing. I think we got the teammate thing down. It’s just so special to win here at Daytona. It’s absolutely incredible. That was a close one and getting it to just beat out AJ. It always means a lot, too.”

    Allmendinger settled in second place while Allgaier, Jeb Burton and Hemric finished in the top five.

    “I mean, that was like the perfect photo shoot right there coming across the [finish] line for all the Kaulig Racing Chevys,” Allmendinger said. “Proud of my son, Justin Haley. He might be one of the best we’ve ever seen on superspeedway. Jeb [Burton] did a fantastic job. I was hanging on in the middle [lane] there. I thought we might get it, but proud of everybody at Kaulig Racing, all the men and women. The Hyper Ice Chevy was good. I think we led the most laps as well. Finished second, all day, it seemed like, but just proud. It was fantastic.”

    “We led some [laps] today and going down the back, I think I led for a second,” Jeb Burton said. “AJ kind of slid up in front of me. I checked up and gave him a shot and then, I had to take the run. I looked and we were one, two and three, and I was thinking we were gonna come across the line like that, but [Allgaier] got me at the line. Really proud of Kaulig Racing. Thanks to Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen for coming on board. We needed this and the Playoffs are coming, so we needed the momentum.”

    Bell settled in sixth followed by Gragson, Snider, Harrison Burton and Herbst.

    With their top-10 results, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Daniel Hemric and Harrison Burton have locked themselves into the 2021 Xfinity Series Playoffs based on points. Including six other competitors that are in based on winning throughout the regular-season stretch (Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Justin Haley, Jeb Burton and Myatt Snider), there are four spots left vacant to the Playoffs with three regular-season races remaining to the schedule.

    There were 17 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 29 laps.

    With his runner-up result, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 17 points over Austin Cindric.

    Results.

    1. Justin Haley, five laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. AJ Allmendinger, 30 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Justin Allgaier

    4. Jeb Burton, eight laps led

    5. Daniel Hemric

    6. Christopher Bell, 23 laps led

    7. Noah Gragson, 16 laps led

    8. Myatt Snider

    9. Harrison Burton

    10. Riley Herbst, nine laps led

    11. Brett Moffitt

    12. Sam Mayer, one lap led

    13. JJ Yeley 

    14. David Starr

    15. Jason White

    16. Ryan Sieg

    17. Josh Williams

    18. Tommy Joe Martins

    19. Chase Briscoe

    20. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    21. Landon Cassill

    22. Jordan Anderson

    23. Blaine Perkins

    24. Jeremy Clements

    25. Mason Massey

    26. Colby Howard

    27. Ryan Vargas

    28. Jade Buford

    29. Tim Viens

    30. Michael Annett

    31. Alex Labbe

    32. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    33. Matt Mills, two laps down

    34. Brandon Brown, three laps down, nine laps led

    35. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    36. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

    37. Colin Garrett – OUT, Accident

    38. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Engine

    39. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident

    40. Brandon Jones – OUT, Engine

    With the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch nearing its conclusion, the series will next travel to Darlington, South Carolina, and compete at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, September 4, during Labor Day weekend. The event will occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Cindric tames the Indianapolis Road Course for fifth Xfinity win of 2021

    Cindric tames the Indianapolis Road Course for fifth Xfinity win of 2021

    Scoring the biggest victory of his racing career, Austin Cindric took the lead at the start of the final stage and went on to beat AJ Allmendinger to win the second annual Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday, August 14. The victory was Cindric’s fifth of this year’s Xfinity Series season and it served as a double victory sweep of the day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for team owner Roger Penske and Team Penske after Will Power won the IndyCar event earlier.

    Qualifying occurred on Saturday, August 14, and AJ Allmendinger claimed the top-starting spot with a pole-winning speed at 97.744 mph. Joining on the front row was Austin Cindric, the regular-season points leader. 

    Prior to the event, a number of competitors, including Landon Cassill, Kyle Weatherman, rookie Sam Mayer and Austin Dillon dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines. Ryan Sieg and JJ Yeley also dropped to the rear of the field due to both missing driver introductions.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Allmendinger jumped ahead with an early advantage over Austin Cindric. His race, however, got off to a rocky start when he overshot the first turn, which allowed Justin Haley to move into the lead while Allmendinger fell back to third behind Cindric. 

