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  • JR Motorsports reveals crew chief lineup for 2025 Xfinity season

    JR Motorsports reveals crew chief lineup for 2025 Xfinity season

    JR Motorsports (JRM) took to social media to reveal its crew chief lineup for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season which features the return of four familiar names and one new name calling the shots atop their respective numbered pit boxes and paired drivers.

    Beginning next season, Cory Shea will be serving as an Xfinity crew chief for JRM’s No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro entry which will be fielded as the “all-star” entry. Shea makes his move atop the pit box as a crew chief after recently serving as a car chief for veteran Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JRM team that achieved the 2024 Xfinity Series championship. Thus far, Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen, both of whom compete in the Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing, have been confirmed to pilot the No. 9 “all-star” entry for select events (nine total combined).

    Speaking of JRM’s No. 7 team, Jim Pohlman, the reigning Xfinity championship-winning crew chief, will remain both atop the pit box of the No. 7 Chevrolet team and paired up with Allgaier as both strive to defend their title for the 2025 season. Pohlman first joined JRM as an Xfinity crew chief in 2023, where he navigated Allgaier and the No. 7 team to four victories and a runner-up result in the final standings. This past season, the duo captured two regular-season victories, made the Championship 4 round and outdueled the competition during the finale at Phoenix Raceway to win the title, which marked Allgaier’s first in the series after 14 previous attempts and during his seventh appearance as a Championship 4 contender.

    Currently, Pohlman, who first served as a crew chief for Sheldon Creed at Richard Childress Racing for four Xfinity events in 2022, has achieved six victories, three poles, 25 top-five results and 41 top-10 results as a crew chief in the series.

    Like Pohlman, Phillip Bell will be returning as a crew chief for JRM’s No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro team which will be piloted by Sammy Smith, the latter of whom returns for a second consecutive driving campaign at JRM in 2025. Bell, who embarked in his first season as a NASCAR crew chief last year, initially spent the first 23 scheduled events working atop the pit box of JRM’s No. 9 team and driver Brandon Jones. Then starting at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September, he shifted to JRM’s No. 8 team and was paired with Sammy Smith for the final 10 scheduled events. During the span, Bell notched his first victory as a crew chief after Smith won at Talladega Superspeedway in October, which enabled the duo to transfer to the Playoff’s Round of 8 and settle in 11th place in the final driver’s standings.

    Through his first full-time season as an Xfinity crew chief (33 races total), Bell notched one victory, two poles, three top-five results and nine top-10 results as he prepares to lead the No. 8 JRM Chevrolet team and Smith on a full-time basis in 2025.

    Meanwhile, Andrew Overstreet will be paired up with incoming Xfinity rookie Carson Kvapil, the latter of whom will be driving the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet entry for his first full-time campaign in the division amid a successful campaign in late model competition. Previously, Kvapil achieved the 2021 CARS Super Late Model Tour title and back-to-back CARS Late Model Stock Tour titles between 2022 and 2023. This past season, Kvapil also won the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 and the Icebreaker 125.

    Overstreet, who first served as an Xfinity crew chief for driver Sam Mayer for three events in 2022, was a crew chief for JRM’s No. 88 “all-star” Chevrolet team that appeared in a total of 17 events in 2024. At Watkins Glen International this past August, Overstreet achieved his first Xfinity career victory as a crew chief after he navigated Zilisch to his first career victory in his series’ debut from pole position. In addition to Zilisch, Overstreet spent the 2024 season working with Kvapil, team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Connor Mosack and Bubba Pollard with the No. 88 team. He also served as a crew chief for JRM’s No. 1 team and Mayer for a single event this past season.

    Through 21 appearances as an Xfinity crew chief, Overstreet has achieved one victory, two poles, 10 top-five results and 14 top-10 results as he strives to lead Kvapil to both his first victory and Playoff berth.

    Like teammate Overstreet, Mardy Lindley will be paired with another incoming Xfinity rookie, that being Connor Zilisch as he will be piloting the No. 88 JRM Chevrolet for his first full-time campaign in the series. Lindley became an Xfinity crew chief for JRM for the first time in 2023 after spending the previous two seasons as a Craftsman Truck Series crew chief at Kyle Busch Motorsports. Paired with Sam Mayer and the No. 1 team, Lindley led both the driver and team to four victories and a Championship 4 berth, where they settled in third place in the final standings. This past season, Lindley and Mayer notched three victories and ended up in ninth place in the final standings after both fell short of reaching the Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season.

    Through 62 appearances as an Xfinity crew chief, Lindley has achieved seven victories, one pole, 19 top-five results and 30 top-10 results as he strives to navigate Zilisch to additional victories and his first Playoff berth in 2025.

    The 2025 season is scheduled to mark JR Motorsports’ 20th consecutive season as a full-time team in the Xfinity Series division. Since its inception, the organization has accumulated a total of 88 victories and four championships. The organization has also notched a combined 35 poles, 534 top-five results, 1,045 top-10 results and 14,308 laps led through a 19-year span as they strive for more on-track success for the upcoming racing season.

    With the crew chief lineup set, JR Motorsports’ 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is scheduled to commence at Daytona International Speedway on February 15. The event’s broadcast time is slated to commence at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Aric Almirola clinches owner’s championship berth for No. 20 team with a dominant victory at Martinsville

    Aric Almirola clinches owner’s championship berth for No. 20 team with a dominant victory at Martinsville

    With two vacant spots to this year’s Championship 4 round on the line amongst eight NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff contenders, Aric Almirola motored his way to a dominant victory for his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team in the National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, November 2.

    The 40-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led five times for a race-high 150 of 250-scheduled laps in an event where he started in ninth place and muscled through four early caution periods to claim the first stage victory in a photo finish over Playoff contender Cole Custer. Then after racing his way to win the second stage period, Almirola survived a bevy of caution periods and ensuing restart periods, including the final one with 16 laps remaining where he was leading, to fend off Playoff contenders Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith to capture his third Xfinity victory of the 2024 season and clinch a spot to this year’s Xfinity owner’s championship battle for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 team for next weekend’s finale at Phoenix Raceway.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, November 1, Parker Retzlaff notched his second Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season and his career with a pole-winning lap at 95.151 mph in 19.901 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Anthony Alfredo, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 95.094 mph in 19.913 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that include Parker Kligerman, William Sawalich and Kyle Sieg dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Parker Retzlaff and Anthony Alfredo briefly dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Retzlaff muscled his No. 31 The Visual Pak Companies Chevrolet Camaro ahead with both lanes under his control through the backstretch. As the field slowly began to fan out to three lanes, Retzlaff led the first lap as Playoff contender Chandler Smith overtook Alfredo for the runner-up spot. Behind, Aric Almirola made a bold three-wide move beneath Playoff contenders Sammy Smith and Austin Hill as he made his way up to sixth place.

    Over the next four laps, Retzlaff would proceed to stabilize his early advantage to four-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith as Playoff contender Justin Allgaier, Alfredo and Playoff rookie Jesse Love followed suit in the top five. Behind, Almirola retained sixth place ahead of Playoff contender Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed while Playoff contenders AJ Allmendinger and Sammy Smith pursued in the top 10.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and amid a series of early jostling for spots within the field, Retzlaff retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith while Allgaier and Alfredo followed suit. Behind, Almirola made his way into fifth place over Love and Hill while Creed, Allmendinger and Playoff contender Cole Custer were in the top 10. As both Custer and Allmendinger bumped one another while battling for 10th place, Riley Herbst, Playoff contender Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Bubba Pollard were in the top 15.

    On Lap 12, the event’s first caution flew after Allmendinger, who had fiercely bumped and rubbed with Custer for a top-10 spot over the last few laps, blew a right-front tire amid another round of contact with Custer entering the backstretch and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 3. The incident was enough to end Allmendinger’s event early, but it did not affect his secured spot to this year’s Championship 4 round after he had won the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two weeks earlier.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 18, Chandler Smith dueled with Retzlaff for the lead through the first two turns before he muscled ahead and cleared Retzlaff through the backstretch. Smith would proceed to lead the following lap as Allgaier followed suit in third place. Behind, Almirola muscled his way up to fourth place while Alfredo was pinned in a tight three-wide battle for a top-10 spot that involved Herbst and Creed as both Custer and Sammy Smith joined the battle. With Love and Hill moving up to fifth and sixth on the track, Chandler Smith retained the lead just past the Lap 20 mark.

    At the Lap 25 mark, Chandler Smith was leading by six-tenths of a second over Retzlaff while Allgaier, Almirola and Love followed suit in the top five ahead of Hill, Herbst, Custer, Alfredo, and Creed. Over the next five laps, Allgaier and Almirola dueled fiercely for third place while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Herbst and Custer battled for seventh place in front of Sam Mayer. In the process, Almirola stabilized his lead to nearly eight-tenths of a second.

    On Lap 36, the event’s second caution flew after Myatt Snider, who was racing in 18th place, was bumped and sent for a spin by Ryan Sieg entering Turns 3 and 4. During the caution period, some led by Chandler Smith and including Allgaier, Hill, Love and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by Retzlaff and including Custer and Sam Mayer remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Ryan Ellis was penalized for vehicle interference while Hill endured a slow pit service after he had to reverse to avoid hitting Dawson Cram while exiting his pit stall.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 43, Retzlaff and Custer dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Custer used the outside lane to assume the lead through the backstretch. Behind, Retzlaff fended off rookie Shane van Gisbergen through Turns 3 and 4 to retain second place before the latter crossed over and reignited his challenge for the spot. Behind, a series of jostles for spots between competitors with fresh tires versus those with worn tires ensued as Custer continued to lead. The caution, however, would return on Lap 47 after Leland Honeyman spun in Turn 2 from the top 20 after getting hit by Blaine Perkins.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 53 did not last long as Retzlaff, who restarted on the front row with Custer, was shoved dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 1 by Mayer as Retzlaff emerged with significant front-end damage to his pole-winning car. The incident was enough to knock Retzlaff out of contention while Mayer continued.

    With the event restarting under green with a single lap remaining to the first stage period, Custer and Almirola dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. They continued to battle dead even against one another through Turns 3 and 4 as they crossed the start/finish line in a photo finish to complete the first stage. At the line, Almirola emerged with the stage victory by a nose for the fifth time in the 2024 Xfinity Series season. Custer settled in second followed by Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Love, Herbst, Josh Williams, Sammy Smith, Creed and Jeb Burton. By then, five of seven remaining Playoff contenders on the track recorded the event’s first round of stage points as the list did not include Mayer or Hill.

    Under the stage break, some led by Custer and including Williams, Jeremy Clements, Patrick Emerling, Mason Maggio and Logan Bearden pitted while the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.

    The second stage period started on Lap 70 as teammates Almirola and Chandler Smith started on the front row. At the start, Almirola gained the advantage from the inside lane as he muscled away with the lead entering the backstretch. Almirola proceeded to lead the following lap while Chandler Smith fended off Allgaier for the runner-up spot. Allgaier would then be challenged by Love and Herbst for third place as Smith started to close in on Almirola for the lead.

    Towards the Lap 80 mark, Almirola retained a steady advantage over teammate Chandler Smith, with the latter bumping and intimidating his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammate through every corner and straightaway. Smith would then make his way beneath Almirola’s No. 20 He Gets Us Toyota Supra through the first two turns and muscle his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra into the lead through the backstretch on Lap 81. With Smith leading, Allgaier trailed in third place by six-tenths of a second while Love, Sammy Smith and Herbst trailed by more than two seconds.

    On Lap 85, Herbst bumped and nearly turned Love’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro in a fierce battle for fifth place in Turn 3. The contact dropped Love to ninth place as Herbst proceeded to fend off Sheldon Creed for fifth place. In the process, Chandler Smith continued to lead by within a tenth of a second over teammate Almirola. Almirola, however, would gain a run beneath Smith through the first two turns and reassume the lead on Lap 94.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Almirola stretched his advantage to a second over teammate Chandler Smith as Sammy Smith would proceed to overtake Chandler Smith for the runner-up spot during the following lap. Behind, Allgaier trailed in fourth place by two seconds while Herbst, Creed, Sawalich, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Jeb Burton followed suit in the top 10.

    Following a caution period on Lap 102 as Mason Maggio spun in Turn 1 just in front of the leaders, some led by Ryan Sieg and including Myatt Snider, Brennan Poole and Garrett Smithley remained on the track while the rest led by Almirola pitted. Amid the pit stops, Chandler Smtih endured a slow pit service.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 110, Ryan Sieg and Poole dueled for the lead in front of a stacked field as Sieg proceeded to muscle ahead through the backstretch. By the following lap, Almirola, who was racing on fresh tires, had carved his way up to third place. Almirola would proceed to duel and overtake Poole for the runner-up spot during the next lap as teammate Sheldon Creed was also muscling his way towards the top five.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, Almirola caught and made his move beneath Ryan Sieg for the lead entering the first two turns. Almirola and Sieg would then duel for the lead through the backstretch as Sieg refused to surrender the spot. With both continuing to battle dead even for the lead during the following lap, Almirola would muscle ahead of Sieg through Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 118.

    During the final lap of the second stage period, Ryan Sieg tried to execute a crossover move beneath Almirola through the frontstretch, but Almirola muscled away with his fresh tires and teammate Creed began to challenge Sieg for the runner-up spot. Amid the battles within the field, Almirola proceeded to capture his sixth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and second of the day. Sieg fended off Creed for the runner-up spot while Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Custer, Herbst, Sawalich and Poole were scored in the top 10. With four of seven Playoff contenders on the track racking up the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders including Mayer and Hill did not achieve points.

    During the stage break, Logan Bearden was the only competitor who pitted as the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.

    With 120 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as teammates Almirola and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Almirola rocketed away with the lead through the first two turns and he would retain the lead for the following lap. Behind, a series of on-track battles ensued as Allgaier made his way to fourth place behind Ryan Sieg while Custer fended off Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith for fifth place. The caution would return with 117 laps remaining as William Sawalich spun and slapped into the outside wall in Turn 1 amid contact with Alfredo.

    During the start of the next restart period with 110 laps remaining, Almirola dueled with teammate Creed for the lead for a full lap as Creed managed to lead the first lap by a hair from the outside lane. Creed would then clear Almirola to have both lanes under his control entering the first two turns while Allgaier was trying to fend off Custer and Ryan Sieg for third place. Shortly after, Custer moved his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang into third place over Allgaier and Chandler Smith followed in close pursuit in fifth place.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Creed continued to lead by a tenth of a second over teammate Almirola, who spent the last several laps dueling and challenging Creed for the top spot through every corner. Almirola would then prevail in the heated battle with teammate Creed with 96 laps remaining as he bumped and muscled ahead of the latter with the top spot. Meanwhile, third-place Custer trailed by a second. Creed then went wide entering Turn 1 during the following lap, which allowed Custer to battle him for the runner-up spot as Almirola stretched his advantage to more than a second.

    With 85 laps remaining, Almirola retained the lead over both Custer and Creed as Logan Bearden pitted with his right-front hub on fire. Amid Bearden’s incident, the event remained under green flag conditions. The caution would then fly with 77 laps remaining due to Preston Pardus spinning in Turn 3. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Almirola pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Almirola retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Creed, Custer, Allgaier, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Mayer, Burton, Alfredo and Sammy Smith. Amid the pit stops, Creed was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The start of the next restart period with 68 laps remaining featured Almirola fending off Custer through the first two turns to lead the field through the backstretch. Just before Almirola could reach the start/finish line to lead the following lap, the caution returned when Dawson Cram, who was racing outside the top 20, received a bump from Love that sent him spinning and backing into the outside wall in Turn 3.

    As the race restarted under green with 60 laps remaining, Almirola used the inside lane to fend off Custer through the first two turns as he retained a steady lead through the backstretch, Despite getting bumped in the rear by Custer through Turns 3 and 4, Almirola led the following lap ahead of Custer as he had Allgaier, Herbst, Chandler Smith and Jeb Burton all following in close pursuit. With the latter four bumping and dueling against one another for position, Allgaier would retain third place ahead of Chandler Smith and Burton over the next four laps while Mayer and Sammy Smith made their way past Herbst for sixth and seventh, respectively. The caution would then return with 54 laps remaining as Creed bumped Blaine Perkins into Josh Williams, all of whom were battling for a top-15 spot, which sent the latter for a spin towards the outside wall in Turn 2.

    The start of the next restart period with 48 laps remaining featured Almirola muscling ahead with a slight advantage over Custer as he proceeded to motor past him through the first two turns and retain the top spot through the backstretch. With Almirola leading the following lap, Custer retained second as Allgaier and Chandler Smith dueled for third place in front of Burton. Behind, teammates Mayer and Sammy Smith dueled for sixth place in front of Herbst, Alfredo and Kligerman as Almirola proceeded to lead with 45 laps remaining.

    With less than 40 laps remaining, Almirola stretched his advantage to more than a second over Custer, who had Chandler Smith and Allgaier pressuring him for the runner-up spot through every corner and straightaway. Custer would retain the runner-up spot from both Smith and Allgaier over the next five laps as Almirola’s advantage also stabilized to more than a second.

    Not long after, the caution returned with 31 laps remaining when Brandon Jones slid and wrecked his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro against the Turn 1 outside wall from 13th place after he got bumped by Creed entering the turn. The incident occurred shortly after Chandler Smith had bumped Custer out of the racing groove for the runner-up spot in Turn 1.

    Just as the event was restarting under green with 24 laps remaining, a stack-up ensued from the front of the field that left Mayer, who restarted in seventh place, with a dented hood and Burton attempting to fan out beneath Mayer. Then entering Turns 1 and 2, Custer returned the favor to Chandler Smith by bumping the latter into the turn as both went up the racetrack through the first two turns. Despite Smith managing to remain in front of Custer, both dropped to fifth and seventh, respectively, through the backstretch. In the process, Mayer, who had a tire rub, continued in sixth place with a dented hood while Almirola pulled away with the lead ahead of Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Herbst.

    On the following lap, the caution returned as both Ryan Sieg and van Gisbergen wrecked in Turn 4. During the caution period, Mayer, who pitted to have the damage addressed, had his No. 1 10X Health Chevrolet Camaro pushed behind the wall as his event came to a late end. Mayer’s retirement also ended his hopes of returning to the Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season.

    Down to the final 16 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Almirola and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Almirola muscled away from Smith’s No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro and the field to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Almirola led the following lap, Smith followed suit in second while Allgaier was trying to fend off Herbst, Chandler Smith, Custer and Jeb Burton for third place. During the following lap, Chandler Smith got Herbst loose entering Turn 3, which allowed Smith to draw himself alongside Allgaier for third place as Custer tried to follow suit. Custer would then grab fifth place from teammate Herbst while Almirola continued to lead over Sammy Smith with 14 laps remaining.

