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  • Ty Gibbs’ full 2021 Xfinity schedule revealed

    Ty Gibbs’ full 2021 Xfinity schedule revealed

    Coming off an historic debut and victory at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, Ty Gibbs will return for an additional 14 NASCAR Xfinity Series races throughout the 2021 season for Joe Gibbs Racing.

    The 18-year-old grandson of NASCAR Hall of Famer and team owner, Joe Gibbs, from Charlotte, North Carolina, will make his second career start in the Xfinity circuit at Phoenix Raceway on March 13.

    He will then compete at Martinsville Speedway on April 9 followed by Darlington Raceway on May 8, Dover International Speedway on May 15, Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 5, Pocono Raceway on June 27, Road America on July 3, Watkins Glen International on August 7, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on August 14, Michigan International Speedway on August 21 and at Richmond Raceway on September 11. During the 2021 Xfinity Series Playoffs, he will also compete at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on October 9 and at Kansas Speedway on October 23.

    JGR took to social media to reveal the announcement and Ty Gibbs’ schedule.

    With Gibbs’ full part-time Xfinity schedule revealed, he will also continue to pilot Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra led by crew chief Chris Gayle.

    Gibbs made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut last weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, where he led 14 laps and outlasted the field through two overtime attempts to record his first victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series. By winning at Daytona in his debut, he became the sixth competitor to win in their series debut but the first to do so without a prior Cup start. He also became the 165 different competitor to record an Xfinity Series win and the 18th to do so while driving for his grandfather’s organization.

    In addition to a part-time Xfinity schedule, Gibbs currently competes as a full-time competitor in the ARCA Menards Series for JGR and in the No. 18 Toyota Camry led by crew chief Mark McFarland.

    With Gibbs’ next event on the schedule at Phoenix in March, Ty Dillon will return for the following two NASCAR Xfinity Series races with JGR at Homestead-Miami Speedway on February 27 and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 6.

  • NASCAR Xfinity Series Power Rankings – Road America

    NASCAR Xfinity Series Power Rankings – Road America

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series competed at Road America Saturday afternoon for what may be the only stand-alone Xfinity event of the year while the Cup Series raced at Michigan.

    The Henry 180 took nearly three hours to complete, thanks to a 90-minute delay due to lightning in the area and a slew of late cautions. Once the lightning was gone, NASCAR brought out the rain tires and created an interesting twist to the event as the the Xfinity drivers raced for a short while in the rain. Sunny skies eventually returned by the completion of the 45-lap event and we saw the usual suspect, Austin Cindric, take home his fourth Xfinity Series win of the 2020 season.

    With Cindric enjoying a respectable season, drivers like Justin Allgaier continue to search for wins. On a late-race restart with two to go (not overtime), Allgaier slammed the Turn 3 wall and tore the whole right side off of his No. 7 JR Motorsports machine, so much so, that the blue foam was coming out of the car. It was unfortunate for the Illinois native who remains winless in 2020.

    Here are this week’s Power Rankings following the Henry 180.

    1. Austin Cindric – It was a picture-perfect day for the Team Penske driver who led a race-high of 19 laps. Cindric started second via random draw and finished second in Stage 1. He was unable to record any stage points for the second stage, but at the end of the day, all that mattered was the checkered flag which was in Cindric’s hand when all was said and done. At this point, Cindric is the Championship 4 favorite.

      Previous Week Ranking – First
    2. Ross Chastain – Chastain had a solid day in Wisconsin, placing fourth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2, before coming home in the seventh position. The Floridian never really contended for the win, but had the opportunity presented itself, he more than likely could have capitalized on the moment. Instead, Chastain had to settle for his 16th top 10 of the year. He also picked up some stage points which will definitely come in handy as the season progresses. It is interesting to note that Chastain tied his best Road America finish of seventh.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fourth
    3. Ryan Sieg – It was a quiet ninth-place finish for Sieg and his family-owned No. 39 RSS Racing team. He finished outside the top 10 in Stages 1 and 2, but the end result marked his seventh top 10 of the season. Sometimes it’s best to have a quiet day than a noisy day.