    While the field battled through the long straightaway in Turns 5 and 6, a series of carnages ensued behind as Harrison Burton, teammate Brandon Jones, Kevin Harvick, Alex Labbe, Josh Bilicki, Brandon Brown and Preston Pardus all wrecked after getting into the orange turtle bumps in Turn 6. Ahead of the carnage, Allmendinger slipped off the track in Turn 12, which dropped him from the top five to the top 10.

    Shortly after, the first caution of the event flew due to Preston Pardus stalling in Turn 7 after being involved in the early multi-car carnage. At the time of caution, Haley was still leading as he led the first lap followed by Austin Cindric, rookie Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier and teammate Noah Gragson. 

    When the race restarted on the fourth lap, Haley and Cindric battled dead even for the lead until Haley cleared Cindric for the lead entering the first two turns. Behind, Justin Allgaier made his way into third place followed by Gibbs, Riley Herbst and Gragson as the field stacked up entering Turn 7. 

    By the fifth lap, Haley was leading by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Cindric, with Allgaier, Gibbs and Herbst in the top five. Myatt Snider moved up to sixth followed by Gragson, Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Will Rodgers. By then, Sage Karam, a part-time IndyCar Series competitor who was making his NASCAR debut in Jordan Anderson Racing’s No. 31 Chevrolet, was in 11th while Jeb Burton was in 16th. 

    At the Lap 10 mark, Haley continued to lead by nearly a second over Cindric while Gibbs, Allgaier and Herbst retained their spots in the top five. Allmendinger, meanwhile, moved up to sixth followed by Gragson, Snider, Hemric and Karam. Behind, Chase Elliott, who filled in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in place of Michael Annett, was up in 15th behind Andy Lally while Harrison Burton was mired back in 30th.

    A lap later, Ryan Sieg fell to the rear of the field following a pair of on-track spins.

    On Lap 14, Cindric, who gained a draft through the frontstretch, made his move to the inside of Haley to take the lead in Turn 1. Despite being pressured by Haley, Cindric managed to maintain the lead through Turns 4 through 7. Behind, Rodgers spun while running near the top 10, but the race continued to run under green.

    A lap later, however, the caution flew due to debris on the frontstretch that came off of Sieg’s No. 39 Ford Mustang, which also had a flat left-rear tire. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Herbst remained on the track.

    With two laps remaining in the first stage, the field restarted under green. At the start, Herbst jumped ahead of Karam and the field to lead for one full lap through the 14-turn circuit. The following lap, Haley made his way up to second place and went to work on Herbst for the lead. By Turn 12, Haley reassumed the lead.

    After reclaiming the lead, Haley went on to claim the first stage victory on Lap 20, which marked his fourth stage victory of the season. Herbst settled in second followed by Jeb Burton, Cindric, Karam, Gragson, Jeremy Clements, Tommy Joe Martins, Elliott and Gibbs.

    Under the stage break, few led by Herbst pitted while the rest led by Haley remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 23. At the start, Cindric and Gragson put Haley in a three-wide situation entering the first turn before Cindric emerged with the top spot through the first two turns. Through Turns 5 and 6, contact from teammate Hemric sent Gibbs spinning. At the same time, Kris Wright caught major air after running over the curbs. Then afterwards, Chase Elliott spun in Turn 7. Despite the trio of on-track incidents, the race continued under green.

    Two laps later, Cindric was leading by more than a second over Gragson while Haley, Allgaier and Clements were in the top five. By then, Gibbs pitted under green. Not long after, Hemric also pitted to address a flat tire following contact with Gibbs.

    On Lap 29, the caution flew due to Austin Hill stalling on the track. Under caution, some like Herbst, Kyle Weatherman, James Davison, Harrison Burton and Hemric pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    With eight laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted. At the start, Gragson emerged with the lead through the first turn while Allmendinger moved up to second over Cindric. By Turn 7, however, Allmendinger carved his way back into the lead. Five turns later, teammate Haley moved up to second as Gragson and Cindric fell back to third and fourth.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Allmendinger, who lost the lead following the first turn on the opening lap, was leading by nearly half a second over teammate Haley followed by Gragson, Cindric and Sam Mayer. Behind, Austin Dillon spun in Turn 1, but the race continued under green.

    Another two laps later, Allmendinger continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Haley, with Gragson, Cindric and Mayer were in the top five. 

