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  • Kyle Busch conquers Road America for 101st Xfinity Series win

    Kyle Busch conquers Road America for 101st Xfinity Series win

    The streak of different winners at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series was extended to a 12th season as Kyle Busch rallied from an early spin to win the Henry 180 on Saturday, July 3, after leading the final five laps of the event. The victory also extended Busch’s winning streak in this year’s Xfinity Series season to four wins in four starts along with achieving his 101st series victory.

    Qualifying occurred on Saturday, July 3, with rookie Ty Gibbs recording his first Xfinity career pole after logging a pole-winning lap at 107.532 mph. Joining him on the front row was Austin Cindric, winner of last weekend’s event at Pocono Raceway and the reigning Xfinity winner at Road America.

    Prior to the event, Noah Gragson (engine change) and Riley Herbst (backup car) dropped to the rear of the field along with Brett Moffit, Natalie Decker and Ryan Ellis (unapproved adjustments).

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, the entire field battled dead even entering the first turn until at the front, Gibbs was able to squeak ahead of Cindric and AJ Allmendinger through the Turn 2 straightaway and past the third right-hand turn. 

    Through Turn 3, the Turn 4 straightaway and the fifth left-hand turn, Gibbs retained the lead while Allmendinger bolted his way into the runner-up spot over Cindric, who was in front of Daniel Hemric, Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier and Jeb Burton. Behind, Kaz Grala went wide in Turn 5 after locking up his brakes.

    From the left-hand Turn 5 through the right-hand Turn 14, the field settled in a competitive, single-file line with Gibbs still leading Allmendinger and Cindric.

    When the entire field returned to the start/finish line following 14 turns, Gibbs led the first lap followed by Allmendinger, Cindric, Busch and Hemric.

    After leading the first two laps, Gibbs was overtaken by Allmendinger, a former winner at Road America.

    On the fifth lap, the first caution of the event was displayed when Spencer Pumpelly, driving the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports, spun in Turn 14 following a bump from Brandon Brown and got stuck in the gravel trap.

    Under caution, multiple names like Kyle Busch, Gibbs, Hemric, Justin Allgaier, Andy Lally, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, Ryan Sieg, Preston Pardus, Brett Moffitt, Myatt Snider, Josh Williams and Alex Labbe pitted for four fresh tires.

    The race restarted on the eighth lap as Allmendinger retained the lead over Cindric, Jeb Burton, Haley, Gragson, Annett and the field through the first three turns. Then in Turn 3, Kyle Busch spun into the grass following contact from Allgaier, though he was able to continue without any serious damage. Not long after, Gibbs was assessed a penalty for changing lanes during the restart.

    With the field continuing to battle for positioning around every turn, Allmendinger cruised to the first stage victory on Lap 10 as he claimed his fourth stage victory of the season. Cindric settled in second followed by Jeb Burton, Haley and Gragson. Gibbs crossed the start/finish line in sixth, but he was discredited from earning any stage points as a result of his restart violation. The move promoted Hemric to sixth followed by Allgaier, Annett, Josh Bilicki and Riley Herbst.

    Under the stage break, most of the leaders led by Allmendinger pitted while others led by Cindric and Gragson remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 12 with Cindric and Gragson restarting on the front row. At the start, Cindric peaked ahead briefly, but Hemric made a move to the outside of Cindric’s No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang to take the lead through the first turn. Through the first three corners, the Turn 4 straightaway and the left-hand Turn 5, Hemric and his No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra remained out in front while the field jumbled up while battling for positioning.

    Shortly after, the caution returned for a hard accident involving Sam Mayer and Preston Pardus. 

    When the race restarted on Lap 15, Allgaier took over the top spot over Hemric, where he led the following two laps. Then, Allmendinger moved back to the front of the field.

    With a series of battles occurring around the road course, Allmendinger, like he did in the first stage, was able to pull away and win the second stage on Lap 20, thus claiming his fifth stage victory of the season. Allgaier settled in second followed by Hemric, Haley, Busch, Jones, Gibbs, Cindric, Harrison Burton and Herbst. Moments before he crossed the start/finish line, Busch went off the track through the straightaway between Turns 11 and 12 as he kicked up dirt before continuing without serious damage.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted as Allgaier inherited the lead. Following the pit stops, Allmendinger was penalized due to his crew members jumping over the pit wall early, thus sending Allmendinger to the rear of the field.

    With 23 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allgaier and Kyle Busch restarted on the front row. At the start, Allgaier was able to prevail over Busch to remain as the leader. With the field fanning out through the first two turns, Allgaier led Busch through the first three turns, the Turn 4 straightaway, the left-hand turns in 5 and 6, a brief straightaway in Turns 7 and 8, a long right-hand turn in 9 and 10, a long straightaway from Turn 10 to 12 and a pair of turns in 13 and 14 before returning to the start/finish line. 

    The following lap, Allgaier continued to lead, but he had Cindric closing in for the lead entering the first turn after Cindric overtook Kyle Busch for the runner-up spot. Then, through the second turn, Cindric made a move to the right of Allgaier’s No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro. Following a side-by-side battle through the straightaway and under the Sargento bridge, Cindric returned to the lead.

    With 20 laps remaining, Cindric was leading by more than four seconds over Gragson, with Allgaier being pressed by Busch and Gibbs for more. Haley was in sixth followed by Herbst, Hemric, Jones and Jeb Burton. 

    A lap later, the caution returned for a harrowing accident involving Spencer Pumpelly, who lost his brakes entering the first turn, spun through the gravel trap and plowed into the tire barriers, where the rear end of his No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro ended up on top of the barriers. 

    Under caution, nearly the entire field pitted while names like Brandon Jones, teammate Harrison Burton, Harvick, Josh Bilicki and Cody Ware remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hemric was penalized due to a crew member jumping over the pit wall too soon.

    With 16 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Jones retained the lead over teammate Harrison Burton, Harvick and the field through the first three turns, the Turn 3 and 4 straightaway and through the left-hand fifth turn.

    The following lap and after navigating his way through the 14-turn circuit, Jones continued to lead followed by Harrison Burton and Cindric, who started to close in on Burton for more. After leading through the first four turns,, Jones locked up the brakes entering Turn 5 in front of Cindric, forcing Cindric to crossover to the left of Harrison Burton and Jones through the fifth turn. After going three wide with Burton and Jones, Cindric reassumed the lead entering the sixth turn.

    With Cindric out in front, Harrison Burton remained in second place. A lap later, Allgaier and Gibbs moved up the leaderboard followed by Gragson while Jones slipped back to sixth. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in eighth in front of Allmendinger.

    Then, through Turns 12 and 13, Gibbs moved up into second place followed by Allgaier and Gragson while Harrison Burton fell back to fifth. Behind, Kyle Busch and Allmendinger moved up to sixth and seventh.

    A few laps later, Jeb Burton and Brandon Jones spun in Turn 14, but the race remained under green as both plummeted on the leaderboard.

    With 11 laps remaining, Harrison Burton brought his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra to pit road for service. Shortly after, the caution returned when Gibbs, who was running in the runner-up spot, came to a stop under the Corvette bridge in Turn 6 following a transmission failure to his No. 81 Monster Energy Toyota Supra, an issue that eliminated him from race-winning contention.

    Under caution, some led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Gragson remained on the track.

    Down to the final eight laps, the race restarted under green as Gragson and Allmendinger started on the front row. At the start, Gragson jumped ahead with the lead followed by Kaulig Racing’s Haley and Allmendinger through the first turn. 

    Then, the caution returned when Snider made contact with Harrison Burton, spun and made light contact with the wall through the Turn 2 straightaway. Snider’s incident resulted in ensuing chaos behind as Cody Ware, Kris Wright and Natalie Decker wrecked and knocked down a number of advertising billboards through the Turn 2 straight In the midst of the incident, Cindric and Allgaier sustained damage to their respective machines, forcing both to pit under caution.