      Previous Week Ranking – Third
    4. Chase Briscoe – Briscoe scored a third-place finish on Saturday afternoon after a difficult Kansas outing. In addition, the Stewart-Haas driver recorded a stage finish of third in Stage 1, but 14th for Stage 2 after playing pit strategy. Overall, it was a nice rebound for the No. 98 team who trails by 11 in the points standings to Austin Cindric, especially after a close moment where he almost went off track in one of the turns.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
    5. Noah Gragson – A much needed sixth place in Noah Gragson’s No. 9 camp, one race succeeding the Kansas event where the Las Vegas native finished 15th. The Road America finish was also needed after Gragson crashed at Texas a few weeks ago. The season sure has been interesting for Gragson but if the team can get back on track and start gaining momentum again, there’s no question that he will be another favorite for the title.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked

    Fell Out

    1. Justin Allgaier – It was not the day Allgaier needed when he crashed late in the going on a restart. The 2020 season has been a forgettable year for the Xfinity Series veteran, who currently has four top fives and nine top 10 finishes, the least of his career since his first year in 2009, where Allgaier earned three top fives and 12 top 10’s that season.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
  • Clements to make 350th Xfinity start at Road America

    Clements to make 350th Xfinity start at Road America

    A lot is on the line for journeyman Jeremy Clements and his family-owned team approaching the final nine NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season races of this year. For this weekend’s race at Road America, a track where he won at in upset fashion and secured his spot to the Playoffs in 2017, Clements aims to repeat the competitiveness, the pace and the road course magic he and his team exhibited from three seasons ago to propel himself back into title contention this season. Also in the midst of his battle for a postseason berth is the fact that he will making his 350th career start in the Xfinity Series (the only major division series in NASCAR he has ever raced in) when the green flag waves at Road America on Saturday, August 8.

    A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, and who started his racing career by driving go-karts, Clements worked his way up in racing modifies and stock cars, winning feature events and track championships, before racing in Late Models and the ARCA Series. The 2003 season was where he made his first start within NASCAR’s three major division series at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colorado, and in the No. 71 Chevrolet for Young Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He started 35th and finished 31st in his series debut.

    It was not until 2007 when Clements returned to the series and competed in the final five races of the season, driving the No. 36 Chevrolet for McGill Motorsports. His best finish within his five starts was 23rd at Charlotte in October. Throughout the 2008 and 2009 racing seasons, Clements made select Xfinity starts in his family-owned team, Jeremy Clements Motorsports, while practicing and qualifying cars for Joe Gibbs Racing, notably at Kentucky in 2008 and at Iowa in 2009. Late in the 2009 season, Clements competed in six races in the No. 0 Chevrolet for JD Motorsports, where he earned a best result of 12th at Auto Club Speedway in October.

    Clements started the 2010 Xfinity Series season with plans of competing in the opening three races in the No. 0 Chevrolet for JD Motorsports. After failing to qualify for the season opener at Daytona, Clements scaled back to the No. 04 Chevrolet for JD Motorsports. Throughout the 2010 season and the 35-race schedule, he made 16 starts and failed to qualify for seven races. At Gateway in October 2010, Clements notched his first top-10 career result (10th place).

    For the 2011 season, Clements competed on a full-time basis with his family-owned team, Jeremy Clements Racing, and sporting the No. 51 alongside his car. He recorded nine top-20 results with a best finish of 14th in September. The following season, Clements returned for another full-time racing role. All of his starts came while driving for JCR, but his car number was 4 for Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July and at Richmond Raceway in September. During the two races where Clements ran the No. 4 car, Ty Dillon sported the No. 51 alongside his car under the Richard Childress Racing banner during his developing races in the series. Clements’ best results in 2012 were a pair of 10th-place finishes at Dover International Speedway in June and at Indianapolis. After the season concluded, Clements surpassed 100 career starts in the Xfinity Series.

