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Allmendinger dominates for back-to-back Xfinity Series victories at COTA

AJ Allmendinger was not to be denied in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the season after he capped off a dominant run with a victory in the third annual running of the Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of The Americas on Saturday, March 25.

The 41-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, led two times for a race-high 28 of 46-scheduled laps, including the final 14, on a day where he commenced by dominating the event’s early stages. Despite falling back towards the midfield after pitting at the start of the second stage, the Californian managed to methodically navigate his way back to the front amid a series of late caution periods. Then under the final stage with 14 laps remaining, Allmendinger made contact with Sheldon Creed to reassume the lead. From there, he fended off a late attack from William Byron to defend his winning title in Austin.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, AJ Allmendinger, the reigning Xfinity winner at COTA of the Americas, secured the pole position for the main event after posting a pole-winning lap at 92.173 mph in 133.184 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Sammy Smith, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 91.827 mph in 133.686 seconds.

Prior to the event, a host of names that included Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Sage Karam, Alex Labbe, rookie Chandler Smith, Kaz Grala, Bret Moffitt, Anthony Alfredo, Joe Graf Jr., Kyle Weatherman, Brennan Poole and Kyle Sieg dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, the field fanned out through the uphill climb to the first turn as Sammy Smith and Sheldon Creed launched ahead to Allmendinger’s outside with the lead while Ty Gibbs tried to sneak his way beneath Allmendinger’s No. 10 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro. Then entering the series of right and left turns from Turns 2 to 10, Creed cleared Sammy Smith and assumed the lead in his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro with Allmendinger and Gibbs moving back up to second and third.

After tracking Creed for the following four turns, Allmendinger made his move beneath Creed entering Turn 15 and re-assumed the lead. From there, Allmendinger navigated his way through the final series of turns from Turns 15 to 20 as he returned to the frontstretch and led the first lap. Meanwhile, Aric Almirola plummeted in the leaderboard after spinning his No. 08 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang in Turn 12 while the field remained under green flag conditions.

Through the second lap, Allmendinger was leading by more than two seconds over Creed followed by Gibbs, Sammy Smith and Austin Hill while John Hunter Nemechek, Parker Kligerman, William Byron, Daniel Hemric and Riley Herbst were running in the top 10. Behind, Jeb Burton was in 11th ahead of Miguel Paludo, Sam Mayer, Carson Hocevar and Connor Mosack while Jeremy Clements, Josh Bilicki, Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier and Alex Labbe occupied the top 20 in front of Josh Berry and Brandon Jones.

By the fifth lap, Allmendinger extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Gibbs while Creed dropped back to third and trailed by more than five seconds. Sammy Smith and Hill were running in the top five in front of Kligerman and Byron while Nemechek fell back to eighth. By then, all 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. With Brad Perez spinning in Turn 8, the event remained under green flag conditions.

Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Carson Hocevar, who was making his Xfinity Series debut for SS-Green Light Racing, came to a stop in Turn 1. By then, names like Ryan Sieg and Sage Karam were assessed pass-through penalties for cutting the esses. During the caution period, names like the leader Allmendinger, Kligerman, Herbst, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements, Chandler Smith and Kaz Grala remained on the track while the rest of the lead lap competitors pitted, with Berry pitting for repairs to the front nose after receiving damage from hitting Byron at the start of the event.

When the event restarted under green on the ninth lap, Allmendinger jumped ahead with a strong start and pulled away from Kligerman while the field fanned out entering the first turn and the series of right and left turns. Through the series of turns, Allmendinger retained the lead in front of Kligerman as Riley Herbst maintained third in front of Jones with the field jostling for positions.

At the Lap 10 mark and with a series of on-track battles ensuing, Allmendinger was leading by more than a second over Kligerman followed by Herbst, Creed and Jones while Chandler Smith, Clements, Gibbs, Grala and Allgaier were in the top 10, with 35 of 38 starters scored on the lead lap.

At the conclusion of the first stage on Lap 14, Allmendinger captured the stage victory while Creed, Kligerman, Gibbs, Byron, Herbst, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer were scored in the top 10. Compared to the first five events on the schedule, the caution flag did not display and the competitors proceeded under green as part of NASCAR’s new rules for this season, which highlighted that no caution periods would be mandated at the conclusion of stage breaks on road course venues that hold Cup Series events.

With the second stage proceeding, green flag pit stops ensued as Chandler Smith pitted followed by Hill. Allmendinger would then surrender the lead near the Lap 15 mark to pit as Creed cycled to the lead. By then, additional names like Herbst, Brandon Jones, Kaz Grala and Kyle Weatherman pitted along with the rest of the field.

On Lap 16, the second caution of the event flew when Preston Pardus came to a stop in Turn 1. By then, Austin Hill, winner of three of the first five-scheduled events, took his car to the garage due to an apparent shifter issue while the front-runners remained on the track.

During the following restart on Lap 19, Creed pulled ahead of Byron and the field to maintain the lead as the field tried to navigate through the first turn. Through Turn 1, carnage ensued as Almirola and Preston Pardus spun with Allmendinger also involved as he wedged Berry into Almirola and slammed the brakes while Almirola spun in front of him. As the event remained under green, Creed retained the lead in front of Allgaier and Byron while Sammy Smith and Cole Custer battled in front of John Hunter Nemechek and Gibbs.

A lap later and with the battles around the track ensuing, the caution returned due to debris in Turns 13 and 14 when Brandon Jones lost and shredded a left-front tire to his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro. During the caution period, the entire field led by Creed remained on the track for a second time.

On the ensuing restart on Lap 22, Creed battled and maintained the lead over Byron entering the first turn. As the field navigated through the first turn and the 20-turn road course, Allmendinger and Berry made contact through the esses while Herbst spun in Turn 8. Back at the front, Byron made his move to assume the lead from Creed in Turn 19, but Creed fought back with a crossover move as he reassumed the lead entering Turn 20 and back to the frontstretch. Byron, however, managed to draw himself with Creed entering the first turn and pull ahead through the fifth turn as he assumed the lead while Custer tried to close in.

By Lap 27, the caution returned when Brett Moffitt came to a stop in Turn 1. During the caution period, names that included Kligerman, Almirola, Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton and Berry remained on the track while the rest led by Byron pitted.

As the field restarted under green on Lap 29, Kligerman and Almirola dueled for the lead through the uphill climb to the first turn. Then exiting the first turn, Kligerman briefly fell off the pace Ryan Sieg rocketed past Kligerman and Almirola entering the second turn to assume the lead followed by Creed. In the midst of the battles, Cole Custer spun in Turn 4 with help from Berry and got his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang stuck in the gravel trap. With the event remaining under green as the battles ensued, the caution then fell with Custer unable to pull his car out of the gravel trap. By then, Mayer spun while running in the middle of the pack in Turn 11. This concluded the second stage break scheduled on Lap 30 as Creed captured the stage victory while Ryan Sieg, Nemechek, Almirola, Berry, Allmendinger, Byron, Ty Gibbs, Sammy Smith and Jeb Burton were scored in the top 10.

During the caution period, names like Ryan Sieg, Kligerman and Custer pitted while the rest led by Creed remained on the track.

With 14 laps remaining, the final stage proceeded under green. At the start, the field fanned out to multiple lanes as Creed battled and fended off Nemechek to retain the lead through the first turn and entering the series of turns. Behind, however, Allmendinger carved his way back into the runner-up spot as he set his sights on Creed for the lead while Nemechek, Byron, Almirola, Berry and Sammy Smith trailed in the top seven.

Then in Turn 15, Allmendinger ignited his charge for the lead on Creed as he tried to bump and move Creed through the following turns. Entering Turn 19, however, Creed and Allmendinger made contact as Creed slipped sideways before spinning. This allowed Allmendinger to move back into the lead followed by a hard-charging Byron and Nemechek through the frontstretch while Creed, who was in contention for his first Xfinity career victory, plummeted in the leaderboard.

During the following lap, the battle for the lead ignited as Byron tried to navigate his way around Allmendinger for the top spot in Turn 1. The latter, however, managed to maintain his ground and keep Byron’s No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro behind through Turn 2 and the following turns while a trio of Joe Gibbs Racing competitors that included Nemechek, Sammy Smith and Ty Gibbs were running in the top five.

Down to the final 10 laps, Allmendinger continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Byron followed by Sammy Smith, Nemechek and Gibbs while Allgaier, Berry, Almirola, Hemric and Jeb Burton were in the top 10. By then, 31 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. Not long after, however, Almirola spun while running in the top 10, but the event remained under green as Allmendinger retained the lead ahead of Byron.

With five laps remaining, Allmendinger extended his advantage to more than a second over Byron while teammates Ty Gibbs and Sammy Smith, both of whom were trailing the lead by more than 10 seconds, battled for third. Behind, Nemechek fell back to fifth in front of a hard-charging Allgaier while Hemric, Berry, Mayer and Jeb Burton occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Creed rallied his way back to 11th despite trailing the lead by more than 26 seconds.

A lap later, Nemechek got punted by Hemric with four laps remaining, but the event remained under green while Allmendinger maintained a decent advantage over Byron.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allmendinger remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Byron, who kept Allmendinger within his sights and was preparing for a final launch attack on the leader for the victory. By then, Nemechek made an unscheduled pit stop to address a flat left-rear tire. Through Turn 1 and the series of turns from Turns 2 to 10, Byron tried to close, but he briefly stepped out of the gas as Allmendinger placed a reasonable gap between himself and his challenger. Following the long straightaway in between Turns 11 and 12 before entering the final series of turns from Turns 12 to 20, Allmendinger did not miss a beat and managed to keep Byron in his rearview mirror as he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by eight-tenths of a second over Byron.

With the victory, Allmendinger, who is scheduled to make five Xfinity starts this season to go along with his full-time Cup Series campaign with Kaulig, became the first repeat winner at Circuit of the Americas in the Xfinity Series as he notched his 16th career win in the series, 11 of which have come on road course events. The victory was also the first of the season and 20th overall in the series for Kaulig Racing as Kaulig’s No. 10 entry returned to Victory Lane since Jeb Burton piloted the car number to a victory at Talladega Superspeedway in 2021.

“Well, William Byron might be one of the best ones in the sport right now,” Allmendinger said on FS1. “We’ve seen all the Cup races he’s winning. I knew it was gonna be tough, just trying to fight to get back up to the front there. [I] Hate we had contact with Sheldon [Creed]. I got under him. I was there, I felt like. He turned, I was trying to stay off him, so I hate that happened. So proud of everybody at Kaulig Racing. The Celsius Chevy was really hooked up. With all the damage we had, it definitely hurt the car. Man, I’m out of breath. I’m too old for this.”

“I spent a lot of years not winning anything,” Allmendinger added. “I’m gonna celebrate every [win] like it’s my last one. You never know. As much pressure that I put on myself, I’m always gonna try to live up to it. We fought hard. This was such a team effort. Pit crew was awesome. Just so proud of everybody. I’m just so lucky to be a part of this Kaulig Racing team.”

Byron, who made his lone Xfinity start of the season in Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 17 “all-star” entry, settled in second place for the third time in his Xfinity career while Ty Gibbs finished third in his first Xfinity start of the season in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 “all-star” entry as Cup Series regulars swept the podium spots.

“I just messed that esses up,” Byron, who will start on pole position for Sunday’s Cup Series event in Austin, said. “I was getting one final run at [Allmendinger]. Obviously, they were really good all day. Just great at these road courses and [I] still have just a little bit to gain and minimize some mistakes. Overall, [I] just got through the esses there. I didn’t want to get off and screw up second place, so I slowed way down to keep it within the track. Thanks to HendrickCars.com, Chevrolet. It was a great effort. Just need to clean it up in these cars. Just need to do a better job there, but I had a lot of fun racing them. Couple times, I probably had a shot and just needed to do a little better job. Part of it and hopefully, we’ll get’em tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, rookie Sammy Smith was the highest-finishing Xfinity regular notching fourth place while Allgaier finished fifth. Both along with sixth-place finisher Daniel Hemric and seventh-place finisher Sam Mayer have qualified for the first round of the Dash 4 Cash initiative that will occur next Saturday at Richmond Raceway.

Berry settled in eighth followed by Creed, who made a miraculous comeback from his late spin, while Herbst completed the top 10 on the track. By then, 31 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

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

Following the sixth event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 15 over Riley Herbst, 29 over John Hunter Nemechek, 49 over Justin Allgaier and 53 over Chandler Smith.

Results.

1. AJ Allmendinger, 28 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. William Byron, one lap led

3. Ty Gibbs

4. Sammy Smith

5. Justin Allgaier

6. Daniel Hemric

7. Sam Mayer

8. Josh Berry

9. Sheldon Creed, 16 laps led, Stage 2 winner

10. Riley Herbst

11. Brandon Jones

12. Chandler Smith

13. Miguel Paludo

14. Jeremy Clements

15. Alex Labbe

16. Anthony Alfredo

17. Parker Retzlaff

18. Kaz Grala

19. Connor Mosack

20. Ryan Ellis

21. Jeb Burton

22. Kyle Weatherman

23. Ryan Sieg

24. Aric Almirola

25. Jeffrey Earnhardt

26. Kyle Sieg

27. John Hunter Nemechek

28. Josh Bilicki

29. Brad Perez

30. Joe Graf Jr.

31. Parker Kligerman, one lap led

32. Cole Custer, one lap down

33. Brennan Poole – OUT, Steering

34. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Engine

35. Sage Karam – OUT, Engine

36. Preston Pardus – OUT, Suspension

37. Austin Hill – OUT, Engine

38. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Transmission

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of this season to Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, where the first of four Dash 4 Cash events will occur. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 1, at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.

March 25, 2023
Sammy Smith dominates for first Xfinity Series career win at Phoenix

In the valley of the desert where a handful of NASCAR’s future stars battled against the all-time series winner and champion Kyle Busch, a new star shined the brightest as rookie Sammy Smith notched his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory in the United Rentals 200 at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, March 11.

The 18-year-old Smith from Johnston, Iowa, led a race-high 92 of 200-scheduled laps, including the final 52, as he withstood a flurry of cautions, a 15-lap dash to the finish and a late charge from teammate Ryan Truex to claim his first Xfinity career victory in his 13th start in the series and become the first first-time winner across NASCAR’s top three national touring series for the 2023 season.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Cole Custer notched his first Xfinity pole of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 129.959 mph in 27.701 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Justin Allgaier, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 129.706 mph in 27.755 seconds.

Prior to the event, Kyle Busch and Jeffrey Earnhardt dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Parker Kligerman also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch dogleg as Custer, who also went through the dogleg, retained the lead ahead of Daniel Hemric and Sheldon Creed while Allgaier fell back into a side-by-side battle with John Hunter Nemechek for fourth. At the conclusion of the first lap, Custer led ahead of Hemric and Creed while Allgaier retained fourth in front of Nemechek and the field.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Custer was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Creed followed by Hemric, Allgaier and Nemechek while rookie Chandler Smith, Josh Berry, rookie Sammy Smith, Riley Herbst and Austin Hill were in the top 10. Behind, Ryan Truex was in 11th ahead of Ryan Sieg, Sam Mayer, Brett Moffitt and Kaz Grala while Jeb Burton, Josh Williams, Brandon Jones, Kyle Sieg and rookie Parker Retzlaff rounded out the top 20.