    With 10 laps remaining, Almirola retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Sammy Smith while Chandler Smith trailed the lead by more than a second. By then, both of the Smith competitors were placed in “must-win” situations to maintain their Playoff hopes. Behind, Custer, who currently occupied the fourth and transfer spot to the Championship 4 round, made his way up to fourth place over Allgaier, who held the other vacant spot to the final Playoff round, while Creed was up to sixth place.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Almirola continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Sammy Smith as third-place Chandler Smith followed suit by a second. Over the next four laps, Almirola would stabilize his advantage over both Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith, with the latter two unable to close in despite charging their respective cars through every corner and straightaway.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Almirola remained in the lead by half a second over Sammy Smith and by more than a second over Chandler Smith. With the two Smiths unable to narrow the deficit for a final lap charge, Almirola coasted his No. 20 Toyota smoothly around the Martinsville circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and for his third Xfinity checkered flag of the 2024 season.

    With the victory, Almirola, who won at Martinsville in April, notched his seventh career win in his 117th start in the Xfinity circuit and 13th of the 2024 season. The victory was the 11th of the season for both the Toyota nameplate and Joe Gibbs Racing, with the organization’s No. 20 team winning for the ninth time overall.

    As a result of the victory, Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota team will contend for the 2024 Xfinity Series owner’s championship as Almirola will compete against Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier for the title during next weekend’s season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Wow, what an amazing race car,” Almirola said on the CW Network. “So proud of [crew chief] Tyler [Allen] and all the guys on this team. We had an amazing car here in the spring. We made a few tweaks to it because I wasn’t totally happy with it, honestly, in the spring. We showed up yesterday and we were awful. I was like, ‘Oh no. What did we do?’ [The team] went to work last night and came up with a lot of changes to make to the car. It was so hooked up today. It would just do everything I wanted it to. Man, this is such a special place, This is, by far, my favorite racetrack and I’m just so thankful to Coach [Gibbs], everybody at Toyota. There’s so much more to it than just me and this race team. I’m just so lucky and blessed to have this opportunity with so many great partners. What an amazing race car. Just so proud, so, so proud and we’re going to go race for an owner’s championship in Phoenix.”

    As Almirola celebrated the Martinsville race victory, teammate Chandler Smith, who settled in third place on the track was left heated over Custer, who finished fourth, following their pair of bumps and on-track contact that took them both out of contention for the race victory as Smith also failed to make the Championship 4 field by 28 points. Once Smith parked his car on pit road at the event’s conclusion, he confronted Custer and both exchanged words before Smith attempted to throw a punch across Custer’s face before both were separated by NASCAR officials and their respective crew members.

    Ironically, this marks the second run-in and post-race confrontation between Custer and Chandler Smith after the former had confronted the latter during the Playoff opener at Kansas Speedway in late September, where he criticized Smith for costing both the victory from Almirola following a late duel on the track.

    “I was planning to do a lot more than [throwing a punch], to be completely frank with you,” Smith, whose racing status for 2025 remains unknown, said. “I was extremely pissed off. I gave him five laps before that caution came out and beat his bumper off and never shipped him or anything like that. Then finally, it’s like all right, the laps are winding down, I’m in a must-win [situation]. [Almirola]’s starting to drive away. He was really good all day. I can’t waste any more time with [Custer], so I finally had a good enough run and pushed him up the racetrack and went on our way, but I gave him a chance for five laps before that…He didn’t even give me a chance to make the corner when we got to Turn 1. It is what it is. He can think we’re even and all, but he’s the one that’s got more stakes than I do next weekend.”

    Meanwhile, Custer, who was initially left frustrated with Smith, was also left pleased on pit road as he claimed a Championship 4 berth to next weekend’s finale at Phoenix as he will attempt to defend his title before moving back up to the Cup Series with the rebranded Haas Factory Team in 2025.

    “[Chandler Smith]’s not happy, but at the end of the day, he’s put us in the wall a few times this year and his mistakes caught up with him,” Custer said. “He used the bumper on me, I used the bumper on him. What comes around goes around in this deal. I’m so proud of this team. We brought out everything we had today. [The team] Kept us in the fight, but [crew chief Jonathan Toney] and the guys did a great job all year maximizing everything we had. [I] Can’t wait to go to Phoenix now and see what we can do.”

    Overall, Custer joins AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier, the latter of whom finished fifth at Martinsville, as the four Playoff contenders who will contend for the 2024 Xfinity Series championship next weekend at Phoenix. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith joins Martinsville runner-up finisher Sammy Smith, rookie Jesse Love and Sam Mayer as the bottom four Playoff contenders in the standings who did not make the Championship 4 round.

    There were 12 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 13 cautions for 84 laps. In addition, 26 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Aric Almirola, 150 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    2. Sammy Smith

    3. Chandler Smith, 34 laps led

    4. Cole Custer, 17 laps led

    5. Justin Allgaier

    6. Sheldon Creed, 13 laps led

    7. Anthony Alfredo

    8. Parker Kligerman

    9. Jeb Burton

    10. Myatt Snider

    11. Riley Herbst

    12. Jesse Love

    13. Brennan Poole

    14. Austin Hill

    15. Ryan Sieg, 13 laps led

    16. Matt DiBenedetto

    17. Josh Williams

    18. Ryan Ellis

    19. Blaine Perkins

    20. Dylan Lupton

    21. Kyle Sieg, three laps led

    22. Mason Maggio

    23. Patrick Emerling

    24. Preston Pardus

    25. Dawson Cram

    26. Greg Van Alst

    27. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    28. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down

    29. Brandon Jones – OUT, DVP

    30. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    31. Bubba Pollard, 27 laps down

    32. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Ignition

    33. William Sawalich – OUT, Suspension

    34. Logan Bearden – OUT, Brakes

    35. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident

    36. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident, 20 laps led

    37. Carson Ware – OUT, Brakes

    38. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Austin Hill – Advanced

    2. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    3. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

    4. Cole Custer – Advanced

    5. Chandler Smith – Eliminated

    6. Jesse Love – Eliminated

    7. Sam Mayer – Eliminated

    8. Sammy Smith – Eliminated

    The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is set to conclude at Phoenix Raceway, where a champion will be crowned. The finale is set to occur next Saturday, November 9, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Austin Hill clinches first Championship 4 berth with dominant victory at Homestead

    Austin Hill clinches first Championship 4 berth with dominant victory at Homestead

    Austin Hill spent the previous four of five seasons falling one Playoff round short of reaching the Championship 4 round between two of NASCAR’s top three national touring series. But he is now bound for the Xfinity Series championship battle in 2024 after capping off a dominant run with a victory in the Credit One NASCAR AMEX Credit 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, October 26.

    The 30-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led three times for a race-high 82 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started 16th but quickly carved his way through the field. After assuming the lead for the first time on Lap 41, Hill captured the first stage victory on Lap 45. He retained the lead for the entire second stage period and racked up an additional 10 crucial stage points towards his quest to remain above the top-four cutline in the Playoff standings by claiming another stage victory of the day.

    Then after flirting between challenging Playoff contender Cole Custer for the lead to trying to remain within sight of the lead for the majority of the final stage period, Hill executed his race-winning pass on Custer with 12 laps remaining following a late cycle of green flag pit stops that started with 43 laps remaining. With the clean air to his advantage, Hill proceeded to muscle away from Custer and lead the rest of the way before he emerged triumphant for his fourth Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season to earn a one-way ticket to his first opportunity to contend for his first Xfinity title in this year’s finale.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 25, Playoff contender Chandler Smith notched his third Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 163.305 mph in 33.067 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Sheldon Creed, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 162.822 mph in 33.165 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that include Anthony Alfredo, Jeremy Clements, Matt DiBenedetto and rookie Shane van Gisbergen dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. In addition, DiBenedetto was assessed a pass-through penalty through pit road on the first lap due to his RSS Racing encountering multiple inspection failures.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, the field slowly fanned out through the frontstretch as teammates Chandler Smith and Sheldon Creed dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. With the outside lane to his advantage, Smith would muscle his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra ahead with the lead entering Turn 3 and he would proceed to lead the first lap while Playoff contender Cole Custer and Aric Almirola challenged Creed for the runner-up spot.

    Over the next four laps and amid a series of early on-track battles, Chandler Smith extended his advantage to one second over teammate Almirola, who prevailed in his early three-car battle for the runner-up spot, while Custer prevailed in his early battle with Creed to move his No. 00 NXT Ford Mustang into third place. Behind, Playoff contender AJ Allmendinger was in fifth place ahead of Riley Herbst while Playoff contenders Sam Mayer, rookie Jesse Love and Justin Allgaier followed suit in the top nine. Behind, Parker Kligerman occupied 10th place as he was ahead of Playoff contenders Austin Hill and Sammy Smith while newcomer, William Sawalich, Ryan Sieg and Connor Zilisch were in the top 15.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Chandler Smith retained his early advantage to more than a second over Custer and Almirola as Allmendinger and Herbst were in the top five. Behind, Mayer, Love, Hill and Allgaier followed suit while Creed had dropped to 10th place and was prepared to lose the spot to Kligerman for the following lap. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith was the lowest-running Playoff contender in 13th place.

    Ten laps later, Chandler Smith stabilized his advantage to a second over Custer while Allmendinger, who carved his way up to third place, trailed by two seconds. Behind, Almirola settled in fourth place ahead of Mayer, Herbst and Hill while Love, Allgaier and Creed followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Kligerman, Ryan Sieg, Sawalich, Zilisch and Sammy Smith.

    Another 10 laps later, Chandler Smith’s advantage decreased to a tenth of a second over Custer, with the latter intimidating the former through every turn and straightaway. This left Smith to navigate through various lanes around Homestead to try to defend the top spot and as he was navigating through lapped traffic.

    A lap later, however, Custer used the outside lane to duel with Smith as he led a lap for himself by 0.001 seconds. He then muscled ahead through the first two turns and the backstretch from the outside lane to clear Smith and pull away from the latter, where he would proceed to lead the next lap. As Allmendinger started to close in on Smith for the runner-up spot, Custer retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second at the Lap 35 mark. Custer’s advantage then slightly decreased to two-tenths of a second over the new runner-up competitor Allmendinger as both were navigating through lapped traffic. Behind, Almirola would make his way into third place while Chandler Smith dropped to fourth place.

    Shortly after, Playoff contender Sammy Smith pitted his No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro after he made contact with the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2, where he then sustained a flat tire. Back on the track and as the leaders were mired in heavy lapped traffic, Almirola charged his No. 20 Samaritan’s Purse Toyota Supra into the lead on Lap 41. A three-wide battle for the lead then ensued between Custer, Almirola and Hill through the frontstretch for the following lap until Almirola briefly muscled back ahead through the first two turns. Hill then overtook and slid his No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet Camaro in front of Almirola’s Toyota entering the frontstretch to assume the lead on Lap 43 while Custer tried to challenge Almirola for the runner-up spot.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Hill, who came into Homestead eight points below the top-four cutline to make the Championship 4 field, captured his fifth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Almirola settled in second ahead of Creed, Allgaier and Custer while Mayer, Allmendinger, Herbst, Chandler Smith and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10. With six of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points by finishing in the top 10, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Love and Sammy Smith were mired in 11th and 36th, respectively.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hill pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Hill retained the lead as he exited pit road first ahead of Almirola, Custer, Creed and Herbst while Allmendinger, Mayer, Allgaier, Love, Ryan Sieg and Chandler Smith followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Parker Retzlaff was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road.

    The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Hill and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Almirola and Hill dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch in front of Custer. Hill would then use the inside lane to muscle ahead of Almirola through Turns 3 and 4, where he would lead the following lap. Hill would maintain a reasonable lead over Almirola just past the Lap 55 mark while Custer, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg followed suit in the top five.

    At the Lap 60 mark, Hill was leading by four-tenths of a second over Custer while Almirola, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg continued to race in the top five. Behind, Love was in sixth place ahead of Chandler Smith, Creed, Allgaier and Kligerman as Herbst, Zilisch, Mayer, Brandon Jones and Sawalich were in the top 15. As Josh Williams, Ryan Truex, Kyle Weatherman, Jeb Burton and Kyle Sieg were mired in the top 20, Sammy Smith was scored in 27th place and on the lead lap.

    Six laps later, Herbst pitted his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang from 10th place after he scrubbed the outside wall and sustained right-side damage to his car. By then, Hill had fended off Custer to retain the lead. Hill’s advantage over Custer would stand to be at seven-tenths of a second at the Lap 70 mark while third-place Allmendinger trailed by a second. Meanwhile, as Almirola and Ryan Sieg were in the top five, teammates Chandler Smith and Creed battled for sixth place while Allgaier, who scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4, was being pressured by Love for eighth place.

    By Lap 80, Hill extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Custer while third-place Allmendinger trailed by two seconds and by three-tenths of a second to Custer. As Ryan Sieg and Almirola were in the top five, Creed retained sixth ahead of Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Love and Sawalich.

    Six laps later, the caution flew as Nick Leitz, who was racing within the top-25 mark, spun his No. 92 DGM Racing Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 2. The incident occurred not long after Leland Honeyman pitted due to hitting the wall. Leitz’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 90 to officially conclude under caution as Hill captured his sixth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and second of the day. Allmendinger muscled his way into second place ahead of Custer, Ryan Sieg and Almirola while Creed, Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Love and Sawalich were scored in the top 10. With six of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Mayer and Sammy Smith were mired in 14th and 26th, respectively.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hill returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hill retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Custer, Almirola, Allmendinger, Love, Ryan Sieg, Creed, Chandler Smith, Sawalich and Allgaier. Amid the pit stops, Kyle Weatherman was penalized for speeding on pit road while Dylan Lupton was also penalized for pitting outside of his pit box.

    With 105 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Hill and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Hill and Custer dueled for the lead in front of Almirola and Allmendinger as Hill assumed a brief lead entering the first turn. Custer then used the outside lane to regain the ground and draw even with Hill through the backstretch and the frontstretch, with Hill leading the next lap. Custer then tried to muscle ahead through the first two turns and the backstretch, but Hill pulled ahead of Custer. Custer then pulled a crossover move on Hill during the next lap and he moved his No. 00 NXT Ford into the lead while Hill was being challenged by Almirola for the runner-up spot. With Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Love and Chandler Smtih all closing ground towards the battle for the lead, Custer retained the lead with 102 laps remaining. Custer would proceed to lead the halfway mark with 100 laps remaining as Almirola, Hill, Sieg and Allmendinger followed suit.

    With 90 laps remaining, the battle for the lead between Custer and Hill that occurred a few laps earlier continued as the former maintained the preferred outside lane towards the outside wall to retain the top spot over the latter, who was trying to use the inside lane to gain a run through all corners. As Custer maintained a reasonable lead of two-tenths of a second over Hill, Almirola trailed in third place while Allmendinger was battling Love for fourth place. As Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Mayer and Kligerman followed suit in the top 10, Sammy Smith was mired in 28th place and scored a lap down.

    Two laps later, Hill used the inside lane to execute another move beneath Custer and he managed to muscle ahead and reassume the lead. Hill proceeded to pull away with the lead by more than two seconds over Custer with 80 laps remaining while Almirola, Allmendinger and Love were scored in the top five.

    Then with 79 laps remaining, the caution flew when Josh Williams, who was racing in the top 15, blew a right-front tire entering Turn 1 and ran dead straight into Ryan Truex as Truex spun the No. 26 Toyota Genuine Parts Supra below the track. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hill returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hill retained the lead after he exited pit road first and was followed by teammate Love, who gained three spots following a quick pit service from the No. 2 team. Custer, Almirola, Ryan Sieg, Creed, Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Mayer and Sawalich followed suit in the top 10. In the midst of the caution period, Sammy Smith received the free pass due to being the first competitor scored a lap down.

    The start of the next restart period with 73 laps remaining featured Hill muscling away from the field to retain the lead while Custer challenged Love for the runner-up spot through the backstretch. As the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes, Custer then proceeded to make a move beneath Hill through Turns 3 and 4 as he returned atop the leaderboard for the following lap. As the event reached its final 70-lap stretch, Custer retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Hill before teammate Love overtook him for the spot a lap later. Ryan Sieg would overtake Hill for third place during the next lap as Love started to slowly close in on Custer for the lead.

    With 55 laps remaining, Custer stretched his advantage to two-and-a-half seconds over Love while third-place Ryan Sieg trailed by three-and-a-half seconds. Meanwhile, Hill retained fourth place ahead of Almirola and Allmendinger while Creed, Chandler Smith, Allgaier and Mayer were in the top 10 ahead of Herbst, Kligerman, Brandon Jones, Sawalich, Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen. In the process, Sammy Smith was mired in 23rd place. A few laps later, Sawalich pitted under green with a flat tire after he slapped the outside wall.

    Ten laps later, Custer added another second to his lead as he was leading by three seconds over Love and he would grow his lead to four seconds for the following lap. Meanwhile, Hill trailed by more than four seconds in third place as Creed and Almirola were in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Mayer and Herbst.

    With 43 laps remaining, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Almirola pitted from the top five. The leader Custer along with Hill, Love, Ryan Sieg, Zilisch, Ryan Truex and Jeb Burton pitted during the following lap before Sammy Smith pitted with 40 laps remaining. Shortly after and with more names pitting, Chandler Smith endured a slow pit service due to a jack issue during his green flag pit stop as teammate Creed, who was among several who had yet to pit, was leading.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Creed continued to lead by two seconds over Allmendinger as Mayer, Kligerman, Jones and van Gisbergen, all of whom had yet to pit, were racing in the top six. Meanwhile, Custer, the first competitor who pitted, trailed the lead by 17 seconds in seventh place as Hill, Almirola and Love were in the top 10. Creed and Mayer, the latter of whom scraped the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2, then pitted during the following lap as Allmendinger cycled into the lead. With Kligerman then pitting not long after, Custer cycled his way up to third place as Allmendinger retained the lead.

    Five laps later, Custer overtook Jones for the runner-up spot as he trailed Allmendinger for the lead by nine seconds. Soon after, Hill would make his way up to third place as he trailed Custer for two seconds on the track while Allmendinger remained in the lead by seven seconds.

    Then with 21 laps remaining, Allmendinger pitted his No. 16 Modern Day Garage Chevrolet Camaro from the lead. This allowed Custer to cycle back into the lead, where he was ahead of Hill by more than a second while Almirola, Love and Jones were in the top five. Over the next six laps, Hill would steadily decrease Custer’s advantage as he was trailing Custer by seven-tenths of a second with 15 laps remaining.

    With 12 laps remaining and the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Hill, who gained a big run on Custer through the frontstretch and had been gaining ground using the inside lane, went to the outside lane entering Turns 1 and 2 as he battled dead even with Custer through the backstretch. Hill then used the outside lane to shoot his No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet into the lead through Turns 3 and 4, where he led the following lap. Hill would proceed to extend his advantage to a second over Custer with 10 laps remaining while third-place Almirola trailed by four seconds.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Hill continued to extend his late advantage as he was leading by two-and-a-half seconds over Custer. Meanwhile, third-place Almirola trailed by four seconds while Love and Herbst were mired in the top five ahead of Ryan Sieg, Creed, Allgaier, Mayer and Zilisch.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Custer. Navigating his way through a pair of lapped competitors, Hill was able to smoothly navigate his No. 21 Chevrolet around the Homestead circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch victorious and for his fourth Xfinity checkered flag of the 2024 season.