    Clements started the 2013 season by finishing 33rd in the season opener at Daytona, but he was suspended indefinitely for using a racial slur during an ESPN interview. Missing the next two events, where Ryan Sieg drove Clements’ No. 51 car, Clements returned the following race at Bristol Motor Speedway in March and competed the rest of the 33-race schedule. His best results were a ninth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in May and a 10th-place finish during the inaugural race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

    From 2014 to 2016, Clements remained as a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for his family-owned team and he notched a total of six top-10 results between the three seasons. His best runs were a fourth-place finish at Talladega in April 2016, a sixth-place result at Road America in June 2014 and a sixth-place result at Bristol in August 2016. His best points result between the three seasons was 14th in 2015. By then, he surpassed 200 Xfinity career starts.

    For the first 22 races of the 2017 Xfinity Series season, his seventh as a full-time competitor, Clements had recorded only one top-10 result, which was a seventh-place result at Iowa Speedway in June. The following race at Road America was where Clements rose to the occasion and shined under the spotlight as he was closing in towards race leader and rookie Matt Tifft in the final laps. Through Turns 12 and 13, Clements gained a big run to draw himself right to the rear bumper of Tifft’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry. In Turn 14, Clements attempted to pass Tifft for the lead when he got loose and collided into Tifft as both spun through the turn. With no caution falling, Clements was able to quickly straighten his No. 51 Chevrolet Camaro, take the lead and bolt away from the field for one final lap to achieve his first NASCAR triumph in his 256th career start. Of all the achievements that came with Clements’ victory, the biggest one of all was that the win clinched the journeyman and his team a spot in the 2017 Xfinity Series Playoffs with an opportunity to win his first NASCAR championship. For the remainder of the season, however, he finished no higher than 16th and settled in a career-best 12th place in the final standings.

    In 2018 and 2019, Clements achieved a total of six top-10 results, a best finish of fourth place at Bristol in August, and he missed the Playoffs during both seasons. His best points result was 14th in 2019. By then, he surpassed 300 career starts.

    This season, through the first 17 Xfinity Series races, Clements has achieved three top-10 results with a best result of third place at Pocono Raceway in June. With 11 top-15 results in total, Clements and his family-owned No. 51 Chevrolet team are currently 32 points below the top-12 cutline to secure a spot into this year’s Playoffs and for the second career time.

    Catch Clements’ milestone start at Road America on August 8 at noon ET on NBCSN.

  • Road America Henry 180 could heat up Xfinity Series title race heading into Playoffs

    Road America Henry 180 could heat up Xfinity Series title race heading into Playoffs

    A year ago it was obvious that the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship was going to be settled between three drivers from three different camps: Cole Custer in a Ford, Christopher Bell in a Toyota, and Tyler Reddick in a Chevrolet. Ultimately it was Reddick who came away with his second consecutive championship, while Custer finished second in points and Bell in third. The outcome of the championship was never in doubt regarding those three, while the rest of the Xfinity garage was just an afterthought.

    In 2020, there are only two full-time Ford camps in the Xfinity garage and they also happen to be the season leaders as Chase Briscoe with Stewart-Haas Racing and Austin Cindric with Team Penske run second and first in the standings, respectively. Briscoe leads the series with five wins while Cindric has three, while the other regulars who have won have only won once or twice.

    Briscoe and Cindric both have two Xfinity Series road course wins, with Briscoe winning at the Charlotte Roval in 2018 and the Indianapolis Road Course in 2020, while Cindric won back-to-back road course events in 2019 with wins at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio. Both drivers have considerable space ahead of third-place Noah Gragson and look to make the title fight an exclusively Ford affair.