At the Lap 10 mark, Custer extended his advantage to more than a second over Creed while third-place Allgaier trailed by more than two seconds. By then, Nemechek and Hemric remained in the top five while the two Smiths involving Sammy and Chandler battle for sixth. In addition, Kyle Busch cracked the top 20 after starting towards the rear of the field.

Ten laps later, Custer continued to lead by more than two seconds over the new runner-up competitor Allgaier while Creed fell back to third as he trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Nemechek and Sammy Smith were in the top five in front of Herbst while Hemric was back in seventh in front of teammate Chandler Smith, Josh Berry and Austin Hill. By then, Ryan Truex was back in 11th in front of Mayer and Brandon Jones while Kyle Busch was up in 14th.

Another eight laps later, the first caution of the event flew when the back bumper from Leland Honeyman’s No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing entry came loose and fell onto the frontstretch. The cause of the loose bumper happened a few laps earlier when Honeyman got loose and made contact against the outside wall towards Turn 1.

With 10 laps remaining in the first stage, the event proceeded under green. At the start, Custer bolted ahead with the lead as the field fanned out through the dogleg again. Behind, Sammy Smith challenged Allgaier for second while Creed, Nemechek, Sammy Smith and Herbst battled for fourth. Shortly after, Allgaier launched a challenge to the outside of Custer for the lead but was unable to prevail as Custer maintained the lead on the inside lane.

Then on Lap 37, Allgaier made his move to the outside of Custer as he assumed the lead in his No. 7 hellowater Chevrolet Camaro through the backstretch and back to the frontstretch. A lap later, the caution returned when Berry, who was running in eighth, got bumped by Chandler Smith as he spun in the middle of Turn 3. Despite the spin, the entire field managed to dodge Berry as he continued without sustaining any damage. During the caution period, some led by Nemechek pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

With two laps remaining in the first stage, the event resumed under green. At the start, the field fanned out to four lanes through the dogleg and through the frontstretch as Allgaier retained the lead. Behind, Creed made his way into second in front of a bevy of competitors that continued to fan out to multiple lanes. This, however, allowed Allgaier to pull away from the field.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Allgaier claimed his second stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Creed fended off Sammy Smith for second followed by Herbst and Hemric while Custer, Busch, Mayer, Nemechek and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, some led by Allgaier pitted for the first time in the event while the rest led by Mayer and Nemechek remained on the track.

The second stage started on Lap 55 as Mayer and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out through the dogleg, Nemechek muscled into the lead on the inside lane while Hill and Mayer battled for second in front of a flurry of competitors. As the battles around the circuit proceeded, the caution returned during the following lap when Moffitt, who was running just outside the top 10, got loose underneath Jeremy Clements and spun in the middle of Turn 3, though he was narrowly dodged by the field.

During the following restart on Lap 62, Nemechek rocketed with the lead on the inside lane while Hill made his way into second. Behind, Ryan Truex and Jeb Burton challenged Mayer for third, though the later prevailed exiting the backstretch. As Nemechek retained the lead, Berry, who spun towards the conclusion of the first stage, carved his way back to sixth with multiple battles ensuing behind.

Following another caution period for a two-car incident involving Connor Mosack and Josh Williams in Turn 2 on Lap 68 and another restart on Lap 74, Nemechek battled and fended off Hill to remain the lead on the inside lane. Shortly after, however, NASCAR assessed Nemechek a pass-through penalty through pit road as a result of Nemechek dipping his No. 20 Safeway/Albertsons Toyota Supra below the frontstretch’s double yellow line boundary, which was deemed a violation. With Nemechek penalized, Hill assumed the lead followed by Sammy Smith while Ryan Truex, Mayer, Berry and Busch occupied the top six.

By Lap 84, the caution flew when Berry, who was running in fourth, got bumped by teammate Mayer as he spun his No. 8 Jarrett Logistics Systems Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 2 and towards the pit road’s entrance while being dodged by Busch. By then, Nemechek, who was mired in the next-to-last position in 37th place, managed to remain on the lead lap while Hill retained the lead in front of Sammy Smith and Truex. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Hill pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

With two laps remaining in the second stage, the event restarted under green as Allgaier and Anthony Alfredo occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier and Alfredo dueled for the lead through the frontstretch with the field behind fanning out to multiple lanes. As the field continued to battle through the backstretch, Allgaier pulled away as he commenced the final lap of the second stage. With no competition luring behind, Allgaier claimed his second consecutive Xfinity stage victory of the season and third overall at the Lap 90 mark. Hill carved his way back to second followed by Hemric, Sammy Smith and Kyle Busch while Alfredo, Mayer, Herbst, Kaz Grala and Creed were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, a few drivers including Allgaier and Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Hill remained on the track.

With 100 laps remaining, which marked the event’s halfway mark, the final stage started as Hill and Hemric occupied the front row. At the start, a three-wide battle ensued through the frontstretch as Kyle Busch and Hemric challenged Hill for the lead. In the process, Sammy Smith made it a four-car battle as he joined the battle while Busch carved his way into the lead by a hair over Smith. Soon after, Smith launched his challenge on Busch for the lead before prevailing in Turn 2 with 97 laps remaining. As Smith assumed the lead, Busch fell back to second while Hemric, Hill and Mayer were scored in the top five. Meanwhile, Ryan Truex was in sixth in front of teammate Nemechek, who rallied from his restart penalty, while Herbst, Custer and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10.

With 90 laps remaining, Sammy Smith was leading by more than a second over Busch followed by Hemric, Hill and Nemechek while Mayer, Herbst, Ryan Truex, Custer and Chandler Smith occupied the top 10. Behind, Creed was in 11th ahead of Brandon Jones, Kyle Weatherman, Grala and Parker Kligerman while Berry, Jeb Burton, Allgaier, Moffitt and Ryan Sieg were running in the top 20.

Fifteen laps later, Sammy Smith extended his advantage to more than three seconds over the new runner-up competitor Hill as Busch, who had debris on his front grille, slipped back to third to remove the debris behind Hill’s rear bumper. By then, Nemechek moved up to fourth in front of Mayer while Herbst, Hemric, Custer, Chandler Smith and Creed were running in the top 10.

With 62 laps remaining, the caution flew when Gray Gaulding wrecked against the Turn 1 outside wall as his event came to a late end. During the caution period, the field led by Sammy Smith pitted, but Hill reassumed the lead following a stellar pit service from his No. 21 crew followed by Busch while Sammy Smith dropped to third. Nemechek, Herbst and Mayer exited fourth through sixth while Allgaier gained four spots to move up to eighth.

Down to the final 53 laps, the event restarted under green. At the start, Hill led a stampede of competitors through the frontstretch until Kyle Busch pulled his No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet Camaro even to Hill’s outside through the backstretch. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Busch peaked ahead with the lead, but Hill fought back on the inside lane. Then As Sammy Smith drew himself in between Busch and Hill to regain his lead through Turn 2, the caution returned when Creed got loose beneath Custer as he spun his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 2 while being dodged by the field. At the moment of caution, Smith had reassumed the lead in front of Busch and Hill.

During the following restart with 44 laps remaining, Smith fended off Kyle Busch to retain the lead through the frontstretch and entering the backstretch. In the process, Busch came under attack from Nemechek for the runner-up spot, which he lost in Turn 3 while Hill fell back to fourth in front of Berry and Allgaier. As the field behind jostled for late positions, Smith maintained the lead as he also started to extend it over teammate Nemechek while third-place Busch trailed by more than a second.

Then with 30 laps remaining, the caution flew when Alfredo got loose and spun in Turn 2. By then, Sammy Smith was leading by more than two seconds over teammate Nemechek while third-place Busch trailed by more than three seconds.

When the race restarted under green with 24 laps remaining, Kyle Busch launched a three-wide challenge on Sammy Smith and Nemechek in his bid for the lead through the frontstretch. Then in Turn 1, Nemechek went up the track and tagged the outside wall as he began losing spots. Meanwhile, Busch and Smith dueled for the lead through the backstretch, but Smith prevailed on the outside lane to remain as the leader. As Smith began to pull away during the following lap, a flurry of competitors running in the middle of the pack fanned out and jostled for late positions. Then with 22 laps remaining, Allgaier, who nearly got turned by teammate Brandon Jones in Turns 3 and 4 while running ninth, collided against Kaz Grala, who got pinned by Moffitt, and wrecked into the outside wall across the frontstretch as his eventful event came to an end with a wrecked race car.

During the following restart with 15 laps remaining, Smith rocketed his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra away with the lead on the inside lane while Busch battled and just fended off Hill for second. Through the backstretch, Chandler Smith made his way into third followed by Ryan Truex as Hill fell back to fifth. Back at the front, Busch tried to launch an attack beneath Smith on the backstretch, but Smith fended off Busch to retain the lead as Chandler Smith joined the battle in his No. 16 Quick Tie Chevrolet Camaro.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Sammy Smith was leading by nine-tenths of a second over the new runner-up competitor Ryan Truex, who was piloting Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 Toyota Genuine Parts Supra, while Busch was being challenged by teammate Chandler Smith for third. Meanwhile, Herbst carved his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang to fifth while Nemechek, Creed, Hill, Berry and Hemric occupied the top 10.

With five laps remaining, Sammy Smith continued to lead by nearly half a second over teammate Ryan Truex, who continued to reel in on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the lead and potential win, while third-place Busch trailed by more than a second in front of teammate Chandler Smith and Herbst.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sammy Smith remained as the leader by six-tenths of a second over teammate Ryan Truex, who kept Smith close within his sights but was running out of time to bid for the lead. Despite Truex executing a late valiant effort for his first NASCAR victory, he ran out of time as Smith was able to cycle his No. 18 Supra way back to the start/finish line and claim his first checkered flag in the series.

With the victory, Smith, whose previous best result was 17th through the first three scheduled events, became the 172nd different competitor to win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series level, the 21st to win an Xfinity event while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing and the third different winner of the 2023 season. He also became the youngest series winner at Phoenix and the fourth-youngest overall at age 18 years, nine months and seven days. In the process, he recorded the record 16th Xfinity victory for JGR at Phoenix.

“It’s amazing,” Smith, a two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion, said on FS1. “It’s a dream come true. Just thanks to Pilot Flying J, TMC, Allstate Peterbilt Group, Toyota, all the guys on the [Joe Gibbs Racing] team for giving me this opportunity. It’s awesome.”

Teammate Ryan Truex notched a career-best runner-up result in his first of six scheduled starts with Joe Gibbs Racing for this season, which marked his third runner-up finish in the series overall and his first runner-up result in the series since Phoenix in March 2019, which occurred while driving a part-time stint with JR Motorsports.

“I thought we were good at the start,” Truex said. “Man, I think the track just changed a lot more than I expected it too. That long run, we were really bad. I was just hanging on, but [crew chief] Jason [Ratcliff] and these [No. 19] guys let me complain on the radio and made the right adjustments. That was a good restart at the end. Glad I could at least try to make it exciting. Congrats to Sammy. He was just the class of the field all day. His car just looked so good. [He] Could really kind of do whatever he wanted. Just thankful to be here. Thanks to Toyota Genuine Parts. Sammy was just a little bit faster, but I’ll try again next time.”

Sheldon Creed muscled his way to third in front of Herbst while Chandler Smith, who had a last-lap dust-up with Kyle Busch, completed the top five. Nemechek, Hill and Berry finished sixth through eighth, respectively, while Busch, who got sideways beneath teammate Chandler Smith and hit the Turn 1 outside wall on the final lap, ended up ninth. Hemric completed the top 10 in the final running order.

There were 14 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 69 laps. In total, 33 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the fourth event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill continues to lead the regular-season standings by 30 points over John Hunter Nemechek, 39 over Justin Allgaier and 40 over both Chandler Smith and Riley Herbst.

Results.

1. Sammy Smith, 92 laps led

2. Ryan Truex

3. Sheldon Creed

4. Riley Herbst

5. Chandler Smith, two laps led

6. John Hunter Nemechek, 19 laps led

7. Austin Hill, 22 laps led

8. Josh Berry

9. Kyle Busch, three laps led

10. Daniel Hemric

11. Sam Mayer, four laps led

12. Cole Custer, 38 laps led

13. Brett Moffitt

14. Anthony Alfredo

15. Parker Kligerman

16. Ryan Sieg

17. Kyle Weatherman

18. Parker Retzlaff

19. Ryan Ellis

20. Jeremy Clements

21. Josh Williams

22. Jeb Burton

23. Brandon Jones

24. Connor Mosack

25. Kyle Sieg

26. Joey Gase

27. Leland Honeyman

28. Bayley Currey

29. Brennan Poole

30. Patrick Emerling

31. Joe Graf Jr.

32. Garrett Smithley

33. Jeffrey Earnhardt

34. Kaz Grala, one lap down

35. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Suspension

36. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident, 20 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

37. Gray Gaulding – OUT, Accident

38. Dawson Cram – OUT, Fuel pump

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is a trip back to the south for the series’ first of two visits this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 18, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

March 11, 2023
Austin Hill scores dramatic Xfinity Series victory at Las Vegas

From trailing rookie Chandler Smith by nearly three seconds with 25 laps remaining to narrowing the deficit and overtaking him prior to the final lap, Austin Hill cashed in with his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season in the Alsco Uniforms 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 4.

The 28-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led three times for 19 of 200-scheduled laps, including the final two, as he overtook Smith for the lead prior to the final lap. Smith, who led a race-high 118 laps but had an advantage of nearly three seconds erased in the closing laps, was then overtaken by Justin Allgaier for the runner-up spot as Allgaier, who had been penalized earlier for a restart violation, tried to steal the victory away on the final lap. Time, however, fell in the favor of Hill as he held off a hard-charging Allgaier to steal the spotlight with his second victory through the series’ first three events of the season.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, rookie Chandler Smith notched his first Xfinity career pole after posting a pole-winning lap at 183.119 mph in 29.489 seconds. Joining him on the front row was veteran Justin Allgaier, who clocked in the second-best qualifying lap at 182.778 mph in 29.544 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that included Cole Custer, Sheldon Creed, Gray Gaulding, Josh Berry, Brandon Jones and Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars. Brennan Poole, Ryan Ellis, Alex Labbe and Garrett Smithley also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars along with Patrick Emerling, who replaced CJ McLaughlin in the No. 53 Emerling-Gas Motorsports entry.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Chandler Smith peeked ahead with the lead on the outside lane followed by Brett Moffitt while John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill fanned out entering the first turn. With a three-wide action occurring through the first two turns between Nemechek, Hill and Parker Kligerman for spots in the top five, Smith cleared the field to assume the lead followed by a side-by-side battle for the runner-up spot involving Justin Allgaier and Brett Moffitt.