    With the victory, Hill, who is in his third consecutive season as a full-time competitor of the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro entry for Richard Childress Racing, achieved his 10th career win in his 112th career start in the Xfinity Series, his first in the series at Homestead-Miami Speedway and his first since winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway in early September. Hill also recorded his first NASCAR national touring series victory at Homestead since winning the Craftsman Truck Series finale in 2019 as he delivered the 18th Xfinity victory of the 2024 season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the fifth for Richard Childress Racing.

    Above all, Hill, who spent four of the last five seasons having his Playoff berth end following the Round of 8 between the Truck and Xfinity divisions, clinched a berth into the Championship 4 round for the first time in his career. As a result, he joins AJ Allmendinger as the second competitor who will officially contend for the 2024 Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway two weeks from now.

    “I worked so hard at this,” Hill, who was emotional, said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “A lot of people doubted me, but I wake up every day to prove everyone wrong, that I deserve to be here. I deserve to race for a championship. This No. 21 team deserves it just as much as I do. They work their asses off each and every day just like I do. I got to give up to those guys. They just gave me a hell of a car. I didn’t have to go run the wall. I could run, really, wherever I wanted to. I can honestly say I’ve never cried coming to the start/finish line. I couldn’t even get my emotions together going into Turn 1 after the checkered.”

    “I just had to be on it,” Hill added. “I made some mistakes today, but we rebounded. Pit crew was badass like they always are. I knew once we got off pit road and we were in touch with [Custer], I just had to go to work and not burn my right front or right rear [tires] up and just save it for the long run. As soon as I saw him start backing up to me, it was game on. This is amazing. To be able to go to the Final Four, I’ve worked so hard for this. My dreams came true.”

    Cole Custer, who led 67 laps, settled in second place as he ended up one spot short of clinching his early spot into the Championship 4 round. Nonetheless, Custer, who earned a total of 14 stage points at Homestead, currently occupies the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 by 28 points over Chandler Smith entering next weekend’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway as he continues his pursuit to defend his series title.

    “Man, I thought that second-to-last run, we had it,” Custer said. “That last run, for whatever reason, we got pretty free and [Hill] seemed like they got way better than what they were the second-to-last run. Sold points day. We’ll move into Martinsville. We’ve had good runs there before. Just got to bring everything we got there because you never know who’s going to win.”

    Aric Almirola settled in third place while rookie Jesse Love and Sheldon Creed finished in the top five. Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger completed the top-10 final running order.

    With six of eight Playoff contenders finishing in the top 10, the remaining two Playoff contenders that include pole-sitter Chandler Smith and Sammy Smith ended up 13th and 22nd, respectively. As a result, Allgaier is above the top-four cutline by 35 points while Chandler Smith, Love, Mayer and Sammy Smith are below the cutline.

    There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 19 laps. In addition, 16 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Austin Hill, 82 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    2. Cole Custer, 67 laps led

    3. Aric Almirola, one lap led

    4. Jesse Love

    5. Sheldon Creed, 12 laps led

    6. Riley Herbst

    7. Ryan Sieg

    8. Justin Allgaier

    9. Sam Mayer

    10. AJ Allmendinger, nine laps led

    11. Parker Kligerman

    12. Connor Zilisch

    13. Chandler Smith, 29 laps led

    14. Kyle Weatherman

    15. Anthony Alfredo

    16. Jeremy Clements

    17. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down

    18. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    19. Brandon Jones, one lap down

    20. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    21. Ryan Truex, one lap down

    22. Sammy Smith, one lap down

    23. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down

    24. William Sawalich, one lap down

    25. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    26. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    27. Josh Williams, three laps down

    28. Brad Perez, three laps down

    29. Austin Green, three laps down

    30. Leland Honeyman, three laps down

    31. Mason Maggio, three laps down

    32. Dylan Lupton, four laps down

    33. Dawson Cram, four laps down

    34. Blaine Perkins, five laps down

    35. Armani Williams, seven laps down

    36. Thomas Annunziata – OUT, Ignition

    37. Nick Leitz – OUT, Suspension

    38. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Overheating

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    2. Austin Hill – Advanced

    3. Justin Allgaier +35

    4. Cole Custer +28

    5. Chandler Smith -28

    6. Jesse Love -35

    7. Sam Mayer -47

    8. Sammy Smith -95

    The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to conclude at Martinsville Speedway for the National Debt Relief 250, which will determine this year’s Championship 4 field. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, November 2, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • AJ Allmendinger clinches Championship 4 berth with resurgent Xfinity victory at Las Vegas

    AJ Allmendinger clinches Championship 4 berth with resurgent Xfinity victory at Las Vegas

    In a season mired with a multitude of on-track frustrations and a long winless drought, AJ Allmendinger cashed back in an emphatic style and became the first competitor to be guaranteed a championship berth in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series finale by winning the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 19.

    The 42-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, led three times for a race-high 102 of 201 scheduled laps in an event where he started in sixth place and racked up 16 stage points with two top-five results recorded during the event’s two stage periods. Then after cycling his way into the lead for the first time at the start of the final stage period with 105 laps remaining, Allmendinger proceeded to dominate as he led the following 52 laps before navigating his way through a late cycle of green flag pit stops that enabled him to reassume the lead with 50 laps remaining.

    Amid two late-race caution periods and ensuing restarts, Allmendinger fended off late charges from Ryan Sieg, including the final one during a two-lap shootout to the finish, to score his first Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season and race his way into the Championship 4 round, where he will be one of four Playoff contenders to contend for this year’s series championship.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 18, Brandon Jones notched his fourth Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season after he posted a pole-winning lap at 183.430 mph in 29.439 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Cole Custer, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 183.187 mph in 29.478 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Sheldon Creed dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change made to his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry. Kyle Weatherman also dropped to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments made to his No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Brandon Jones gained the early upper hand from the inside lane as he muscled his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro away from Cole Custer with a push from Playoff contender Chandler Smith entering the first two turns. With Chandler Smith following suit in second ahead of Custer and Playoff contenders Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer for the following two turns, Jones proceeded to lead the first lap.

    Over the next three laps, Jones retained his advantage as high as three-tenths of a second while Custer reassumed second place from Chandler Smith. Sammy Smith and Mayer would continue to follow suit in the top five ahead of Riley Herbst while Playoff contender AJ Allmendinger retained seventh place ahead of Taylor Gray, Playoff contender Jesse Love, Playoff contender Justin Allgaier, Parker Kligerman and Ryan Sieg.

    Then on the fourth lap, the event’s first caution flew due to an incident involving Leland Honeyman and JJ Yeley, when they collided with one another against the backstretch’s outside wall. During the event’s first caution period, select names including Daniel Dye and Joey Gase pitted while the rest led by Jones remained on the track

    When the race restarted under green on the eighth lap, Sammy Smith made a three-wide move beneath teammate Jones and Custer through the frontstretch and he would muscle ahead with the lead through the first two turns. As Smith led a side-by-side duel between Custer and Jones through the backstretch, the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes as Chandler Smith muscled his way up to fourth place. Through the frontstretch, Allgaier would make a bold four-wide move towards the frontstretch’s apron in his bid to move up the leaderboard.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and amid a series of on-track battles, Sammy Smith retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Custer while Jones followed suit in third place by nine-tenths of a second. Behind, Allmendinger and Chandler Smith would battle for fourth place in front of Herbst and Allgaier as Sammy Smith retained a narrow advantage over Custer. Chandler Smith then nearly got loose in front of Allgaier through Turns 3 and 4 during the following lap, but he kept his car straight despite dropping to seventh place. With Allmendinger, Herbst and Allgaier all moving in front of Chandler Smith, Custer would then overtake Sammy Smith for the lead on Lap 13 and Custer would proceed to lead by nearly half a second by Lap 15.

    By Lap 20, Custer stretched his advantage to a second over Sammy Smith as third-place Jones also trailed by a second. Behind, Allgaier trailed by two seconds in fourth place along with fifth-place Allmendinger while Herbst, Chandler Smith, Aric Almirola, Ryan Sieg and Taylor Gray were in the top 10 ahead of Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Parker Kligerman and Parker Retzlaff.

    Ten laps later, Custer continued to lead by nine-tenths of a second over Jones followed by Allgaier, who trailed in third place by a second, while Herbst and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top five. As Shane van Gisbergen pitted under green due to an engine issue and eventually was taken to the garage, Custer retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Jones while Allgaier trailed by eight-tenths of a second over the next four laps.

    On Lap 34, however, the caution returned due to an incident involving Dylan Lupton towards the outside wall in Turn 2. During the caution period, some led by Custer and including Allgaier, Love, Hill and Mayer pitted while the rest led by Jones remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Anthony Alfredo was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 39 featured Herbst briefly muscling ahead of Jones with the lead from the inside lane ahead of Allmendinger and Chandler Smith before Allmendinger made his move beneath Herbst entering the first two turns. Allmendinger, however, almost slid up into Herbst through the turns, which also caused Chandler Smith to briefly step out of the gas to avoid hitting Allmendinger as he was pinned in a four-wide battle with Jones, Sammy Smith, Taylor Gray and a bevy of competitors through the backstretch. With Allmendinger battling Jones for the runner-up spot and Chandler Smith retaining fourth ahead of teammate Almirola and the rest of the field, Herbst proceeded to lead the following lap.

    In the midst of the battles within the field, Custer used the four fresh tires to charge his way from the top 14 to back into the top five and he would proceed to battle Allmendinger and Jones for the runner-up spot by Lap 42 as Herbst retained the lead. Custer would then reassume the lead by Lap 43 and Allgaier would follow suit on his four fresh tires while Herbst dropped to third place in front of Allmendinger.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Custer fended off a hard-charging Allgaier to claim his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Allgaier settled in second ahead of Herbst, Allmendinger and Creed while Ryan Sieg, Love, Hill, Jones and Mayer were scored in the top 10. With six of eight Playoff contenders accumulating the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders including Chandler Smith and Sammy Smith were scored in 15th and 16th, respectively, while Almirola fell back to 12th place.

    Under the stage break, some led by Herbst and including Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Custer and Allgaier remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Almirola was penalized for a vehicle interference.

    The second stage period started on Lap 51 as Custer and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Custer and Allgaier dueled for the lead through the first two turns as the field fanned out from the frontstretch through the backstretch. After dueling with Custer through the backstretch, Allgaier would proceed to muscle his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro ahead with the lead through Turns 3 and 4, where he would lead the following lap. As Allgaier led Custer, Creed was trying to fend off Ryan Sieg for third place while Mayer, Love, Allmendinger, Chandler Smith, Hill and Retzlaff followed suit in the top 10.

    Just past the Lap 55 mark, Allgaier stretched his advantage to more than a second over Custer while Creed, Ryan Sieg and Mayer followed suit in the top five. Behind, Allmendinger, who pitted during the first stage break period, was up to sixth place on four fresh tires as Herbst, Hill and Sammy Smith battled fiercely for 10th place. Amid the battles, Allgaier would add another second to his advantage as he led by more than two seconds by Lap 60.

    At the Lap 70 mark, Allgaier continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by more than three seconds over Custer while Allmendinger also trailed by more than three seconds in third place. As Ryan Sieg and Chandler Smith were racing in the top five, Jones would challenge Smith for fifth place as Love, Herbst, Creed and Sammy Smith all trailed in the top 10 by 10 seconds. Meanwhile, Mayer had fallen to 11th place while Hill was mired back in 17th place.

    Ten laps later, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to three seconds over Allmendinger while Ryan Sieg trailed in third place by nearly five seconds. With Jones and Chandler Smith up into the top five, Custer dropped to sixth place ahead of Love while Almirola occupied eighth place ahead of Herbst and Sammy Smith.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier, who was mired behind lapped traffic, cruised to his 16th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Allmendinger followed suit in second place by three-tenths of a second while Ryan Sieg, Jones, Chandler Smith, Custer, Almirola, Love, Herbst and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. With five of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Sammy Smith, Mayer and Hill were mired back in 12th, 13th and 15th, respectively.

    During the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Allgaier pitted. Following the pit stops, Allmendinger exited pit road first ahead of Allgaier, Custer, Chandler Smith and Herbst while Almirola, Ryan Sieg, Creed, Love and Jones followed suit in the top 10.

    With 105 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Allmendinger and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, however, the caution quickly returned due to Taylor Gray, who restarted in 11th place, getting hit by Sammy Smith and spinning his No. 19 Operation 300 Toyota Supra towards the middle of the frontstretch amid an accordion effect towards the front of the field. In the process of the spin, Gray’s sliding Toyota barely avoided the Chevrolet entries of Kligerman and Hill before it came to a rest backward across the outside wall as the rest of the field scattered to avoid hitting Gray.

    During the caution period, select names including Richard Childress Racing’s Love and Hill pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period with 99 laps remaining featured Allmendinger fending off Allgaier to lead the field through the first two turns as Chandler Smith challenged Allgaier for the runner-up spot. The latter would fend off the former for the runner-up spot as Allmendinger led the ensuing lap. With Allmendinger leading, Custer and Almirola battled for fourth place in front of Ryan Sieg, Jones and Herbst before Custer, Sieg and Jones all blew past Almirola for fourth through sixth, respectively, with 96 laps remaining.

    With 90 laps remaining, Allmendinger was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier while third-place Chandler Smith trailed by one-and-a-half seconds. Behind, Ryan Sieg and Custer trailed by two seconds in the top five while Jones, Almirola, Herbst, Creed and Kligerman were racing in the top 10 ahead of Mayer. In addition, Love was mired in 16th place and racing two spots ahead of teammate Hill while Sammy Smith was down in 22nd place.

    Ten laps later, Allmendinger retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier despite the latter attempting to have the former slow down and help remove debris from Allgaier’s front grille while Allmendinger declined the offer to help. Meanwhile, third-place Chandler Smith trailed in third place by nearly two seconds as Ryan Sieg and Almirola were in the top five.

    Soon after, Allgaier, who was trying to use lapped competitors to remove debris, radioed concerning an alternator issue with his car. Amid the issues, Allgaier used the lapped competitor of Akinori Ogata to remove the debris off his front grille. With the debris gone, Allgaier trailed the leader Allmendinger by more than a second with less than 75 laps remaining. In the process, Chandler Smith continued to trail the lead in his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra by two seconds in third place.

    With 60 laps remaining, Allmendinger stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Allgaier while Ryan Sieg was up to third place and trailing the lead by four seconds. As Chandler Smith dropped to fourth place in front of Kligerman, Almirola was in sixth place and racing ahead of Custer, Herbst, Jones and Love.

    A few laps later, green flag pit stops commenced as a bevy of names including Chandler Smith, Custer, Herbst and Corey Heim pitted. More names including Allgaier, Almirola, Mayer and Jeb Burton would also pit as the leader Allmendinger would then pit with 55 laps remaining. Gray, Jones, Hill and Anthony Alfredo would also pit as Kligerman, who inherited a brief lead, pitted under green with nearly 53 laps remaining. As more names including Ryan Sieg, Creed, Daniel Dye, Jeremy Clements, Matt DiBenedetto and Kyle Weatherman pitted, Gray was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Back on the track, Love, who inherited a brief lead, pitted under green with 51 laps remaining along with Josh Williams, whose fueler had a bevy of fuel spilling out of the fuel can and in the pit box while trying to fuel the car. This allowed Allmendinger to cycle back into the lead with 50 laps remaining as he was leading by more than two seconds over Allgaier. In the ensuing pit cycle, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith and Sieg cycled into the top five ahead of Custer.

    With less than 40 laps remaining, Allmendinger continued to lead by nearly three seconds over Allgaier while Ryan Sieg, Chandler Smith and Herbst were scored in the top five ahead of Custer, Kligerman, Jones, Almirola and Love. With five of eight Playoff contenders racing in the top 10 on the track, Mayer and Hill were mired in 12th and 13th, respectively, while Sammy Smith, who pitted under green, was down in 27th place and scored multiple laps down.

    Then with 31 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Kyle Sieg spinning his No. 39 The Thomas Group Ford Mustang entering the frontstretch. At the moment of caution, Allmendinger was leading by four seconds over Ryan Sieg while 14 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Allmendinger pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Allmendinger retained the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of Sieg, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Allgaier and Kligerman.

    At the start of the ensuing restart period with 25 laps remaining, Allmendinger muscled ahead with the lead from the inside lane as Chandler Smith followed suit. With Smith assuming the runner-up spot, Sieg dueled with Kligerman for third place as Herbst tried to throw a three-wide move beneath both for the spot. Amid the battles, Sieg muscled his No. 28 Sci Aps Ford Mustang ahead of both to retain the spot as Allmendinger led the following lap. During the next lap, Sieg tried to close in on Chandler Smith for the runner-up spot and Kligerman was challenged by Allgaier and Herbst for fourth place while Allmendinger retained the lead.

    With 20 laps remaining, Allmendinger continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Ryan Sieg, who reassumed the runner-up spot by Chandler Smith a few laps earlier, as Allgaier moved up to fourth place in front of Kligerman and Herbst. Behind, Custer, Jones, Love and Creed were racing in the top 10 as Sieg trimmed Allmendinger’s advantage to four-tenths of a second over the next three laps. Sieg would then trail Allmendinger by two-tenths of a second with 15 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Allmendinger led by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Ryan Sieg. Sieg then drew himself into a side-by-side battle with Allmendinger through the frontstretch for the following lap, which was led by Sieg by a hair. Sieg, however, got loose through the first two turns, which allowed Allmendinger to muscle back ahead with a reasonable gap. Amid his slip-up, Sieg retained the runner-up spot as he trailed Allmendinger by half a second over the next lap while Allgaier trailed in third place by a second.

    Then with seven laps remaining, the caution flew due to Sammy Smith stalling his No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro due to a power issue in the backstretch. By then, Allmendinger was leading by three-tenths of a second over Ryan Sieg while Allgaier was trailing the lead by less than a second.

    The start of the next restart period with two laps remaining featured Allmendinger receiving a push from Allgaier from the inside lane as he muscled his No. 16 Modern Day Garage Chevrolet Camaro ahead and retained the lead through the frontstretch. Allmendinger would proceed to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Chandler Smith and the rest of the field followed suit.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allmendinger remained in the lead by a tenth of a second over Ryan Sieg while Allgaier followed suit by three-tenths of a second. Sieg would slightly close in to Allmendinger’s rear bumper between the first two turns and the backstretch despite the latter retaining the top spot. Sieg then tried to reduce the gap even more for a final charge through Turns 3 and 4, but it would not be enough as Allmendinger cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Xfinity Series season by a tenth of a second over Sieg.