    With six laps remaining, the race restarted as Gragson and Haley started on the front row. At the start, Gragson received a bump from Allmendinger to retain the lead over Haley through the first three turns and through Turn 5. With Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro leading, Kyle Busch bolted his No. 54 M&M’s Ice Cream Toyota Supra into third place entering Turn 3 as he then challenged Allmendinger for the runner-up spot through Turns 5 and 6. 

    Then in Turn 8, Allmendinger made his move beneath Gragson and made contact with Gragson before he moved his No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet Camaro back into the lead followed by Busch. Gragson, meanwhile, fell back to third in front of Haley, Harrison Burton and the field. 

    The following lap and with five laps remaining, Busch made his move beneath Allmendinger entering the first turn and made contact with Allmendinger, which gave Busch the advantage through the Turn 2 straightaway and Turn 3 to take the lead. From there, Busch started to pull away from the field.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Busch was leading by nearly a second over Allmendinger, with Gragson, Michael Annett and Haley in the top five. Jones and Harrison Burton followed in pursuit along with Harvick, Hemric and Herbst. Way behind the leaders, a multi-car wreck occurred in Turn 12, involving Ryan Sieg, Josh Bilicki, Ryan Ellis and Brett Moffitt. Despite the incident and the damage, the race proceeded under green.

    The following lap, Jones went off the track in Turn 1, but the race remained under green. By then, Busch extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Allmendinger.

    Down to the final two laps of the event, Busch remained out in front by more than two seconds over Allmendinger, who had Annett and Hemric closing in for the runner-up spot. Behind, Harrison Burton challenged Gragson for fifth place while Harvick was in seventh.

    When the final lap of the event started, Busch was the leader by more than three seconds. Behind, Annett and Hemric were in second and third after both passed Allmendinger, who was struggling with grip, through Turns 13 and 14. Not long after, Hemric moved into the runner-up spot in Turn 3.

    Back out in front, Busch continued to set sail with a comfortable advantage. With no pressure occurring in front of him and behind, Busch was able to navigate his way through the 14-turn circuit and climb up the road hill from Turn 14 to streak across the finish line and take the checkered flag for the win.

    With his victory, Busch is four-for-four in this year’s Xfinity Series season as he claimed his first triumph at Road America and extended his all-time lead in Xfinity Series victories to 101. He also recorded the first Xfinity win for crew chief Mark McFarland, with McFarland and Joe Gibbs Racing’s ARCA team assisting Busch’s efforts to the Xfinity win.

    With his Xfinity Series plans for the future uncertain now that he has achieved 100+ victories, Busch is scheduled to run his fifth and final series event of the season next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    “Obviously, tires, that was the saving grace for us,” Busch said on NBC. “We had tires left over. [Allmendinger] didn’t. When we came in to put them tires on, I wasn’t sure we were gonna be able to get through that many cars, but man, I don’t know what happened the last couple restarts. Just melee at the start going down the straight. I couldn’t see what was happening. Then, there was a wreck between [Turns] 2 and 3, and was just fortunate to be on the right side in order to get by that stuff and get through that stuff without too much damage to our race car. Obviously, it was neat to have the opportunity to run this race today, get ready for tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow will look a lot like this day.”

    Hemric settled in the runner-up spot for the ninth time in his Xfinity Series career while Annett picked up his first top-five result of the season with a strong third-place effort.

    Allmendinger, who was aiming to become the first repeat winner in the Xfinity Series event at Road America, settled in fourth place while Harrison Burton finished in the top five.

    Harvick, Herbst, Cindric, Gragson and Haley finished in the top 10.

    Allgaier finished 12th, Jeb Burton came home in 14th, Kaz Grala settled in 18th in front of Brandon Jones and Snider ended up in 23rd behind Ryan Sieg. Ty Gibbs, following his late transmission issue, ended up 33rd.

    There were 12 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 11 laps.

    With an eighth-place run, Austin Cindric continues to lead the regular-season standings by 89 points over AJ Allmendinger as third-place Daniel Hemric trails by 105 points.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, five laps led

    2. Daniel Hemric, three laps led

    3. Michael Annett

    4. AJ Allmendinger, 12 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    5. Harrison Burton

    6. Kevin Harvick

    7. Riley Herbst

    8. Austin Cindric, 10 laps led

    9. Noah Gragson, four laps led

    10. Justin Haley

    11. Brandon Brown

    12. Justin Allgaier, five laps led

    13. Andy Lally

    14. Jeb Burton

    15. Tommy Joe Martins

    16. Preston Pardus

    17. Josh Williams

    18. Kaz Grala

    19. Brandon Jones, four laps led

    20. Timmy Hill

    21. Alex Labbe

    22. Ryan Sieg

    23. Myatt Snider

    24. Cody Ware

    25. Kris Wright

    26. Stephen Leicht

    27. Landon Cassill

    28. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    29. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    30. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

    31. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    32. Natalie Decker – OUT, Accident

    33. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Transmission, two laps led

    34. Jade Buford – OUT, Suspension

    35. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    36. Spencer Pumpelly – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway. The event will occur on Saturday, July 10, at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Cindric emerges triumphant over Gibbs at Pocono

    Cindric emerges triumphant over Gibbs at Pocono

    Executing the race when it mattered most, Austin Cindric cycled to the lead under the final 15 laps and held off rookie Ty Gibbs amid the lapped traffic to win the Pocono Green 225 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, June 27, as he claimed his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season in his bid to defend his series title.

    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, Harrison Burton started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Justin Allgaier.

    Prior to the event, Riley Herbst dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. Jesse Iwuji also started at the rear of the field for a driver change.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Harrison Burton launched ahead with the lead on the outside lane, where he was pursued by Allgaier and the field fanning out to two lanes through the three tricky lanes.

    After leading the first lap, Harrison Burton was out in front by half a second over Allgaier, with AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Jeb Burton in the top five. Noah Gragson was in sixth followed by Brandon Jones, rookie Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric and Justin Haley.

    Following the first five laps of the evert, Harrison Burton continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Allgaier with Hemric in pursuit. Teammates Allmendinger and Jeb Burton continued to run in the top five while Gragson, Cindric, Gibbs, Haley and Brandon Jones were in the top 10. By then, newcomer Sam Mayer, piloting the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, was in 11th, Myatt Snider was in 19th in between Brandon Brown and rookie Josh Berry and Riley Herbst was in 24th.

    Five laps later, Harrison Burton remained in front of teammate Hemric by four-tenths of a second, with Allgaier trailing by less than a second. Behind, Cindric was in the top five behind Allmendinger while Mayer moved into the top 10 behind Gragson, Jeb Burton, Gibbs and Haley.

    Just then, the first caution of the event flew when Josh Williams spun and wrecked in Turn 1 following contact from Santino Ferrucci. Under caution, some like Mayer, Brandon Jones, Josh Berry, Michael Annett, Myatt Snider, Ryan Sieg and others pitted while the rest led by Harrison Burton remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 17, the field battled dead even until Harrison Burton was able to clear and retain the lead over Allgaier and Hemric. 

    With Harrison Burton out in front, a three-car battle ensued between Cindric, Allmendinger and Gibbs for fourth place. Behind, Haley got loose in Turn 2 and nearly clipped Gragson in Turn 2, but both managed to continue inside the top 10 without an incident. 

    On the final lap of the first stage, Hemric mounted a charge on teammate Harrison Burton for the lead, but Burton managed to keep his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra out in front. In the end, he claimed the first stage victory on Lap 20 and his second stage victory of the season. Hemric settled in the runner-up spot followed by Allgaier, Cindric and Allmendinger while Gibbs, Gragson, Jeb Burton, Haley and Berry were in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Allgaier pitted while the rest led by Harrison Burton pitted.