    Briscoe has edged the competition so far in 2020 with an average finish of 6.6 in 17 events. This is helped not only by his five wins this season but by his 10 top-fives and 13 top-10s as well. His No. 98 SHR Ford has hit few snags this season, but with his lowest finish being 20th at Charlotte he’s been consistent. He’s been strongest this season on the mile-and-a-half speedways, but at Road America in 2019, he posted a solid seventh-place result, one of the four top-10s he earned on road courses in 2019.

    Cindric meanwhile is an established road course ace. Along with his two road course wins in 2019 he finished second at Road America and third at the Charlotte Roval, and in July he finished fifth. Considering he has an extra season under his belt as opposed to Briscoe, looking at his 2018 statistics he scored a second at Watkins Glen and a third at the Charlotte Roval. That adds to seven road course top-fives in 10 Xfinity Series road course races.

    Cindric’s average finish this season is 8.9, but that’s only due to the three crash DNFs he’s experienced so far. He’s on par with Briscoe in terms of performance in 2020, with 11 top-fives and 13 top-10s to his name heading into Road America.

    Although Noah Gragson has only won twice in 2020 (Daytona, Bristol) and sits third in points, his aggressive consistency has netted him eight top-fives and 11 top-10s this season. He’s been a contender on the road courses as well, with five straight top-fives on the Xfinity road course events including a third at Indy this year. Last year’s Road America event saw him finish fourth after starting fifth, so with the speed the No. 9 JR Motorsports crew has had this season mixed with Gragson’s experience, Road America could be the place that team makes a championship charge.

    Perhaps the biggest dark horse among this season’s Xfinity Series leaders is Ross Chastain from the Kaulig Racing camp. He’s winless in 2020, but he sits fourth in points heading into Road America with a series-leading 15 top-10s in 17 races. 2019 was a partial Xfinity Series schedule for Chastain, however, his last start at Road America in 2018 yielded a seventh-place finish. Considering 2020 has been a career year for the Florida watermelon farmer, there’s no reason that Chastain shouldn’t be able to continue his consistent streak at Road America.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series Henry 180 at Road America will be August 8, at 12 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Lally to run two Xfinity road course races in August

    Lally to run two Xfinity road course races in August

    Veteran sports car competitor Andy Lally announced that he will return to compete in two NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season. Lally, who will be driving the No. 02 Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, will be racing at Road America on August 8 followed by the Daytona International Speedway Road Course on August 15. Joe Williams will serve as his crew chief.

    Lally is a five-time Rolex 24 at Daytona class winner, where he has also won the 2001 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series SRPII class championship, the 2004 Grand Am SGS class title and the 2006 Grand AM GT class title. He has won 27 Rolex Grand-Am Sports Car Series races, none since 2013, and two American Le Mans Series races, both in 2010. To July 2020, he races in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Magnus Racing.

    Lally has made 63 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series, (Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series), and he won the 2011 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title, with a best result of 19th at Talladega Superspeedway during his rookie Cup season. His best result in NASCAR was a fifth-place result at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the Xfinity Series while driving for team owner Bobby Dotter. He has also recorded top-10 results in the series at Watkins Glen in 2017, Road America in 2014, Mid-Ohio in 2016 and at Road America in 2018.

    The last time Lally raced in the NASCAR Xfinity Series was in 2018, where he competed at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Road America and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval for team owner Mario Gosselin. He finished 15th at Mid-Ohio and 10th at Road America before finishing 37th at the Roval due to a crash.

    In addition to his return, Lally is also set to become the fourth competitor to pilot the No. 02 Chevrolet Camaro for Our Motorsports, which made its debut as a full-time Xfinity team this year. The 2018 NASCAR Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt has competed with the team in 14 of the 16 races this season, having scored four top-10 results and a career-best finish of fifth place at Talladega in June. He is set to start in 23rd place on Saturday, July 25, at Kansas Speedway for the Kansas Lottery 250. Patrick Emerling and Jairo Avila Jr. have also made a start for the team at Bristol Motor Speedway and at Homestead-Miami Speedway in June.