    With the victory, AJ Allmendinger, who is set to return to the NASCAR Cup Series division with Kaulig Racing in 2025, notched his 18th career win in the Xfinity Series, his second at Las Vegas and his first since winning at Nashville Superspeedway in June 2023. He also recorded the 17th Xfinity victory of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate, the fourth for Kaulig Racing and the first for the organization’s No. 16 entry led by crew chief Alex Yontz.

    Above all, Allmendinger became the first Playoff contender to secure one of four berths into this year’s Championship 4 round, where he will contend for his first Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway in three weeks.

    “I absolutely love these guys and girls at Kaulig Racing,” Allmendinger, who made the Championship 4 round for the second time in his career, said on the CW Network. “It’s been such an up and down [season], but what I love about them is we stick together. We keep fighting. First of all, happy birthday, [team owner] Matt Kaulig! The boss’ birthday! I told you I was getting you a trophy! Let’s go, man! I love you! [My family] see how much I care and I put it on myself. What a way to get to Phoenix after a year that we’ve had. Let’s go win a championship! Let’s go!”

    As Allmendinger celebrated both a victory and a championship berth in Victory Lane with his team, Ryan Sieg, who made his 364th career start in the Xfinity Series at Las Vegas, was left disappointed on pit road after settling in a career-best second place for the fifth time in his career and for a second week in a row.

    “[It] Just sucks to finish second again with a great car like we had earlier in Texas,” Sieg said. “One of these days, it’s gonna go our way. We brought a car as fast as Xfinity Internet, but we didn’t get in Victory Lane.”

    Justin Allgaier, who led 42 laps and won the second stage period, came home in third place ahead of Playoff contender Chandler Smith and Parker Kligerman. Playoff rookie Jesse Love finished in sixth place while Riley Herbst, Stage 1 winner Cole Custer, Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill finished in the top 10.

    With six of eight Playoff contenders finishing in the top 10 on the track, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith settled in 14th and 32nd, respectively.

    There were 13 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 31 laps. In addition, 24 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 102 laps led

    2. Ryan Sieg, two laps led

    3. Justin Allgaier, 42 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Chandler Smith

    5. Parker Kligerman, one lap led

    6. Jesse Love, three laps led

    7. Riley Herbst, four laps led

    8. Cole Custer, 31 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Sheldon Creed

    10. Austin Hill

    11. Corey Heim

    12. Daniel Dye

    13. Aric Almirola

    14. Sam Mayer

    15. Josh Williams

    16. Matt DiBenedetto

    17. Brandon Jones, 11 laps led

    18. Jeremy Clements

    19. Anthony Alfredo

    20. Kyle Weatherman

    21. Brennan Poole

    22. Parker Retzlaff

    23. Myatt Snider

    24. Jeb Burton

    25. JJ Yeley, two laps down

    26. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

    27. Dylan Lupton, three laps down

    28. Ryan Ellis, three laps down

    29. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

    30. Joey Gase, three laps down

    31. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    32. Sammy Smith, four laps down, five laps led

    33. Taylor Gray, four laps down

    34. Ryan Vargas, four laps down

    35. Akinori Ogata, five laps down

    36. Dawson Cram, eight laps down

    37. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Electrical

    38. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Fuel Pump

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    2. Justin Allgaier +32

    3. Cole Custer +16

    4. Chandler Smith +8

    5. Austin Hill -8

    6. Jesse Love -13

    7. Sam Mayer -23

    8. Sammy Smith -53

    The second Round of 8 event in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to occur at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, for the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, October 26, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Sammy Smith clinches Round of 8 berth with overtime Xfinity victory at Talladega

    Sammy Smith clinches Round of 8 berth with overtime Xfinity victory at Talladega

    Using lessons and scenarios gained from team owner and former NASCAR veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sammy Smith capitalized on an overtime shootout amid a late battle with his fellow Playoff contenders to advance into the second round of the Playoffs by winning the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 5.

    The two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion from Johnston, Iowa, led five times for a total of five of 98 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started the deepest of the Playoff field in 27th place. Despite carving his way up through the field and inside the top-10 mark amid the draft before ending up a single position shy of claiming a stage point after the first stage period, Smith would rally by surging to a second-place finish at the conclusion of the second stage period.

    Once the final stage period started under green flag conditions with 38 laps remaining, Smith would lead for the first time on Lap 67 and spend the majority of the stage racing towards the front as the action around him intensified amid three-wide formation and his fellow competitors drafting aggressively.

    Following three restart periods and two multi-car wrecks, the latter of which knocked out three of his JR Motorsports teammates, Smith, who restarted alongside Playoff contender Riley Herbst on the front row for an overtime shootout, overtook Herbst for the lead on the final lap before he dueled with Playoff contender Chandler Smith for the lead through the backstretch. With Chandler Smith having no drafting help through the final two sets of turns, Sammy Smith received drafting help from Ryan Sieg to surge ahead and fend off the incoming field to score his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in over one year and automatically transfer from the Playoff’s Round of 12 to 8.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff rookie contender Jesse Love notched his fifth Xfinity career pole position after he posted a pole-winning lap at 182.129 mph in 52.578 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender and teammate Austin Hill, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 181.770 mph in 52.682 seconds.

    Before the event, the following names that include CJ McLaughlin, Joey Gase and Tommy Joe Martins dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Aric Almirola also dropped to the rear of the field after his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team was assessed with a windshield violation during the inspection process. In addition, Almirola was assessed a drive-through penalty after taking the green flag.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, teammates Jesse Love and Austin Hill dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes before Hill muscled ahead as he started on the inside lane. As the field began to fan out to multiple lanes exiting the backstretch, Hill fended off Playoff contenders Chandler Smith and AJ Allmendinger through two lanes and through the frontstretch to lead the first lap as Aric Almirola served his pass-through penalty.

    Through the second to fifth lap, a majority of the field migrated to the outside lane and within a long single-file line behind the leader Hill while Allmendinger led a small parade of competitors drafting and trying to keep pace with Hill on the inside lane. Allmendinger, however, would surge ahead to lead the fourth lap as he had Playoff contender Riley Herbst following suit from the inside lane while Hill was trying to keep pace from the outside lane. Taylor Gray and Playoff contender Sam Mayer also navigated their way to the front while Allmendingergressively blocked both lanes to maintain the lead.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, a series of on-track shuffling ensued towards the front as the field fanned out to three packed lanes, with Love moving back atop the leaderboard ahead of Allmendinger, Hill, Ryan Sieg and Anthony Alfredo. Behind, Riley Herbst and Chandler Smith along with Playoff contenders Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier were racing in the top 10 ahead of Taylor Gray, Brandon Jones, Carson Kvapil, Jeb Burton and Playoff contenders Cole Custer. Meanwhile, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer and Shane van Gisbergen were mired in 17th, 18th and 22nd, respectively.

    Five laps later, Love maintained a narrow advantage over Allmendinger as he led two stacked drafting lanes while Chandler Smith, Hill, Alfredo and Justin Allgaier were mired in the top six on the track. By then, Almirola, who was lapped two laps earlier, was mired in 37th place. With a majority of the front-runners racing in two-wide formation amid the draft, Love continued to lead at the Lap 20 mark as he transitioned from both the inside and outside lanes to fend off Chandler Smith and Allgaier for the lead, though Chandler Smith then drew himself alongside Love and led the following lap by a hair.

    A lap after being edged by Chandler Smith, Love then got shoved out of the draft entering the backstretch as Allgaier made his move beneath Love and had the drafting momentum with him. With Love drifting back within the top-10 mark, Chandler Smith had the lead to his possession while Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Allmendinger and Gray were scored in the top five.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Playoff contender Chandler Smith fended off final-lap challenges from teammate Creed, Allgaier and Allmendinger to claim his seventh Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Playoff contenders Allmendinger, Allgaier, Austin Hill and Creed followed suit in the top five while Anthony Alfredo, Taylor Gray, Mayer, Custer and Dean Thompson were scored in the top 10. With seven of 12 Playoff contenders accumulating the first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sammy Smith, Herbst, Kligerman, Love and van Gisbergen were mired in 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 23rd, respectively. In addition, Almirola was the recipient of the free pass after being the first competitor that was scored a lap down at the first stage’s conclusion.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith pitted for a first round of pit service while others led by Blaine Perkins remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Love exited pit road first after he opted to have none of his four tires changed while Chandler Smith, Creed, Allgaier and Allmendinger followed suit in the top five. The remaining competitors, who stayed on the track, led by Perkins, pitted a lap after the rest of the field did, which handed the lead back to Love.

    The second stage period started on Lap 31 as Love and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Love muscled ahead from the outside lane through the first two turns, but he would then be locked in a side-by-side battle with Chandler Smith just past the frontstretch. With the field behind closing in amid two stacked drafting lanes, Love managed to lead the following lap while Chandler Smith and Allgaier dueled for second place. Allgaier would then surge into second place in front of Cole Custer and Chandler Smith by Lap 33 as the field fanned out to three packed lanes through the backstretch.

    At the Lap 35 mark, Love led a small single-file line that included Allgaier, Custer, Hill, Alfredo and Kvapil while Chandler Smith was mired in seventh place along with Jeb Burton, van Gisbergen and Allmendinger. By the next lap, the top 24 competitors were running under two seconds as Love retained the lead ahead of Allgaier, Custer, Hill and Alfredo. By then, playoff contenders van Gisbergen, Herbst, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Creed, Kligerman and Sammy Smith were mired within the top-20 mark while Sam Mayer was racing in 23rd place. In addition, Almirola had carved his way back into the top-20 mark.

    By Lap 40, Love maintained a steady five-car breakaway from two stacked lanes that included Allgaier, Hill, Alfredo and Taylor Gray while Allmendinger and Chandler Smith were trying to charge their way towards the front amid their respective drafting lanes. Allmendinger would then climb his way up to fourth place with a strong surge from the outside lane as he had Custer and Kvapil drafting him.

    A lap later, the caution flew when Allmendinger, who had gained a draft on Love from the outside lane, caused a brief stack-up from the outside lane, starting after the backstretch, after he surged to Love’s bumper at a high-rated speed, got loose and was shuffled out of the draft. This resulted in Nick Leitz getting turned and wrecking in front of Kligerman and Jeb Burton as Josh Williams and Dean Thompson were also involved in Turn 4. At the moment of caution, Allgaier had overtaken Love for the lead through Turns 3 and 4.

    During the caution period, some including Kvapil, Brandon Jones, Herbst, Taylor Gray, Ryan Sieg, van Gisbergen, Kligerman and Jeb Burton pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Gray was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With the event restarting under green with four laps remaining in the second stage period, Allgaier and Hill dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Cole Custer was shuffled out of the draft despite lining up with the Richard Childress Racing competitors, Hill continued to duel with Allgaier for the lead through the frontstretch, where Allgaier led the following lap, as Allmendinger aggressively shoved his way towards the top-three mark and amid a three-wide move. As the field continued to fan out aggressively, Allgaier managed to move in front of Hill to have both lanes to his control and lead the following lap.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 50, Playoff contender Austin Hill, who used a bold crossover move on Allgaier to assume the lead and outlasted a series of aggressive challenges from his competition amid the draft over the previous two laps, fended off a last-lap surge from Sammy Smith to claim his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Behind, Playoff contenders Sammy Smith, Love, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Allmendinger, Creed and Custer all finished in the top nine while Brandon Jones settled in 10th place. With nine of 12 Playoff contenders racking up the second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Allgaier, Mayer and Kligerman settled in 13th, 17th and 21st, respectively.

    During the stage break, Hill led a majority of the field, including all Playoff contenders, back to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Herbst, who only opted for fuel, exited pit road first as he was followed by Brandon Jones, Kvapil, Chandler Smith and Gray.

    With 38 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Herbst and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst received drafting help from Chandler Smith to surge ahead of Jones through the first two turns as the rest of the field followed suit amid two stacked lanes. With the field beginning to fan out to multiple lanes through the backstretch, Herbst led the following lap ahead of Chandler Smith while Gray made his way up to third place ahead of Jones, Creed and Love. Love then surged towards the front with no drafting help through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4 before Herbst fought back with all the momentum occurring behind him toward the outside wall. As the majority of the field migrated towards the outside lane led by Herbst, Love continued to fight back from the inside lane as he had Sammy Smith, Almirola and Allgaier following suit.

    With 34 laps remaining, Love, who spent the last several laps dueling with Herbst, surged ahead to lead as he was followed by Sammy Smith and the rest of the field. Smith then made his move beneath Love exiting the backstretch and both dueled in front of two stacked lanes through the frontstretch and prior to completing the following lap as Love was still scored ahead of Smith and Herbst.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event and with the field fanned out to three stacked drafting lanes, Herbst was ahead of Chandler Smith, who used the inside lane to lead a few laps earlier amid a three-wide action, and Almirola while Sammy Smith, Love, Allgaier, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Jordan Anderson and Hill were scored in the top 10 ahead of Josh Williams, Mayer, Cred, Kvapil and Alfredo. Meanwhile, Kligerman and Custer were mired in 17th and 24th, respectively, while the top 23 competitors were racing under a second of one another.

    Five laps later, Chandler Smith was out in front ahead of Love, Herbst, Sammy Smith, Allmendinger and van Gisbergen while Almirola, Hill, Williams and Allgaier were mired in the top 10 amid a flurry of on-track battles as the field continued to duel amid three tight-packed lanes.

    With 20 laps remaining, Allmendinger, who made an aggressive move to overtake Love from the outside lane before he dueled with Chandler Smith for the lead from the inside lane, was leading ahead of Sammy Smith, Herbst, Almirola and Chandler Smith as the top-28 competitors were separated within two seconds.

    A lap later, the caution flew when van Gisbergen, who was scored in sixth place approaching the frontstretch’s tri-oval, made contact with Dean Thompson which resulted in van Gisbergen going below the double yellow line zone. Immediately after, Jordan Anderson ran into the rear of Thompson and got Thompson spinning and clipping van Gisbergen, where the latter went back up the track and ignited a multi-car wreck that involved Anderson, David Starr, Taylor Gray, Josh Williams and Austin Hill.

    During the caution period, some including Kligerman and Love pitted to top off on fuel while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track. By then, Hill was able to remain on the lead lap after having his car repaired and meeting minimum speed to continue while van Gisbergen was eliminated from further competition.

    The start of the following restart period with 13 laps remaining featured Sammy Smith and Allmendinger dueling for the lead just past the frontstretch before Allmendinger surged ahead with drafting help from Herbst and Chandler Smith on the inside lane through the first two turns. The field then scattered before filing back into two draft-packed lanes as Herbst challenged Allmendinger for the lead. By then, Almirola, who was racing towards the front, blew a left-front tire through the frontstretch and fell off the pace, though he continued below the apron without drawing a caution. The caution, however, returned with 11 laps remaining due to debris coming off of Almirola’s car on the backstretch as Almirola limped his car to pit road.

    With the race restarting under green with seven laps remaining, Herbst and Sammy Smith dueled for the lead before Herbst surged ahead from the inside lane with drafting help from Allmendinger, Chandler Smith and Allgaier. Allmendinger then tried to duel beneath Herbst for the lead through the backstretch, but he had no drafting help while Herbst retained the lead with drafting help coming from Chandler Smith. As the field fanned out through the frontstretch, Herbst retained the lead for the following lap.

    Down to the final five laps of the event and the field still fanned out to three packed lanes, Sammy Smith was leading ahead of teammates Allgaier and Jones while Allmendinger and Herbst battled for fourth place. Allgaier and Herbst then pinned Sammy Smith in the middle of a three-wide battle through the backstretch as Allgaier surged ahead with the lead. With Allgaier leading the following lap ahead of Herbst, Sammy Smith battled Leland Honeyman, Jones, and Chandler Smith for third place as the field behind continued to draft aggressively through three packed lanes.

    Then with three laps remaining, the caution returned when Kvapil, who was racing towards the top five, was bumped by teammate Jones exiting the frontstretch, which resulted in Kvapil getting loose and spinning into the path of teammate Allgaier as both smacked the outside wall hard. Kvapil then shot dead left back across the track and clipped Jones as Jones took a vicious head-on hit into the outside wall, where he collected Alfredo and Custer. In the ensuing chaos, more names including Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff, Jeb Burton, Allmendinger, Dylan Lupton, Love and Perkins wrecked. The multi-car wreck was enough to not only send the event into overtime but also place the event in a brief red flag period as Herbst, who made a move beneath Allgaier for the lead through Turns 3 and 4 a lap earlier, was scored the leader.

    When the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, some including Allgaier, Allmendinger and Custer pitted for repairs to their respective cars while the rest led by Herbst and Sammy Smith remained on the track.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Herbst and Sammy Smith tightly dueling for the lead through the first two turns, with Chandler Smith drafting Herbst while Creed was drafting Sammy Smith. Through the backstretch, the top-four competitors that included Herbst, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith and Creed muscled away from the rest of the field until Herbst muscled ahead with drafting help from Chandler Smith entering Turns 3 and 4 when Sammy Smith lost his drafting help from Creed.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Herbst remained as the leader as the rest of the field behind came storming back towards the front-runners while Sammy Smith started to make his move beneath Herbst for the lead. Chandler Smith then made his move beneath Herbst with drafting help from teammate Creed, which resulted in Herbst dropping out of the top five as he had not drafting help and left both Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith to duel for the lead in front of Ryan Sieg, Leland Honeyman and Creed through the first two turns.

    With the field still fanned out to three tight-packed lanes through the backstretch as Jeb Burton tried to surge to the front, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith remained in a tight duel for the lead until Sammy Smith started to have drafting help from Ryan Sieg through Turns 3 and 4. Then entering the frontstretch, Sammy Smith surged ahead with drafting help from Ryan Sieg while Chandler Smith was losing momentum as he had no drafting help. With no additional drafting runs or challenges occurring behind him, Sammy Smith was able to muscle ahead and claim the checkered flag by a tenth of a second over Ryan Sieg while Creed got turned by Love after taking the checkered flag.

    With the victory, Sammy Smith, the reigning Xfinity Series Rookie-of-the-Year recipient, notched his second career win in his 70th start in the Xfinity Series, his first on a superspeedway venue and his first since winning at Phoenix Raceway in March 2023. The victory was also Smith’s first driving for JR Motorsports and the first time the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet entry went to Victory Lane in an Xfinity event since Josh Berry piloted the entry to a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October 2022. In addition, JR Motorsports notched its fourth Xfinity victory at Talladega and its 87th victory overall in the series while rookie crew chief Phillip Bell, who was swapped to JR Motorsports’ No. 8 team from the No. 9 team in early September, achieved his first career win.

    As a result, Smith, who came into Talladega 23 points below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, earned an automatic spot into the Playoff’s Round of 8, where he will continue his pursuit of his first Xfinity Series championship.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “It’s been a really tough year,” Smith said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “[Spotter] Tyler Monn, he did a really great job today, helping me. Man, it’s been a while. It’s been a struggle, but I’m very happy to be here and looking forward to, hopefully, go getting better on these ovals and road courses. [I] sat down with [team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.], I think it was on Wednesday. [The conversation] wasn’t a whole lot. Just kind of some stuff he would do in those situations, but man, it feels really good to get a win again.”