    The second stage started on Lap 24 with Allgaier and Snider starting on the front row. At the start, Allgaier managed to clear Snider on the outside lane to retain the lead entering the first turn while a three-wide battle occurred behind between Haley, Hemric and Mayer for third place. 

    Shortly after, the caution flag returned for a big accident involving Haley, who made contact with Mayer into the outside wall and was turned as he made pounded the inside wall in Turn 1 before coming back across the track. His No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro was then hit by the No. 6 JD Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro piloted by Ryan Vargas before coming to a rest near the outside wall. Following the incident, Haley exited his battered car and laid down on the ground before being attended to by the medical personnel. After getting back up, Haley made the trip to the medical center, where he was evaluated and released. 

    The wreck placed the event in a red-flag period for over five minutes. When the red flag was lifted and the field proceeded in a cautious pace, few like Landon Cassill, Loris Hezemans and Ryan Sieg pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 28, Allgaier boosted ahead from the field on the outside lane followed by Hemric and Harrison Burton while Snider fell back on the inside lane through the first turn.

    Returning back to the start/finish line, Hemric started to pursue Allgaier for the lead while Cindric challenged Snider for fourth place. 

    By Lap 30, Allgaier was leading by two-tenths of a second over Hemric while Harrison Burton trailed by four-tenths of a second. Cindric and Snider remained in the top five.

    The following lap, Hemric gained a run entering the frontstretch and drag-raced with Allgaier to the start/finish line before clearing Allgaier’s No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro entering the first turn and taking the lead.

    On Lap 34, the caution returned when Harrison Burton got loose underneath Allgaier in Turn 1, spun and made left-side contact with the outside wall. The incident occurred as Burton was attempting to take over the runner-up spot over Allgaier. Despite returning to pit road, Harrison Burton’s race came to an end.

    Under caution, some led by Hemric pitted while the rest led by Ty Gibbs remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hemric was assessed a pit road speeding penalty and sent to the rear of the field.

    With two laps remaining in the second stage, Gibbs and Noah Gragson battled dead even for the lead through the first turn before Gibbs managed to clear Gragson on the outside lane.

    Through the final lap and with the field behind battling for positioning, Gibbs managed to retain the top spot and claim the second stage victory on Lap 40, thus recording his second stage victory in his debut Xfinity Series season. Gragson settled in second followed by Brandon Jones, Snider and Herbst while Cindric, Jeb Burton, Allmendinger, Berry and Allgaier were in the top 10.

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

    With 46 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Gibbs and Cindric started on the front row. At the start, Gibbs received a push from Gragson to retain the lead over Cindric entering the first turn. 

    At the halfway point on Lap 45, Gibbs was still leading by a narrow margin over Cindric and Gragson. Then, Gibbs got loose entering Turn 1, which allowed Cindric to assume the lead while Gragson challenged Gibbs for the runner-up spot. Just then, the caution returned when Riley Herbst wrecked his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang in Turn 2.

    When the race restarted with 41 laps remaining, Cindric retained the top spot on the outside lane while Gibbs challenged Gragson for the runner-up spot. Behind, Snider was in fourth followed by Brandon Brown, who had Allgaier, Jeb Burton and Allmendinger battling behind.

    At the front, Cindric continued to lead by a narrow margin over Gibbs with third-place Gragson trailing by half a second.

    With Cindric leading under the final 40 laps, Allgaier and Snider battled for fourth while Hemric and Allmendinger battled for seventh behind Jeb Burton. In addition, Mayer was battling ninth ahead of Brandon Jones.

    Down to the final 35 laps of the event, Cindric extended his advantage to nearly a second over Gibbs while Gragson trailed by more than two seconds. By then, Allgaier, who was in fourth place, pitted under green.

    A lap later, Snider, who took over fourth place, peeled his No. 2 Crosley Furniture Chevrolet Camaro into pit road for his service. The next lap, Gragson pitted along with Jeb Burton, Allmendinger, Josh Berry and Cindric, giving the lead back to Gibbs. The following lap, Gibbs pitted, which allowed Hemric to take the lead.

    With Hemric still leading, teammate Brandon Jones pitted for fuel the following lap. Mayer also pitted, but slid through his pit box during his service, which cost him the lead lap when he returned to the track.

    Under the final 30 laps, Hemric, who has yet to pit, continued to lead followed by Brett Moffitt, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Brown, Alex Labbe, Austin Hill, Tommy Joe Martins, Kyle Weatherman, Blaine Perkins and Landon Cassill. Far behind, Cindric was in 20th followed by Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Gibbs, Gragson, Jeb Burton and Snider.

    With 20 laps remaining, Hemric continued to lead by mover 20 seconds over Clements, with Brown, Labbe and Martins in the top five. Cindric, meanwhile, worked his way up to seventh while Gibbs was in 10th. Allgaier was in 12th while Gragson was in 15th in front of Allmendinger.

    The following lap, Hemric pitted for four tires and fuel for his No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra. Then, disaster struck for Hemric, who was busted for speeding on pit road for a second time and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty through pit road. 

    With Hemric out of contention, Clements was leading by more than six seconds over Labbe while third-place Cindric was in third place. Gibbs moved up into fourth followed by Allgaier.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Cindric was back out in front of the field as Clements and Labbe pitted. Gibbs moved back up into the runner-up spot followed by Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Gragson and Allmendinger.

    With 10 laps remaining, Cindric was leading by more than three seconds over Gibbs while Allgaier, Gragson, Sieg and Allmendinger continued to run in the top six.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Cindric, who was approaching lapped traffic, continued to lead by three seconds over Gibbs. Behind, Allgaier remained in third place ahead of teammate Gragson and Allmendinger. Hemric, meanwhile, was mired back in seventh behind teammate Brandon Jones.

    With three laps remaining, Cindric nearly tangled with the lapped car of David Starr, which allowed the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra driven by Gibbs to cut the deficit within a second.

    When the final lap started, Cindric was leading by less than half a second over a hard-charging Gibbs. Through the first two turns, Cindric continued to lead over Gibbs. Then on the final turn, Gibbs attempted to draw himself to Cindric’s rear bumper, but he did not have enough momentum to complete the run, which allowed Cindric and his No. 22 Car Shop Ford Mustang to remain out in front and fend off Gibbs to take the checkered flag for the fourth time of this season.

    In addition to claiming his fourth victory of the season, Cindric collected his 12th NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory as he became the sixth different winner in six Xfinity events at Pocono Raceway, a streak that started since 2016.

    “Well, I didn’t know what happened to [David Starr] there,” Cindric said on NBCSN. “I went from a three-second lead to a half a second lead, so these thing’s never easy. I had to avoid two wrecks today, but it’s awesome to, obviously, be in front of all you great people. I’m so excited to see people back in the race track, get the Car Shop Ford Mustang to Victory Lane. I’m over the moon. We’ll keep putting our heads down. We gotta keep getting better. We got strong competition and lot of racing left.”

    The runner-up result was Gibbs’ second of the season in his eighth series career start. In his eight career Xfinity starts, Gibbs has finished in the top five in all but one, with his average result being 4.25.

    “The lapped cars, definitely, helped me, to my advantage,” Gibbs said. “There were just in the way and messed up. Cindric got stuck up behind them and I was luckily closing. Just put myself in a weird spot where I tried to go under him and maybe, give him a little tap, but I think I could’ve gotten wider and crossed him back over because he went low and I was stuck behind him in the air. Just learning. I’m very thankful to be here…I can’t thank everybody enough. This is a blast and a dream come true running the Xfinity Series.”