    Two laps later, names like Cindric, Snider, Rodgers, Mayer, Elliott, Spencer Pumpelly, Karam and Austin Dillon pitted under green. During the process, Mayer, who was exiting pit road, drew the caution when fire came out of his No. 24 Toyota Supra, which eliminated him from contention near the pit road exit. During the caution, Allgaier, who was trying to pit prior to pit road closing, was ruled to have pitted too soon after he failed to enter pit road prior to its closure.

    The on-track mechanical issue for Rodgers was enough to have the second stage scheduled on Lap 40 conclude under caution as Allmendinger, the race leader, claimed his seventh stage victory of the season. Teammate Haley settled in second followed by Gragson, Gibbs, Andy Lally, Jeb Burton, Hemric, Clements, Herbst and Josh Williams.

    Under the stage break, some led by Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track. Prior to the restart, Allgaier was sent to the rear of the field following his pit road misfortune for pitting while the pits were closed.

    With 19 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Gibbs launched ahead and led the field through the first pair of turns while Cindric moved up to second ahead of Harrison Burton and the field.

    A lap later, Cindric passed Gibbs entering the fourth turn to take the lead. Behind, Mayer, who was having a strong run in the making, spun and hit the tire barriers in Turn 6 following contact with teammate Elliott. Despite the incident, the race continued to run under green as Mayer pulled the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro out of the racing course.

    Back on the track, Cindric was leading by more than a second over Myatt Snider while Allmendinger moved up to third ahead of Elliott and Gibbs. Behind, Austin Dillon was up in sixth followed by Haley, Harrison Burton, Gragson and Spencer Pumpelly.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Cindric was leading by more than four seconds over Allmendinger while Elliott, Haley and Snider were in the top five. Gibbs was in sixth followed by Austin Dillon, Gragson, Herbst and Harrison Burton. Behind, Spencer Pumpelly spun in Turn 1 while competing in the top 15, but the race continued under green.

    With five laps remaining, Cindric remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Allmendinger while Elliott, Haley and Snider continued to run in the top five. Meanwhile, Gibbs, who was running in the top five but was told was three laps short on fuel, pitted under green.

    Down to the final two laps, Cindric stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over Allmendinger while Haley moved up to third ahead of Elliott. Meanwhile, Gragson was in fifth ahead of Austin Dillon, Snider, Herbst, Harrison Burton and Andy Lally.

    When the final lap of the event started, Cindric was leading by less than three seconds over Allmendinger. Behind, Haley and Elliott were more than nine and 10 seconds behind.

    Through the 14-turn road course, Cindric was able to have enough horsepower and muscle to race back to the frontstretch and cross the finish line with the victory by more than two seconds over Allmendinger.

    In addition to claiming his first victory at Indianapolis and the fifth of this year’s Xfinity season, Cindric notched his 13th career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his fifth on a road course event as he continues his pursuit to a second consecutive Xfinity title before moving up to the Cup Series in 2022.

    “Unbelievable,” Cindric said on NBCSN. “First of all, I gotta thank [team owner] Roger Penske for every opportunity I’ve had in my career, every opportunity he’s given you race fans to enjoy this beautiful weekend with three race series. How awesome is this facility now, guys?! It’s amazing! I’m so proud to be a part of this Penske family. Obviously, this race track is so much deeper than just that. My family history. What this place means to me, I can’t even put into words what it means to win at Indianapolis.”

    Behind, Allmendinger came home in second place while teammate Haley finished in third place.

    “Kaulig Racing needed a better driver today, quite honestly,” Allmendinger said. “I messed up way too much early, got us off track today. It’s tough, sometimes, with these road courses and the Xfinity Series with the way these stages lined up…We had a really fast Hyperice Chevy. I was awful today.”

    “I’m really proud of the third place [result],” Haley said. “I think me and AJ had the best cars today. Everyone on this LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet team did a great job. Proud of Kaulig Racing for second and third…This is my third trip at Indy, my hometown, and my third top five [result], so I’m pretty proud of that that we could come and run pretty good in our hometown.”

    Elliott, who reportedly did not have enough fuel to finish, crossed the finish line in fourth while teammate Gragson completed the top five.

    Austin Dillon, Snider, Herbst, Harrison Burton and Andy Lally finished in the top 10.

    There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 15 laps. 

    With his victory, Austin Cindric continues to lead the regular-season standings by 82 points over AJ Allmendinger.

    Results.