    Ryan Sieg followed Sammy Smith to the finish line by a tenth of a second as he finished in the runner-up spot for the fourth time in his career while Playoff contenders Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith finished in the top five.

    Playoff contender Jesse Love, Jeb Burton, David Starr, Brennan Poole and Kyle Sieg completed the top-10 results in the final running order ahead of Playoff contenders AJ Allmendinger and Parker Kligerman. Behind, Sam Mayer ended up in 16th place while Austin Hill settled in 24th place. In addition, Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer both finished a lap down in 26th and 27th, respectively.

    *Following the post-race inspection process, Sam Mayer was disqualified from finishing 16th due to his car failing to meet the rear height requirements and being too low. Instead of leaving Talladega with 24 points and occupying the eighth and final transfer spot in the Playoff standings by 10 points, Mayer officially leaves Talladega 13 points below the cutline and with a single point recorded following his run at Talladega.

    With Sammy Smith leapfrogging his way from the bottom to the top of the Playoff standings along with racing his way into the Playoff’s second round, Chandler Smith has also clinched his spot into the Round of 8 by points as he is 64 points above the cutline. Currently, the four competitors who trail the top-eight cutline entering next weekend’s Round of 8 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course are Justin Allgaier, Shane van Gisbergen, Mayer and Parker Kligerman. Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger, who was initially scored 10 points below the cutline, now occupies the eighth and final transfer spot in the standings by seven points over Allgaier.

    There were 28 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 27 laps. In addition, 24 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Sammy Smith, five laps led

    2. Ryan Sieg, one lap led

    3. Riley Herbst, 22 laps led

    4. Sheldon Creed

    5. Chandler Smith, 11 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    6. Jesse Love, 28 laps led

    7. Jeb Burton

    8. David Starr, one lap eld

    9. Brennan Poole

    10. Kyle Sieg

    11. AJ Allmendinger, 13 laps led

    12. Parker Kligerman

    13. Tommy Joe Martins

    14. Leland Honeyman

    15. Ryan Ellis

    16. Matt DiBenedetto

    17. CJ McLaughlin

    18. Blaine Perkins, one lap led

    19. Aric Almirola

    20. Dean Thompson

    21. Joey Gase

    22. Carson Ware

    23. Austin Hill, seven laps led, Stage 2 winner

    24. Dylan Lupton, one lap down

    25. Justin Allgaier, one lap down, eight laps led

    26. Cole Custer, one lap down

    27. Carson Kvapil – OUT, Accident

    28. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

    29. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    30. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    31. Kyle Weatherman, 11 laps down

    32. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident

    33. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Accident

    34. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    35. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Accident

    36. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Brakes

    37. Nick Leitz – OUT, Accident

    38. Sam Mayer – Disqualified, one lap led

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Sammy Smith – Advanced

    2. Chandler Smith – Advanced

    3. Cole Custer +37

    4. Austin Hill +37

    5. Sheldon Creed +32

    6. Jesse Love +22

    7. Riley Herbst +20

    8. AJ Allmendinger +7

    9. Justin Allgaier -7

    10. Shane van Gisbergen -10

    11. Sam Mayer -13

    12. Parker Kligerman -16

    The Round of 12 in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to conclude next Saturday, October 12, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in Concord, North Carolina, for the Drive for the Cure 250, where the first of two elimination processes will occur. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Aric Almirola rallies for second Xfinity victory of 2024 at Kansas

    Aric Almirola rallies for second Xfinity victory of 2024 at Kansas

    Aric Almirola commenced the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs by spoiling the opening race with a resurgent victory in the Kansas Lottery 30 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, September 28, leaving a bevy of Playoff contenders left with bruised feelings and an early axe to grind toward one another.

    The 40-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led twice for 16 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started sixth and generated race-winning pace in the early portions of the race as he won the first stage period. Then, after settling in second place after the second stage period, Almirola’s event nearly went south when he pitted under green with less than 80 laps remaining due to scraping the outside wall entering the backstretch that cut his right-rear tire.

    With a late-race caution flying with under 60 laps remaining due to a wheel rolling onto the frontstretch’s grass during a late cycle of green-flag pit stops, Almirola was able to methodically carve his way back to the front. Starting from the final restart period with 49 laps remaining, he overtook Playoff contender Cole Custer for the lead with three laps remaining. From there, Almirola was able to drive away from Custer and cruise to his second Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Brandon Jones notched his third Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 175.553 mph in 30.760 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Chandler Smith, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 175.291 mph in 30.806 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following drivers, including Logan Bearden, Jeb Burton, Matt DiBenedetto, Brad Perez and Dawson Cram dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Leland Honeyman also dropped to the rear of the field for an engine change.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Chandler Smith jumped ahead with an early advantage from the inside lane as he led Brandon Jones and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. With nearly the entire field running in two packed lanes, Smith muscled ahead and led the first lap as Connor Zilisch managed to keep his car running straight after he slid sideways through Turns 3 and 4 from fourth place.

    Over the next four laps, Chandler Smith proceeded to lead as Jones, Playoff contender Cole Custer, Aric Almirola, Playoff contender Justin Allgaier and Playoff contender Jesse Love followed suit in the top six while Zilisch dropped to seventh. By then, Jeremy Clements was penalized for a restart violation, when he changed lanes before reaching the start/finish line to begin the race, as Zilisch continued to lose spots while being overtaken by Taylor Gray and Playoff contender Parker Kligerman.

    Then on the sixth lap, the event’s first caution flew when Playoff contender Sammy Smith spun by himself on the backstretch after he got tagged into the frontstretch outside wall by Playoff contender AJ Allmendinger the lap prior. During the caution period, select names including Playoff contender Shane van Gisbergen, Dawson Cram, Joey Gase, Ryan Vargas, Patrick Emerling and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest, led by Chandler Smith, remained on the track.

    The start of the following restart on Lap 11 featured a duel between Jones and Chandler Smith before teammate Aric Almirola shoved Smith back out in front from the inside lane entering the first two turns. Smith then proceeded to clear Jones through the backstretch as both Almirola and Custer challenged Jones for the runner-up spot. With Jones fending off Custer and Almirola for the runner-up spot, Chandler Smith proceeded to lead through the Lap 15 mark.

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Chandler Smith was leading by a second over Jones as Custer, Almirola and Taylor Gray were racing in the top five. Behind, Playoff contenders Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, Parker Kligerman and Sheldon Creed were scored in the top 10 as Playoff contenders Riley Herbst and Jesse Love followed suit in the top 12. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith added another second to his advantage and led by two seconds at the Lap 25 mark. By then, Custer and Almirola had navigated their way to second and third on the track while Jones fell to fourth in front of Gray.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Chandler Smith maintained his early advantage by a second over Almirola, with Custer, Jones and Gray scored in the top five. With Playoff contenders Mayer, Allgaier, Hill, Creed, Herbst and Kligerman racing in the top 11, Love was back in 13th place, AJ Allmendinger was mired in 15th place, van Gisbergen was down in 26th place and Sammy Smith was trapped in 28th place.

    Seven laps later, Almirola got to teammate Chandler Smith’s left-rear quarter panel and got him loose, then drag-raced him through the frontstretch to assume the lead for the first time. With the clean air to his advantage, Almirola proceeded to lead by more than a second over Smith by Lap 40 with Custer, Jones and Mayer racing in the top five.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage period, the caution flew after Taylor Gray lost an engine and dropped oil across the frontstretch. The caution for Gray was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 45 to officially conclude under caution as Almirola cruised to his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Chandler Smith followed suit in second along with Custer, Jones and Mayer while Creed, Hill, Allgaier, Herbst and Kligerman were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Allmendinger, Love, van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith were mired in 13th, 16th, 23rd and 28th, respectively.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Almirola peeled off the racetrack to pit for service. Following the pit stops, Custer exited first with the lead, followed by Hill, Mayer, Creed, Chandler Smith and Jones while Almirola lost six spots amid a slow pit service and ended up exiting pit road in seventh place. Amid the pit stops, Allmendinger was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while JJ Yeley was also penalized for a safety violation. Jones then pitted again from sixth to tighten loose lug nuts

    The second stage period started on Lap 53 as Custer and Hill occupied the front row. Custer gained a strong start from the outside lane to transition back to the inside lane in front of Hill entering the first two turns. As the field behind fanned out, Custer proceeded to lead the following lap while Mayer and Chandler Smith overtook Hill for second and third, respectively. As Smith and Hill dueled for third, Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed battled for fifth in front of Almirola while Daniel Dye nearly spun after he made contact with Anthony Alfredo. Amid the early battles, Custer proceeded to lead by half a second just past the Lap 55 mark.

    By Lap 60, Custer retained the lead by a second over Chandler Smith as Mayer, Herbst and Hill remained in the top five ahead of Creed, Allgaier, Almirola, Kligerman and Zilisch. Behind, Love and Allmendinger were mired back in 18th and 20th, respectively, while van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith were back in 25th and 28th, respectively. In addition, Jones was in 15th behind Matt DiBenedetto, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg and Corey Heim.

    Three laps later, the caution returned due to Brad Perez falling off the pace below the backstretch’s apron and coming to a stop in Turn 3. During the caution period, select names including Love, van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith, who cycled back onto the lead lap, pitted while the rest, led by Custer, remained on the track.

    The beginning of the next restart period on Lap 69 did not last long as Playoff contender Justin Allgaier got hit by Sheldon Creed entering the backstretch, sending Allgaier sliding and making head-on contact with the inside wall. During the incident, Custer, who received a strong shove from Chandler Smith during the previous restart’s start, maintained the lead over Mayer, Chandler Smith, Almirola and Hill.

    At the beginning of the next restart period on Lap 75, Mayer and Custer dueled for the lead through the frontstretch. Then as Chandler Smith tried to make a move beneath Custer, Almirola launched a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot through the first two turns as Mayer surged ahead with the lead entering the backstretch. As Mayer led the field through the backstretch, more trouble struck for Allgaier, who blew a tire, hit the outside wall and retired from further competition. Amid his wreck that took an early hit in his Playoff bid, the race remained under green flag conditions as Mayer proceeded to lead the next four laps while Almirola overtook Custer for the runner-up spot.

    At the Lap 80 mark, Mayer retained the lead by half a second over Almirola as Custer, Chandler Smith and Zilisch were racing in the top five. Mayer would slightly extend his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Almirola by Lap 85.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Mayer fended off Almirola to capture his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Almirola retained second while trailing Mayer at the start/finish line by three-tenths of a second while Custer, Chandler Smith and Zilisch were in the top five. “Behind, Hill made contact with Herbst entering the frontstretch and sent Herbst spinning through the frontstretch’s grass while Hill proceeded to finish sixth ahead of Creed, Jones, DiBenedetto and Ryan Sieg. Amid his spin, Herbst ended up in 16th place and joined Love, Kligerman, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith as Playoff contenders who did not record and stage points after the second stage period.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field, led by Mayer, pitted. Following the pit stops, Chandler Smith exited pit road first ahead of Custer, Almirola and Creed while Mayer dropped four spots. Not long after, Almirola pitted for a second time to have the lug nuts tightened.

    With 103 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Chandler Smith and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Smith received a strong push from teammate Creed from the outside lane to rocket ahead and maintain the lead from Custer through the first two turns. With the field fanning out and jostling for late spots, Smith proceeded to lead at the event’s scheduled halfway distance on Lap 100.

    With 90 laps remaining, Chandler Smith was leading by a second over Custer with Zilisch, Creed and Hill scored in the top five on the track. Behind, Jones, Ryan Sieg, Mayer, Allmendinger and Corey Heim were racing in the top 10 as Almirola was mired in 11th place ahead of Heim, Josh Williams, Love, Kligerman, Herbst and Retzlaff. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen was back in 21st and Sammy Smith was mired in the 29th.

    Ten laps later, Chandler Smith continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Custer while Zilisch, Creed and Hill remained in the top five. Smith would proceed to lead by four-tenths of a second over Custer with 70 laps remaining. By then, Corey Heim pitted under green after he got loose through the first two turns and smacked the outside wall in front of Kligerman eight laps earlier. Almirola hit the outside wall entering the backstretch after marching his way back into the top 10 and pitted to change a flat right-rear tire nearly five laps earlier.

    Then with 64 laps remaining, Custer, who spent the last several laps closing in and stalking Chandler Smith, used the inside lane from Turns 3 and 4 to muscle ahead of Smith and assume the lead. By then, Ryan Sieg pitted from the top 10 under green. As Herbst and Kligerman battled for ninth place behind Allmendinger, Custer maintained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith as Hill pitted from the top five with 60 laps remaining.

    With 59 laps remaining, Playoff contenders Mayer, Allmendinger and Herbst pitted along with Patrick Emerling and Zilisch before Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff, Chandler Smith and Creed pitted during the following lap. The leader Custer then pitted with 57 laps remaining before the caution flew due to a tire rolling out of Parker Retzlaff’s pit box and onto the frontstretch’s grass. By then, 15 competitors were scored on the lead lap, including Custer as he had exited pit road and returned to the track without being lapped, as Jones had cycled into the lead followed by Josh Williams. During the caution period, some of the drivers, led by Jones, pitted while the rest, led by Custer and including Chandler Smith, Hill and Creed, remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green with 49 laps remaining, Custer rocketed ahead from the outside lane and he maintained the lead from Hill and Chandler Smith while Almirola rocketed his way back up into the top five. As the field fanned out towards the top-10 mark, Custer proceeded to lead the following lap as Smith was up to second place ahead of Hill. Behind, Almirola barely slid in front of Zilisch entering the frontstretch to snatch fourth place before the latter fought back. While Zilisch and Almirola proceeded to battle for fourth place, Chandler Smith started to close in on Custer for the lead.

    Then with 45 laps remaining, a heated side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between Custer and Chandler Smith that started with both dueling for the lead through the backstretch as they remained dead even through the frontstretch. Chandler Smith would prevail and return to the lead for the following lap while Custer followed suit in second.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Chandler Smith retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Custer as Almirola, Zilisch and Jones were scored in the top five. Behind, Hill dropped to sixth ahead of Creed, Love, Williams and Alfredo while Mayer, Herbst, van Gisbergen, DiBenedetto and Ryan Sieg were mired in the top 15 ahead of Allmendinger and Kligerman as Sammy Smith was back in 22nd place.

    Five laps later, Chandler Smith’s advantage decreased to two-tenths of a second over Custer while Almirola, who was faster compared to the top-two competitors, trailed the lead from third place by two seconds. As Custer cut the deficit to a tenth of a second, he could not execute the final move to overtake Chandler Smith as the latter continued to lead while third-place Almirola cut his deficit to a second as he trailed both Chandler Smith and Custer by a second with 20 laps remaining.

    Then with 18 laps remaining, Custer launched a side-by-side battle with Chandler Smith through the frontstretch, but he still could not execute the pass on Smith for the lead entering Turns 1 and 2. With Custer still trailing Chandler Smith for the lead, their early side-by-side battle allowed Almirola to close in to within eight-tenths of a second for the following lap. Custer then drove his car towards the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 to regain ground on Smith with 16 laps remaining, but he remained behind Smith as Almirola trailed by a second in third place during the following lap.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Custer, who nearly got squeezed into the outside wall by Chandler Smith, used the outside lane amid a huge run gained towards the outside wall from Turns 3 and 4 to duel with Chandler Smith through the frontstretch. This time, he was able to rocket past Smith and assume the lead. As Custer rocketed away with the lead, Almirola, who had caught both Custer and Smith on the track, overtook Smith for the runner-up spot exiting the backstretch as he set his sights on Custer, who maintained a reasonable advantage, for the lead.

    With five laps remaining, Custer, who was trying to weave his way through lapped traffic, maintained the lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Almirola while Chandler Smith trailed in third place by three seconds. A lap later, however, Almirola gained a run beneath Custer through the frontstretch and he proceeded to snatch the lead entering the first two turns with three laps remaining as Custer was unable to respond with a crossover move.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Almirola remained in the lead by nearly half a second over Custer. With Custer unable to regain ground to mount a final lap charge and reclaim the lead, Almirola was able to smoothly cycle his way around the Kansas circuit for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by six-tenths of a second over Custer.

    With the victory, Almirola, who will contest in the remaining six Playoff events in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota entry, notched his sixth career win in the Xfinity Series, his second of the season amid eight starts and his first at Kansas, a venue where he was involved in a harrowing accident during a 2017 Cup Series event that left him with a compression fracture to his T5 vertebra. The Kansas victory was the 10th of the season for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, eight of which have been achieved from the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry as the entry earned an automatic pass into the Playoff’s Round of 8 for the owners’ championship battle.

    “[I had to be] Really patient,” Almirola, who described his final overtake on Cole Custer, said on CW Network. “I, obviously, wasn’t patient earlier in the race. I’m wore out. That was a hard day at the office, especially for a guy who’s been sitting on the couch. I knew we had such a great He Gets Us Toyota GR Supra. I was able to get by everybody on the long run and I just pushed too hard there when we had the issue on pit road and I got into the fence and cut the right-rear tire down. I knew I had to put my head down and got to work after that. We got lucky to get the caution when we did and then, we were out of tires, so the fact that [the race] went green there to the end and then, that’s where we were strong. We were really strong on the long run. It just worked out.”

    Meanwhile, as Almirola proceeded to celebrate in Victory Lane, Cole Custer and Chandler Smith, both of whom ended up second and third in the final running order, engaged in a brief post-race conversation on pit road. Custer, who was displeased with being raced hard and nearly getting squeezed into the outside wall by Smith, approached Smith, vocally expressed his displeasure and gestured a wave at Smith before walking away and not hearing Smith’s stance.

    “[Chandler Smith] killed us,” Custer, who leads the Playoff standings by points said, said. “He definitely burned our stuff up [while I was] trying to get by him. It really made me mad when he put us in the fence on that restart. He’s gonna pay the consequences and I’m gonna race him like he races me. I think we could have gone back-to-back [in wins] pretty easily if things fall the right way, but we’ll move on to Talladega. I’m sure points-wise, we’re pretty good, so just got to keep chugging along.”

    “I definitely understand [Custer’s] position,” Smith, who sits in second place behind Custer in the Playoff standings, said. “Last week, I was racing behind somebody for 80 laps and couldn’t find a way around him because we were running the same lane. Obviously, our car was really dominant on the short run. [I] Was able to build up a little bit of a gap and had to come up with a game plan of when [Custer] gets to me, what do I got to do because last time, I just kept running my lane and he just blew my doors off. This is for the race win, this is for advancing into the next round [of the Playoffs] and this is also the guy I’m racing for the championship. I’ve got to be a little more aggressive in a sense of just taking his air away, kind of Cup racing, Truck racing style. Just trying to do the best for my team. [Custer]’s got a very, very valid statement, I understand, but I also wouldn’t change what I did because I was giving myself the best shot to win.”