    Allgaier came home in third place followed by teammate Gragson and Allmendinger.

    Hemric, following his late speeding penalty, finished in sixth place followed by teammate Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, Berry and Snider. 

    Sam Mayer settled in a disappointing 18th place, a lap down, in his Xfinity debut while Sieg, who was running short on fuel, fell all the way back to 17th.

    There were 11 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 21 laps.

    Austin Cindric continues to lead the regular-season standings by 101 points over AJ Allmendinger and 112 over Daniel Hemric.

    Results.

    1. Austin Cindric, 26 laps led

    2. Ty Gibbs, 11 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Justin Allgaier, 10 laps led

    4. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    5. AJ Allmendinger

    6. Daniel Hemric, 18 laps led

    7. Brandon Jones

    8. Jeb Burton

    9. Josh Berry

    10. Myatt Snider

    11. Brett Moffitt

    12. Michael Annett

    13. Jeremy Clements, two laps led

    14. Santino Ferrucci

    15. Brandon Brown

    16. Alex Labbe, one lap led

    17. Ryan Sieg

    18. Sam Mayer, one lap down

    19. Jade Buford, one lap down

    20. Tommy Joe Martins, one lap down

    21. Landon Cassill, one lap down

    22. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down

    23. Matt Mills, one lap down

    24. Colby Howard, one lap down

    25. Austin Hill, one lap down

    26. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

    27. Loris Hezemans, one lap down

    28. Carson Ware, two laps down

    29. Jesse Little, two laps down

    30. Mason Massey, two laps down

    31. Jesse Iwuji, two laps down

    32. Joe Graf Jr., two laps down

    33. David Starr, three laps down

    34. Blaine Perrkins – OUT, Suspension

    35. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    36. Joey Gase – OUT, Clutch

    37. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident, 21 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    38. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident

    39. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Accident

    40. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is a trip to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, which will occur on Saturday, July 3, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Same song, second verse for Sam Mayer as he sweeps Thursday night at Bristol

    Same song, second verse for Sam Mayer as he sweeps Thursday night at Bristol

    Sam Mayer collected one checkered flag earlier in the night after winning the NASCAR Gander Outdoors & RV Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway but he was looking for more. He strapped into the ARCA Menards Series car for double duty, though the GMS Racing driver had to work for his ARCA victory.

    At one point, the Wisconsin native followed Ty Gibbs to pit road to pit for new adjustments. During the second segment Mayer picked up debris to his left-front which could have potentially caused handling issues but he escaped without further damage and won for the second consecutive time of the night.

    Practice was canceled due to the remnants of Hurricane Sally that brought heavy rains to the North Carolina and Bristol areas. However, they were able to get the track dried in time for the ARCA Menards Series race. With practice canceled, the qualifying order was set by team owner points and that meant the No. 18 of Ty Gibbs sat on the pole with Mayer in the second position.

    There were three segments taking place at Laps 75, 150 and 200.

    Segment 1: Lap 1 – Lap 73 (Segment ended early due to late caution)

    The first segment was a busy one for the ARCA drivers as six cautions flooded the segment with the first one coming as early as Lap 3 with the No. 53E of Max Gutierrez. The last caution of the segment took place on Lap 73 when debris came off Chandler Smith’s No. 20 due to the sway bar coming apart.

    With the late segment yellow, ARCA officials decided to call the segment early and allow teams to change tires and add fuel to their cars. Gibbs, Mayer, Max McLaughlin, Michael Self, Drew Dollar, Mason Diaz, Parker Retzlaff, Hailie Deegan and Derek Griffith were the top 10 finishers for segment 1.

    Segment 2: Lap 76 – Lap 150

    As it has been happening all season long, Gibbs and Mayer found themselves battling for the lead off the restart. Though, Gibbs broke away this time, and checked out with the race lead and Mayer following in pursuit. The two actually would make contact at the halfway mark, when Mayer slightly touched the No. 18 of Gibbs left-rear. Gibbs and Mayer continued to soilder on despite the contact.

    Four laps later, the first yellow of segment two flew on Lap 104 after the No. 11 of Owen Smith had oil leaking underneath his car. Meanwhile, two others cars ended up spinning in the process, those being the No. 97 of Justin S. Carroll and the No. 6 of Nick Sanchez.

    During the caution flag, Gibbs made a pit stop for a left-rear flat, as did Mayer who pitted for adjustments on his No. 21 Chevy.

    A few more incidents were seen throughout the rest of the segment. On Lap 124, Michael Self was sideways off Turn 4 while leading the race and hit the outside wall, which allowed the No. 1 of Max McLaughlin to assume the lead.

    The final yellow would fly on Lap 132 after Parker Retzlaff went spinning on the fronstretch, as the No. 15 of Drew Dollar retaliated against Retzlaff from an earlier incident during the course of the summer.

    Despite these incidents, Mayer found his way back into the lead, just before the second segment break on Lap 150. Following Mayer was McLaughlin, Gibbs, Diaz, Gray, Holmes, Griffith, Deegan, Dollar, and Dean the Top 10.

    During the segment break, Bret Holmes played a different pit strategy and stayed out, taking the lead.

    Segment 3: Lap 154 – Lap 200

    When the green flag flew for the final segment, Holmes struggled to maintain the lead and Mayer took the lead back on Lap 156. Even though one more caution flew on Lap 160 for a Gus Dean spin, Mayer held on for the final 45 laps of the Toyota 200 to claim his fifth overall ARCA Menards Series victory of 2020 excluding his lone victory in the East Series at Dover.

    There were 10 cautions for 61 laps and nine lead changes among five different leaders.

    Mayer led four times for 116 laps en route to victory at Bristol.

    Official Results following the Toyota 200 ARCA Menards at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    1. Sam Mayer, led 116 laps
    2. Ty Gibbs, led 53 laps
    3. Max McLaughlin, led 19 laps
    4. Mason Diaz
    5. Michael Self, led nine laps
    6. Hailie Deegan
    7. Taylor Gray
    8. Bret Holmes, led three laps
    9. Derek Griffith
    10. Justin S. Carroll, 2 laps down
    11. Nick Sanchez, 2 laps down
    12. Gus Dean, 5 laps down
    13. Jason Kitzmiller, 8 laps down
    14. Max Gutierrez, 11 laps down
    15. Kris Wright, 17 laps down
    16. Con Nicolopoulos, 18 laps down
    17. Kyle Sieg, 20 laps down
    18. Drew Dollar, 46 laps down
    19. Parker Retzlaff, OUT, Crash
    20. Dave Mader III, OUT, Overheating
    21. Chase Cabre, OUT, Crash
    22. Owen Smith, OUT, Engine
    23. Chandler Smith, OUT, Sway Bar
    24. Mike Basham, OUT, Brakes
    25. Brad Smith, OUT, Electrical
    26. Wayne Peterson, OUT, Electrical

    Up Next: The ARCA Menards Series will continue their 2020 run to the championship by visiting Winchester Speedway Saturday September 19 live on NBC Sports Trackpass at 3 p.m./ET with a delayed telecast on MAVTV beginning at 6 p.m./ET.

  • Sam Mayer scores first career Truck Series victory at Bristol

    Sam Mayer scores first career Truck Series victory at Bristol

    In just seven Truck Series starts, 17-year-old Sam Mayer played spoiler for the playoff Truck Series drivers as he became the second-youngest winner in series history after passing GMS Racing teammate Brett Moffitt with less than 30 to go to achieve his first Truck Series victory.

    “What? Oh my gosh, Bristol dude. I love this place,” Mayer said after the race. “This is win No. 3 for me here and man, I don’t know what to say. I can’t thank the guys back at the shop enough.

    “They work their tails off. We fired off so good. We only made like one trackbar adjustment all day, that’s it. That feels so good.”