As the field returned to the frontstretch, Chandler Smith led the first lap ahead of Moffitt and Allgaier while the field behind continued to fan out and jostle for positions early. Then during the following lap, the first caution flew when Kligerman, who was locked in a battle with Daniel Hemric for fifth place, got loose and slightly tapped by Nemechek as he spun in Turn 2, though he did not make any contact to his No. 48 Big Machine Racing entry as he pitted for fresh tires.

When the race restarted under green on the sixth lap, Chandler Smith and Allgaier dueled for the lead for nearly a lap until Smith managed to pull ahead on the outside lane to retain the lead. As the field behind fanned out, Austin Hill made his way into third place followed by Nemechek, Brett Moffitt and Daniel Hemric.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Chandler Smith was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier followed by Nemechek, Hill and Hemric while rookie Sammy Smith, Herbst, Sam Mayer, Berry and Moffitt were running in the top 10. Tyler Reddick was in 11th ahead of Rajah Caruth, Anthony Alfredo, Kyle Sieg and Jeb Burton while Kyle Busch methodically worked his way up to 16th from the rear of the field.

Three laps later, Allgaier muscled his No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet Camaro past Chandler Smith for the lead as Nemechek started to gain ground on the two leaders. Another four laps later, Nemechek assumed the runner-up spot over Smith while Hill and Hemric remained in the top five. It would not be until Lap 22, however, when Nemechek cycled his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra into the lead over Allgaier.

Through the first 30 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier followed by Hill, Hemric and Chandler Smith while Herbst, Sammy Smith, Berry, Mayer and Kyle Busch were battling in the top 10. Behind, Moffitt was in 11th ahead of Creed, Reddick, Jeb Burton and Kligerman while Brandon Jones, Alfredo, Custer, Ryan Sieg and Kyle Sieg occupied the top 20.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Nemechek, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Auto Club Speedway, captured his first stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Allgaier trailed in the runner-up spot by more than a second while Hill, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Hemric, Kyle Busch, Sammy Smith, Creed and Berry were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the field led by Nemechek pitted for service and Hill was the first competitor to exit pit road first followed by Nemechek, Allgaier, Busch, Hemric and Chandler Smith. During the pit stops, Alex Labbe was penalized after a tire rolled out of his pit stall and toward the track. Josh Bilicki was also penalized for speeding on pit road.

The second stage started on Lap 53 as Hill and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Hill and Nemechek dueled for the lead as the field behind fanned and jostled for spots. Entering the backstretch, Nemechek cleared Hill for the lead while Chandler Smith, Kyle Busch and Allgaier engaged in a three-wide battle for third place. A few laps later, Allgaier launched a bid for the lead to the outside of Nemechek, but Nemechek managed to pull ahead on the inside lane as Chandler Smith and Hill joined the battle. The battle for spots towards the top five proceeded as Sammy Smith and Kyle Busch crept into the picture at the front while Allgaier managed to pull ahead in front of Chandler Smith and Hill for the runner-up spot. Amid the battles, Nemechek checked out with a decent advantage while Hill and Kyle Busch duked for fourth place in front of Sammy Smith.

Through the first 60 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier, who had Chandler Smith closing in for the spot, while Kyle Busch and Sammy Smith were in the top five. Meanwhile, Hill fell back to sixth ahead of Mayer, Herbst, Hemric and Kligerman while Brandon Jones, Creed, Berry, Custer and Moffitt were mired in the top 15.

Ten laps later, Nemechek continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over the new runner-up competitor Chandler Smith, who overtook Allgaier for the spot nearly 10 laps earlier, while Allgaier, Kyle Busch and Mayer were running in the top five. In the midst of the battles, Hill was back in sixth ahead of Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Brandon Jones and Herbst while Hemric was back in 11th.

Then after Chandler Smith reassumed the lead on Lap 72 followed by Allgaier, the caution flew a lap later when Josh Berry, who was battling Herbst for 10th place, got loose entering Turn 4 and spun his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro across the grass without sustaining any damage. By then, Nemechek had fallen back to third in front of his former boss Kyle Busch. During the caution period, Berry pitted along with Nemechek, who radioed a possible vibration and loose wheel throughout the second stage, while the rest led by Chandler Smith on the track.

When the race proceeded under green on Lap 78, Chandler Smith and Allgaier battled for the lead for nearly a lap until Allgaier managed to pull ahead on the inside lane to take over the lead. In the midst of the battles, Hill was in third place followed by Kyle Busch while Brandon Jones emerged in the top five in fifth over Sammy Smith.

Five laps later, however, Allgaier surrendered the lead and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty down pit road after being assessed a restart violation for diving his car below the inside line prior to the start/finish line. With Allgaier plummeting to 26th place and as the last competitor on the lead lap, Chandler Smith reassumed the lead followed by Hill and Kyle Busch while Brandon Jones and Sammy Smith were in the top five. Then with four laps remaining in the second stage, Hill overtook Chandler Smith for the lead as Kyle Busch and Jones closed in on the two leaders.

With two laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when Rajah Caruth spun towards the apron in Turn 2. Caruth’s spin was enough for the second stage scheduled on Lap 90 to conclude under caution as Hill captured his second stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Brandon Jones settled in second in front of a hard-charging Kyle Busch while Mayer, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Custer, Moffitt and Creed were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the leaders led by Hill returned to pit road for service and Hill retained the lead after exiting pit road first. Kyle Busch exited second followed by Berry, who only opted for fuel for his service, while Herbst, Brandon Jones and Chandler Smith exited in fourth through sixth, respectively. Following the pit stops, Ryan Sieg and Jeremy Clements were penalized for speeding on pit road.

With 103 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Hill and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Hill and Busch duked for the lead through the first two turns as the field behind fanned out. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Busch peaked ahead with the lead and started to maintain control of the field in his No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet Camaro while teammate Chandler Smith battled Hill for second place.

With the event surpassing its halfway mark, Busch maintained a slight advantage over teammate Chandler Smith, with the latter launching his own challenge for the lead before reassuming it on Lap 102. Meanwhile, Hill fell back to third in front of Brandon Jones and Herbst while Berry was back in sixth over teammate Mayer, Sammy Smith, Custer and Hemric. By then, Allgaier was in 12th while Nemechek was in 15th.

Down to the final 90 laps of the event, Chandler Smith was leading by nine-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch and a second-and-a-half over Hill while Bery and Mayer were in the top five. By then, Brandon Jones was in sixth ahead of Herbst and a hard-charging Allgaier while Sammy Smith and Hemric occupied the top 10. By then, Custer was back in 11th over Creed, Nemechek, Kligerman and Tyler Reddick while Moffitt, Kaz Grala, Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton and Joe Graf Jr. were mired in the top 20.

Fifteen laps later, Chandler Smith continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch, who slowly began to decrease his deficit to his Kaulig Racing teammate, while Hill remained in third place and trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, Allgaier charged his way back to fifth place following his restart violation penalty in the second stage as he tried to navigate his way around teammate Mayer for fourth place. Then with 69 laps remaining, Hill navigated his way around Busch for the runner-up spot as Allgaier started to close in on Busch for third place.

With nearly 60 laps remaining, Chandler Smith retained the lead by more than a second over the new runner-up competitor Allgaier while Hill, Mayer and Kyle Busch were scored in the top five. By then, Nemechek carved his way back to eighth behind Herbst and Berry while Hemric had fallen to 14th in between Custer and Moffitt.

Not long after, pit stops under green ensued as Kyle Busch pitted. Chandler Smith would pit his No. 16 Quick Tie Chevrolet Camaro a lap later along with Allgaier, Hill, Mayer and others. During the pit stops, Sammy Smith slid his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra sideways below the apron while trying to enter pit road. During his spin, he managed to come to a stop sideways in front of Josh Williams’ pit stall and avoid hitting Mayer, who was completing his service, as the race remained under green flag conditions. Amid his spin, Sammy Smith was penalized for speeding on pit road. Brandon Jones was also assessed a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road, but his situation went from bad to worse when he received another speeding penalty when he sped while serving his first penalty.

With less than 55 laps remaining and with the series of green flag pit stops completed, Chandler Smith, who lost the lead to Hill following his pit stop under green before navigating his way back around Hill, cycled his way back to the lead followed by Hill, Kyle Busch, Allgaier and Mayer.

Under the final 40 laps of the event, Chandler Smith was leading by more than two seconds over Hill followed by Allgaier, who navigated his way around Kyle Busch for third place, while Mayer settled in fifth. By then, Berry occupied sixth in front of Herbst, Nemechek, Creed and Hemric while 13 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. Following his pair of pit road speeding penalties, Brandon Jones was relegated back to 28th.

With 25 laps remaining, Chandler Smith extended his advantage to nearly three seconds over Hill while Allgaier trailed by nearly four seconds in third place. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was mired in fourth place, trailing by more than six seconds, while Mayer was back in fifth place and trailing by nearly 10 seconds.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Chandler Smith, who was mired behind lapped competitors a few laps earlier and had led by more than two seconds, continued to lead by over a second Hill despite being reported to save fuel. Hill remained in second followed by Allgaier, who closed in on Hill for the runner-up spot.

With five laps remaining, Chandler Smith retained the lead, but only by nearly half a second as Hill continued to cut Smith’s advantage in his final bid for the lead and the win. Then with two laps remaining, Hill, who managed to close the gap and get close to the rear bumper of Smith’s car through the first two turns and through the backstretch, made his move beneath Smith’s No. 16 entry as he assumed the lead entering the frontstretch.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill was out in front ahead of Smith as Allgaier drew himself alongside Smith for the runner-up spot. Through the backstretch, Allgaier overtook Smith as Hill remained as the leader. As Allgaier tried to close in to Hill’s rear bumper, Hill managed to methodically navigate his No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro through the final two turns out in front and beat Allgaier by two-tenths of a second to steal the show and grab the victory.

With the victory, Hill, who won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in February, notched his fourth career win in the Xfinity Series, his first in the series at Las Vegas and the 90th Xfinity victory overall for Richard Childress Racing.

“[While I was] Passing one of the lapped cars early in our run, when [Chandler Smith] got by me [after a restart on Lap 98], I got really, really loose on entry to [Turn] 3,” Hill said on FS1. “I thought I was gonna wreck it, saved it. [Smith] got really far out. I just knew I had to not abuse the tires and try to methodically just work my way through traffic. The track was really tough today. Had a really thin line between [Turns] 3 and 4. If you missed it by—it seemed like a half of an inch—you paid for it through the whole lap. That’s just really what I stuck to all race long, was just trying to be disciplined through 3 and 4…I saw [Smith] struggling in traffic and my spotter Derek [Kneeland] was like, ‘Come on, baby. You can get it!’ I saw him get tight off of [Turn] 4 there, and I knew I painted the line perfectly. I knew if I could clear him down the frontstretch, I felt like once we had clean air, we could hold him off. We still got some things to work on, but it feels good to win on a mile and a half, not just these superspeedways.”

As Hill celebrated the victory, Chandler Smith was left disappointed over falling short of his first Xfinity Series victory. The 20-year-old Smith from Talking Rock, Georgia, however, remained optimistic over his third-place finish and a strong run in his third career start with Kaulig Racing.

“Overall, I got a little tight there at the very end,” Smith said. “It is what it is. That’s a tough pill to swallow. There’s some things I could’ve done inside before we started getting tight. All in all, I can’t be too disappointed. It’s my sixth [Xfinity] start, third start with Kaulig Racing. We had a really fast Quick Tie Products Camaro, and I just really appreciate [owner] Matt Kaulig, [team president] Chris Rice, everybody at Kaulig Racing for bringing me on board, believing in me. We’re going to win a few races this year, for sure.”

Allgaier settled in second place while Kyle Busch, who was aiming for a triple weekend sweep at his home track, ended up in fourth place in his first start with Kaulig Racing and in his first of five Xfinity starts of the 2023 season. Berry rallied to finish fifth while Nemechek, Mayer, Herbst, Creed and Hemric completed the top 10.

There were 14 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 22 laps. Only 12 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the third event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 21 points over Justin Allgaier, 24 over John Hunter Nemechek, 34 over Chandler Smith and 44 over Riley Herbst.

Results.

1. Austin Hill, 19 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Justin Allgaier, 10 laps led

3. Chandler Smith, 118 laps led

4. Kyle Busch, four laps led

5. Josh Berry, two laps led

6. John Hunter Nemechek, 45 laps led, Stage 1 winner

7. Sam Mayer, one lap led

8. Riley Herbst

9. Sheldon Creed

10. Daniel Hemric

11. Parker Kligerman

12. Cole Custer

13. Tyler Reddick, one lap down

14. Jeb Burton, one lap down

15. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

16. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

17. Sammy Smith, one lap down

18. Alex Labbe, one lap down

19. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down, one lap led

20. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

21. Brandon Jones, two laps down

22. Brett Moffitt, two laps down

23. Kaz Grala, two laps down

24. Ryan Sieg, three laps down

25. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

26. Rajah Caruth, three laps down

27. Ryan Ellis, three laps down

28. Bayley Currey, three laps down

29. Jeffrey Earnhardt, three laps down

30. Josh Williams, three laps down

31. Josh Bilicki, four laps down

32. Gray Gaulding, four laps down

33. Brennan Poole, four laps down

34. Patrick Emerling, six laps down

35. Blaine Perkins, eight laps down

36. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

37. Parker Retzlaff, 14 laps down

38. Joey Gase – OUT, Fuel Pump

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, for the series’ third and final stretch of a three-week West Coast swing. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 11, at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

March 4, 2023
TRICON Garage adds Sammy Smith for Truck Series opener at Daytona

A new season with a new opportunity will produce another first-time opportunity for Sammy Smith as he will be joining TRICON Garage in a one-race deal for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in mid-February.

The 18-year-old Smith from Johnston, Iowa, will be piloting TRICON’s No. 17 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro sponsored by Mobil 1 in place of Taylor Gray, who will not compete in the first three Truck events on this year’s schedule due to NASCAR’s age restriction policy. Gray, who is set to join TRICON and contend for the rookie title, will make his first start of this season at Circuit of the Americas in late March once he turns 18.

For Smith, the Daytona event will mark his first career start in the NASCAR Truck circuit. He is set to pilot Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota Supra on a full-time basis for this upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series season, beginning at Daytona in February, as he will contend for both the rookie and championship titles. During the previous season, Smith made his first nine career starts in the Xfinity circuit with JGR, where he notched three top-10 results and a career-best third-place run at Watkins Glen International in August. He is also a two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion, having won both titles in the last two consecutive seasons, and a six-time ARCA Menards Series winner.

The 2023 season is set to mark a new beginning for TRICON Garage, which was rebranded from David Gilliland Racing and changed manufacturers with Toyota following a three-year partnership with Ford. In addition to the No. 17 entry, the team will be fielding the Nos. 5, 11 and 15 entries on a full-time basis. Corey Heim, the reigning Truck Series Rookie-of-the-Year recipient, will be piloting the No. 11 entry for his first full-time Truck campaign while Dean Thompson and Tanner Gray will be driving the Nos. 5 and 15 entries, respectively. TRICON will also be fielding the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro on a part-time basis for newcomer William Sawalich, who is scheduled to make his Truck debut at Martinsville Speedway in April.