    Custer and Chandler Smith were not the only pair of Playoff contenders to exchange words on pit road following the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoff opener. In addition, Austin Hill and Riley Herbst, both of whom finished seventh and 10th on the track, exchanged words, where Hill apologized for turning Herbst at the conclusion of the second stage period, while AJ Allmendinger and Sammy Smith, both of whom ended up 17th and 22nd on the track, exchanged words as Smith expressed his displeasure for nearly getting turned and having his car damaged by Allmendinger in the opening laps.

    Meanwhile, Connor Zilisch came home in fourth place for his second consecutive top-five result in just his second Xfinity career start while Sheldon Creed finished fifth. Pole-sitter Brandon Jones settled in sixth place in front of Hill while Playoff rookies Shane van Gisbergen and Jesse Love rallied to finish eighth and ninth in front of Herbst.

    There were 14 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 33 laps. In addition, 16 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Aric Almirola, 16 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Cole Custer, 48 laps led

    3. Chandler Smith, 114 laps led

    4. Connor Zilisch

    5. Sheldon Creed

    6. Brandon Jones, four laps led

    7. Austin Hill

    8. Shane van Gisbergen

    9. Jesse Love

    10. Riley Herbst

    11. Josh Williams

    12. Parker Kligerman

    13. Sam Mayer, 18 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    14. Matt DiBenedetto

    15. Anthony Alfredo

    16. Ryan Sieg

    17. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down

    18. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    19. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    20. JJ Yeley, one lap down

    21. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down

    22. Sammy Smith, one lap down

    23. Jeb Burton, two laps down

    24. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

    25. Leland Honeyman, two laps down

    26. Kyle Weatherman, three laps down

    27. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

    28. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    29. Ryan Vargas, four laps down

    30. Patrick Emerling, four laps down

    31. Corey Heim, five laps down

    32. Joey Gase, six laps down

    33. Logan Bearden, 10 laps down

    34. Daniel Dye, 11 laps down

    35. Dawson Cram – OUT, Fuel Pressure

    36. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

    37. Brad Perez – OUT, Oil Pump

    38. Taylor Gray – OUT, Engine

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Cole Custer +41

    2. Chandler Smith +36

    3. Austin Hill +26

    4. Sam Mayer +13

    5. Sheldon Creed +10

    6. Shane van Gisbergen +8

    7. Jesse Love +3

    8. Riley Herbst +1

    9. Justin Allgaier -1

    10. AJ Allmendinger -13

    11. Parker Kligerman -15

    12. Sammy Smith -23

    The second Round of 12 event in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to occur at Talladega Superspeedway for the United Rentals 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, October 5, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Custer rallies to win regular-season finale at Bristol, claim 2024 Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship

    Custer rallies to win regular-season finale at Bristol, claim 2024 Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship

    In a war of attrition-type event under the lights, Cole Custer muscled his way from early adversity to claim the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship by winning the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 20.

    The reigning Xfinity Series champion from Ladera Ranch, California, led three times for a race-high 104 of 300-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row but had his race hit an early roadblock when he cut a tire and hit the backstretch’s outside wall that resulted with him dropping off the pace and plummeting below the leaderboard. After managing to continue and remain on the lead lap amid slight cosmetic damage, Custer carved his way back into the top-10 mark when the first stage period concluded.

    Then after leading for the first time just past the event’s halfway mark before proceeding to finish second in the second stage period amid mixed pit strategies, Custer’s charge to win the regular-season title ignited as his title rival Justin Allgaier was involved in three separate incidents that both dropped him out of race-winning contention and off of the lead lap category. Despite regaining the lead prior to the start of the final stage period before losing it to Sheldon Creed a few laps later, Custer dropped the hammer by sliding in front of Creed with a bold move from the inside lane to reassume the top spot with 91 laps remaining.

    For the remainder of the event, Custer was able to weave his way through lapped traffic and maintain a steady margin to within a second over Creed as he triumphed for the second time in the 2024 Xfinity Series season and captured the regular-season title by a narrow margin over Allgaier.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Chandler Smith notched his second Xfinity Series pole position and the fifth of his career after he posted a pole-winning lap at 121.366 mph in 15.810 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Cole Custer, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 120.490 mph in 15.925 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Sam Mayer, Josh Williams, Parker Retzlaff and Leland Honeyman dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Stefan Parsons also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his entry. Parsons, however, was unable to roll off the starting grid with the field and was pinned multiple laps down due to the engine changes being made.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Chandler Smith muscled his No. 81 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra ahead of Cole Custer with a strong start from the outside lane and he maintained the lead while transitioning to the inside lane through the backstretch. Exiting the backstretch, however, Justin Allgaier used the outside lane to draw even with Smith and muscle ahead entering the frontstretch to lead the first lap.

    On the following lap, Custer, who was battling Anthony Alfredo for third place, hit the outside wall entering the backstretch after he cut a tire and he dropped off the pace, which drew the event’s first caution period. During the caution period, Custer pitted for repairs and fresh tires to his No. 00 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang. Another competitor who pitted was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who pitted to address a radio issue inside of his cockpit and was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    When the race restarted under green on the ninth lap, Allgaier used the outside lane to launch his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro ahead through the first two turns and proceeded to lead the following lap ahead of Chandler Smith and Anthony Alfredo. Jeffrey Earnhardt and AJ Allmendinger followed suit in front of a stacked field. By Lap 12, Chandler Smith challenged Allgaier for the lead through every turn and straightaway, but the latter was able to fend off the former through the Lap 15 mark.

    Through the first 20-scheduled laps, Allgaier was leading by two-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith followed by Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Allmendinger while rookie Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements, Sheldon Creed and Ryan Truex were scored in the top 10. Behind, Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Kyle Weatherman, Austin Hill and Parker Kligerman trailed in the top 15 ahead of Joe Graf Jr., Sammy Smith, Matt DiBenedetto, Chad Finchum and Josh Bilicki while Jeb Burton, Brennan Poole, Sam Mayer, Cole Custer and Austin Green were racing in the top-25 mark. Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was still having radio issues, was mired back in 31st place behind rookie Shane van Gisbergen.

    Ten laps later, Allgaier, who was slowly approaching the rear end of the field, stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith as Alfredo, Jese Love and Jeffrey Earnhardt battled in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Creed, Ryan Truex and Clements.

    Another 10 laps later, Allgaier slightly grew his lead to half a second over Chandler Smith while third-place Alfredo trailed by two seconds. With Love fending off Jeffrey Earnhardt for fourth place, Allgaier, who lapped van Gisbergen, extended his advantage to a second over Smith by Lap 45 while Allmendinger was trying to fend off Creed for sixth place.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Chandler Smith as Alfredo, Love and Jeffrey Earnhardt remained in the top-five mark. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. was in 24th place and trying to remain ahead of his driver and leader Allgaier on the lead lap category.

    A lap later, the event’s second caution flew when Austin Green slapped the outside wall in Turn 2 and barely clipped Allgaier, who was lapping Green. The contact caused Allgaier’s rear bumper to come loose as Green, whose damaged car continued to steer down the track, made contact with Parker Retzlaff as both spun and wrecked against the inside wall.

    During the caution period, Earnhardt Jr. made another trip to pit road to change his helmet as part of his effort to have his radio communication with his team restored. Soon after, select names led by Allgaier, who pitted to have his rear bumper removed, pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track. Among those who pitted included teammate Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, Matt DiBenedetto, Josh Bilicki, Jeb Burton and the Sieg brothers of Ryan and Kyle.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 65 featured Chandler Smith rocketing ahead with the lead from the outside lane, where he led the following lap, while Love overtook Alfredo for second place. In addition, Allmendinger was battling Alfredo for third place in front of Creed. By then, Earnhardt Jr., who remained on the lead lap despite having to pit again to have his wire harness changed as part of his radio communication with his team restored, was mired within the top-30 mark on the track while Allgaier, who was racing without a rear bumper, was marching his way towards the top-20 mark.

    By Lap 75, Chandler Smith stretched his advantage to more than a second over Love while Allmendinger, Creed and Alfredo were scored in the top five ahead of Clements, Custer, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Truex and Joe Graf Jr. Smith would then add another second to his advantage by the Lap 80 mark.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 85, Chandler Smith thundered his way to his sixth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Love settled in second ahead of Creed, Allmendinger and Alfredo while Clements, Custer, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Truex and Graf were scored in the top 10, with Ryan Sieg settling in 11th place. By then, Allgaier muscled his way up to 18th place behind Kligerman, Mayer and Sammy Smith while Earnhardt Jr., who had his radio communication with his team restored after four attempts and despite making earlier contact with Leland Honeyman, managed to drive up to 20th place.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the front-runners led by Chandler Smith pitted while the rest led by Ryan Sieg and including Brandon Jones, Mayer, Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Earnhardt Jr., Jeb Burton, Matt DiBenedetto, Josh Bilicki and Sheldon Creed remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Kligerman was penalized for equipment interference. In addition, Kyle Weatherman was penalized for a safety violation while Graf was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage period started on Lap 95 as Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Mayer launched a three-wide battle on both Sieg and Jones for the lead through the first two turns before Mayer launched his No. 1 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro ahead and assumed the lead, where he led the following lap. As the field behind fanned out and scrambled for positions, Mayer proceeded to lead the Lap 100 mark while Sieg and Allgaier battled for second place in front of Jones, Jeb Burton and Earnhardt Jr., with Creed, Custer, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith trailing in the top 10.

    Through the Lap 110 mark, Mayer extended his lead to eight-tenths of a second over teammate Allgaier while teammate Jones trailed by more than a second. Behind, Ryan Sieg retained fourth place ahead of Custer, Creed, Chandler Smith and Riley Herbst while Earnhardt Jr., who was battling Sieg for fourth place a few laps later, had dropped to ninth place ahead of Love. By then, DiBenedetto pitted under green after he briefly fell off the pace due to losing power.

    Ten laps later, the caution flew due to Kligerman spinning his No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet Camaro from the inside lane and back across the middle of the track and towards the outside wall, starting from the backstretch to Turn 2, as he managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage to his entry.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 126, Mayer rocketed ahead of teammate Jones from the outside lane as he brought teammate Allgaier, Custer and Creed with him while Jones, who struggled to launch from the inside, was trying to remain in the top-five mark. Mayer would proceed to lead the following lap as the field behind jostled for spots. With Mayer proceeding to lead up to the Lap 130 mark, Custer challenged Allgaier for second place while Chandler Smith overtook Jones for fifth place. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. was up to eighth place in front of Ryan Sieg and Love while Sammy Smith was mired in 14th place.

    Just past the Lap 140 mark, Mayer extended his advantage to more than two seconds over a fierce battle between Custer and Allgaier for the runner-up spot as Creed fended off teammate Chandler Smith for fourth place. Custer would then proceed to challenge Mayer for the lead towards the Lap 145 mark while Creed tried to close in from third place.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 150, Mayer retained the lead by a narrow margin over Custer, who managed to draw even and assume the lead for himself during the following lap as Creed tried to challenge Mayer for the runner-up spot. Creed then made contact with Mayer through Turn 1 on Lap 152 before he turned left and made contact with Allgaier, sending the latter for a spin through the backstretch. Allgaier would then hit the inside wall head-on before he slid back across the racetrack and managed to continue without getting hit by the field.

    During the caution period, a majority of the leaders led by Custer pitted while the rest led by Clements remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier, who pitted to have his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro repaired, was penalized for dragging a saw block out of his pit box and on the track, which caused sparks to flame out of the front of Allgaier’s entry as he was dragging the tool towards his front splitter.

    With the race restarting with nine laps remaining in the second stage period, where Clements and Sammy Smith occupied the front row, Clements fended off both Sammy Smith and Kligerman to retain the lead as he led the following lap. With Kligerman trying to challenge Clements for the lead, Jones carved his way to third place ahead of Creed and Custer, who hit the wall for a second time, while the field behind scrambled and jostled for spots between competitors who pitted and those who remained on the track. Amid the on-track chaos, Clements maintained the lead ahead of a side-by-side battle involving Kligerman and Jones with five laps remaining.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 170, Clements notched his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Custer carved his way to second ahead of Truex, Creed and Chandler Smith while Love, Herbst, Mayer, Earnhardt Jr. and Kligerman, who hit the wall amid contact with Custer a few laps earlier, were scored in the top 10. Despite recording a single point during the event’s two stage periods, Kligerman was able to officially secure his spot into the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs based on points. By then, Ryan Sieg was mired in 12th place and running seven spots ahead of Sammy Smith while Allgaier, who was pinned a lap down, was down in 30th place.

    During the stage break, select names including the leader Clements, Kligerman, Allmendinger, Sammy Smith and Allgaier pitted while the rest led by Custer remained on the track.

    With 121 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Custer and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Custer rocketed away from both Creed and Truex and he proceeded to lead the following lap in front of a stacked field. Creed then overtook Custer for the lead during the next lap period as the latter was battling handling issues while Chandler Smith and Love trailed in the top five. With Herbst, Mayer, Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Sieg and Jones battling within the top 10, Creed proceeded to lead with 115 laps remaining.

    Then with 101 laps remaining, the caution returned due to Allgaier, who was three laps down, spinning his damaged car in Turn 2 and blowing a right-rear tire as he kept his car from spinning back above the track and towards oncoming traffic. At the moment of caution, Creed had maintained a narrow lead over a hard-charging Custer, who was within striking distance of toppling Allgaier atop the regular-season standings, while Chandler Smith, Love, Truex and Mayer were scored in the top six, with Earnhardt Jr. up to seventh place despite having his radio communication issues returning. During the caution period, select names including Herbst, Josh Williams and Kyle Weatherman pitted while the rest led by Creed remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period with 94 laps remaining featured teammates Creed and Chandler Smith occupying the front row as Creed, who restarted on the outside lane, managed to fend off teammate Smith and lead the following lap while muscling ahead. Custer then battled and slid in front of Creed’s No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra to move back into the lead with 91 laps remaining as he had the preferred outside lane while Creed followed suit in second ahead of Chandler Smith, Love and Truex. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr., who made slight contact with Truex, occupied sixth place as Jones, Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Hill were trailing in the top 10 while Sammy Smith was back in 16th place.

    Down to the final 80 laps of the event, Custer stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Creed while Chandler Smith, Love and Truex continued to run in the top five. Behind, Earnhardt Jr. was still trying to challenge Truex for fifth place along with Jones as Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Hill remained in the top 10. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith gained two spots and was up to 14th place as Custer continued to stretch his lead to a second-and-a-half over Creed with 70 laps remaining.

    With 60 laps remaining, Custer, who was mired in lapped traffic, had his advantage slightly decrease to eight-tenths of a second over Creed as Chandler Smith, Love and Truex continued to follow suit in the top five. With Earnhardt Jr., Jones, Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Hill retaining their respective spots in the top 10, Allmendinger, Clements, Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Alfredo and Herbst followed suit in the top 16 while Brennan Poole, Graf, van Gisbergen and Josh Bilicki were mired in the top 20.

    Ten laps later and with the front-runners mired in lapped traffic, Custer stretched his advantage back up to a second over Creed and Chandler Smith while Love and Truex trailed by as far back as three seconds in the top five. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. retained sixth place in his No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro ahead of teammates Jones and Mayer while Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger were in the top 10. By then, Sammy Smith remained in 13th place while Allgaier was scored eight laps down in 30th place.

    Another 15 laps later, Custer, who continued to weave his way through lapped traffic, continued to lead by more than a second over Creed while Chandler Smith and Love remained in third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Truex was fending off repeated challenges from Earnhardt Jr. for fifth place as Jones also tried to navigate his way past both while Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Allmendinger, Clements, Hill and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top 13.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Custer, who was currently scored atop the regular-season standings by a narrow margin over Allgaier and had made contact with Graf while trying to lap him, retained the lead by within a second over both Creed and Chandler Smith while fourth-place Love trailed by three seconds. Behind, Truex, racing in his No. 20 Toyota Genuine Parts Supra, was being pressured by Jones’ No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro for fifth place while Earnhardt Jr. dropped to seventh place ahead of Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger as Sammy Smith was back in 15th place ahead of Kligerman.

    With 10 laps remaining, Custer, who lapped 18th-place van Gisbergen a few laps earlier before van Gisbergen made light contact with Custer to express his displeasure over receiving a bump from Custer while being lapped, stabilized his lead to a second over both Creed and Chandler Smith as Love and Truex remained in the top five ahead of Jones, Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Sieg, Mayer and Allmendinger.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Custer kept leading in his No. 00 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang by a second as Chandler Smith started to challenge teammate Creed for the runner-up spot through every corner and straightaway. In the process, Creed retained the spot by a narrow margin while Love retained fourth place by two seconds over both Truex and Jones as Earnhardt Jr. trailed by another two seconds.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Custer remained as the leader by more than a second over both Creed and Chandler Smith. With the latter two unable to narrow the deficit amid their late battle on one another, Custer was able to smoothly navigate his way around Bristol for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag for both his second Xfinity victory of the 2024 season and to capture the regular-season championship by three points over Allgaier, who capped off his long night in 30th place.

    With the victory, Custer notched his 15th career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division, his first at Bristol Motor Speedway and his first race victory since he won at Pocono Raceway in July. The victory was also the third of the season overall for both the Ford nameplate and Stewart-Haas Racing.

    As an added bonus, Custer, who came into the regular-season finale at Bristol trailing Justin Allgaier in the regular-season standings by 43 points but took advantage of Allgaier’s triple misfortunes, became the seventh competitor overall to win a regular-season championship in the Xfinity circuit and the first Ford competitor to do so since Austin Cindric made the last accomplishment in 2020. With the title and the bonus points, Custer will commence the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs to defend his series title before moving back up to the Cup Series with Haas Factory Team in 2025.

    “Man, it’s unbelievable,” Custer said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “Just a testament to these [No. 00] guys. A really hard month, but everybody at the shop really kept their heads in it. All the guys did such a great job. Unbelievable car all night. Ready to get to the Playoffs. It’s huge, huge to get this momentum because our confidence was going down this last month. To get this win really means a lot.”

    Behind Custer, Sheldon Creed fended off teammate Chandler Smith to claim his record-setting 13th runner-up result in the Xfinity Series while rookie Jesse Love and Ryan Truex finished in the top five.

    Meanwhile, Brandon Jones, who missed the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs, came home in sixth place while team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. battled through adversity from his radio communication issues to finish seventh in his 147th career start in the Xfinity Series. Ryan Sieg, Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger completed the top 10 on the track.

    Sieg’s eighth-place result was not enough for the Tucker, Georgia, native to launch himself back into the top-12 mark in the regular-season standings as Sammy Smith claimed the 12th and final berth into the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs with a 15th-place result at Bristol.