    Catch Lally’s return to NASCAR at Road America on Saturday, August 8, at noon ET on NBCSN followed by the inaugural Xfinity Series race at Daytona’s Road Course on Saturday, August 15, at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Felix Rosenqvist makes late-race pass for first career IndyCar win

    Felix Rosenqvist makes late-race pass for first career IndyCar win

    Felix Rosenqvist chased down rookie Pato O’ Ward in the remaining laps of the REV Group Grand Prix in Race No. 2 at Road America for his first career IndyCar win.

    Rosenqvist pitted with 13 laps to go to take black tires, while O’Ward pitted for red tires. With around five laps to go, O’ Ward started pushing harder trying to keep the Swedish driver in his rear-view mirror. By pushing hard and catching lap traffic, Rosenqvist erased a 5.5 seconds lead and passed O’ Ward for the win with two laps to go. It was all she wrote, as the Swedish driver held on for the victory in just his 21st start of the series.

    “It feels so good. It’s been a long time,” Rosenqvist said. “We’ve been close so many times. This race was for my 10 car crew, the NTT DATA crew. Also Honda. I’m really proud to be powered by NTT and Honda this year. It’s been really good. Every race just hasn’t had a lock, just hasn’t come together until now. Today we went all for it. Super pace, the car was fantastic. It’s four out of four for Ganassi, which is huge.”

    While Rosenqvist and O’ Ward were the talk of the game, when the laps started to wind down, race No. 2 of the doubleheader at Road America got off to a frantic start.

    A major pile-up occurred at the entry of Turn 1, which saw several drivers involved. When the wreck occurred, it looked as though Ryan Hunter-Reay just lost the car and slammed into the sand trap. However, after a replay was shown by NBC, Will Power in the No. 12 Team Penske machine, made contact with Hunter-Reay which sent him spinning. Power also made slight contact with Graham Rahal, who hit the wall hard after Hunter-Reay’s incident. Rahal crashed hard, but thankfully, he would be checked and released from the care center. Unfortunately, the Ohio native’s day was cut short and he was credited with a last-place finish.

    Due to causing the incident, Power was penalized for avoidable contact and sent to the back of the field. Conor Daly was also involved and awarded a penalty for avoidable contact as well. The day would go from bad to worse for the Dale Coyne driver as he was penalized again for working in a closed pit area. Daly would be served a drive-thru penalty. Santino Ferrucci received a penalty for avoidable contact too when he made contact with the No. 60 of Jack Harvey.

    After the early melee, two restarts occurred, but a full course caution flew on Lap 4 for Power as the No. 12 machine stopped on track when he hit a sign in Turn 13. The Australian brought the car down pit road for repairs after the contact and his Team Penske crew made a front wing change.

    Once the slow start was out of the way, O’Ward began to check out as the race leader by two seconds. The first round of green-flag pit stops took place on lap 11 when Josef Newgarden pitted for a scheduled stop. On Lap 15 during the pit stop cycle, O’Ward would pit from the lead and Rosenqvist stayed out an additional lap before he made his pit stop. At Lap 18, stops were completed and Power was the leader with O’Ward in second. With fresher tires, O’Ward made a clean pass on Power (when Power made a pit stop) and took the lead.

    Through the rest of the race, O’Ward and Rosenqvist would swap the lead with each other numerous times when both drivers made their pit stops. Though, Rosenqvist would try to stay out a lap later in hopes of gaining an advantage and coming out the leader once his stop was complete. On one of the initial stops, Rosenqvist faced problems when his Chip Ganassi Racing crew accidentally dropped the jack as the team was changing tires. Despite that issue, he kept a manageable pace 5.5 seconds back behind leader O’Ward.