Additional details regarding TRICON Garage’s driver plans for the No. 17 entry for the following two Truck events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March have yet to be announced.

Smith’s debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is set to occur at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, which will commence a new season of Truck competition. The event is scheduled to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

February 3, 2023
Sammy Smith secures full-time Xfinity ride with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2023

Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Sammy Smith will be joining the NASCAR Xfinity Series competition on a full-time basis and behind the wheel of the No. 18 Toyota Supra for the 2023 season.

The 18-year-old Smith from Johnston, Iowa, is coming off a competitive 2022 campaign, where he made his first nine career starts in the Xfinity circuit, beginning at Road America in July and capping off the season at Phoenix Raceway in November. Throughout his part-time Xfinity schedule, he earned three top-10 results and recorded a career-best third-place run at Watkins Glen International in August while contributing to JGR’s No. 18 team finishing in seventh place in the 2022 Xfinity owner’s standings.

For his first full-time Xfinity season and bid for the series championship, Smith will be receiving a bevy of sponsorship support for the upcoming season that will include Pilot Flying J, TMC Transportation, Allstate Peterbilt, Renda Group, Sinclair Tractor and Mobil 1. Veteran Jeff Meendering, who served as Brandon Jones’ crew chief during the previous four seasons, will be remaining at JGR for a fifth full-time season to serve as Smith’s crew chief.

“This is an opportunity I have been working towards,” Smith said. “I can’t wait to get behind the wheel full-time and am looking forward to a great season. I learned a lot in 2022 that will really help me to be competitive and run up front in the Xfinity Series. Thank you to Pilot Flying J, TMC Transportation, Allstate Peterbilt Group, and Toyota Racing Development for supporting me in my racing career. I am excited for next year and appreciate the opportunity.”

In addition to his part-time Xfinity schedule in 2022, Smith competed on a full-time basis in the ARCA Menards Series East and part-time in the ARCA Menards Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He captured the ARCA East title after winning all but two of the series’ seven-race schedule, which marked his second consecutive title in the series after winning his first a year prior with Joe Gibbs Racing. In the ARCA side, he captured six victories and 15 top-five results in 16 starts, which was enough for him to deliver the owner’s title for KBM.

“Sammy is a fantastic addition to our 2023 Xfinity lineup. He proved to have the passion and the talent to necessary to compete for wins in the races he ran for us in 2022,” Steve DeSouza, Executive Vice President of Xfinity Series and Driver Development, added. “We are excited to get him in the No. 18 full time and know he will be competitive from the jump.”

The remainder of Joe Gibbs Racing’s and Toyota’s Xfinity Series lineup is set to be announced this Thursday, December 8, at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

With his plans for the upcoming season set, Smith’s first full-time campaign in the Xfinity Series is set to commence at Daytona International Speedway on February 18. The event’s coverage is slated to occur at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

December 6, 2022
Ty Gibbs dominates for first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix

In a season highlighted with competitive runs and big victories while also mired with controversial run-ins towards his fellow competitors amid his aggressive driving style, Ty Gibbs silenced his critics and responded back with redemption by winning the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship after muscling his way to a dominant victory in the Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, Nov. 5.

The 20-year-old Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, led seven times for a race-high 125 of 200-scheduled laps and took care of business during the first half of the finale by sweeping both stages. Despite being pitted in a head-to-head matchup against a trio of JR Motorsports’ competitors highlighted by Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry throughout the final stage, Gibbs did not relent by remaining competitive and battling towards the front with a strong race car and stellar work from his pit crew. After assuming the lead from Allgaier with 21 laps remaining, he then fended off a late charge from rival Gragson before claiming his first Xfinity title in his first full-time campaign in the series along with the second consecutive title for Joe Gibbs Racing in recent years.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Ty Gibbs, a Championship 4 finalist, claimed the final pole position of the 2022 season, which marked his fifth of this season, after posting a pole-winning lap at 134.298 mph in 26.806 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Sammy Smith, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 134.058 mph in 26.854 seconds. Gibbs’ title rivals that included Noah Gragson, Josh Berry and Justin Allgaier qualified fourth, ninth and 11th, respectively.

Prior to the event, Rajah Caruth dropped to the rear of the filed for missing driver introductions along with Joe Graf Jr., who fell back in a backup car.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Gibbs launched ahead with an early advantage as he retained the lead through the first two turns as the field fanned out through the dogleg. With the clean air to his advantage, Gibbs went on to lead the first lap followed by Nick Sanchez and Sammy Smith while Noah Gragson was in fourth ahead of Brandon Jones, Landon Cassill, Sheldon Creed and Daniel Hemric.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Smith followed by a hard-charging Gragson while Sanchez fell back to fourth. Brandon Jones retained fifth ahead of Cassill, Creed, Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry and AJ Allmendinger while Hemric, who got bumped and nearly turned sideways by Allgaier early in the event, was back in 11th in front of rookie Austin Hill.

At the Lap 10 mark, Gibbs extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Gragson, who overtook Smith three laps earlier, as Sanchez and Jones started to close in on Smith for more. Meanwhile, Allgaier was in seventh after overtaking Creed while Berry remained in ninth.

Ten laps later, Gibbs, who was approaching lapped traffic, continued to extend his advantage as he was out in front by more than three seconds over runner-up Gragson. While Smith and Sanchez remained in third and fourth, Allgaier was up in fifth place ahead of Cassill and Brandon Jones while Berry, the fourth title contender, was in eighth in front of Creed and Allmendinger.

Another 10 laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Brandon Brown blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 2 as he sustained significant right-side damage to his car. By then, three of the four championship finalists were running first through third on the track, with Gibbs retaining the lead by more than two seconds over runner-up Gragson and more than seven seconds over third-place Allgaier. By then, Berry, the fourth championship competitor, was still mired in eighth behind Brandon Jones.

During the first caution period, some led by Smith and Sanchez pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

With eight laps remaining in the first stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start and as the field fanned out through the dogleg, Gibbs fended off Gragson to retain the lead as Gragson also fended off teammate Allgaier for the runner-up spot through the first two turns. Behind, Cassill was in fourth ahead of Berry while the field continued to fan out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch and entering the backstretch. In the midst of the hard racing towards the middle of the pack, Sanchez and Smith were trying to carve their way back to the front on four fresh tires.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Gibbs struck first early as he claimed his ninth stage victory of the 2022 season. Title rivals Gragson, Allgaier and Berry settled in second through fourth, respectively, followed by Cassill while Creed, Sanchez, Smith, Brandon Jones and Allmendinger were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted while four competitors led by Sanchez remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Gibbs was the first competitor to exit pit road first followed by teammate Brandon Jones, Cassill, Allmendinger, Gragson and Allgaier.

The second stage started on Lap 53 as Sanchez and Smith occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out through the dogleg again, Smith launched ahead of Sanchez followed by a hard-charging Gibbs through the first two turns. A lap later, however, Gibbs muscled his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra back to the lead as teammate Brandon Jones joined the battle. Meanwhile, teammates Allgaier and Gragson were mired back in eighth and ninth while Berry was in 12th. Shortly after, Gragson pulled off a bold three-wide move on Allgaier and Riley Herbst through the dogleg for seventh place as he tried to march his way back to the front.

By Lap 59, the caution returned when JJ Yeley spun in Turn 1 following contact from Kris Wright. At the moment of caution, Gibbs was leading both the race and the championship by nearly two seconds over Smith followed by Jones, Cassill and Hemric while Gragson, Allgaier, Sanchez, Herbst and Berry were running in the top 10.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 65, teammates Gibbs and Smith dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Smith rocketed ahead through the backstretch with the lead. A lap later, however, Gibbs fought back on the inside lane, though Smith did not relinquish the lead. In the midst of the battle for the lead, Gragson overtook Jones for third place as he started to close in on the two leaders. With Gragson in third, Allgaier was in fifth as he tried to close in on Jones for fourth place.

Then on Lap 68, Gragson pulled a bold three-wide move on Gibbs and Smith through the frontstretch and the dogleg to take the lead entering Turn 1. Smith, however, fought back on the outside lane through Turn 2 and the backstretch as he retained the top spot by a hair. Then as Gibbs tried to overtake Gragson for the runner-up spot, Gragson fought back and retained the spot while Allgaier tried to close in while in fourth place.

At the Lap 74 mark, Gragson muscled his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro into the lead through the frontstretch and the dogleg. Not long after, Gibbs overtook teammate Smith for the runner-up spot through Turn 3 as Allgaier made his way into third place, thus dropping Smith to fourth place. Behind, Cassill was in fifth followed by teammate Allgaier while Jones was being pressured by Sam Mayer and Berry for seventh place.

On Lap 79, Gibbs reassumed the lead from Gragson, who then was being attacked by teammate Allgaier for the runner-up spot. Despite attempting to fend off his JR Motorsports teammate for the spot during the next few laps, Gragson lost the spot to Allgaier as Smith and Cassill closed in to join the battle. Meanwhile, Gibbs started to pull away with the clean air to his advantage.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Gibbs captured his ninth stage victory of the 2022 season as he swept both stages in the finale and struck again in his quest for his first Xfinity title. Allgaier settled in second followed by Gragson, who recorded the most stage victories of this season at 16. Smith and Cassill were scored in the top five followed by Mayer, Jones, Allmendinger, Creed and Berry.

Under the stage break, the field led by Gibbs returned to pit road. Following the pit stops, Allgaier emerged with the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of Gibbs, Jones, Gragson, Smith and Cassill while Berry was mired back in 10th.

With 102 laps remaining, the final stage started as Allgaier and Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier and Gibbs dueled for the lead for a full lap as the field behind jostled for positions. During the following lap, Gibbs used the outside lane to his advantage as he reassumed the lead through Turns 1 and 2 while Allgaier was trying to fend off Gragson and Jones for third place. By then, the event surpassed its halfway mark.

On Lap 101, however, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck that erupted in Turn 4 when Smith got into the left rear fender of Mayer and ignited a chain reaction with Herbst, Anthony Alfredo, Kaz Grala, Kyle Weatherman, Ryan Sieg and Stefan Parsons all wrecking and sustaining damage to their respective cars.

When the race restarted with 92 laps remaining, Gibbs and Allgaier dueled again for the lead through the first two turns until Gibbs pulled ahead on the outside lane during the following lap to retain the lead. Behind, teammates Gragson and Allgaier battled for the runner-up spot while Allmendinger was in fourth in front of Creed, Jones and Berry.

With 90 laps remaining, the caution flew when Smith, who had a good day gone bad during the previous caution period, had his race gone from bad to worse when he spun and wrecked along with Kyle Weatherman, Joey Gase and Mason Massey in Turn 2.

During the following restart with 84 laps remaining, Gibbs and Gragson briefly dueled for the lead through the dogleg until the former pulled ahead through the backstretch. Then through Turns 3 and 4, Gragson muscled his car into the lead on the inside lane. Gibbs then tried to fight back on the inside lane during the following lap, but Gragson retained the spot while running the outside lane.

With 80 laps remaining, however, a side-by-side action for the lead was instigated once again between Gragson and Gibbs, with the latter trying to pressure the former for the top spot. Gragson, however, refused to relinquish the lead through every turn, every straightaway and through every attempt made by Gibbs as Allgaier started to close in on the two leaders. By then, Berry was in fourth place as all four championship finalists were running first through fourth.

With 75 laps remaining, Gragson was out in front by two-tenths of a second over teammate Allgaier, who pressured Gibbs for the runner-up spot before succeeding, as Berry was trailing the lead by a second.

Five laps later, Gragson retained the lead on the track and for the championship battle by four-tenths of a second over teammate Allgaier, seven-tenths of a second over third-place Gibbs and more than a second over fourth-place Berry. By then, Jones was in fifth while Creed, Cassill, Allmendinger, Hemric and Sanchez were scored in the top 10.

Then with 55 laps remaining, the battle for the lead started to intensify as Gragson was starting to be intimidated by teammate Allgaier for the lead through the turns and the straightaways followed by Gibbs while Berry trailed by more than two seconds. By then, the leaders were also starting to catch lapped traffic.

With 53 laps remaining, Gragson went wide in Turn 3, which allowed Allgaier to assume the lead followed by a hard-charging Gibbs. Despite gathering his car back to his groove, Gragson was losing ground of the two leaders. Not long after, however, Mayer, who was on the track and multiple laps down, briefly stalled Gibbs’ momentum as Allgaier retained the lead, which allowed Gragson to close back in.

Then with 47 laps remaining, Gibbs ignited a side-by-side battle for the lead against Allgaier, but Allgaier defended the top spot while running on the outside lane. Two laps later, however, the caution flew due to possible fluid on the track when Dillon Bassett’s No. 77 Chevrolet went up in smoke before coming to a stop below the apron in Turn 3.

During the caution period, the field led by Allgaier made the left-hand turn to pit road for fresh tires, fuel and adjustments. Following the pit stops, Gibbs exited with the lead followed by Allgaier, Berry, Creed, Allmendinger, Jones and Cassill while Gragson fell all the way back to eighth following another slow pit stop from his pit crew.

Down to the final 36 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Gibbs and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier received a push from Creed to assume the lead through the dogleg and the frontstretch. He then went wide in Turns 1 and 2, which allowed Gibbs to rocket by with the lead as Allgaier, who had light smoke coming out of his car prior to the restart, was being challenged by Creed and Allmendinger for the runner-up spot in a three-wide battle. During the following lap, the caution returned when Gragson, who was trying to fight his way back to the front, got into the left-rear fender of Jones as Jones spun his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra towards the pit road entrance in Turn 2. By then, Allgaier retained second ahead of teammate Berry and behind title rival Gibbs.

During the following restart with 30 laps remaining, Allgaier, who had light smoke puffing out of his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro again prior to the restart, received a strong start on the inside lane as he fended off Gibbs to assume the lead. Behind, Berry’s No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro washed up the track and he lost a bevy of spots through the first two turns while Gibbs launched a side-by-side attack on Allgaier for the lead. As Allgaier retained the lead ahead of Gibbs, Gragson was trying to fend off Creed for third place, which he persevered as he then tried to close in on the two leaders.

With 21 laps remaining and following several laps of Gibbs and Allgaier trading spots back and forth between each turn and straightaway, a three-wide action for the lead occurred as Allgaier, Gibbs and Gragson dueled for the lead. Then in Turn 1, Gibbs crossed over on Allgaier’s Chevrolet to reassume the lead. Gragson then overtook teammate Allgaier for the runner-up spot while trying to keep rival Gibbs close enough to his front windshield.

Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by more than half a second over Gragson while Allgaier trailed by a second in third place. Meanwhile, Berry was mired back in 14th place.

Five laps later and with 10 laps remaining, Gibbs continued to lead the race and the championship by six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Gragson while Allgaier was behind by a second in third place. In the midst of the battle for the lead, Berry was back in 14th as his title hopes were evaporating.

Down to the final five laps of the event, Gibbs retained the lead by half a second over Gragson, who was slowly running out of time. By then, Allgaier was also losing ground as he was more than a second behind in third place.