    1. Austin Cindric, 29 laps led

    2. AJ Allmendinger, eight laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Justin Haley, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Chase Elliott

    5. Noah Gragson

    6. Austin Dillon

    7. Myatt Snider

    8. Riley Herbst, three laps led

    9. Harrison Burton

    10. Andy Lally

    11. Justin Allgaier

    12. Daniel Hemric

    13. Alex Labbe

    14. Jeremy Clements

    15. Josh Williams

    16. Kyle Weatherman

    17. Landon Cassill

    18. James Davison

    19. Ty Gibbs, four laps led

    20. Jade Buford

    21. Tommy Joe Martins

    22. JJ Yeley

    23. Jeb Burton

    24. Spencer Pumpelly – OUT, Ignition

    25. Josh Bilicki, two laps down

    26. Sage Karam – OUT, Electrical

    27. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    28. Will Rodgers – OUT, Brakes

    29. Austin Hill – OUT, Steering box

    30. Kris Wright – OUT, Accident

    31. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Axle

    32. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Suspension

    33. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Power steering

    34. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident

    35. Preston Pardus – OUT, Accident

    36. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ return to Michigan International Speedway following a one-year absence. The event will occur on Saturday, August 21, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Bell makes it an Xfinity three-peat at New Hampshire

    Bell makes it an Xfinity three-peat at New Hampshire

    Christopher Bell made the most of his one-race return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series by remaining undefeated at New Hampshire Motor Speedway following a dominating victory in the Ambetter Get Vaccinated 200 on Saturday, July 17. The Norman, Oklahoma, native quickly worked his way from starting 14th to sweep both stages and lead a race-high 151 of 200 laps before recording the win by more than six seconds over Justin Allgaier and Daniel Hemric.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Jeb Burton started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Justin Haley.

    Prior to the event, Landon Cassill and Matt Mills dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines. Dawson Cram also started at the rear of the field due to a driver change.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Jeb Burton prevailed on the outside lane through the first two turns to take an early lead over teammate Haley, Austin Cindric and the field. 

    With the field fanned out to nearly four lanes through the backstretch, Jeb Burton was able to lead the first lap. Behind, Cindric moved up to second followed by AJ Allmendinger, Haley, Jeremy Clements, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Harrison Burton, Brett Moffitt and Riley Herbst.

    By the fifth lap, Jeb Burton was leading by more than a second over Cindric, who had Allmendinger challenging him for the spot. Haley remained in fourth followed by Clements, Harrison Burton and Allgaier.

    Twelve laps later, Allmendinger overtook teammate Jeb Burton for the lead. Allmendinger then went on to retain the lead through Lap 20 before the competition caution flew.

    The race restarted on Lap 26 with Allmendinger and Cindric starting on the front row. Just as the field was approaching the start/finish line to restart under green, the caution returned for a restart pileup involving Riley Herbst, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt and Sam Mayer, an incident that sent the back end of the field scattering to avoid the calamity.

    Following the incident, the race restarted on Lap 30. Through the following 13 laps, Allmendinger remained out in front until he had Bell and teammate Harrison Burton challenging him with the first stage reaching its conclusion.

    With two laps remaining in the first stage, Bell, following a lengthy battle with Allmendinger and Harrison Burton, moved his No. 54 DeWalt Toyota Supra into the lead. Just as Allmendinger had a final lap effort established for Bell, the caution flew due to a wreck in Turn 1 involving Kyle Weatherman and Tommy Joe Martins. The incident ended the first stage under caution on Lap 45 with Bell in front of Allmendinger, Harrison Burton, Cindric, Daniel Hemric, Allgaier, Haley, Jeb Burton, Josh Berry and Clements.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field, except for Brandon Brown and Joe Graf Jr., pitted, and Bell was the first competitor to exit pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 53 and Brown retained the lead through the first two turns until he was overtaken by Allmendinger. With Allmendinger back in the lead, Bell also made his way into the runner-up spot on the track.

    By Lap 56, Bell returned to the lead after he overtook Allmendinger for the top spot. Behind, Cindric was in third place ahead of Haley, Allgaier, Hemric, Jeb Burton, Noah Gragson, Brandon Brown, Myatt Snider and Josh Berry.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Bell, who continued to dominate, was out in front. Cindric was scored in second followed by Hemric, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Haley, Berry, Harrison Burton, Gragson and Jeb Burton.

    Under the stage break, the entire field pitted and Bell retained the lead following his exit from pit road.