    “It’s been a real grind the last couple of months, just kind of struggled here and there,” Smith said. “We’ve hit it a couple of times, but that was one of those nights again. Just really struggled and I just feel like we got to dig deep and figure something out. It’s cool to make the Playoffs. We just got to keep getting better.”

    “There were a few races where we led some points slip,” Sieg said. “All in all, a great year. Nothing to hang our heads on. We still got some races to go win and that’s the goal. That was our goal this year. We’ve been in shots to do it. Just got to execute everything.”

    Sammy Smith along with race winner Cole Custer join Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Parker Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed and Riley Herbst along with rookies Jesse Love and Shane van Gisbergen as the 12 competitors who have qualified for the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs. All 12 competitors will now embark on a seven-race Playoff stretch for this year’s championship.

    There were 11 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 57 laps. In addition, 16 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Cole Custer, 104 laps led

    2. Sheldon Creed, 28 laps led

    3. Chandler Smith, 29 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Jesse Love, one lap led

    5. Ryan Truex

    6. Brandon Jones

    7. Dale Earnhardt Jr., one lap led

    8. Ryan Sieg, five laps led

    9. Sam Mayer, 55 laps led

    10. AJ Allmendinger

    11. Anthony Alfredo

    12. Jeremy Clements, 17 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    13. Riley Herbst

    14. Austin Hill

    15. Sammy Smith

    16. Parker Kligerman

    17. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    18. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down

    19. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    20. Josh Bilicki, one lap down

    21. Josh Williams, one lap down

    22. Blaine Perkins, one lap down

    23. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    24. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    25. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    26. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    27. Logan Bearden, two laps down

    28. Carson Ware, five laps down

    29. Greg Van Alst, eight laps down

    30. Justin Allgaier, 10 laps down, 60 laps led

    31. Leland Honeyman, 10 laps down

    32. Chad Finchum, 20 laps down

    33. Stefan Parsons, 24 laps down

    34. Matt DiBenedetto, 25 laps down

    35. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    36. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Rear Gear

    37. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    38. Austin Green – OUT, Accident

    The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs are set to commence next Saturday, September 28, at Kansas Speedway for the Kansas Lottery 300 and the Round of 12 opener. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Austin Hill sweeps Atlanta for third Xfinity victory of 2024

    Austin Hill sweeps Atlanta for third Xfinity victory of 2024

    With his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro entry sporting a special gold scheme to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his sponsor Bennett Transportation & Logistics, Austin Hill generated a late golden performance on the track to win the Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 7.

    The 30-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led the final 12 of 163-scheduled laps in an event where he started fourth place and spent the first stage period racing upfront getting shuffled within the top-10 mark throughout the second stage period. After spending most of the final stage period methodically carving his way back to the front amid the draft, Hill capitalized on the final restart period with 13 laps remaining to overtake Chandler Smith for the lead during the following lap. He then fended off a pair of final lap challenges from Chandler Smith and Corey Heim to notch his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season, his fourth at his home track and his first series victory since late February.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, rookie Jesse Love notched his fourth Xfinity career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 173.646 mph in 31.927 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Taylor Gray, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 173.489 mph in 31.956 seconds.

    Before the event, the following names that included AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Ellis and Brennan Poole dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Jesse Love and Taylor Gray dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch until the outside lane led by Love gained the advantage as Love muscled ahead with drafting help from teammate Austin Hill. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Love led the first lap in his No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet Camaro.

    Over the next four laps and with the field briefly fanning out to three lanes before the majority of the filed settled in a long single-file line towards the outside wall, Love retained an early advantage ahead of teammate Hill and Justin Allgaier while Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray pursued in the top five. Behind, Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Cole Custer, rookie Shane van Gisbergen and Parker Kligerman were in the top 10 while Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, Ryan Truex, Riley Herbst, Josh Williams, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, Corey Heim, Anthony Alfredo and Blaine Perkins were in the top 20 ahead of Parker Retzlaff, Brennan Poole, Kyle Sieg, AJ Allmendinger and Garrett Smithley.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Love continued to lead ahead of teammate Hill, Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray as the top-six competitors, including Creed, were separated by less than a second Meanwhile, the top 13 competitors were separated by within two seconds while the top 19 were separated by within three seconds.

    A lap later, the event’s first caution flew when Ryan Sieg, a Playoff bubble competitor, coasted to a halt in the backstretch due to a wiring issue as he fell out of the lead lap category while needing a wrecker to have his No. 39 Sci Aps Ford Mustang entry nursed back to his pit stall. Amid Sieg’s issues, Anthony Alfredo also encountered early issues due to scraping the outside wall and damaging the right side of his No. 5 Our Motorsports entry. During the caution period, some led by Sammy Smith and including AJ Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Love remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 16, Sheldon Creed and Love dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Love muscled ahead from the outside lane with drafting help from Chevrolet teammates Hill and Allgaier. With Creed falling back to fourth place, Love proceeded to lead the following lap as the majority of the field migrated towards the outside wall and behind Love. Meanwhile, Parker Kligerman, who was running within the top-10 mark, was trying to form a drafting lane on the inside lane ahead of van Gisbergen, Sam Mayer and Jeb Burton before he quickly moved back up the outside lane and with the pack. Amid the shuffles and battles within the lead pack, Love proceeded to lead the Lap 20 mark.

    At the Lap 25 mark, Allgaier, who spent the previous few laps dueling with Love for the lead from the inside lap despite having no drafting help, was out in front as he muscled his No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Love with the top spot and towards the outside lane. With Allgaier leading and the field behind slowly fanning out to two drafting lanes, Love was second ahead of teammate Hill, Creed and Cole Custer while Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. Shortly after, the top-nine competitors were separated by less than a second and the top 19 were separated by less than four seconds as Allgaier continued to lead by the Lap 30 mark.

    Nearing the Lap 35 mark, the top 12 competitors were separated by less than two seconds as Allgaier remained out in front of Hill and Love while Herbst and Creed were scored in the top five ahead of Mayer, Brandon Jones, Custer, Chandler Smith, Taylor Gray, Ryan Truex and Corey Heim.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 40, Allgaier edged a hard-charging Hill by 0.012 seconds to score his 14th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Hill settled in second ahead of Riley Herbst, Creed and Love while Mayer, Brandon Jones, Custer, Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. By then, 34 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier pitted while others led by Allmendinger and Sammy Smith remained on the track. During the pit stops, Josh Williams was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage period started on Lap 47 as Allmendinger and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead entering the first two turns and the backstretch as the field fanned out to three lanes. With Cole Custer fanning out to boost his way up to fourth place, Allmendinger retained the lead from the outside lane over Allgaier as the former had Sammy Smith drafting him.

    Just past the Lap 50 mark, Allmendinger was leading ahead of Sammy Smith, Custer, Herbst and Mayer while Allgaier, Love, Hill, Creed and Gray were scored in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Kligerman, Chandler Smith and Ryan Truex.

    Ten laps later, Allmendinger retained the lead ahead of Sammy Smith, Custer, Herbst and Mayer while Allgaier, Love, Creed, Gray and Jones followed suit in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Hill, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Corey Heim, Truex, Jeb Burton, Parker Retzlaff, Brennan Poole and Lawless Alan. With a majority of the field running in a single-file line towards the outside wall, Allmendinger continued to lead by the Lap 79 mark as the top 14 competitors were separated by three seconds.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew after Mayer was turned across the frontstretch’s outside wall by Gray as Mayer, who hit the wall, proceeded with right-side damage to his No. 1 High Rock Vodka Chevrolet Camaro. As Mayer’s damaged car continued to zip through the frontstretch, his car then had flames bursting out from behind and Mayer proceeded to pull his car below the apron and park in the backstretch before exiting uninjured.

    The caution for Mayer’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 80 to officially conclude under caution as Allmendinger notched his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Sammy Smith settled in second ahead of Custer, Herbst and Allgaier while Love, Taylor Gray, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Allmendinger pitted for service while select names including Leland Honeyman, Jeremy Clements, David Starr and Garrett Smithley remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, teammates Gray and Creed exited first and second on two fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Creed was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while teammate Ryan Truex was penalized for pitting outside of his pit box. In addition, Hill ran into the rear of van Gisbergen after entering pit road.

    With 76 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Gray and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Gray and Allmendinger dueled for the top spot, with the former managing to retain the top spot. Amid the battles and with the field stacked to two lanes, Gray retained the lead with 70 laps remaining before teammate Chandler Smith would overtake him a lap later.

    With 66 laps remaining, the caution returned for van Gisbergen getting into the outside wall in Turn 4 while running inside the top 10 as he proceeded to nurse his No. 97 Quad Lock Chevrolet Camaro back to his pit stall with right-side damage. During the caution period, multiple names including Hill, Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Corey Heim, Jeb Burton and Creed pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track.

    The start of the following restart period with 59 laps remaining featured Chandler Smith and Gray dueling for the top spot as Smith retained the lead for the following lap. Three laps later, Smith was overtaken by Custer through the backstretch and Smith was left battling Herbst for the runner-up spot.

    The caution would then return with 55 laps remaining due to Jeb Burton losing a left front tire and spinning to the bottom of the track. During the caution period, select names including Blaine Perkins, van Gisbergen, Clements and Ryan Ellis pitted while the rest led by Custer remained on the track.

    As the race restarted with 48 laps remaining, Custer dueled and held off Gray to lead the field. Amid the late battles within the pack, Custer proceeded to lead with 40 laps remaining. By then, Chandler Smith was up to second ahead of Herbst, Love and Allmendinger while Josh Williams, Truex, Allgaier, Heim and Hill were in the top 10. After Custer led the next nine laps, Allmendinger overtook him with 31 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Chandler Smith, who assumed the lead two laps earlier, was out in front of Allgaier, Custer, Hill and Gray as Love, Ryan Sieg, Williams, Herbst and Jones followed suit in the top 10, with the top-16 competitors separated by a second. By then, Creed made an unscheduled pit stop under green.

    With less than 20 laps remaining, Chandler Smith continued to lead ahead of Custer, Allgaier, Taylor Gray and Hill. Behind, Jones, who had tried to slide in front of Chandler Smith for the lead a few laps earlier but was unable to do so, slipped out of the top five on the inside lane, and was in seventh as the top 10 competitors were separated by less than a second. By then, Smith was also able to muscle ahead of Allgaier, who was trying to use the inside lane to slide in front of Smith but was unable to do so.

    Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution flew when Allgaier, who was dueling Custer for the runner-up spot, went up the track just past the backstretch and made contact with Custer and Gray. Custer was sent for a spin before he collided with teammate Herbst and Ryan Sieg as Allgaier and Gray were pinned against one another towards the outside wall as Love barely ran into the rear of Gray. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for 15 minutes.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, multiple names that included Love, Allmendinger, Brennan Poole, Parker Retzlaff, Clements, Nick Leitz, Blaine Perkins, Ryan Ellis, Garrett Smithley and David Starr pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track. Among those who pitted included Love, who had a rear bumper cover from Herbst’s car stuck atop the No. 2 Chevrolet.

    With the race restarting under green with 13 laps remaining, Chandler Smith and Hill dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch before Hill muscled ahead and tried to slide in front of Smith through Turns 3 and 4. Smith, however, pulled a crossover move on Hill through the frontstretch, but Hill would prevail from the outside lane through the first two turns as he would maintain the lead through the backstretch while Smtih was battling Josh Williams and Corey Heim for second place.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Hill was leading ahead of Chandler Smith and Williams while the rest of the field behind followed in close pursuit amid two stacked lanes. By then, the top 12 competitors were separated by less than a second while the top 19 were separated by under two seconds.

    With five laps remaining, Hill maintained a steady advantage ahead of Chandler Smith, Heim, Kligerman and Lawless Alan as the top-15 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. Allmendinger would then transition to the inside lane and try to gain a drafting run while battling Sammy Smith for sixth place, but he would then make contact with Alan and nearly send him spinning

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill, who nearly got sideways off the front nose of Chandler Smith as Smith made a move beneath Hill to duel with him exiting Turns 3 and 4, remained as the leader on the outside lane as Heim, who elected not to draft his Toyota teammate Smith from the inside lane, drafted Hill back out front ahead of Kligerman through the frontstretch.

    Then through Turns 1 and 2, Heim attempted to make a move to Hill’s outside, but Hill blocked and fended off Heim as the latter scraped his No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota Supra towards the outside wall. This allowed Hill to retain the top spot as Kligerman zipped by for second place. With Allmendinger and Chandler Smith following Kligerman and passing Heim, all four were unable to regain their momentum and catch Hill as Hill cycled his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second.

    With the victory, Hill notched his ninth Xfinity Series career win in his 105th series start, his seventh on a superspeedway venue and his fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track. This season marks the first time Hill swept both Atlanta Xfinity events as he also notched the 96th Xfinity career victory for Richard Childress Racing and the 13th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Just resilience with this whole Bennett No. 21 team,” Hill said on USA Network. “Our Bennett Chevrolet wasn’t handling great all day. It had plenty of speed. Just the handle on it was tough all day. We had to dig deep for that [win]. [Chandler Smith] got into [Turn] 3 and had me jacked up. He’s doing what he has to do to try to win. [I’m] Very surprised that [Heim] pushed me there and didn’t go with a  Toyota and then, I thought that I messed up into [Turns] 1 and 2. I hate it that [Heim] got in the fence. I wasn’t trying to run him in the fence. I was just trying to get him aero-tight or get him aero-loose because that was happening to me a lot today.”

    “This is insane like to win with this gold car, Bennett’s 50th anniversary. This is their biggest race of the entire year,” Hill added. “To do this for our sponsor, it means a lot. We’re gonna celebrate this one because [the win] didn’t come easy.”

    With Hill winning the race, Parker Kligerman edged AJ Allmendinger by 0.004 seconds to finish in second place for the first time this season while Chandler Smith and Corey Heim rounded out the top five following their last-lap charges for the victory. To add to Hill being surprised about Heim not drafting with Chandler Smith and challenging him for the win, Smith was also left surprised and disappointed with not having the drafting help to challenge for the victory as his home track.

    “I expected my Toyota teammate to come with me and that didn’t happen,” Smith said. “It is what it is. I’m kind of speechless, honestly. There’s a lot of different things I could’ve done that I could’ve been more selfish and when I got clear, went to the bottom [lane] and cover that and just control the race, for sure, but I was trying to be a good teammate. It didn’t pay off for me today, as usual.”

    Rookie Jesse Love charged back up the field to finish sixth while Sammy Smith, Josh Williams, Brandon Jones and Ryan Truex finished in the top 10.

    There were 12 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 36 laps. In addition, 23 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 24th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier continues to lead the regular-season standings by 34 points over Cole Custer, 67 over Chandler Smith and 71 over Austin Hill.

    Results.

    1. Austin Hill, 12 laps led

    2. Parker Kligerman

    3. AJ Allmendinger, 40 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Chandler Smith, 28 laps led

    5. Corey Heim

    6. Jesse Love, 23 laps led

    7. Sammy Smith

    8. Josh Williams

    9. Brandon Jones

    10. Ryan Truex

    11. Kyle Weatherman

    12. Parker Retzlaff

    13. Lawless Alan

    14. Anthony Alfredo

    15. Brennan Poole

    16. Kyle Sieg

    17. Leland Honeyman, one lap led

    18. Mason Maggio

    19. Blaine Perkins

    20. Nick Leitz

    21. Ryan Ellis

    22. David Starr

    23. Garrett Smithley

    24. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    25. Sheldon Creed, three laps down, one lap led

    26. Riley Herbst, five laps down

    27. Shane van Gisbergen, six laps down

    28. Taylor Gray – OUT, Suspension, 12 laps led

    29. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Suspension

    30. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident, 19 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    31. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident, 27 laps led

    32. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident

    33. Morgen Baird, 21 laps down

    34. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Engine

    35. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Oil Line

    36. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    37. Dawsom Cram – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, for the Mission 200 at The Glen. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, September 14, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Ryan Truex muscles to second Xfinity victory of 2024 at Daytona

    Ryan Truex muscles to second Xfinity victory of 2024 at Daytona

    In his eighth NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season, Ryan Truex struck gold for a second time by surviving an overtime attempt and fending off the competition amid the draft to win the Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, August 23.

    The 32-year-old Truex from Mayetta, New Jersey, led six times for 28 of 102 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified in sixth place and ran upfront from start to finish. Mingling within the field through the draft and close-quarters competition, Truex, who recorded a total of 13 stage points between the event’s first two stages, led for the first time on Lap 52 and he would spend the remainder of the event both working and fending off his fellow competitors and Toyota teammates amid the draft through every corner and straightaway.

    Then during the event’s lone overtime attempt, Truex, who received a shove from Riley Herbst on the inside lane to move ahead of the field, fended off a late attempt charge from AJ Allmendinger and Parker Kligerman before the latter sent the former for a spin on the final lap. With the event concluding under caution, Truex was able to retain the lead from teammate Chandler Smith and Kligerman, which resulted in the part-time Xfinity Series competitor racing for Joe Gibbs Racing to cautiously cruise to his second Xfinity victory of the 2024 season and first at Daytona.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Chandler Smith notched his first Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 181.189 mph in 49.672 seconds. Smith was awarded the pole position following the first qualifying round after the second and final qualifying round was canceled due to lightning strikes within an eight-mile radius of the speedway. Qualifying in second place was Austin Hill, who posted his best qualifying lap at 181.123 mph in 49.690 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Sam Mayer dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change. Not long after, Hill was also sent to the rear of the field due to an unapproved adjustment. With Hill starting at the rear of the field, Joe Graf Jr. moved up and started alongside teammate/pole-sitter Chandler Smith on the front row.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Chandler Smith and Joe Graf Jr. led the field that was stacked amid two tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch, the first two turns and the backstretch. Then exiting the backstretch, the event’s first caution flew when Jeffrey Earnhardt bumped and got Jeremy Clements sideways as Clements spun his No. 51 One Stop/All South Electric Chevrolet Camaro below the apron before he almost made his way back across the track and slid across the apron again entering Turn 3. Clements’ spin ignited a chain reaction wreck as Austin Hill, Ryan Ellis Akinori Ogata and newcomer Gus Dean all damaged their respective entries. The incident spoiled Hill’s attempt to sweep both Xfinity Daytona events of the 2024 season as he lost multiple laps while his No. 21 pit crew proceeded to repair the car.

    During the event’s first caution period, some including Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg, Brennan Poole and Tim Viens pitted their respective entries, with Sieg sliding through his pit stall, while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track.

    Following an extensive caution period to clear the fluid on the track, the event restarted under green on the ninth lap. At the start, teammates Chandler Smith and Graf Jr. dueled for the lead entering the first two turns until Graf moved ahead from the outside lane as he had teammate Ryan Truex drafting him. With Graf then being disconnected from Truex exiting the backstretch, Chandler Smith gained the momentum from the inside lane entering Turns 3 and 4 and with drafting help from AJ Allmendinger powered ahead in his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra and led the Lap 10 mark.