    Despite heavy rain showers earlier in the day due to the remnants of Hurricane Sally, NASCAR officials were able to get the half-mile track dried just in time for the 200-lap event which marked the first of seven playoff races for the Truck Series. Stages of 55-55-90 laps made up the three stages. And only one driver, Jennifer Jo Cobb, had to drop to the rear due to unapproved adjustments.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 55

    The action was quick from the start and as early as Lap 5 when playoff driver Austin Hill found trouble after contact with the No. 52 of Stewart Friesen. The contact gave Hill right-rear bumper damage which hurt the handling of the No. 16 Toyota. Eventually, the yellow would fly on Lap 8 when the debris flew off the No. 16.

    Throughout the rest of the stage, there were no cautions but a few notable incidents among other playoff drivers. It was reported after the Lap 13 restart that Grant Enfinger faced potential issues as he reported the engine kept shutting off and on. Fast forward to Lap 34, when Friesen had handling problems with his No. 52 truck. Although the issue was never diagnosed throughout the race, the Halmar Friesen Racing team reported the truck could have had an ignition problem.

    From there, Brett Moffitt took the stage victory with Tyler Ankrum, Sheldon Creed, Zane Smith, Enfinger, Matt Crafton, Mayer, Derek Kraus, Johnny Sauter, and Christian Eckes completing the Top 10.

    Stage 2: Lap 67 – Lap 110

    Just one caution slowed the second stage after the No. 30 of Danny Bohn spun off Turn 4 when contact was made with the No. 20 of Spencer Boyd. However, during the caution, playoff driver Creed came to pit road to take fresh tires and adjustments for the No. 2 Chevy but was penalized for being too fast on pit road.

    The rest of the stage remained green, only this time Ankrum took the top spot for the Stage 2 victory. Sauter, Moffitt, Zane Smith, Mayer, Kraus, Crafton, Carson Hocevar, Parker Kligerman, and Eckes rounded out the Top 10 finishers.

    During the stage break caution, Sauter and Friesen were penalized for being too fast entering pit road and were sent to the rear prior to the Stage 3 restart. Meanwhile, Stage 2 winner Ankrum, missed his pit box the first time coming to pit road as he and the No. 26 team had a miscommunication and Ankrum was forced to come down pit road a second time to finally make his pit stop.

    Stage 3: Lap 119 – Lap 200

    Like Stage 2, the final stage was surprisingly clean with just a few minor incidents. On Lap 150, Creed and Kraus make notable contact on the backstretch. Despite the contact, both drivers were able to keep racing and no yellow was flown. Unfortunately, the night would only get worse for playoff contender Austin Hill who was involved in an incident seven laps later on Lap 157 when the No. 22 of Austin Wayne Self came up the track and got turned by Hill going into Turn(s) 3 and 4. After the contact, Hill came to pit road to fix the damage but received a penalty for too many men over the pit wall and he also owed NASCAR two laps due to being under the damage vehicle policy from an earlier incident.

    The last restart of the night came with 33 to go with Moffitt leading the way. However, it was his GMS Racing teammate, Mayer, who shined under the lights after taking the lead with 29 to go on the backstretch. From there, Mayer had a rocket ship with his No. 24 Chevy and went on to claim his first Truck Series victory with Moffitt following in the second position.

    Mayer led just one time for 30 laps.

    There were five cautions for 41 laps and four lead changes among three different leaders.

    Updated Playoff Grid following Round 1 at Bristol Motor Speedway

    1. Brett Moffitt, +36
    2. Sheldon Creed, +28
    3. Zane Smith, +25
    4. Grant Enfinger, +24
    5. Tyler Ankrum, +19
    6. Matt Crafton, +13
    7. Ben Rhodes, +6
    8. Austin Hill, +2
    9. Christian Eckes, -2
    10. Todd Gilliland, -8

    Official Results following the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    1. Sam Mayer, led 30 laps
    2. Brett Moffitt, led 117 laps, won Stage 1
    3. Tanner Gray
    4. Parker Kligerman
    5. Chandler Smith
    6. Grant Enfinger
    7. Tyler Ankrum, led 53 laps, won Stage 2
    8. Ross Chastain
    9. Johnny Sauter
    10. Matt Crafton
    11. Sheldon Creed
    12. Christian Eckes
    13. Ben Rhodes
    14. Todd Gilliland
    15. Derek Kraus
    16. Zane Smith, 1 lap down
    17. Carson Hocevar, 1 lap down
    18. Raphael Lessard, 1 lap down
    19. Camden Murphy, 1 lap down
    20. Timmy Hill, 3 laps down
    21. Tate Fogleman, 3 laps down
    22. Clay Greenfield, 3 laps down
    23. Jordan Anderson, 3 laps down
    24. Danny Bohn, 4 laps down
    25. Austin Hill, 5 laps down
    26. Josh Bilicki, 8 laps down
    27. Spencer Boyd, 8 laps down
    28. Jennifer Jo Cobb, 10 laps down
    29. Natalie Decker, 14 laps down
    30. Cody Erickson, 17 laps down
    31. Codie Rohrbaugh, OUT, Brakes
    32. Stewart Friesen, 33 laps down
    33. Austin Wayne Self, OUT, Crash
    34. Norm Benning, OUT, Suspension
    35. Josh Reaume, OUT, Suspension
    36. Trevor Bayne, Originally finished fifth, but was disqualified for failing post-race tech.

    Up Next: The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will continue its 2020 Playoff run next Friday, Sept. 25 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, live at 9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio.

  • Sam Mayer gets hat trick at I-44 Speedway

    Sam Mayer gets hat trick at I-44 Speedway

    When it was announced that I-44 Speedway would replace Elko Speedway in Minnesota on the schedule due to COVID restrictions, the speedway was fairly new to everyone in the field. Most drivers had never competed at the .375-mile race track located in Lebanon, Missouri.

    But when the checkered flag flew at the end of Lap 200, the race winner wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone as GMS Racing Developmental driver Sam Mayer earned his third checkered flag of the 2020 ARCA Menards Series season.

    As it has been since the ARCA Menards Series returned from the pandemic break, three segments made up the 200 lap race at I-44 Speedway. The first segment ended on Lap 75, the second segment at Lap 150 and the final at Lap 200. Bret Holmes was on the pole after setting the pace in practice earlier in the day.

    The race was action-packed from the get-go when the green flag flew. Through the first 35 laps of the Zinnser Smart Coat 200, Holmes stretched his lead over second-place driver Ty Gibbs by nearly four seconds. However, the first yellow flew on Lap 36 when Venturini Motorsports driver Chandler Smith got turned sideways going into Turn 1, after contact with the No. 4 of Hailie Deegan. Right before the next restart, another Venturini driver suffered issues when the No. 15 of Drew Dollar came to pit road for battery issues under caution. By taking his No. 15 to pit road, the battery problem really took Dollar out of the race as he returned to the track numerous laps down.

    More contact would come at Laps 48 and 70. At Lap 48, Gibbs’ No. 18 made slight contact with the No. 25 of Michael Self. The contact gave Self some right-side damage to his No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota. Meanwhile, the second caution flew at Lap 70, after pole-sitter Holmes got spun by Deegan going into Turn 1. The move sent Holmes up the track and caused more right-side damage to Deegan’s No. 4 Ford.

    With the yellow coming so close to the first segment break, ARCA officials decided the break would come at Lap 71. Deegan, Mayer, Gibbs, Gray, Self, Wright, Holmes, Basham, Smith, and Richmond were the top 10.

    The green flag flew for the second segment on Lap 71. Though just 20 laps later, another yellow came out as Holmes got into the No. 20 of Smith after Smith slightly came down when Holmes was already there.