    The Chip Ganassi driver began his late charge with eight laps to go. Rosenqvist cut O’Ward’s lead down little by little, lap after lap. With O’Ward the leader, he started to get into lap traffic, which eventually helped Rosenqvist cut the deficit. With five laps to go, Rosenqvist had the lead down to 3.2 seconds. O’Ward eventually used up his fresh Firestone tires and Rosenqvist was there with two to go. When the white flag flew, the Swedish driver had a one-second lead. Rosenqvist had a perfect last lap and got the checkered flag over O’Ward for the first time in his career. And with the victory, he gave Chip Ganassi Racing a weekend sweep, as teammate Scott Dixon won Saturday’s event.

    “It was a lot of hard-earned seconds there that we lost in the pit a couple of times,” Rosenqvist said about the miscue on his pit stop. “But we had so much pace. We kept closing in half a second every lap. And then when they said Pato (O’Ward) was on the used reds (Firestone alternate tires), you obviously get a lot of faith that he might drop off in the end, and that’s what happened. Just stay cool, and then we went for it, really. Used all my push-to-pass on one lap and got him. So, it was a really good fight with him there. Got a little squirrelly coming out of Turn 5 there, but good show and good fun. We came out of (stops) in clear air. Whenever this guy (strategiest Barry Wanser) gave us clear air, we were really fast. We showed that before. Amazing feeling.”

    By getting the victory, Chip Ganassi earned their 112th win as a team in the NTT IndyCar Series. Rosenqvist also became the first Swede driver to win in over 18 years, with Kenny Brack the last to do so at Mexico City in 2002.

    Rosenqvist led four times for eight laps en route to victory.

    There were two cautions for four laps and eight lead changes among nine leaders.

    In the penalty box, there were five penalties. Power, Daly, and Ferrucci were penalized for avoidable contact, and Daly penalized again for working in a closed pit. Dixon was penalized for a safety violation.

    Official Results

    1. Felix Rosenqvist, led eight laps
    2. Pato O’ Ward, led 43 laps
    3. Alexander Rossi
    4. Marcus Ericsson
    5. Colton Herta
    6. Santino Ferrucci
    7. Alex Palou
    8. Takuma Sato
    9. Josef Newgarden
    10. Charlie Kimball
    11. Will Power, led four laps
    12. Scott Dixon
    13. Simon Pagenaud
    14. Rinus VeeKay
    15. Max Chilton
    16. Zach Veach
    17. Jack Harvey
    18. Conor Daly
    19. Marco Andretti, 1 lap down
    20. Dalton Kellett, 1 lap down
    21. Oliver Askew, OUT, Off Course
    22. Ryan Hunter-Reay, OUT, Contact
    23. Graham Rahal, OUT, Contact

    Scott Dixon continues to lead the championship by 54 points over second place Colton Herta.

    Up Next: The NTT IndyCar Series heads to Iowa Speedway for another doubleheader scheduled to take place Friday and Saturday night July 17 and 18. Race No. 1 is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET live on NBCSN.

  • Christopher Bell wins at Road America, first on road course and sixth of season

    Christopher Bell wins at Road America, first on road course and sixth of season

    Despite wild closing laps with road course ringers and Cup regulars spinning off track, Christopher Bell displays his talent and wins the CTECH Manufacturing 180 at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

    “Man, I’m honestly in shock,” Bell said. “I really butchered qualifying and tore the crap out of the left front. I felt like once we got in the race there, we’d be able to drive by those guys. Instead, they dropped the green flag and they were driving by me. That wasn’t much fun.

    “Then I told Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) I was really, really tight. We got those tires off and he said the left-front was hurt pretty bad. We got pretty good there when we put our new set of tires on.

    “That strategy worked out well for us coming in there (with 14 to go) and then the yellow coming out. This car was really, really fast today. We’ve had a great road course season.”

    NASCAR was forced to throw a caution for debris, setting up the race for a two-lap shootout for the win. Bell controlled the restart perfectly, but AJ Allmendinger spun his tires and fell back from the outside front row. Bell would hold off the field for the win, but it was eventful throughout the field behind him.