Then with two laps remaining, Gibbs’ momentum was briefly stalled by Mayer, who was multiple laps down, as he drew himself alongside Gibbs’ Toyota with both competitors battling through the backstretch. This allowed Gragson to slightly close in, but not enough as Gibbs pulled ahead of Gragson through Turns 3 and 4.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gibbs remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over Gragson. Through Turns 1 and 2, Gibbs overtook the lapped car of Dawson Cram to try to increase his light advantage over Gragson. With a final opportunity to steal the victory and title, Gragson stepped on the gas through the backstretch as he overtook Cram. He then tried to get to Gibbs’ rear bumper, but the gap was not close enough for him to pounce. With Gragson unable to close back in, Gibbs cycled back to the frontstretch and streaked across the finish line in first place to win both the finale and the championship.

With his accomplishment, Gibbs, who won the 2021 ARCA Menards Series championship and won in his Xfinity debut at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course during the same season, became the 32nd different competitor to win a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship as he recorded the fourth Xfinity drivers’ title for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. He also became the fourth-youngest competitor to win an Xfinity championship at age 20 years, one month and one day old. The title was also the seventh Xfinity Series owner’s championship title for Joe Gibbs Racing and the first for crew chief Chris Gayle.

Upon performing his victorious burnout and waving the championship flag on the frontstretch, Gibbs’ championship celebration was met with an unpopular response from the crowd through a chorus of boos. The unpopular response from the crowd did very little to damper Gibbs’ celebratory mood, with the driver taking responsibility for his aggressive actions last weekend at Martinsville Speedway that eliminated teammate Brandon Jones’ opportunity to transfer to the finale.

“First off, I just wanna say thank you to my team,” Gibbs, who notched his seventh victory of the season en route to the title, said on USA Network. “Every one of these guys. My pit crew. They did an awesome job. They put us here. Great job to my team. What I did last week was unacceptable. I apologize once again, but it was unacceptable because we could have had two shots to win this deal, and it was stupid from an organizational standpoint. I will sit here and tell you I’m sorry as much as I can, but it is not going to fix it. I’ve got to fix my actions. I feel like today I had a good race. We made some good moves. Me and [Allgaier] were racing really hard. Hopefully, we put on a good show for you fans. Thank you for all that you guys do.”

“I don’t want to be the one with the boos,” Gibbs added. “I’m the one that put myself in that position, but whatever. I don’t want this championship to be remembered for boos. I want it to be remembered for the hard work on our team. Awesome job. Let’s go, Monster Energy! Thank you to the fans. Even though I don’t have many, hopefully, I earned some respect back. We’ll move on. Thank you, guys. I focused out the windshield. I felt like we had a great race with [Gragson]. Great job to JR Motorsports, but the 25% won. I had an awesome time racing in the Xfinity Series this year. Looking for more and I’m very excited. We’re champions. We’re champions.”

Joe Gibbs, the team owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, added, “It was a tough week. We hated last week. We’re just trying to walk through this, since then, trying to do it the right way. Our family’s walking with Ty. Today was a huge day for all of us and particularly for the Xfinity group. They worked so hard. This is confidence [for Ty]. I felt like that race today was really exceptional. I think everybody was up there and everybody was battling. I appreciated the sportsmanship with the way everybody raced. I thought it was a great race. To be a part of that and somehow come out winning is just great. We’re excited about tomorrow [for the Cup Series finale], but we’ll kind of see what our guys do.”

While Gibbs celebrated a championship on the main stage, Gragson was left disappointed on pit road after finishing in second place on the track and in the final standings, thus falling one spot short of winning his first NASCAR national touring series title in his final season with JR Motorsports. Nonetheless, the 2022 season was a career-defining season for the Las Vegas native, who notched a series-leading eight victories, two poles, 21 top-five results and 26 top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule. For the 2023 season, Gragson is set to graduate to the NASCAR Cup Series to pilot the No. 42 Chevrolet for Petty GMS Motorsports.

“[The difference was] Executions on pit stops,” Gragson said. “We just need to be better as a Bass Pro Shops team all around, but so proud of everyone’s efforts. Thought we really had a good car there in the second half. Restarted eighth on that last restart, got up to second. Just too tight there at the end, but still super proud of everybody. Just didn’t have enough for [Gibbs] at the end. It wasn’t from a lack of trying. I was gonna drive it in, if I was any closer and get that POS. Definitely sucks to lose to someone like that, but it’s not from a lack of effort.”

“This Bass Pro Shops team was really good all year,” Gragson added. “Eight wins, led the most laps, most top fives. Just come up one race short, but just so thankful for everybody at JR Motorsports. It sucks. As a team effort, we win and lose as a team. Still proud of everyone’s efforts all year. We’ve been in position to win a lot of races and have executed them all. Just come up one spot short. Definitely bittersweet moving on to the Cup Series next year with Petty GMS [Motorsports]. Big thanks to them for putting me in the No. 42 car next year for them, but I’m gonna miss this JR Motorsports team. I know everyone’s pissed, but still an unbelievable year. Just gotta keep working hard. That’s all there is to it.”

Like Gragson, teammates Allgaier and Berry were also left disappointed after falling short of winning the title for JR Motorsports. For Allgaier, he capped off the season in third place both on the track and in the final standings. On the other hand, Berry settled in 13th place on the track and back in fourth place in the final standings.

“Honestly at the end of the race there, we had some issues going on,” Allgaier said. “Not so sure the engine’s not blowing up. We didn’t have any gauges all night and it definitely was a struggle at the end to hold on. We just got a little bit too loose. Nothing to hang our heads over. Obviously, we’re dejected not one of our JR Motorsports’ cars went to Victory Lane or got the championship. It’s gonna make me even hungrier to go back to work on Monday and try to make this program better. Just proud of our team. Proud of the effort. We wanted it. I gave these guys 110%. I was actually yelling in the car just because I was frustrated at the end there not being able to catch [Gibbs]. My voice is gone. Just proud of the effort all year. You come to Daytona at the beginning of the year to make a shot at the Final Four and we did that. We’re gonna go back to work and we’ll come back next year ever stronger. Try to do it all over again.”

“[It] Just was a long day,” Berry added. “Just a tough day. All weekend, we’ve just been fighting it a little bit. Just super, super loose at the start. Worked on it and got better. Got some track position. A couple restarts went our way. We were able to get up there, but the last restart, I don’t know. It’s so hard to tell with that traction compound. Sometimes, you go up [the high lane] and you can look like a hero. Sometimes, you look like a zero. I went up there. It just wasn’t cleaned off and got loose and got up too high. Lost all those spots. Just a tough day. I hate I made that mistake, but we were behind all day. Just wasn’t our day. Gonna work hard over the off-season to be better. Maybe, we can be back here next year.”

Kaulig Racing’s Cassill and Allmendinger came home in fourth and fifth on the track while Creed, Herbst, Hemric, Hill and Sammy Smith completed the top 10 in the final running order.

With his 21st top-10 result of the season, Hill clinched the 2022 Xfinity Series Rookie-of-the-Year title. With 24 victories throughout the 33-race schedule, Chevrolet capped off this season with the manufacturer’s title.

There were 15 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 49 laps.

Results.

1. Ty Gibbs, 125 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

2. Noah Gragson, 35 laps led

3. Justin Allgaier, 26 laps led

4. Landon Cassill

5. AJ Allmendinger

6. Sheldon Creed

7. Riley Herbst

8. Daniel Hemric

9. Austin Hill

10. Sammy Smith, 10 laps led

11. Brandon Jones

12. Nick Sanchez, four laps led

13. Josh Berry

14. Kyle Weatherman

15. Josh Williams

16. Jeb Burton

17. Rajah Caruth

18. Alex Labbe

19. Bayley Currey

20. Ryan Sieg

21. Parker Retzlaff

22. Kyle Sieg

23. Kaz Grala

24. Joey Gase

25. Myatt Snider

26. Kris Wright

27. Jeremy Clements

28. Stefan Parsons, one lap down

29. Brennan Poole, two laps down

30. JJ Yeley, three laps down

31. Dawson Cram, four laps down

32. BJ McLeod, four laps down

33. Mason Massey, four laps down

34. Sam Mayer, five laps down

35. Anthony Alfredo, six laps down

36. Joe Graf Jr., seven laps down

37. Brandon Brown – OUT, Suspension

38. Dillon Bassett – OUT, Engine

*Bold indicates Championship finalists

Final standings.

1. Ty Gibbs

2. Noah Gragson

3. Justin Allgaier

4. Josh Berry

5. AJ Allmendinger

6. Austin Hill

7. Sam Mayer

8. Brandon Jones

9. Daniel Hemric

10. Riley Herbst

11. Ryan Sieg

12. Jeremy Clements

The NASCAR Xfinity Series competitors and teams enter an off-season period before returning to action on February 18, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway to commence a new season of competition.

November 6, 2022
Ty Gibbs claims controversial Xfinity victory at Martinsville; Championship 4 field set

With the championship finale looming over the NASCAR Xfinity Series competition and spots to battle for the title up for grabs, Ty Gibbs spoiled teammate Brandon Jones’ opportunity to compete for this year’s title by wrecking him on the final lap before proceeding to claim a controversial victory in the Dead on Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 29.

The 20-year-old Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, led seven times for a race-high 102 of 269 over-scheduled laps and took care of business for the majority of the event to secure a spot for the Championship 4 round based on points. Under the final 10 laps and pushing his car for more, however, Gibbs found himself squared off against teammate Brandon Jones, who was placed in a “must-win” situation to maintain his title hopes through a series of late restarts and incidents that sent the event into overtime three times.

During the third and final overtime attempt, Jones, who traded paint with Gibbs throughout a series of late restarts, managed to navigate his way around Gibbs and the field for the lead, but Gibbs delivered the final blow on the final lap by bumping and sending his teammate backward into the wall. The incident netted Gibbs an unpopular victory from the grandstands while Jones was one of four competitors to have their championship hopes for this season come to a late end.

By claiming his sixth victory of the 2022 Xfinity Series season, Gibbs is set to square off against JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Justin Allgaier for this year’s Xfinity title that will determine a champion next weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Playoff competitor Brandon Jones scored his fifth pole position of the 2022 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 95.482 mph in 19.832 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Sheldon Creed, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 95.333 mph in 19.863 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following competitors that included Playoff competitor Austin Hill, Derek Griffith and Kyle Weatherman dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Daniel Hemric also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during the practice session on Friday.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Brandon Jones rocketed with an early advantage through the first two turns ahead of Creed and Sammy Smith while Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson dueled for fourth place. As the field battled through two lanes for a full circuit, Jones went on to lead the first lap.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Jones was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Creed followed by Smith, Gibbs and Gragson while Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, Anthony Alfredo and Jeb Burton were running in the top 10. Jeremy Clements, Joe Graf Jr., Josh Berry, Ryan Sieg and Landon Cassill occupied the top 15 while Sam Mayer was back in 16th.

Ten laps later, Jones continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Gibbs while Creed, Smith and Gragson were all scored in the top five. By then, six of eight Playoff competitors were running in the top 10 on the track, minus Mayer and Hill.

On Lap 32, the first caution of the event flew when Patrick Emerling got into the rear of Joe Graf Jr. entering Turn 1 as Graf backed his car hard into the outside wall while Emerling also spun in front of Jeremy Clements and Howie Disavino III. During the first caution period, some led by Gragson pitted while the rest led by Jones remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Gragson was penalized for speeding while entering pit road.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 41, Jones retained the lead over teammate Gibbs and the field. As the field jostled for positions, Jones was able to maintain the top spot for the duration of the first stage as he went on to claim his third stage victory of the 2022 season on Lap 60, which marked the first stage’s conclusion. Teammate Gibbs settled in second followed by Allgaier, Berry and Smith while Herbst, Creed, Allmendinger, Mayer and Hill claimed top-10 spots and the first round of stage points.

Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Jones pitted while Gragson and Rajah Caruth remained on the track. During the pit stops, Kyle Weatherman and Alex Labbe were both penalized for safety violations.

The second stage started on Lap 70 as Gragson and Caruth occupied the front row. At the start, Gragson took off with the lead and managed to cross over from the outside lane to the inside lane entering the first turn. Behind, the field fanned out to three lanes as Jones muscled his way into the runner-up spot while Berry and Gibbs were also scored in the top five. Behind, Allgaier battled Smith for sixth place while racing on the outside lane as the field continued to duel and rub against one another for spots.

Eighteen laps later, Gibbs emerged as the third different leader of the event after he overtook Gragson.

On Lap 106, the caution flew when Landon Cassill wheel-hopped his No. 10 StormX Chevrolet Camaro entering Turn 3 and smacked the outside wall hard while locking up his front tires. During the caution period, some led by Gibbs remained on the track while the rest led by Jones pitted.

With nine laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green as Gibbs and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier gained momentum on the outside lane to move his No. 7 iRacing/BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro into the lead. Five laps later, however, Allgaier slipped up the track entering Turn 3, which allowed Gibbs to reassume the top spot. As Gibbs maintained his ground with the lead, Berry and Hill rubbed fenders while battling for sixth place.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Gibbs claimed his eighth stage victory of the 2022 season. Allgaier settled in second while Allmendinger, Gragson, Sanchez, Berry, Hill, Jeb Burton, Ryan Sieg and Alfredo were scored in the top 10. By then, six of eight Playoff competitors were scored in the top 10 and were awarded a second round of stage points while Brandon Jones and Mayer were mired back in 11th and 18th.

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

With 122 laps remaining, the final stage started as Berry and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Berry retained the lead and had both lanes to his control with clean air while Hill intimidated Smith for the runner-up spot by bumping him and trying to move him up entering the turns. Smith, however, retained his ground and the runner-up spot while Creed and Jones battled for fourth in front of Herbst and Hemric. A few laps later, Hill prevailed over his battle with Smith as he moved into the runner-up spot while Jones tried to issue a challenge on teammate Smith for third place.

Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Berry was leading by more than a second over Jones, who battled and overtook Hill for the runner-up spot, while Herbst and Gibbs were scored in the top five. Smith, Mayer, Allmendinger, Gragson and Creed were running in the top 10 ahead of Allgaier, Sanchez, Hemric, Perkins and Snider while Alfredo, Labbe, Sieg, Weatherman and Derek Griffith occupied the top 20.

Eleven laps later, the caution returned when Yeley wrecked in Turn 3 after wheel-hopping entering the turn and sustaining significant rear-end damage to his car. During the caution periods, the leaders returned to pit road and Jones managed to reassume the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Berry, Gibbs, Gragson and Herbst.

When the race restarted under green with 81 laps remaining, Jones rocketed with the lead entering the first turn while Berry settled in the runner-up spot behind Jones and in front of Gibbs before Gibbs assumed Berry’s spot during the following lap. Behind, Herbst was in fourth while Allmendinger and Gragson battled for fifth place in front of Hill.

Then with 72 laps remaining, Gibbs muscled his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra into the lead over teammate Jones’ No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra through Turns 3 and 4 as Jones was placed back into a “must-win” situation to maintain his title hopes.