    On the following lap, the field fanned out to multiple lanes as Truex was getting shuffled out of the draft. With Truex slipping out of the top-10 mark, Allmendinger assumed the lead as Chandler Smith and Riley Herbst dueled for second place amid the draft. Herbst would then challenge Allmendinger for the lead, but the latter would retain the top spot as the field behind continued to fan out and jostle amid the draft for early spots. By Lap 15, however, Chandler Smith drafted his way back to the lead by a narrow margin over Graf with Allmendinger, Truex, Josh Williams and Parker Kligerman following suit in the top six.

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Allmendinger was leading ahead of Kligerman, Justin Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Ryan Sieg while Cole Custer, Graf, Jesse Love, Truex and Anthony Alfredo were scored in the top 10 ahead of Sheldon Creed, Jeb Burton, Sammy Smith, Jeremy Clements, Josh Williams, Brandon Jones, Kyle Weatherman, Sam Mayer, Jordan Anderson and Jeffrey Earnhardt, all of whom were separated within one second amid the draft. By then, 33 of 38 lead-lap competitors were separated by five seconds.

    Five laps later, Allgaier, who led for the first time two laps earlier, was still leading amid the draft by a narrow margin over Allmendinger as Ryan Sieg, Kligerman and Love were scored in the top five ahead of Alfredo, Chandler Smith, Custer, Sammy Smith and Jeb Burton. Another lap later, Love was pinned in the middle lane and shuffled out of the draft as he slipped out of the top-10 mark. By then, Allgaier remained in the lead as he had Allmendinger and a bevy of competitors drafting him on the outside lane while Ryan Sieg was trying to ignite a drafting charge from the inside lane.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Allgaier blocked and fended off both Chandler Smith and Allmendinger through two lanes from the backstretch to the frontstretch to claim his 12th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Chandler Smith settled in second ahead of Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed and Kligerman while Truex, Alfredo, Graf, Sammy Smith and Clements were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Allgaier pitted while the rest including Leland Honeyman, Matt DiBenedetto, Joey Gase, Kyle Sieg, Caesar Bacarella and CJ McLaughlin remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Sam Mayer exited pit road first. Prior to the pit road’s entrance, where the field led by Allgaier had pitted, Jeb Burton pitted to address a cut tire along with rookie Shane van Gisbergen, who was dealing with an ill-handling car.

    During the pit stops, Sammy Smith came to a stop upon exiting pit road and reversed his No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro back into his pit stall to have his left front tire tightened. In addition, Jesse Love spun and pitted while facing the field backward, Graf overshot his pit box and Riley Herbst was penalized for not remaining in single file upon entering pit road. Soon after, Cole Custer made a second pit stop for repairs after he made contact with teammate Herbst while trying to exit his pit stall on pit road while Patrick Emerling was penalized for a safety violation.

    The second stage period started on Lap 36 as Mayer and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Mayer and Creed dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Creed moved ahead from the outside lane entering Turns 3 and 4. Mayer, however, would fight back on the inside lane and lead the following lap before he drove ahead of Creed through the first two turns. He then went on defense in blocking Creed on the outside lane and teammate Allgaier on the inside through the backstretch as he led the next lap period. Kligerman and Allmendinger would then come to assist Mayer and Allgaier amid the draft from the inside lane as the field behind fanned out to as wide as three lanes.

    Just past the Lap 40 mark, Allmendinger, who made a bold three-wide move to overtake both Allgaier and Kligerman for the runner-up spot exiting the backstretch, assumed the lead from Mayer as he had the momentum and the draft from the outside lane. Allmendinger would then receive drafting help from Kligerman, Creed and Truex from the outside lane while Mayer was the lead competitor from the inside lane.

    Through the first 45 scheduled laps and with a majority of the field running in a long single-file lane towards the outside wall, Allmendinger was leading ahead of Kligerman, Truex, Creed and Chandler Smith while Brandon Jones, Alfredo, Love, Mayer and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top 10. Behind, Jeb Burton occupied 11th place ahead of Blaine Perkins, Herbst, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Graf as Kyle Weatherman, Clements, Josh Williams, Allgaier and Anderson followed suit in the top 20 ahead of van Gisbergen, Parker Retzlaff, Josh Bilicki, Patrick Emerling and Brennan Poole. Meanwhile, Ryan Sieg was mired back in 28th place.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 50, Allmendinger continued to lead a long line of competitors opting to run in a long single-file line towards the outside wall, with Kligerman, Truex, Creed and Chandler Smith following suit in the top five. Behind, Jones, Alfredo, Love, Mayer and Sammy Smith also continued to run in the top 10.

    Five laps later and with the field beginning to fan out to two drafting lanes, Truex, who drafted his way into the lead three laps earlier, retained the lead ahead of a hard-charging Allgaier, who would then navigate his way back into the lead for the following lap. As Allgaier then moved up the track to block Truex through the first two turns, Allmendinger, Herbst, Jeb Burton and Kligerman followed suit amid the draft. As the front-runners continued to fan out and jostle for spots during the proceeding laps, Allgaier weaved his car back and forth amid the lanes to retain the lead.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage period, the caution flew when Alfredo smacked the outside wall after he received contact from Alfredo in Turn 4 while Mayer, who was running right behind both, reacted by spinning his No. 1 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro on the apron and towards the pit road entrance. The incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to officially conclude under caution as Allgaier claimed his second Xfinity stage victory of the event and the 13th of the 2024 season. Herbst settled in second ahead of Truex, Allmendinger and Jeb Burton while Kligerman, Creed, Chandler Smith, Brandon Jones and Josh Williams were scored in the top 10. Amid the incident, both Alfredo and Mayer managed to continue.

    During the stage break, select names including Poole, Matt DiBenedetto, CJ McLaughlin, Leland Honeyman and Caesar Bacarella remained on the track while the rest led by Allgaier pitted. With Truex being the first competitor to exit pit road, the remaining names who initially remained on the track eventually pitted.

    With 35 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Truex and Herbst occupied the front row. At the start, Truex and Herbst dueled for the lead entering the first two turns until Truex received a push from teammate Creed to boost ahead from the inside lane through the backstretch. Kligerman and Chandler Smith would follow suit and gain the draft with Truex and Herbst on the inside lane while Herbst was trying to maintain pace on the outside lane.

    Over the next three laps, Chandler Smith would weave his way into the lead, where he led a single lap, before Truex reassumed the top spot not long after. Then with 32 laps remaining, the caution returned when Brandon Jones was bumped by Love and sent for a long slide below the backstretch, though Jones was able to straighten his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro through the backstretch’s asphalt and continue.

    During the caution period, some including Custer, Creed, van Gisbergen, Clements, Caesar Bacarella, Retzlaff, Leland Honeyman, Poole, Patrick Emerling, Jordan Anderson and Jones pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period with 27 laps remaining featured Truex and Allmendinger dueling for the lead until Truex nearly got loose off the front nose of teammate Chandler Smith entering Turn 1. This allowed Allmendinger to gain an advantage from the outside lane as he had drafting help from Kligerman. Allmendinger would then fend off Kligerman for the following lap as the field battled in close-quarters racing amid two drafting lanes.

    With 24 laps remaining and with Allmendinger leading by a hair over Truex, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck that erupted just past the frontstretch’s tri-oval and involving Love, Custer, Jeb Burton, Retzlaff, Sammy Smith, Jones, Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Sieg and Bacarella. During the extensive caution period, some including van Gisbergen, Emerling, Jordan Anderson, Joey Gase and CJ McLaughlin pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

    At the start of the next restart period with 18 laps remaining, Allmendinger had the advantage from the inside lane and he boosted into the lead with drafting help from Kligerman. Allmendinger would then transition from the top to the bottom of the track to keep Kligerman’s No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet Camaro drafting him as he led the following lap. With Truex trying to fight back on the inside lane, he then dueled with Allmendinger through the backstretch before Allmendinger powered ahead with Kligerman and Herbst following suit. By then, Truex had Ryan Sieg drafting him with 16 laps remaining.

    With 15 laps remaining, the front-runners slowly began to fan out to three lanes as Alfredo carved his No. 5 Dude Wipes Cameo Chevrolet Camaro towards the top-three mark with drafting help from Allgaier’s No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro while Truex and Allmendinger dueled for the lead. With Kligerman continuing to draft Allmendinger’s No. 16 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet Camaro on the outside lane, Truex had Alfredo and Allgaier drafting his No. 20 Certified Collision Center Toyota Supra on the inside lane for the proceeding laps. Truex then received a strong push from Alfredo to boost ahead with 13 laps remaining, where he would remain ahead of Alfredo, Allmendinger, Kligerman and Allgaier. By then, the front-runners were racing in close-quarters competition in two tight-packed lanes and nearly getting sideways in the process.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Allmendinger and Kligerman drafted their way back into the top two spots, with Truex, Herbst and Allgaier following suit ahead of Chandler Smith, Alfredo, Creed, Kyle Weatherman and Blaine Perkins. By then, the top 22 competitors were separated by a second as Allmendinger maintained the top spot and the lead competitor on the outside lane while Truex led the charge from the inside lane.

    Then with six laps remaining and the intensity towards the front intensifying, the caution flew when the slightest contact between Bacarella and Kyle Sieg got Sieg loose and he then darted back up the track and clipped Alfredo, who was beginning to fall off the pace, as Alfredo spun backward into the outside wall into the path of Sieg, with Clements, Bacarella, Josh Bilicki, Jeffrey Earnhardt and van Gisbergen all wrecking in between Turns 3 and 4. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime as Truex emerged with the lead amid a late, frantic battle with Allmendinger as Herbst, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Creed and Ryan Sieg suit. Not long after, the event was placed in a red flag period for more than 12 minutes to have the on-track carnage cleared.

    When the red flag lifted and the race resumed under a cautious pace, select names including Poole, Joey Gase, Jones, Jeb Burton and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by Truex and Allmendinger remained on the track.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Truex receiving a strong draft into the lead ahead of Herbst and Allgaier from the inside lane while Allmendinger tried to fight back on the outside lane as he remained in front of his drafting partner Kligerman. While Allmendinger and Kligerman emerged as the strong duo towards the front of the field, Truex, who moved up to the outside lane and in front of the former two, retained the top spot for a full lap.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Truex remained as the leader ahead of Allmendinger and Kligerman, both of whom were drafting together and starting to gain a run through the tri-oval. Then entering the first turn, the caution flew and the event was deemed official after contact from Kligerman sent Allmendinger spinning below the apron entering Turn 1, where he slid back up the track and hit the outside wall despite being dodged by oncoming traffic. With the event concluding under caution, Truex was ruled the leader at the moment of caution and was declared the winner.

    With the victory, Truex, who last won at Dover Motor Speedway in late April, recorded his third NASCAR Xfinity Series career win in his 98th series start and his first ever at Daytona International Speedway as he achieved his first multi-win season in the Xfinity circuit.

    Truex’s Daytona victory was the eighth for both Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyota nameplate through 22 scheduled events of the 2024 season, with both the team and manufacturer winning at Daytona in the Xfinity Series for the first time since Matt Kenseth piloted a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry to Victory Lane in July 2013. The victory was also the sixth of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota team led by rookie crew chief Tyler Allen.

    “Oh my gosh, man,” Truex, who strongly credited the Joe Gibbs Racing simulator group as part of his weekly simulator training, said on the frontstretch on USA Network. “Thanks to these fans. It’s so amazing to race here. Just thanks to these [No. 20] guys, man. I don’t get to race that often. I don’t know what I’m going to do next year. It’s all working progress, but just a great car. We’ve worked hard on our superspeedway stuff. Daytona, Atlanta, I feel like we were behind the eight-ball and we came here, all qualified well, all raced well. Shoutout to [spotter] Tyler [Green] up on the roof. What an amazing spotter. He drove this car, I just turned the steering wheel. I can’t believe this. I felt good this week coming in and I knew we’d have a shot. I feel like every time I’m here, I just end up making the dumb mistake or getting caught up in a wreck. I’m just glad we finished one out.”

    Teammate Chandler Smith, who led 15 laps from pole position, charged his way to a second-place finish, thus recording a 1-2 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing, while Parker Kligerman settled in third place. While Chandler Smith was left pleased with his runner-up result, which marked his first top-two result coming off four consecutive finishes of 15th or worse, the third-place result did little to satisfy Kligerman’s strong race and result despite being scored 44 points above the top-12 cutline in his efforts to make the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs.

    “Just extremely, extremely happy for everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Smith said. “I say this in a very nice way. We have not been good on superspeedways for a very, very, very long time on the Xfinity program. We came here today and sat on the pole. That’s huge for us. Just couldn’t time my run good enough and just wasn’t meant in the cards for today.”

    “I just feel like I’ve put myself in position time after time [to win] and this race team has helped me do that,” Kligerman said. “[Me and AJ Allmendinger] were awesome. We were the best two [competitors] that weren’t Toyotas all day. I just had a run and I had to go. I felt like it was a run I had to take to try and put myself on the bottom [lane] to win this race. I felt like the bottom was gonna win it in [Turn] 4. I hate it. I love [Allmendinger] like a brother. He and I have been in this for a long time together. I don’t want to turn someone like that, but I would’ve liked to been able to finish under green [flag conditions] as well. We did everything right. We never led a lap, but I got to think we were probably the most in the top three, so we had a really strong car, strong night and overall, but god, I just want to win one of these damn things so bad.”

    Riley Herbst came home in fourth place while Ryan Sieg battled his way to finish fifth, with the latter moving back into the top-12 cutline after notching his fifth top-10 result of the 2024 season.

    “We’ve just been chasing points,” Sieg said. “It’s been great. We’ve been doing what we need to do and then, come out of here with the top five, where we should be running, but finally, we got some momentum. Hopefully, we can continue it. We’ve been running really well. Just got to keep executing and keep it there at the stage three and try to, I guess, point our way in and all we can do and try to win one of these races out of here before we start the Playoffs.”

    Jordan Anderson, Justin Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Leland Honeyman and Kyle Weatherman finished in the top 10.

    Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger, who led a race-high 35 laps, ended up in 24th place, the final competitor scored on the lead lap.

    There were 19 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 24 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Following the 22nd event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier leads the regular-season standings by 33 points over Cole Custer, 75 over Chandler Smith and 102 over Austin Hill.

    Results.

    1. Ryan Truex, 28 laps led

    2. Chandler Smith, 15 laps led

    3. Parker Kligerman

    4. Riley Herbst, one lap led

    5. Ryan Sieg

    6. Jordan Anderson

    7. Justin Allgaier, 16 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    8. Sheldon Creed

    9. Leland Honeyman

    10. Kyle Weatherman

    11. Josh Williams

    12. Joe Graf Jr.

    13. Sam Mayer, seven laps led

    14. Blaine Perkins

    15. Kyle Sieg

    16. Brennan Poole

    17. Jeb Burton

    18. Patrick Emerling

    19. CJ McLaughlin

    20. Joey Gase

    21. Jesse Love

    22. Brandon Jones

    23. Sammy Smith

    24. AJ Allmendinger, 35 laps led

    25. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down

    26. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

    27. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    28. Jeffrey Earnhardt, three laps down

    29. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

    30. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    31. Austin Hill, 23 laps down

    32. Cole Custer – OUT, DVP

    33. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Accident

    34. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    35. Tim Viens – OUT, Engine

    36. Gus Dean – OUT, Accident

    37. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

    38. Akinori Ogata – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200. The event is scheduled for next Saturday, August 31, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Sammy Smith scheduled for final double-duty Xfinity-Truck campaign between Daytona and Milwaukee

    Sammy Smith scheduled for final double-duty Xfinity-Truck campaign between Daytona and Milwaukee

    This upcoming weekend is set to mark a busy one for Sammy Smith, who will be racing double duty between two racetracks and two NASCAR national touring series (Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series) that commences under the lights at Daytona International Speedway before concluding on a Sunday afternoon at the Milwaukee Mile.

    On Friday, August 23, Smith, a 20-year-old native from Johnston, Iowa, will be piloting his full-time Xfinity Series ride, the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports, at Daytona and in his continued quest to remain above the top-12 cutline in the regular-season standings that would enable him to make the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs. Two days later, he will then travel to West Allis, Wisconsin, and make his fourth and final Craftsman Truck Series start of the season at Milwaukee in the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports, a team that is set to contend for this year’s Truck Series owners’ championship with Milwaukee serving as this year’s Truck Playoff opener.

    Smith, the reigning Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year and two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion, is coming off a fifth-place run at Michigan International Speedway, which moved him back into the top-12 cutline to make the Playoffs as he currently holds sole possession of the final transfer spot into the Playoffs by a single point with five regular-season events remaining on the schedule. He is also competing in his second full-time stint in the Xfinity Series and first with JR Motorsports after spending the previous season driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.

    Thus far, Smith’s best on-track result at Daytona in the Xfinity Series is 19th, which occurred during the 2023 season opener. Through 21 of 33-scheduled events of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Smith has recorded four top-five results, 11 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 15.6 as he strives to make his second consecutive appearance in the Xfinity division’s postseason berth and elimination-style battle to the championship. He qualified for his first Xfinity Playoffs a year ago, where he fell short of transferring into the Championship 4 round and ended up in sixth place in the final standings. During the season, he notched his first career victory at Phoenix Raceway and managed to claim the rookie title over Chandler Smith.

    In addition to his full-time Xfinity Series role this season, Smith has made three Truck Series starts in Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 “all-star” Chevrolet entry, all on short track events. He made his first start at Martinsville Speedway in April, where he finished eighth. Four races later, he recorded a career-best fifth-place run at North Wilkesboro Speedway in May before finishing sixth in his recent series’ start at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in July. During the Martinsville and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park weekends, Smith was also pulling double duty between both the Truck and Xfinity circuits.

    Previously, Smith made his Truck Series debut during the 2023 season opener at Daytona, where he piloted the No. 17 TRICON Garage Toyota to a 14th-place finish. While this upcoming Sunday is set to mark Smith’s first start at the Milwaukee Mile in the Truck Series, it will not mark his first overall start at the venue, with the Iowa native notching an ARCA Menards Series victory in 2022 while driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    Currently, Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 entry is set to commence the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs in eighth place in the owners’ standings with 2,003 points. The entry has been piloted to Victory Lane twice this season, both occurring with two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February and at Texas Motor Speedway. Corey LaJoie, Connor Zilisch, Connor Mosack, Andres Perez de Lara and Clint Bowyer have all piloted the entry at least once through 16-scheduled events. Following Smith’s fourth and final start at Milwaukee, Zilisch and Mosack are scheduled to pilot the entry for the remainder of the season in their efforts to keep Spire’s No. 7 entry led by veteran crew chief Brian Pattie in contention for the owners’ title.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Sammy Smith’s upcoming double-duty weekend is set to commence with the Xfinity Series’ Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, August 23, with the event’s broadcast time to commence at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. He will then compete in the Craftsman Truck Series’ Playoff opener at the Milwaukee Mile for the LiUNA! 175 on Sunday, August 25, that will air at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.