    Austin Cindric pitted during the last caution flag to make a late-race charge through the field. After restarting in the 20th position, he had passed 15 cars and found himself on the heels of Matt DiBenedetto. Coming through Turn 14, DiBenedetto ended up spinning his No. 18 iK9 Toyota Supra, allowing Cindric to cross the start-finish line second — 1.891 seconds behind Bell.

    “We talked about a five-to-go plan, that was like a green-white-checkered,” said Cindric, who came a position short of claiming three straight road-course wins in August. “I wasn’t 100 percent confident, but at the same time, we were battling a lot of wheel hop after four or five laps on tires and we had a lot more than on tires.

    “In this kind of racing, you pretty much know that you’re going to get used up if you’re slower, so we wanted to go on offense and that was our strategy all day and we probably just needed one or two laps to get our Menards–Richmond Ford Mustang in Victory Lane. All in all, a good day, good points. P-2 is all right.”

    Cindric also shared his viewpoint in the last two laps fittingly.

    “It was chaos, it was insane. I think it’s why all these people show up at Road America and enjoy this type of racing. You never know what you’re going to get, it always comes down to those last-lap dashes to the finish, I’m glad to be able to put on a show at a place like this.”

    Allmendinger admitted to the poor restart, but also collided with Noah Gragson after Turn 1 and spun off course. He would later be collected in a different off-course exchange and finished in a dismal 24th position.

    The rest of the top five included points leader and Bristol Motor Speedway winner Tyler Reddick. Gragson and Kaz Grala. Justin Haley, Chase Briscoe, Jeremy Clements, Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer completed the top 10. Allgaier and Custer both recovered from earlier race incidents.

    It was Bell’s 14th career Xfinity Series victory but his first triumph on a road course.

    “I guess I just get lucky on these things, that’s for sure,” Bell said.

    Just three races remain in the regular Xfinity Series season. They compete next in the throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway with the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

  • Weekend Schedule for Road America and Canada

    Weekend Schedule for Road America and Canada

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series competes at Road America this weekend with JR Motorsport’s Justin Allgaier as the 2018 defending race winner. The Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park where Justin Haley won the event last year.

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is off this week but will return next weekend at Darlington Raceway.

    Please check below for the complete schedule.

    All times are Eastern.

    Road America

    Friday, Aug. 23

    1:35 p.m. – 2:25 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBC Sports App

    3:35 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App

    Saturday, Aug. 24

    11:40 a.m. – Xfinity Series Qualifying – Multi-car/Two rounds – NBC Sports App Live/NBCSN Tape Delay at 1:30 p.m.

    3 p.m.: Xfinity Series CTECH Manufacturing 180 (45 laps/182.16 miles) – NBCSN/ MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Canadian Tire Motorsports Park

    Saturday, Aug. 24

    9:35 a.m. – 10:25 a.m.: Truck Series First Practice – No TV

    11:35 – 12:55 p.m.: Truck Series Final Practice – No TV

    Sunday, Aug. 25 

    9:35 a.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – Multi-truck/Two rounds – FS2

    2:30 p.m. – Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 (64 laps/157.37 miles) – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • Robby Gordon and Matthew Brabham Dominate at Road America

    Robby Gordon and Matthew Brabham Dominate at Road America

    This weekend Road America provided racing fans a one of a kind experience with the NASCAR Xfinity Series race plus two SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck Series events.

    While the Xfinity drivers took advantage of the complete 4-mile, 14-turn road course, the Stadium SUPER Truck Series raced on the front half of Road America with four 36-inch tall aluminum ramps positioned throughout the course. It’s a series unlike any other with 650 horsepower trucks flying through the air as they also race down the track.

    This was the first time the series has competed at Road America. Robby Gordon and Matt Brabham battled for the lead in the closing laps of Round 13 on Friday but Gordon prevailed, taking the victory. Brabham finished second followed by Gavin Harlien, Blade Hildebrand and Aaron Bambach to round out the top five.