Sixteen laps later, the caution flew when Kris Wright got bumped by Disavino III as both spun in Turn 3. During the caution period, some that included Allmendinger and Hill pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

With 48 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as teammates Gibbs and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs, who restarted on the outside lane, rocketed away from the field entering Turn 1 before he crossed over to the inside lane entering the backstretch to block Jones, who was being challenged by Gragson for more. Not long after, however, the caution returned when Ryan Sieg spun towards the outside wall in Turn 1 after getting hit by Hemric’s No. 11 AG1 Chevrolet Camaro.

As the race restarted with 40 laps remaining, Gibbs took off with another strong start while Jones and Gragson dueled for second in front of Smith, Berry, Mayer and Allgaier. Three laps later, however, the caution was displayed when Hill, Clements and Parsons came together as all three wrecked entering the backstretch. The incident prompted Hill to pit his No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro from the top 20 during the caution period as his hopes of advancing to the Championship 4 round were placed in jeopardy.

When the race restarted with 32 laps remaining, Gibbs and Gragson dueled for the lead for nearly a full lap before Gibbs, who officially clinched his spot for the Championship 4 finale, cleared the field and had both lanes to his control through Turn 4. It did not take long, however, for the caution to return for a multi-car stack-up that struck entering Turn 4 when Snider got turned and collected Hill, Emerling, CJ McLaughlin, Disavino, Kris Wright, Stefan Parsons and Mason Massey. During the caution period, Berry surrendered seventh place to pit along with Labbe, Hill and Josh Williams while the rest of the competitors remained on the track.

During the following restart with 23 laps remaining, Gibbs took off with the lead while Jones battled Gragson for second place in front of Smith, Mayer, Herbst and Allgaier. Jones prevailed over Gragson during the following lap as he moved into second place while Allgaier and Allmendinger dueled and rubbed fenders for seventh place.

With less than 20 laps remaining, the battle for seventh place on the track and for a championship finale spot ignited between Allgaier and Allmendinger as Allgaier, who got moved up the track following a bump by Allmendinger a few laps earlier, ran into the rear of Allmendinger in Turn 3 as both dueled against one another. Then with 17 laps remaining, Allgaier, who got moved up the track again by Allmendinger in Turn 1, delivered the final blow as he pounded into Allmendinger’s rear bumper twice entering Turn 3. With Allmendinger moving up the track, Allgaier seized his opportunity and made contact into the side of Allmendinger as Allmendinger nearly got loose in Turn 4 before falling off the pace after cutting a left-rear tire amid the contact. With the caution flying, Allmendinger pitted his No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro for fresh tires as his hopes of transferring to the finale were placed in jeopardy. The incident also erased Gibbs’ steady advantage over teammate Jones.

Down to the final nine laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Gibbs and Gragson squared off against one another on the front row. At the start, Jones, who restarted behind teammate Gibbs, made his move for the lead after getting into the rear of Gibbs. Just as Jones started to pull ahead of Gibbs with the lead, the caution flew due to Weatherman wrecking in Turn 1 along with Brandon Brown and Jeb Burton. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime.

During the first overtime attempt, Jones, who restarted on the inside lane alongside teammate Smith and in front of Gibbs, dueled against Smith for the lead entering Turn 1 before Gibbs shoved his nose beneath Jones entering the backstretch. This resulted in all three Joe Gibbs Racing competitors racing three wide for the lead entering Turn 3. That was when Smith got rubbed by Jones as Smith went for a spin as the caution flew and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt. At the moment of caution, NASCAR ruled that Jones was the leader followed by teammate Gibbs as Herbst, Gragson and Creed completed the top five.

At the start of the second overtime attempt, Jones briefly pulled away from the field entering the first turn until he barely slipped up the track, which allowed Gibbs to stick his car beneath Jones and challenge him for the lead through the backstretch. By then, however, the caution returned when Berry got turned in Turn 2 by teammate Allgaier after he got bumped by teammate Mayer. At the moment of caution, Gibbs was scored as the leader ahead of Jones, who fell back to a “must-win” situation as Allgaier, who continued to run towards the front, moved back up into contention to make the finale.

The start of the third overtime attempt favored Jones, who made his move beneath Gibbs and Gragson in Turn 1 before all three competitors fanned out to three lanes in a battle for the win through the backstretch. Jones then managed to pull ahead with the lead with a push from Creed through Turns 3 and 4 as he commenced the final lap followed by a hard-charging Gibbs. Then entering Turn 1, Gibbs ran into the rear bumper of Jones, which caused Jones to spin as he backed his No. 19 Toyota into the outside wall in Turn 1. With the caution being displayed, the event was deemed official as Gibbs hustled his way back to the frontstretch and claim the victory.

By winning for the sixth time in 2022 and for the first time at Martinsville, Gibbs claimed his 10th career win in the Xfinity circuit as he will be making his first appearance in the Championship 4 round as a championship contender, all of which will come in his first full-time Xfinity campaign.

Gibbs’ victory was met with mixed results as he received a chorus of boos from the grandstands with the winning driver saluting them before claiming the checkered flag.

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I definitely didn’t want to wreck [Jones],” Gibbs said on NBC. “I wanted to get him out of the groove. I felt like we lost here earlier in the spring race just in the same way. I’m just pumped to get this win. It’s so awesome, especially at a track I feel like I’ve been coming to forever. It’s super cool to win here.”

The last lap incident involving Jones knocked Jones out of the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs as his hopes of competing for this year’s title evaporated along with the hopes of Allmendinger, Mayer and Hill, who was involved in a post-race altercation with Snider on pit road. On the contrary, the incident fell in the favor of Allgaier, who ended up in fifth place and managed to secure the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 Round. This season will mark Allgaier’s fifth appearance in the final round as a title contender, where he will contend for his first NASCAR national touring series championship alongside Gibbs and teammates Berry and Gragson.

“I had the race won, I think,” Jones, who ended up 23rd, said. “I love my guys. I love everyone on this No. 19 group. I’m excited to make my move to [JR Motorsports] next year and be a part of that organization. A little bit more respect over there, probably, given next year. We got one race left at Phoenix. I know we can go out there and win that, shake this [title fight] a little bit still yet and try to steal a little thunder there. I have no words. I know that we had some fun beating and banging back and forth a little bit, but I’ve never wrecked [Gibbs] or done anything for a win. It kind of shows where that level was there. I think [racing Gibbs earlier] opened up the opportunity to get moved, but I don’t know about dumped, destroyed and finished dead last. At the end of the day, I needed to win the race. Second and last, it is what it is. [I] Just expected to, maybe, have a little bit more of a shot at it there. To me, that’s what’s fun about this sport is having a duel, not just completely destroying somebody’s day.”

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“It was definitely a long day,” Allgaier, who finished fifth, said. “We just didn’t have the handling that we wanted to on our iRacing/BRANDT Camaro. We were OK. We were a top-five car all day. Obviously, AJ and I battled a lot today. We were both pushing each other really hard. I hate having to use the bumper, but our team has done such a good job this year and gave themselves a shot to go for a championship. I had to make the most of it today. Proud of our team at JR Motorsports. To put three cars in the final four. We got a long work this week to be ready for Phoenix, but it’s a great racetrack for us. We’re gonna go there. We’re gonna lay it all on the line. It’s gonna be a battle, for sure.”

“[The battle with Allgaier]’s all fair,” Allmendinger, who settled in 16th, said. “We knew it was gonna be a battle. Thank you to everybody at Kaulig Racing. Our Action Industries Chevy, we were making the best of it. It’s disappointing to end it like that, but still a great year. [We] Did everything we could.”

In addition to this year’s driver’s championship battle, the final four title contenders (Berry, Gragson, Gibbs and Allgaier) will contend for the 2022 Xfinity owners’ championship next weekend at Phoenix.

There were 18 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured 14 cautions for 91 laps.

Results.

1. Ty Gibbs, 102 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Sheldon Creed

3. Riley Herbst

4. Noah Gragson, 23 laps led

5. Justin Allgaier, five laps led

6. Sam Mayer

7. Nicholas Sanchez

8. Daniel Hemric

9. Blaine Perkins

10. Austin Hill

11. Jeb Burton

12. Alex Labbe

13. Rajah Caruth

14. Myatt Snider

15. AJ Allmendinger

16. Derek Griffith

17. Sammy Smith, one lap led

18. Jeremy Clements

19. Brandon Brown

20. Josh Berry, 40 laps led

21. Anthony Alfredo

22. Josh Williams

23. Brandon Jones, 98 laps led, Stage 1 winner

24. CJ McLaughlin, one lap down

25. Mason Massey, four laps down

26. Kris Wright, eight laps down

27. Joe Graf Jr., nine laps down

28. Howie Disavino III, 10 laps down

29. Ryan Vargas, 21 laps down

30. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

31. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident

32. Patrick Emerling – OUT, Accident

33. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident

34. JJ Yeley – OUT, Brakes

35. Matt Mills – OUT, Engine

36. Chad Finchum – OUT, Brakes

37. Landon Cassill – OUT, Accident

38. Bayley Currey – OUT, Accident

*Bold indicates Playoff contenders

Playoff standings

1. Noah Gragson – Advanced

2. Ty Gibbs – Advanced

3. Josh Berry – Advanced

4. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

5. AJ Allmendinger – Eliminated

6. Austin Hill – Eliminated

7. Sam Mayer – Eliminated

8. Brandon Jones – Eliminated

The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is set to conclude at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 5, where a champion will be crowned. The finale is set to commence at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

October 29, 2022
Larson avoids late calamity for Xfinity victory at Watkins Glen

With late misfortune in the form of an on-track collision and spin spoiling the hopes of William Byron and Ty Gibbs battling for the victory in the closing laps, good fortune fell in the favor of Kyle Larson as he went on to win the Sunoco Go Rewards 200 at Watkins Glen International on Saturday, August 20.

The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led three times for seven of 82-scheduled laps. Despite starting at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to his No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro while representing JR Motorsports, Larson spent the majority of the event running towards the front while watching his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Byron and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs duke for the lead amid late carnages and late-race restarts. During the final restart with five laps remaining, however, Larson capitalized on a late on-track incident involving Byron and Gibbs, both of whom spun following contact in the bus stop. With the lead in his possession, Larson managed to fend off AJ Allmendinger and Sammy Smith to grab his first checkered flag in the Xfinity Series of this season and first since 2018.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, William Byron claimed his first pole position of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 125.021 mph in 70.548 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, winner of the previous Xfinity event at Michigan International Speedway after he posted his best lap at 124.506 mph in 70.840 seconds.

Prior to the event, names like Kyle Larson, Justin Allgaier, Andy Lady, Bayley Currey, Brandon Brown, Patrick Gallagher, Timmy Hill and Scott Heckert dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Byron and Gibbs dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Byron managed to pull ahead with the lead while AJ Allmendinger overtook Gibbs for the runner-up spot throughout the following three turns. Through the Back Straight, Inner Loop and Outer Loop, Byron continued to lead the field. Despite being pressured by Allmendinger through Turns 6 and 7, Byron went on to lead the first lap.

During the second lap, Byron stretched his advantage to more than a second while Gibbs battled and overtook Allmendinger for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Cole Custer was in fourth while Riley Herbst occupied the final spot in the top five in fifth.

Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Justin Allgaier, who was in 20th behind Jeremy Clements, slipped sideways in Turn 3 and through the esses as he spun and made hard contact against the Armco barrier. The front-end damage to his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro was enough to terminate Allgaier’s run at The Glen early.

When the race restarted on the eighth lap, Gibbs dueled and managed to fend off Byron through the first four turns to assume the lead. Entering the Inner Loop and the bus stop, however, Byron reassumed the lead as Jeb Burton and Myatt Snider spun. With the event remaining under green flag conditions, Byron continued to fend off Gibbs with the top spot as Allmendinger trailed closely behind in third.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Byron was leading by two-tenths of a second over Gibbs while Allmendinger, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, rookie Sheldon Creed, Noah Gragson, Kaz Grala and Connor Mosack occupied the top 10. Daniel Hemric was in 11th ahead of Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Kyle Larson and Josh Berry while Alex Labbe, Ross Chastain, Jeremy Clements, Landon Cassill and Josh Bilicki were scored in the top 20.

During the following lap, Gibbs battled and overtook Byron to lead a lap for himself. In the midst of the battle, rookie Austin Hill made an unscheduled pit stop to address a broken axle to his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro as he was lapped by the field.

Four laps later, the caution returned when Patrick Gallagher came to a stop at the bus stop due to a mechanical issue. By then, Hill was in the garage due to his drive line issue along with Jeb Burton, who retired due to a brake failure and suffered his seventh DNF of the season.

During the caution period, some led by Gibbs and Byron pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

With two laps remaining in the first stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Sammy Smith challenged and overtook Allmendinger for the lead entering the first three turns, which left Allmendinger to fend off Kaz Grala and Jeremy Clements for the runner-up spot as the field behind jostled for positions.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 20, Sammy Smith, who was making his fourth career Xfinity start in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota Supra, claimed his first Xfinity stage victory. Allmendinger settled in second followed by Grala, Clements, Kyle Weatherman, Josh Bilicki, Byron, Creed, Larson and Andy Lally. Meanwhile, Herbst, who spun in the bus stop during the previous lap, fell all the way back to 34th as he pitted his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang. Myatt Snider was also involved in his second incident of the day after slapping the Armco barrier in Turn 7 and suffering significant rear-end damage to his No. 31 Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet Camaro.

Under the stage break, some led by Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Sammy Smith and Byron remained on the track.

The second stage started on Lap 23 as Smith and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Smith and Byron dueled for the lead through the first turn until Smith managed to clear Byron and retain the lead. Behind, Byron’s No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro came under attack from Larson’s No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro as Sheldon Creed’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro joined the battle.

Then through Turn 6, Larson, who started the event at the rear of the field, rocketed his Camaro to the lead on fresh tires as he assumed full command of the field. With Larson out in front, teammate Byron moved into the runner-up spot while Creed and Gibbs quickly overtook Smith through the first three turns as Smith was back in fifth.

During the following lap, Byron duked and overtook teammate Larson through the frontstretch while entering the first turn to return to the lead. Behind, Gibbs was in third ahead of Creed, Smith settled in fifth and Allmendinger was mired back in 13th behind Sam Mayer.

Then on Lap 27, the caution flew when Alex Labbe stopped in the bus stop with damage to his car. At the moment of caution, Smith, who was set to pit under green, opted to keep his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra on the track to avoid a penalty of pitting when pit road was closed, though he was mired back in 15th.

During the caution period and when pit road was accessible for the field, Smith pitted while the rest of the front-runners led by Byron remained on the track.

When the event restarted under green on Lap 29, the field fanned out as Byron fended off teammate Larson and Gibbs to retain the lead through the first three turns. Byron remained out in front through the seven-turn circuit while Gibbs started to pressure Larson for the runner-up spot.

Then on Lap 31, the caution returned when Kris Wright, who was piloting the No. 68 Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, came to a stop near the Armco barriers in Turn 1 due to a broken drive line. By then, Daniel Hemric fell out of the top 10 and towards the end of the field as he encountered a fuel pressure issue.