    With 102 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start and with the field battling for positions, Bell remained as the leader by a clear advantage over Allgaier, Hemric and the field.

    With 52 laps remaining, the caution returned when Patrick Emerling lost a right-front tire and smacked the outside wall approaching Turn 4. Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Bell retained the lead after exiting pit road with the lead.

    Down to the final 45 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bell and Hemric filled the front row. At the start, Bell pulled ahead with the lead followed by Allgaier while Hemric fell back to third ahead of Cindric.

    A lap later, Gragson hit the outside wall in Turn 3 following contact with Allmendinger, but the race remained under green.

    Meanwhile, the battle for the lead ignited between Bell and Allgaier, with the latter pressuring the former. Despite Allgaier’s repeated challenges through the turns and the straightaways under the final 40 laps, Bell continued to lead.

    With 20 laps remaining, Bell continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Allgaier and Hemric.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Bell extended his advantage to nearly five seconds over Allgaier and Hemric. Cindric was back in fourth followed by Harrison Burton and Haley, who was more than 10 second behind.

    Despite being surrounded by lapped traffic through the final laps, Bell utilized his huge advantage to pull away and cruise to the finish line, where he claimed his third consecutive checkered flag at the Magic Mile.

    Along with his third consecutive Xfinity victory at New Hampshire, Bell achieved his 17th NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory in his 75th series start and the eighth victory of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team.

    “What I’ve got figured out is that I’ve got really, really fast race cars to drive,” Bell said on NBCSN. “I just love being here with Joe Gibbs Racing. All these Supras that I’ve had the last three times I’ve been here have been amazing. Hopefully my Camry is just as good tomorrow, but if feels good to win, finally got DeWalt in victory lane. I know it’s been a long time coming…Just really proud to be at Joe Gibbs Racing. Everyone here does an amazing job.”

    Allgaier held off Hemric to finish in the runner-up spot while Cindric and Harrison Burton completed the top five on the track.

    Haley, Snider, Josh Berry, Moffitt and Riley Herbst finished in the top 10.

    Teammates Jeb Burton and Allmendinger finished 11th and 12th while Gragson settled in 14th in front of Jeremy Clements.

    There were five lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 28 laps.

    With his top-five run, Austin Cindric continues to lead the regular-season standings by 82 over AJ Allmendinger and 113 over Daniel Hemric.

    Results.

    1. Christopher Bell, 151 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Justin Allgaier

    3. Daniel Hemric

    4. Austin Cindric

    5. Harrison Burton

    6. Justin Haley

    7. Myatt Snider

    8. Josh Berry

    9. Brett Moffitt

    10. Riley Herbst

    11. Jeb Burton, 16 laps led

    12. AJ Allmendinger, 29 laps led

    13. Ryan Sieg

    14. Noah Gragson

    15. Jeremy Clements

    16. Brandon Gdovic

    17. Brandon Brown, four laps led

    18. Jade Buford, two laps down

    19. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    20. David Starr, two laps down

    21. Tommy Joe Martins, three laps down

    22. Josh Williams, three laps down

    23. JJ Yeley, three laps down

    24. Joe Graf Jr., three laps down

    25. Landon Cassill, two laps down

    26. Jeffrey Earnhardt, three laps down

    27. Dexter Bean, three laps down

    28. Jesse Little three laps down

    29. Ryan Vargas, four laps down

    30. Colby Howard, four laps down

    31. Patrick Emerling, four laps down

    32. Matt Mills, five laps down

    33. Spencer Boyd, six laps down

    34. Jordan Anderson, six laps down

    35. Dawson Cram, 16 laps down

    36. Alex Labbe, 26 laps down

    37. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Electrical

    38. Brandon Jones – OUT, Electrical

    39. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    40. Mason Massey – OUT, Accident

    The 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season will enter a two-week break period before returning on Saturday, August 7, at Watkins Glen International. The event is slated to start at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Richard Boswell to call 100th Xfinity race as crew chief at New Hampshire

    Richard Boswell to call 100th Xfinity race as crew chief at New Hampshire

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Richard Boswell, crew chief for Riley Herbst and the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. By participating in this weekend’s Xfinity event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Boswell will call his 100th Xfinity race as a crew chief.