    Smith’s night continued to go downhill on Lap 120 when he made contact with the No. 22 of Kris Wright, bringing out the fourth caution of the night.

    Prior to the segment ending on Lap 150, Wright again would end up in trouble, as he got into Self’s No. 25 Toyota in Turn 3. After the contact, Self’s car was severely damaged when he hit the wall. Once the cars were brought down for pit road due to the break, Deegan, Mayer, Holmes, Gibbs, Gray, Self, Wright, Smith, Basham, and Dollar made up the top 10 running order.

    The turning point of the race occurred after the Lap 156 restart after Mayer shot to the lead when Deegan didn’t get going well enough to keep her lead. Mayer had a better restart and continued to check out with the race lead.

    By the time the checkered flag flew, it was all Mayer as he grabbed his third ARCA Menards Series victory of the year with Holmes coming in second and Taylor Gray third to round out the top three.

    Even though Holmes closed the championship points gap to one point behind Michael Self, the Alabaman was frustrated with how his race went.

    “It’s really frustrating when you have the best car and you don’t win the race,” Holmes said. “We really did all we could. The last 15 to 20 laps, I kind of lost my cool there, with being so frustrated with the car. You know, it just sucks. People can’t race clean. I know for some people it doesn’t matter (racing clean) just because of who they are, but for people like me, it’s a lot tougher to have a good reputation and keep that fan base behind you. Just the lack of respect overall. I’ve never had to race the car that way, but they’ve got it coming.”

    Despite Holmes being frustrated with a second place finish, one rookie Taylor Gray, enjoyed a career best night of placing third.

    “We finished third by just being there at the end and racing everyone clean as much as I possibly could,” Gray said. “It’s really hard to pass here and not the greatest racing side-by-side. We came out with a good finish tonight. I can’t thank everyone at DGR-Crosley and Ford enough. They gave me a good Ford Fusion tonight and we’ll go on to Toledo next weekend.”

    Mayer led one time for 46 laps en route to victory.

    There were five cautions for 28 laps and two lead changes among three different leaders.

    Official Results following the Zinsser Smart Coat 200 at I-44 Speedway.

    1. Sam Mayer, led 46 laps
    2. Bret Holmes, led 69 laps
    3. Taylor Gray
    4. Ty Gibbs
    5. Hailie Deegan, led 85 laps
    6. Michael Self, 1 lap down
    7. Kris Wright, 2 laps down
    8. Chandler Smith, 2 laps down
    9. Drew Dollar, 6 laps down
    10. Mike Basham, 7 laps down
    11. Tim Richmond, 11 laps down
    12. Owen Smith, OUT, Brakes
    13. Brad Smith, OUT, Handling
    14. Tim Monroe, OUT, Brakes

    Up Next: The ARCA Menards Series is scheduled to compete at Toledo Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 12.

  • Sam Mayer victorious in ARCA Menards East Series race at Dover

    Sam Mayer victorious in ARCA Menards East Series race at Dover

    Sam Mayer capitalized on Ty Gibbs’s misfortune to take home his second ARCA Menards East Series victory of the 2020 season. Gibbs’s misfortune came with 15 to go when he made hard contact with the wall off Turn 2 after what appeared to be a right-front tire go down. Despite Gibbs’ issue, Wisconsin native, Mayer, had already grabbed the lead with less than 25 to go and came home with the victory.

    “I got a really, really good restart and I don’t think he (Ty Gibbs) expected me too,” Mayer said. “We got a really good restart and was able to get inside of him, and he took the air off my door. You know, if you’re the leader, you have the right to do that because you want to keep the lead obviously. You expect to get a good restart, but when you don’t, you have to fight for it.”

    “I understand that and I ended up giving it right back to him. I packed his air under his spoiler and he (Gibbs) got a little bit loose, he was able to gather it up and I let him go because I got a little bit tight under him. So, it was pretty much a whole aerodynamic mess under that restart. It was a lot of fun though. That’s how I ended up getting by Ty (Gibbs) is packing the air under his spoiler and getting loose, side draft him and clear myself into (Turn) 1. It was a really good car, I can’t thank GMS Racing enough.”

    The General Tire 125 from Dover International Speedway consisted of three segment breaks. The first came on Lap 35, the second on Lap 70, and the checkered flag on Lap 125.

    Through the first two segments, there were some drivers who were off the pace. Rookie of the Year contender, Nick Sanchez, had his motor expire and he had to leave the race early. Sanchez was credited with a 16th place finish. One other competitor who was off the pace as well was Justin S. Carroll in the No. 91 Toyota. Carroll went behind the wall on Lap 26 and would not return. The Virginia native ended up placing 14th in the final results.

    Meanwhile, with Gibbs out front and checking out, there was some intense action between Venturini Motorsports teammates, Drew Dollar and Mason Diaz. The two drivers were racing each other hard and both nearly crashed off Turn 4 at one point. Thankfully, both would keep on racing for position.

    Loose continued to be the word of the day in the General Tire 125. Multiple drivers such as Taylor Gray and race winner Sam Mayer were loose early on. Unfortunately for Gray, he fought an ill-handling car and fell off the pace. Gray hit the wall a couple of times off Turn 4, ruining a good finish as the DGR-Crosley driver came home ninth, the last car on the lead lap.

    After the two segments were completed through Lap 70, the action really picked up when the third and final segment got underway.

    Mayer and Gibbs got loose on Lap 76 in Turns 1 and 2 which almost made them both wreck and take each other out of contention. During that moment, Mayer received some slight damage from contact with Gibbs’s left-rear quarter panel. Gibbs was able to keep on racing and so did Mayer, but Mayer regrouped and passed Gibbs for the lead with 20 to go.

    Just a few laps later, Gibbs’s accident occurred which prompted ARCA Menards Series officials to display the red flag for clean up. Fortunately for Gibbs, he was unhurt after his hard hit with the wall.

    An 11-lap dash to the finish ensued but no one proved to be a match for Mayer as he scored the checkered flag.

    While Mayer enjoyed his victory, DGR-Crosley team owner David Gilliland, made a special cameo appearance driving in his own No. 54 Ford. Gilliland brought his car home to a second-place finish.

    “We came up a little bit short,” Gilliland said. “Sam (Mayer) and those No. 21 guys had a heck of a race car. It was a lot of fun to get back in and race in the ARCA Menards Series. Obviously, I am a huge supporter of it (the series) on the ownership side. I watched my son (Todd Gilliland) raced in it. But, this is my first one (race). We had a fast Ford, just came up a little bit short.”

    There were three cautions for 10 laps and one lead change among two different leaders.

    Official Results following the General Tire 125.

    1. Sam Mayer, led 21 laps
    2. David Gilliland
    3. Mason Diaz
    4. Max McLaughlin
    5. Drew Dollar
    6. Corey Heim
    7. Parker Retzlaff
    8. Chase Cabre
    9. Taylor Gray
    10. Chuck Buchanan JR, 9 laps down
    11. Kyle Sieg, 9 laps down
    12. Ty Gibbs, OUT, Accident
    13. Ed Pompa, 59 laps down
    14. Justin S. Carroll, OUT, Mechanical
    15. Tommy Vigh Jr, OUT, Electrical
    16. Nick Sanchez, OUT, Mechanical
    17. Joe Graf Jr, OUT, Mechanical

    Sam Mayer leads Ty Gibbs by 13 points in the championship points standings.

    Up Next: The ARCA Menards East Series will visit New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 12 for Round No. 4 of the 2020 season.

  • Mayer dominates ARCA Menards Series West in first race back at Bullring

    Mayer dominates ARCA Menards Series West in first race back at Bullring

    After leading 138 of the scheduled 150 laps and sitting on the pole, Mayer was once again victorious for the second consecutive time this season, earning his first ARCA West Series win at the Bullring. The victory was an emotional win for Mayer and company.