With seven laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Hendrick teammates Larson and Byron dueled for the top spot until Byron benefitted on the outside lane to retain the lead through the first three turns. As Creed overtook Larson for the runner-up spot, Mayer spun in the bus stop while the race remained under green.

Three laps later, Byron extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Creed while Gibbs, Larson, Gragson, Allmendinger, Custer, Brandon Jones, Grala and Josh Berry were in the top 10. Ross Chastain was in 11th ahead of Anthony Alfredo, Connor Mosack, Landon Cassill, Herbst, Timmy Hill, Jeremy Clements, Sammy Smith, Stefan Parsons and Josh Bilicki. Meanwhile, Kyle Weatherman, who spun in Turn 1 two laps earlier, was mired back within the top 30.

During the following lap, Custer, who was in seventh, got hit and turned by Brandon Jones through the bust stop as he pounded the Armco barrier. Shortly after, Brandon Jones spun his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra in Turn 7 without sustaining any significant damage. In spite of both incidents, the race proceeded under green,

When the second stage concluded on Lap 40, Byron captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the season. Gibbs settled in second followed by Allmendinger, Gragson, Larson, Creed, Berry, Grala, Chastain and Mosack.

Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Creed pitted while the rest including Byron, Gibbs, Allmendinger, Gragson, Larson, Berry, Mosack, Herbst and Smith remained on the track as differing strategies were occurring within the field.

With 38 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Byron outdueled Gibbs through the first three turns to retain the lead while Gragson trailed in third followed by Allmendinger and Berry.

Three laps later, Byron was leading by six-tenths of a second over Gibbs while Gragson retained third ahead of Allmendinger and Berry. Meanwhile. Larson was in sixth ahead of Sammy Smith, Herbst, Creed and Chastain.

Then with 30 laps remaining, Byron pitted under green along with Gibbs, Gragson, Larson, Sam Mayer and Connor Mosack. In the midst of the pit stops, Allmendinger cycled to the lead while Gibbs managed to exit pit road ahead of Byron. By then, Creed pitted under green a lap earlier.

During the following lap, Allmendinger pitted under green along with Josh Berry as Sammy Smith assumed the lead. Once Smith pitted on Lap 53, it was Herbst’s turn to lead a lap for himself.

Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Herbst, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Clements, Chastain, Grala and Custer while Hemric, Cassill, Josh Bilicki, Andy Lally and Preston Padres were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Gibbs, the first competitor with the freshest tires and full fuel, remained ahead of Byron in 13th, Gragson was in 16th and Allmendinger was mired back in 19th behind Larson.

A lap later, the caution flew when Daniel Hemric lost a left-front tire and veered dead straight into the tire barrier in the carousel as his No. 11 AG1 Chevrolet Camaro was left with significant front-nose damage and out of the event. By then, Herbst surrendered the lead to pit while Clements, who has yet to pit, assumed the lead. During the caution period, however, Clements led the competitors who had yet to pit while Gibbs remained on the track to cycle to the lead followed by Byron, Gragson, Larson and Allmendinger. Following the pit stops, Chastain was penalized for speeding on pit road.

Following an extensive caution period to have the carnage cleared, the race restarted under green with 15 laps remaining. At the start and with the field fanning out entering the first turn, Gibbs and Byron dueled for the lead until Gibbs managed to pull ahead with the lead through the first three turns. Behind, Larson moved into the runner-up spot while Byron fell back to third.

With 10 laps remaining, Gibbs continued to lead by more than eight-tenths of a second over Byron followed by Larson, Allmendinger and Sammy Smith. Gragson was back in sixth ahead of Berry, Creed, Mayer and Grala while Herbst, Mosack, Custer, Landon Cassill and Alfredo occupied the top 15. Stefan Parsons was in 16th while Clements, Brandon Jones, Lally and Chastain were scored in the top 20.

Two laps later, the caution returned when Chastain and Alfredo spun in Turn 6 as Chastain got his No. 92 Protect Your Melon Chevrolet Camaro stuck in the gravel trap. Under caution, some led by Connor Mosack pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

Down to the final five laps of the event, the event proceeded under green. At the start, Gibbs and Byron again dueled for the top spot through the first three turns with Larson following in close pursuit. With both making contact and remaining side-by-side through Turn 4 and entering the Inner Loop, Gibbs then made contact against Byron’s car in the Inner Loop as both spun off the course and out of winning contention. In the midst of the spin, Larson emerged with the lead followed by Allmendinger, Sammy Smith, Grala and Gragson.

During the following lap, Byron, who was initially in position to claim the first Xfinity victory for Hendrick Motorsports, expressed his displeasure to Gibbs by sending Gibbs’ No. 54 Cub Cadet Toyota Supra around in retaliation in Turn 6. Back at the front, Allmendinger started to challenge Larson for the lead while Grala intimidated Smith for third place.

With two laps remaining, Larson continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Allmendinger and eight-tenths of a second over third-place Smith. Behind, Grala retained fourth ahead of Gragson while Mayer, Herbst, Creed, Berry and Cassill were in the top 10.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by two-tenths of a second over Allmendinger and seven-tenths over Smith. Through the first four turns and the Inner Loop, Larson stabilized his narrow advantage over Allmendinger. Then in turns 6 and 7, Allmendinger tried to draw his No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro close to Larson’s rear bumper, but he did not have enough momentum to make his move as Larson managed to pull away from both Allmendinger and Smith to streak across the finish line with the win.

With the victory, Larson, who won the Cup event at The Glen a year ago, achieved his 13th career victory in the Xfinity Series, first driving for JR Motorsports, his first at The Glen and his first since winning at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2018. The victory was also the ninth of the season for JR Motorsports and the first for JRM’s No. 88 team led by crew chief Jason Stockert.

“I got lucky,” Larson told USA Network. “I think my only shot really was if [Gibbs and Byron] really got racing. I just wanted to help William down the front stretch as much as I could, then they got to battle up the esses. I tried to help William get clear to the bus stop. They raced side-by-side into there, got together and the seas parted and I was able to get through. Then I had AJ behind me, so I was just trying to hit my marks as best I could. He had me definitely nervous out in front of him, so cool to get a win here. Wished William and I could’ve fought out for the win there. Either way, happy to get HendrickCars.com into Victory Lane. Cool to get a win with the No. 88.”

Following their late run-in, Byron, who led 35 laps from pole position, ended up 25th while Gibbs, who led 25 laps, fell back to 27th. Both met on pit road at the race’s conclusion to discuss the incident.

Allmendinger, who led three laps, settled in the runner-up spot while Sammy Smith earned his first top-five result in the Xfinity Series by finishing third. Gragson and Grala finished in the top five while Mayer, Herbst, Creed, Berry and Clements completed the top 10 on the track.

There were 15 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured a record-tying eight cautions for 23 laps.

With four races remaining in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch, AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by 61 points over Ty Gibbs, 70 over Justin Allgaier and 99 over Noah Gragson.

Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, rookie Austin Hill and Brandon Jones are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular season stretch while Riley Herbst, Sam Mayer, Daniel Hemric, Landon Cassill, and Ryan Sieg occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points. Rookie Sheldon Creed trails the top-12 cutline to make the Playoffs by 39 points, Anthony Alfredo trails by 80, Brandon Brown trails by 106, Jeremy Clements trails by 160, Myatt Snider trails by 176 and Jeb Burton trails by 178.

Results.

1. Kyle Larson, seven laps led

2. AJ Allmendinger, three laps led

3. Sammy Smith, six laps led, Stage 1 winner

4. Noah Gragson

5. Kaz Grala

6. Sam Mayer

7. Riley Herbst, four laps led

8. Sheldon Creed

9. Josh Berry

10. Jeremy Clements, two laps led

11. Cole Custer

12. Stefan Parsons

13. Ryan Sieg

14. Timmy Hill

15. Connor Mosack

16. Landon Cassill

17. Josh Bilicki

18. Anthony Alfredo

19. Andy Lally

20. Brad Perez

21. Preston Pardus

22. Kyle Weatherman

23. Scott Heckert

24. Brandon Jones

25. William Byron, 35 laps led, Stage 2 winner

26. Bayley Currey

27. Ty Gibbs, 25 laps led

28. Ross Chastain, one lap down

29. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

30. Austin Hill, nine laps down

31. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

32. Brandon Brown – OUT, Axle

33. Myatt Snider – OUT, Accident

34. Kris Wright – OUT, Driveshaft

35. Alex Labbe – OUT, Accident

36. Patrick Gallagher – OUT, Rear gear

37. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

38. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ second trip of the season to Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The event is scheduled to occur on Friday, August 26, at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

August 20, 2022
Ty Gibbs cruises to fifth Xfinity victory of 2022 at Michigan

After assuming command of the field at the start of the final stage, Ty Gibbs never looked back as he cycled his way to a dominant victory in the New Holland 250 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, August 6.

The 19-year-old Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, rallied from starting ninth to lead twice for a race-high 54 of 125-scheduled laps, including the final 16, as he beat runner-up Justin Allgaier by more than a second to claim his fifth Xfinity Series victory of the 2022 season at the Irish Hills.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Noah Gragson started on pole position for the second time this season after recording a pole-winning lap at 190.370 mph in 37.821 seconds. Joining him on the front row was AJ Allmendinger, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course who clocked in his best lap at 190.340 mph in 37.827 seconds.

Prior to the event, names like Bayley Currey, David Starr and CJ McLaughlin started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars. Blaine Perkins and Matt Mills also dropped to the rear due to an engine change made to their cars.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Gragson and Allmendinger dueled early for the lead until Gragson gained a strong run on the outside lane to pull ahead through the backstretch. As Brandon Jones issued a three-wide challenge on Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier for the runner-up spot, Gragson proceeded to lead the first lap. Behind, Allmendinger retained second ahead of Jones while Daniel Hemric challenged Allgaier for fourth place.

Three laps later and with the field jostling early for positions, Josh Berry, who was battling Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sammy Smith and Ty Gibbs for spots in the top 10, washed up the track and scrapped the outside wall in the backstretch as Kyle Weatherman made the slightest contact against Berry while quickly moving to the left to avoid hitting Berry. Then entering Turn 3, Weatherman got loose underneath Berry as Berry’s No. 8 Harrison’s Chevrolet Camaro washed up the track towards the outside wall again. Despite the contact, both proceeded at full race pace as Berry was mired back in the top 15.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Gragson was leading by six-tenths of a second over Allmendinger followed by Brandon Jones, Allgaier and Hemric while Sammy Smith, Ty Gibbs, rookie Sheldon Creed, rookie Austin Hill and Landon Cassill were in the top 10.

At the Lap 10 mark, Gragson extended his advantage to more than a second over Allmendinger, who was fending off Allgaier and Brandon Jones for the runner-up spot, while Sammy Smith moved his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra inside the top five. Meanwhile, Berry was in 12th in between Riley Herbst and Brandon Brown while Myatt Snider and Ryan Sieg occupied the top 15.

By Lap 20, Gragson, who remained as the leader, had his advantage decreased to less than half a second with the latter closing in on the former and bidding for the lead. Meanwhile, Allmendinger, Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones were in the top five followed by Ty Gibbs, Hemric, Hill, Creed and Cassill.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Gragson carved his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro through lapped traffic and to his ninth stage victory of the 2022 season. Teammate Allgaier, who could not navigate his way around Gragson for the lead, settled in second followed by Sammy Smith, Allmendinger, Gibbs, Brandon Jones, Hemric, Hill, Cassill and Berry.

Under the stage break, the leaders led by Gragson pitted and Gragson retained the lead following quick service from his pit crew followed by Allmendinger, Smith, Allgaier, Hill and Hemric.

The second stage started on Lap 36 as Gragson and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier pushed Allmendinger to the lead until Allgaier issued a challenge for the lead entering the first turn. Allmendinger, however, pulled away on the outside lane followed by a fast-charging Gragson, Allgaier, Smith, Gibbs and the field.

Then as the field entered the frontstretch, Gragson made his move beneath Allmendinger in his bid for the lead, but a bold three-wide move on the outside lane moved Allgaier to the lead entering the first turn followed by Smith and Ty Gibbs while Allmendinger and Gragson fell back to fourth and fifth.

On Lap 40, the caution flew when CJ McLaughlin got loose and pounded the outside wall in Turn 2 as he spun below the apron while being dodged by the competitors running towards the rear of the field. At the same time, Matt Mills spun and backed his car into the outside wall while trying to brake and dodge McLaughlin.

When the race proceeded under green on Lap 45, Allgaier and Ty Gibbs dueled for the lead until Allgaier used the outside lane to his advantage and pulled ahead with the lead through the first two turns. Behind, Smith moved back into the runner-up spot followed by Gibbs, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones while Gragson was back in sixth.

At the Lap 50 mark, Allgaier continued to lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Sammy Smith followed by Gibbs, Allmendinger and Gragson while Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Landon Cassill, Hemric and Riley Herbst were in the top 10. Behind, Berry was in 11th followed by John Hunter Nemechek, Creed, Hill, Anthony Alfredo, Kaz Grala, Ryan Sieg, Myatt Snider, Kyle Weatherman and Kyle Sieg.

Three laps later, the caution returned when Dillon Bassett made contact with David Starr entering the backstretch as Starr got into the outside wall and spun below the backstretch without hitting the inside wall. During the caution period, some led by race leader Allgaier and Smith pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger and Gragson remained on the track.

With two laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green as teammates Allmendinger and Cassill occupied the front row. At the start, teammates Cassill and Allmendinger dueled for the lead while their other teammate, Hemric, washed up the track and nearly got into the outside wall entering the backstretch. After dueling with Cassill throughout the backstretch, Allmendinger pulled ahead entering the frontstretch to retain the lead and commence the final lap of the second stage. Meanwhile, Gragson overtook Cassill for the runner-up spot as he bolted his way towards the front.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 60, Gragson, who gained a strong run through the backstretch before drawing himself alongside Allmendinger’s No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro through the frontstretch, edged Allmendinger by 0.035 seconds to capture his 10th stage victory and second of the day on Lap 60. Allmendinger settled in second followed by Berry, Cassill, Ryan Sieg, Anthony Alfredo, Kaz Grala, Myatt Snider, Gibbs and Hill.

Under the stage break, some led by Gragson and Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Ty Gibbs remained on the track. During the pit stops, Berry was penalized for speeding on pit road.

With 59 laps remaining, the final stage started as teammates Gibbs and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs launched his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra to the lead on the outside lane. Shortly after, Hill moved into the runner-up spot while Smith was being pressured by Allgaier, Sam Mayer and Brandon Jones for positions in the top five for nearly a full lap.

Four laps later, Sam Mayer ran into the rear of Smith’s No. 18 Toyota as Smith was engaged in a fierce battle with Allgaier for third place, which damaged the left-front fender of Mayer’s No. 1 BUSDX Chevrolet Camaro and caused a tire rub as he began to slide below the leaderboard. During the following lap, he made an unscheduled pit stop under green while Smith remained on the track in fourth place.