    A native of Friendship, Maryland, Boswell, whose father, Dickie, was a successful late model competitor, grew up competing in racing, where he won multiple World Karting Association national titles in 1998 before competing in late models in 2001. In 2006, Boswell joined JR Motorsports and competed in the Hooters Pro Cup Series. As part of JRM’s racing program, Boswell made his lone NASCAR national touring series start at Memphis International Raceway in the Xfinity Series in October 2009. Driving the No. 5 JRM Chevrolet, Boswell started third and finished 23rd.

    Due to sponsorship issues, Boswell’s racing career as a driver came to an early close. Boswell, though, worked on becoming a crew chief in NASCAR by earning his mechanical engineering degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He continued to work for JR Motorsports and eventually joined Hendrick Motorsports, where he was a part of the No. 48 Chevrolet team piloted by Jimmie Johnson, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.

    In 2016, Boswell made his debut as a NASCAR crew chief in November 2016 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the final Xfinity Series event of the season, for Cole Custer and the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team. During the event, Custer started 18th and finished 17th.

    The following season, Boswell was selected to crew chief one of Stewart-Haas Racing’s two newly formed Xfinity Series entries, which competed in six events while being piloted by Kevin Harvick, the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion. During the six-race schedule, Boswell and Harvick finished in the top 10 in all of their appearances, with their best result being a runner-up finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

    Boswell returned as crew chief for Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 98 Ford Mustang for 12 Xfinity Series events in 2018, where the ride was shared between Harvick, veteran Aric Almirola and rookie Chase Briscoe. By then, SHR formed a partnership with Biagi-DenBeste Racing. Throughout the part-time season, Boswell earned his first two career victories as a crew chief, the first with Harvick at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February and the second with Briscoe at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in October. The team also earned four top-five results and five top-10 results between Almirola, Briscoe and Harvick.

    Following two part-time seasons, Boswell was named crew chief for Briscoe and the No. 98 SHR Ford Mustang team for the entire 33-race Xfinity Series schedule in 2019. Throughout the season, Boswell and Briscoe achieved a win at Iowa Speedway in July. They also achieved two poles, 13 top-five results, 26 top-10 results, an average-finishing result of 8.2 and a spot in the 2019 Xfinity Playoffs, where Briscoe remained in title contention before being eliminated prior to the Championship Round. Despite finishing in fifth place in the final standings, Briscoe locked up the 2019 Xfinity Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    Remaining as an Xfinity crew chief for Briscoe and SHR in 2020, it only took two races into the season for Boswell and Briscoe to earn their first victory of the season, which occurred at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in February. At Darlington Raceway in May, Boswell and Briscoe achieved their second victory of the season when Briscoe fended off Kyle Busch in a thrilling finish.

    Following the first of a Homestead-Miami Speedway doubleheader weekend feature in June, Boswell was suspended from the following four Xfinity races due to a safety violation involving dropped ballast from Briscoe’s car prior to the event. Also suspended with Boswell were car chief Nick Hutchins and engineer DJ Vanderley. With Boswell suspended, Greg Zipadelli, competition director at Stewart-Haas Racing and a former championship-winning crew chief, filled in as Briscoe’s interim crew chief, where they won in three out of four races.

    Returning at Kentucky Speedway in July, the momentum for Boswell, Briscoe and the No. 98 SHR Ford team continued as Briscoe went on to win at Dover International Speedway in August and at Bristol Motor Speedway in September. 

    When the 2020 Xfinity Playoffs commenced, Boswell and Briscoe notched a dominating victory at Las Vegas in September. They went on to win at Kansas Speedway in October, a victory that secured the driver, crew chief and the team a spot in the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway in November. During the finale, however, Briscoe ended up in ninth place on the track and behind his three fellow title contenders in the final standings. Overall, Boswell achieved six victories, 13 top-five results and 19 top-10 results in 29 races with Briscoe.

    For the 2021 season, Boswell remained in the Xfinity Series and as crew chief for SHR’s No. 98 Ford team. While Briscoe moved up to the Cup Series with SHR, however, Riley Herbst joined the team to pilot the No. 98 car as a full-time Xfinity driver. Through the first 18 Xfinity events of this season, Boswell and Herbst have achieved a pole, two top-five results, five top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 18.7. They are ranked in 13th place in the regular-season standings.

    Through 99 previous Xfinity events, Boswell has achieved nine victories, three poles, 37 top-five results and 61 top-10 results with five different competitors. 

    Boswell is set to call his 100th Xfinity Series career race as a crew chief at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 17, with the event scheduled to occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.