    It’s been over eight years ago (2012) since the ARCA Menards Series West (previously NASCAR K&N Pro Series West) last raced at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring. One of the names making early headlines so far in the 2020 season is standout Sam Mayer for GMS Racing. Mayer also competed in the ARCA East race last week at New Symrna and scored the victory. As for the Bullring, he was looking to once again go to victory lane for the second time in a row this season.

    Mayer was driving a Spencer Clark tribute car. Clark, who got his start at Las Vega, was killed in an automobile accident in 2006 when he was only 19-years-old.

    “Yeah, this is so special,” Mayer said to NBCSN. “I’ve never had a connection to Spencer (Clark) being with the team. I actually feel that connection, so it’s really special to have him on the car and it’s really emotional. Even before the race, we were feeling the emotions of it, now we’re going to feel it after a victory like that. We definitely would have done what Spencer would have done. Go out and wax the field. I can’t thank GMS enough for bringing the best car out here today and we’re going to enjoy this one for sure.”

    “I don’t want to pinch myself because I hope I’m not dreaming,” Mayer said after the win. “This is a heck of a way to start a year for sure. New era, new freakin’ everything. Obviously it’s a new me too. Hopefully, we can continue this grind of getting wins left and right and hopefully get into Victory Lane all the time.”

    As noted, once the Star Nursery 150 got underway, Mayer’s car was like a rocket leading almost every single lap. However, it wasn’t that easy for him to get the victory. Jesse Love in the No. 19 took the lead for 14 laps before Mayer was able to get it back. It seemed like nothing could stop the Franklin, Wisconsin native, even the few cautions that fell in the quick race.

    It seemed as though the cautions were few and far between. The first fell on Lap 25 when the No. 12 of Lawless Alan made slight contact with the No. 16 of Gio Scelzi who went around off Turn 4. Then, 39 laps later, the second caution came out for the No. 7 of Austin Reed as he spun in Turn 2. Reed had some help from Scelzi. On Lap 80, the third yellow of the night came for the No. 17 of Zach Telford. Telford lost his brakes on the frontstretch and came to a stop. Telford would wind up in 16th place.

    After these few quick cautions, Mayer continued to set the pace at blistering speeds by lapping up to seventh place at one point. Then one final caution stacked the field up one more time for a restart with eight to go with Mayer as the leader. In the end, it was basically the story of the night for the GMS driver as he picked up his second win of the 2020 season.

    Despite the dominating win, a few drivers, including Mayer, had brake rotor problems. But, he says one of the cautions helped him with that issue.

    “About halfway through the race, my brakes pretty much went away,” Mayer added to NBCSN. “Thank god that caution came out because I was able to cool them down a little bit again. It was a tough race and this place is a lot harder on the brakes than I thought it was going to be, but that’s what makes a race team and racecar driver, perseverance through some adversity.”

    Just four cautions slowed the pace in the 150-lap race and only one lead change occurred.

    Official Results

    1. Sam Mayer, led 138 laps
    2. Jesse Love, led 13 laps
    3. Blaine Perkins
    4. Gracie Trotter
    5. Trevor Huddleston
    6. Lawless Alan
    7. Jack Wood
    8. Todd Souza
    9. Austin Reed, one lap down
    10. Gio Scelzi, two laps down
    11. Takuma Koga, three laps down
    12. Holley Hollan, three laps down
    13. Bobby Hillis Jr, 13 laps down
    14. Joey Iest, 45 laps down
    15. Chirs Lowden, 52 laps down
    16. Zach Telford, 71 laps down
    17. Bridget Burgess, 110 laps down

    Up Next: The ARCA Menards West Series’ next race is Saturday night, March 28. at Irwindale Speedway.

  • Moffitt and Creed back at GMS for 2020

    Moffitt and Creed back at GMS for 2020

    GMS Racing officials announced Friday afternoon that 2018 Truck Series Champion and current Playoff contender Brett Moffitt will return to the team for a second season to compete for the Truck Series title once again. Sheldon Creed will also be back in the No. 2 GMS Truck for a second season.

    Moffitt has earned four wins, 12 top fives and 15 top-10 finishes and is currently looking for his second bid for the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway next month.

    “I can’t thank Mike (Beam, team president) and Mr. Gallagher (team owner) enough for the opportunity to compete full-time with GMS Racing in 2020,” said Moffitt. “It’s been awesome to work with this organization this year and we’ve been competitive each and every week. We’ve earned four wins so far this season and held a steady lead throughout the Playoffs. Having next year locked down allows us to focus completely on competing for a championship this year. Returning with the same teammates as well will be really cool. We already know how to work together and help each other while maintaining a bit of that competitive edge. I can only imagine what we will be able to accomplish in 2020 building off the momentum from this season.”

    After a rocky start to the 2019 season, Sheldon Creed has had some great runs as of late. Currently, the Alpine, California native has notched four top fives and 10 top-10 finishes along with three DNFs but he does have 164 laps led and a best finish of second twice, at Eldora and Michigan.

    “I feel very confident going into next season with GMS Racing. I know I have the best group of people around me and the best organization to go out next year and compete for wins and hopefully the championship,” Creed stated. “I’m thankful to Mike (Beam, team president) and Maury (Gallagher, team owner) for the opportunity and continued support. The beginning of this season was a bit of a learning curve for me but we found our groove and I’m excited to go out and compete for wins and build momentum for next year. It’ll be great to have my teammates back with me as well.”

    Not to be overshadowed by the two returning drivers is NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Champion, Sam Mayer. Mayer, who has piloted the No. 21 GMS Chevy also returns but with more races scheduled compared to two races that he has done this year. The Franklin, Wisconsin native will now have six races on his schedule in 2020, but those have yet to be announced. Mayer will also compete for the ARCA Menards East championship.

    “I am excited to be returning to GMS Racing in 2020,” said Mayer. “We are being very aggressive with my schedule next year and I think that will help challenge me and help me grow even more in my career. We are doubling the number of Gander Trucks races from what I am running in 2019 and once the ARCA series is finalized, I should be running more races than the entire truck schedule. I’ve been able to accomplish a lot this season with the support from GMS and I can’t wait for next season.”

    GMS Racing Team President, Mike Beam, is excited about the 2020 season.

    “To have all three of these talented young men back with our organization is a blessing,” said Mike Beam, team president. “They have all brought a lot to the table for GMS in 2019. Mayer winning the K&N East Championship, Moffitt being in the hunt for GMS’ second Truck championship and Creed with multiple runner-up finishes. Needless to say, that they have represented GMS well in 2019 and I have no doubt that success will continue in 2020.”

  • ARCA Menards Series Preview- Madison

    ARCA Menards Series Preview- Madison

    While the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is taking the weekend off, the ARCA Menards Series will take center stage Friday night at Madison International Speedway, the short track located in Oregon, Wisconsin.

    It will mark the halfway point in the ARCA Series for the 2019 season, which has seen a slew of winners and repeat winners. They include Harriosn Burton winning at Daytona, Michael Self winning two races at Pensacola and Salem, Todd Gilliland in Talladega, Christian Eckes in Nashville, the upcoming star Chandler Smith, Ty Majeski winning at Charlotte and Pocono. Self finally got back to victory lane last week at Michigan in a last-lap pass on Majeski in the last corner of the race when Majeski ran out of gas off Turn 4. It was his third win this season.

    With his win last week, Self finally saw the end of some frustrating finishes. He’s looking forward to carry his momentum from last week to Madison on Friday night. However, despite having 28 starts in over a five-year span in the ARCA Series, Madison will be new to Self as he will be making his track debut this weekend.