    Former NASCAR Cup Series drivers Casey Mears and Greg Biffle delighted the NASCAR crowd, finishing sixth and seventh. Cole Potts, Matt Nolan, Tommy Dawson, Adam Andretti and Jeff Hoffman finished eighth through 12th to complete Round 13.

    Brabham took the top spot Saturday in Round 14, after overtaking Hoffman on the final lap to capture his third win of the season. He leads the series standings by 30 points over Gavin Harlien.

    “Guys like Robbie Gordon have their IndyCar experience racing here and it was great to go head to head with him in race one. It was also pretty cool to be able to race with the NASCAR guys like Casey Mears and Greg Biffle,” Brabham told NBC Sports after the race.

    Cole Potts at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Photo by David Yeazell for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Biffle finished second in Round 14, followed by Hildebrand, Hoffman and Harlien, who finished third through fifth, respectively. Gordon finished sixth with Bambach, Potts, Andretti, Nolan, Dawson and Mears completing the finishing order.

    “What a blast running the @SSuperTrucks..today was first time back behind the wheel finished 2nd catching the leader on the last lap!! #fun,” Biffle tweeted after the race.

    Casey Mears was also upbeat about the experience, commenting on Twitter, “Had some fun this weekend in @SSuperTrucks at @roadamerica Bummer to get collected is a wreck early in the race today. Buckled the hood and couldn’t see. If you haven’t been to one of these races get to one fast. Crowd reaction was unreal! Thanks @thethrill57 #mearsgang.”

    There are two race weekends remaining in the season at Gold Coast, Australia  Oct. 19-21 and Glen Helen Raceway in California Nov. 30-Dec. 2.

     

  • Justin Allgaier outlasts Xfinity field, Scores Road America win

    Justin Allgaier outlasts Xfinity field, Scores Road America win

    Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    Justin Allgaier pulled away for his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the year Saturday at Road America.

    Allgaier’s JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet led 14 of the 45 laps in the Johnsonville 180. His second straight road-course win this season was the ninth of his Xfinity Series career.

    “This team is incredible,” Allgaier said in Victory Lane. “They never give up. … I never would’ve thought we could have a dream season like this one.”

    Allgaier cruised away to a 5.403-second margin of victory after his nearest challengers, Justin Marks and James Davison, made contact and spun with three laps remaining. Allgaier’s winning pass came at Davison’s expense as the Australian driver’s miscue with seven laps left opened the door.  If you want a fast car like his, get cash for your car and get your new car.

    Pole-starter Matt Tifft brought the Richard Childress Racing No. 2 Chevrolet home in second place. Tifft later reported through social media that he made a post-race trip to the infield care center for fluids, but was otherwise OK.

    Daniel Hemric took third with Cole Custer fourth and Elliott Sadler fifth on the 4.048-mile road course.

    Allgaier took over the series points lead from Christopher Bell, who spun out with five laps remaining after a bump from Tifft. Bell was forced to make a late pit stop and finished 23rd.

    NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott finished 20th in his first national-series start since 2012. His GMS Racing No. 23 Chevrolet sustained significant front-end damage near the end of Stage 1. A later spin with seven laps to go dropped him further down the leaderboard.

    “I feel like I hit everything but the lottery,” Elliott said.

    Richard Childress Racing teammates swept the stage victories. Tifft led the first 10 laps from the pole position to capture Stage 1 for his first stage win of the season. Hemric led the final six laps of Stage 2 for his third stage victory in 2018.

    Austin Cindric led briefly during Stage 2 until his No. 22 Team Penske Ford lost power after Turn 11 on the long Kettle Bottoms straight. “It just blew up. At least we blew up in the lead,” Cindric told NBC Sports.

    Elliott Sadler, Cole Custer and Daniel Hemric all clinched playoff berths based on points, joining this season’s race-winners Allgaier, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick in the playoffs field. That leaves six spots open with three regular-season races remaining.

    The series’ next race is the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 1 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM) at Darlington Raceway.

    RELATED: Race results