    “Madison is going to be totally new for me,” says Self. “I’ve never made a lap there, so I’m relying on the video I’ve watched and information from my teammates and people around the VMS shop to prepare and try and be ready to hit the ground running for practice on Friday. The track definitely looks unique and challenging, and hopefully I can pick it up and figure out by Friday night.”

    So far this season, Self has earned three wins, six top fives and top-10 finishes, along with three poles. He currently leads the ARCA Menards Series standings over Bret Holmes by 15 points.

    Self’s teammate, Hailie Deegan, will be returning to the ARCA Series this week. Deegan has been in the headlines a lot this week after a last-lap effort to win the K&N Pro Series West race at Colorado this past weekend, which took her teammate Derek Kraus out for the win.

    Madison will also be new to the rising star power of Deegan.

    “I’m excited to get back in the ARCA car this weekend with Venturini Motorsports at Madison,” said the native of Temecula, California. “I feel confident in my team and my abilities going into the weekend for my next short track start. But my goals are realistic. ARCA is a new series and there’s still a lot to learn. Our first race at Toledo ended early after getting wrecked so I’m going back with similar goals – log laps, learn as much as I can and shoot for top-five finishes.”

    It will be her first ARCA start since Pocono a couple of weeks ago, where Deegan finished seventh after starting fourth. Her previous start was at Toledo last month where she was taken out and left with a disappointing last-place finish.

    Also making his ARCA return, but already having an impressive season with three top fives and four top-10 finishes, is the grandson of Joe Gibbs, Ty Gibbs.

    Gibbs has been making a lot of noise on the track this year and looks to continue to do that at Madison where he has no starts.

    “I’m so ready to get to Madison,” said Gibbs. “I’ve been really excited for Madison since I left Toledo. It’s just a real short track that takes a lot of tires. You’ll definitely have to conserve too so you can have enough brakes to be around at the end, but I’m ready to move on to Madison and hopefully get our first win of the season.”

    Despite having early season success and not being able to compete at all the racetracks due to the age limit, Gibbs is looking to start clicking off wins this weekend.

    “We’ve got a lot of second-place finishes this season which is good in some ways and bad in some ways,” said Gibbs. “I want to win so bad but finishing second has proven that we have the equipment to run up front and compete for wins, we just need all the pieces to fall in to place and work perfectly to get to victory lane.”

    Gibbs has tons of short track experience racing the short tracks across the country in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour. So far this season in the ARCA Series, however, the grandson of Joe Gibbs has a pretty stellar record of finishing second in his first ARCA start at Pensacola, sixth at Salem and a pair of second place finishes at Nashville and Toledo, the last time Gibbs competed in an ARCA car.

    Even though the drivers mentioned above have no ARCA starts at the racetrack located in Wisconsin, Venturini Motorsports driver Christian Eckes has two starts there with a best finish of fifth coming two years ago in 2017. His other finish the year prior in 2016, resulted in a DNF due to a drive train issue and saw him finish 14th in his first track start.

    Speaking of challenges, the Middletown, New York driver has faced challenges this season after missing a race due to sickness earlier this season.

    “It’s been a rough couple of months but we’re looking to turn it around this weekend at Madison,” said the Toyota Racing Development driver. “It’s a track that I have loved in the past but haven’t been to in two years, so I’m really looking to get back there. The Venturini organization has shown a ton of success over the past decade at this place and I’m ready to keep it going. Our JBL Audio team has brought awesome race cars so far this year and we’re ready to go make it happen.”

    While other drivers will be making their first starts at Madison this weekends, one driver, Sam Mayer, is eager to get back on track in his home state. Mayer, who is apart of the GMS Racing development program, has been competing across several different racing series. In 2019, the Wisconsin native has finishes of 21st at Pensacola, second at Salem and a fifth at Toledo.

    Mayer is excited to be racing at his home track Friday night at Madison.

    “Getting the chance to race at home is really cool,” Mayer said. “Having all my family and friends come out to watch and support me is going to be really exciting and I hope we can pull out a win for all of them.”

    Sitting second in the ARCA point standings is Bret Holmes who drives the family-owned team No. 23. Holmes has amassed three top fives and seven top-10 finishes. He’ll look forward to carrying his season momentum through to Friday night.

    Madison is a tough track,” he said. “It’s almost like a banked Martinsville Speedway. The corners are really tight, you use a lot of brakes and the front tires wear quickly. I think that’s the difference maker there. You don’t want to get your front tires too hot. On long green-flag runs, that’s where you’ll beat everyone. I’m excited to get back on a short track after these few weeks at speedways. I think our intermediate track program is a little better than our short track, but we’re working on some things at the shop that we’re going to test out to see how they work. We’ve had solid top-five runs here lately, and we’re looking to continue that in Madison this week.”

    Currently, there are 18 drivers entered on the preliminary entry list for this week’s race. They include Joe Graf Jr., Tim Richmond, Eric Caudell, Dale Shearer, Brad Smith, Carson Hocevar, Travis Braden, Corey Heim, Chandler Smith, Dick Karth, Tommy Vigh Jr. and Dick Doheny, who will round out the remaining participants for the race this weekend.

    It will be an all-day show for the ARCA Menards Series drivers. The only practice session begins at 2:15 p.m. ET. The General Tire Pole qualifying is slated for 6 p.m. ET There will be two laps for every driver.

    The Shore Lunch 200 is scheduled to get underway shortly after 9 p.m. CT. The event will see 200 laps that will make up the 100-mile race distance. The race can be seen on MAVTV.

  • Sam Mayer and Carson Hocevar round out top 3 finishers at Salem Speedway

    Sam Mayer and Carson Hocevar round out top 3 finishers at Salem Speedway

    Sam Mayer and the GMS Racing team was racing with heavy hearts at Salem Speedway this weekend, as a co-worker, Jonathan Morrison, known as “Outlaw,” passed away this weekend.

    They were hoping to put the No. 21 machine in victory lane so they could dedicate the win to him. However, Mayer and the team fell one spot short as he finished second to race winner Michael Self.

    “It was pretty crazy starting in the back like that about mid pack,” Mayer told MAVTV post race. “I felt like we had a good car overall, I wish we would have been able to put four tires on it after that restart and go see what she had, but it got rain delayed and eventually canceled.

    “I was really looking forward going out trying to get that win for “Outlaw” and GMS. It would have been really nice over there at GMS. Can’t thank them enough. The Chevrolet Accessories No. 21 was pretty sporty today, but just wasn’t able to get it done.”

    For Mayer, it was his best ARCA Menards Series finish and his best finish since IRP last summer where he finished seventh.

    Carson Hocevar, backed by the No. 28 team, collected his first ever ARCA Menards Series pole of his young career. It was the 16-year old’s first ARCA race back since IRP of last year, where he finished fifth after starting second that day.

    However, that was the past and this is the present. Hocevar was hoping to put the No. 28 machine in victory lane today, but fell three positions short.

    He got passed by eventual race winner Self for the lead on Lap 18. After that, Hocevar could never really catch the leader again. He quietly ran in the top five for the rest of the race. Hocevar ran his race, but the rain came and he wound up third. But he wanted to go back racing and was a little unsatisfied with a third place finish.

    “I was really hoping they (ARCA) wouldn’t call it,” Hocevar told MAVTV in the post-race interview. “I was disappointed when the guys told me it was over, but KBR Development gave me a good Scotts-Berger Chevrolet. I think we had a really good shot at it. We were just too free early on, I was sitting there saving so I had to back my pace down, so I had something there at the end. Especially with it looking like it was going to go all the way green.”

    “My guys did a heck of a job all weekend,” he continued. “So overall, a third place isn’t too bad.”

    It was Hocevar’s third top five of his career and first of the season.

    Carson Hocevar at Salem Speedway by KBM Development via Twitter