Back on the track and down to the final 50 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by more than two seconds over Allgaier, who overtook Hill for the runner-up spot. Teammates Smith and Brandon Jones were in the top five while Herbst, Allmendinger, Gragson, Creed and Cassill occupied the top 10. Behind, John Hunter Nemechek was in 11th while Brandon Brown, Hemric, Berry and Alfredo were in the top 15.

Ten laps later, Gibbs, who reported debris on his grille, continued to lead by more than two seconds over Allgaier while Smith, Hill and Jones, who had Allmendinger and Gragson closing in, were in the top five. Shortly after, however, Gibbs was able to use the lapped car of Blaine Perkins to remove the debris from his grille and retain the lead.

Another 10 laps later, Gibbs retained the lead by nearly two seconds over Allgaier. Behind, Smith, Gragson and Hill were scored in the top five followed by Brandon Jones, Allmendinger, Herbst, Berry and Hemric.

Four laps later, a late cycle of green flag pit stops occurred as Brandon Jones pitted his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra along with Allgaier. During the following lap, Gibbs surrendered the lead to pit for four fresh tires and fuel along with Creed, Gragson and Smith, who led a lap for himself prior to pitting. During the pit stops, Sammy Smith’s strong run was spoiled when he was penalized for speeding on pit road.

With 20 laps remaining, Berry, who has yet to pit, was leading by more than 13 seconds over Alfredo followed by Sieg, Weatherman and Gibbs. Meanwhile, David Starr experienced a scary moment while pitting as the right-front tire on his car exploded amid a fire.

Five laps later, Gibbs cycled his way back to the lead after Ryan Sieg and Kyle Weatherman pitted. By then, Berry and Alfredo had pitted while Allgaier was in the runner-up spot followed by Gragson, Jones and Hill.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Allgaier, who was experiencing difficulties navigating his way through lapped traffic, followed by Gragson, Jones and Hill while Allmendinger, Berry, Hemric, Herbst and Cassill were in the top 10. Creed was back in 11th ahead of Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Brown and Anthony Alfredo, all of whom were on the lead lap.

With five laps remaining, Gibbs, who was trying to navigate and lap Ryan Sieg and Alfredo, continued to lead by more than a second over Allgaier while Gragson, Jones and Hill stabilized themselves in the top five.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gibbs remained as the leader by more than a second over Allgaier. With Allgaier unable to narrow the deficit, Gibbs, who was proceeding to lap Brandon Brown, cycled his way back to the frontstretch as he streaked his No. 54 Toyota to the finish line and captured his fifth checkered flag of the 2022 season.

In addition, Gibbs, who last won at Road America during the Fourth of July weekend, captured his first NASCAR national touring series victory at the Irish Hills and his ninth career win in his 39th overall start in the Xfinity circuit. He also recorded the sixth victory at Michigan for Joe Gibbs Racing and the fifth for the Toyota nameplate as he trails the regular-season points lead by 28 points with five races prior to the start of the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs.

“We had a very fast Monster Energy Toyota GR Supra,” Gibbs said on USA Network. “I’m so excited. I think this style of racing shows the strategy and the pit stops. It’s pretty spread out. My guys did a great job. My pit crew, they work so hard. I work out with them during the weekend. I see how hard they work, so every one of them did a good job. All glory to God. My car was faster than Xfinity high speed internet. Just kidding it wasn’t that fast. I just race, week in and week out, but [there’s] people who get all excited and think they’re making a huge statement and then they get in the playoffs and suck. I’m just doing what I can, week in and week out.”

Allgaier, who led 17 laps, settled in the runner-up spot while Gragson, who led 39 laps and won the first and second stage, came home in third place after he was unable to charge his way back to the lead during the final stage.

“I just had a couple of errors today that really kept us from racing [Gibbs],” Allgaier said. “Hats off to Ty. He did a great job. This team, our BRANDT Professional Agricultural Camaro was really good all day. We chose to play the right strategy. We gave up some points in the regular-season points, but I think it was the right strategy. I picked the wrong lane on one of the restarts and that was just kind of the difference maker, but all in all, a good day. A hot day, but a good day. Proud of our team. Proud of the effort.”

“I felt like we had a good enough car to be able to get back up there,” Gragson said. “[I] Just kind of struggled on the short run. We won the first stage and then, kind of got shuffled back on the restarts on the second stage. [I] Decided to stay out, ended up winning the second stage. Once everything cycled through and we pitted after this stage, those guys started up front and on the tires they took. Just struggled, but really proud of the effort by all the guys sticking behind us. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. We got two Playoff points, but I felt like we were good enough to win.”

Brandon Jones and Hill finished in the top five while Berry, Allmendinger, Hemric, Herbst and Cassill completed the top 10 on the track. Following his late pit road penalty, Sammy Smith ended up in 12th place, the final competitor on the lead lap.

There were 12 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 19 laps. Only 12 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

With five races remaining in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch, AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by 19 points over Justin Allgaier, 28 over Ty Gibbs, 87 over Noah Gragson and 98 over Josh Berry.

Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Josh Berry, rookie Austin Hill and Brandon Jones are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular season stretch while Riley Herbst, Sam Mayer, Daniel Hemric, Landon Cassill, and Ryan Sieg occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points. Rookie Sheldon Creed trails the top-12 cutline by 52 points, Anthony Alfredo trails by 75, Brandon Brown trails by 87, Jeb Burton trails by 155, Myatt Snider trails by 156 and Jeremy Clements trails by 170.

Results.

1. Ty Gibbs, 54 laps led

2. Justin Allgaier, 17 laps led

3. Noah Gragson, 39 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

4. Brandon Jones

5. Austin Hill, one lap led

6. Josh Berry, three laps led

7. AJ Allmendinger, seven laps led

8. Daniel Hemric

9. Riley Herbst

10. Landon Cassill

11. Sheldon Creed

12. Sammy Smith, one lap led

13. Brandon Brown, one lap down

14. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down, one lap led

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

16. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

17. Myatt Snider, one lap down

18. Kaz Grala, one lap down

19. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down

20. JJ Yeley, one lap down

21. Kaz Grala, one lap down

22. Jeb Burton, one lap down

23. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

24. Mason Massey, one lap down

25. Patrick Emerling, one lap down

26. Alex Labbe, one lap down

27. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

28. Josh Bilicki, one lap down

29. Ryan Vargas, two laps down

30. Bayley Currey, two laps down

31. Jeremy Clements, two laps down

32. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

33. Sam Mayer, two laps down

34. Dillon Bassett, three laps down

35. David Starr – OUT, Hub

36. Josh Williams – OUT, Electrical

37. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Accident

38. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, which will occur on August 20 at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

August 6, 2022
Ty Gibbs executes final lap pass on Larson for fourth Xfinity victory of 2022 at Road America

In a NASCAR Xfinity Series event dominated by the return of Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs capitalized in overtime with a final lap pass on Larson to win the 13th annual running of the Henry 180 at Road America on Saturday, July 2.

The 19-year-old Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, led three times for five of 48 over-scheduled laps as he overtook Larson, who led a race-high 31, at the start of the final lap. Once he captured the lead, Gibbs then managed to fend off late repeated challenges from the reigning Cup Series champion through the 14-turn circuit before he pulled away up the final straightaway and to the finish line for his fourth checkered flag of the 2022 Xfinity season.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Kyle Larson, who made his return to the Xfinity Series following a three-year absence, started on pole position after claiming the top starting spot with a pole-winning lap at 108.495 mph in 134.318 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who clocked in a qualifying lap at 107.922 mph in 135.031 seconds.

Prior to the event, names like Bayley Currey, Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, Landon Cassill, AJ Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek, Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider and Patrick Gallagher dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars. Jesse Iwuji also dropped to the rear of the field due to a driver change after he replaced Kyle Weatherman.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Larson rocketed away from the field as he led through the first turn while Gibbs retained second ahead of Cole Custer, Riley Herbst, Sam Mayer and the field. With the field making their way through the 14-turn circuit and back to the start/finish line, Larson led the first lap by three-tenths of a second over Gibbs followed by Custer, Herbst and rookie Sheldon Creed while Noah Gragson, Tyler Reddick, Mayer, Jeremy Clements and Josh Bilicki were in the top 10.

Through the second lap of the event, Larson retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Gibbs, who continued to pressure Larson for the lead, while Custer, Herbst, Creed, Reddick, Gragson, Mayer, Clements and Bilicki remained in the top 10. Behind, Brandon Jones was in 11th followed by rookie Austin Hill, newcomer Sammy Smith, Sage Karam, Brett Moffitt, Alex Labbe, Anthony Alfredo, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and AJ Allmendinger.

Three laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second while Gibbs and Custer battled for the runner-up spot ahead of Herbst and Creed.

By the sixth lap, Landon Cassill spun and went off the course in Turn 12 after he made contact with Ty Dillon, though the event remained under green.

Between Laps 7 and 8, the first round of green-flag pit stops commenced as John Hunter Nemechek pitted along with Reddick, Creed, Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg, Preston Pardus and Brandon Brown. Not long after, the first caution of the event flew when Brett Moffitt over-drove Turn 5 and got his car stuck in the sand trap in Turn 5. At the same time, Alfredo and Andy Lally made contact with one another and spun in Turn 6.

The pair of incidents involving Moffitt, Alfredo and Lally were enough for the first stage scheduled on Lap 10 to conclude under caution as Larson captured the stage victory. Gibbs settled in second followed by Custer, Herbst, Brandon Jones, Gragson, Mayer, Clements, Allmendinger and Bilicki.

Under the stage break, some led by Larson pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track. During the pit stops, Chris Dyson and Bayley Currey have assessed penalties for having a crew member jump over the wall too soon while Lally spun while trying to enter his pit box.

The second stage started on Lap 12 as teammates Gibbs and Brandon Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs took off with the lead while Allmendinger overtook Jones for the runner-up spot through the first two turns. Then through a straightaway between Turns 3 and 4, Allmendinger drew himself alongside Gibbs in a bid for the lead before he succeeded in entering Turn 6. As Allmendinger retained the lead when he returned to the start/finish line, Gibbs remained in second followed by teammate Jones, Hemric and Berry while Creed, John Hunter Nemechek, Myatt Snider, Larson and Mayer occupied the top 10.

Then during the following lap, Allmendinger went briefly wide in Turn 5, which allowed Gibbs to draw himself even alongside Allmendinger as he reassumed the lead in Turn 6. Jones, meanwhile, remained in third ahead of Hemric as the field behind jostled for positions.

By Lap 15, Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Allmendinger before he was overtaken by a hard-charging Larson. Then in Turn 5, Mayer ran over the curbs and made contact against the wall entering Turn 5 as he briefly went off the course and into the sand trap before he limped back to pit road with right-front damage. By then, Alfredo overshot the first turn as he suffered a flat left-front tire.

Once Larson dueled and made his way back to the lead over Gibbs on Lap 16, Gibbs made his first pit stop of the day during the following lap followed by Allmendinger, Myatt Snider, Brandon Jones, Cassill, Hemric, Hill and Patrick Gallagher. By then, Joe Graf Jr. was slowly limping his way around the circuit with a flat right-rear tire.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 20, Larson captured his second stage victory of the day. Creed settled in second followed by Custer, Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Herbst, Clements, Gragson and Alex Labbe.

Under the stage break, some led by Nemechek pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

With 22 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green. At the start, Larson fended off Creed to retain the lead at the start while Creed and Custer battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Allgaier retained fourth ahead of Herbst, Gragson and the field.

Then during the following lap, the caution flew when Gragson, who was rubbing fenders with Sage Karam entering the straightaway in Turn 4, veered dead right into Karam as both spun beneath the Sargento bridge. With both spinning in the middle of the circuit and kicking up dust on the circuit, a multi-car pileup ignited with Cassill, Snider, Moffitt, Bayley Currey, Andy Lally, Hemric, Nemechek, Josh Bilicki, Reddick, Clements and Brandon Brown sustaining damage and piling into the carnage. The incident was one that left Karam furious toward Gragson.

During the caution period and while the on-track safety workers continued to clear the carnage, few like Justin Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Patrick Gallagher, Lally, Creed and Sammy Smith remained on the track while the rest led by Larson pitted. During the pit stops, Herbst, who also pitted, received a safety violation penalty. In addition, Allmendinger was penalized for speeding on pit road.

When the race proceeded under green with 17 laps remaining, Allgaier was able to pull ahead of Clements to retain the lead entering the first two turns while Larson fanned out and muscled his way into third place. Shortly after, Clements overtook Allgaier to take over the top spot entering the straightaway near Turn 4 before he was quickly overtaken by Larson entering Turn 5. Behind, Custer made his move into the runner-up spot as the field jostled for positions.

Then through Turns 12 to 14, Custer dueled and overtook Larson to lead a lap for himself. He then managed to retain the top spot by a narrow margin while Gibbs attempted to close in on the two leaders. By then, Allgaier pitted under green.

With less than 15 laps remaining, Custer extended his advantage to more than a second over Larson, who had Gibbs challenging him for the runner-up spot. Behind, Austin Hill was in fourth followed by Clements while Brandon Jones, Labbe, Creed, Miguel Paludo and Gragson were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Allmendinger was in 11th followed by Ryan Sieg, Preston Padres, Jeb Burton and Herbst while Bilicki, Sammy Smith, Lally, Josh Berry and Mayer were in the top 20.

Down to the final 11 laps of the event, driver Chris Dyson spun and smacked against the wall in Turn 12 as he came back across the track and nearly collected Mayer with the caution flying. By then, Custer was leading by more than a second over Larson and Gibbs while Hill, Brandon Jones, Clements, Labbe, Paludo, Creed and Gragson occupied the top 10.

During the caution period, all but Ryan Sieg and Andy Lally pitted as Larson exited pit road first followed by Gibbs and Hill. During the pit stops, Custer endured a slow pit stop and hit Preston Pardus. In addition, Gragson and Patrick Gallagher were penalized for speeding on pit road while Clements was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

With nine laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Sieg held the lead for a brief moment before Larson rocketed his way back to the lead as the field fanned out through the first three turns. Behind, Custer briefly went off course as he was mired back in fifth.

When the field returned to the start/finish line, Larson was ahead by more than two seconds over Gibbs while Berry, Hill and Custer were in the top five. Meanwhile, Creed, who was in the top 10, started to have smoke pouring out of his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro. Soon after, Sammy Smith spun and Paludo’s hood flew when he sustained damage. Despite the incident, the event remained under green while Larson checked away from the field.

Down to the final five laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Gibbs while third-place Custer trailed by four-and-a-half seconds. Hill and Berry occupied the top five followed by Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Herbst, Allmendinger and Sammy Smith. Behind, Ryan Sieg was back in 11th followed by Sam Mayer, Clements, Preston Pardus, Gragson, Bilicki, Jeb Burton, Currey, Lally and Labbe were in the top 20.

Then with two laps remaining, the caution flew when Custer, who was running in third place while dealing with a break issue, made hard contact against the wall in Turn 5 as his car came to rest off the course in the fifth turn while the driver emerged uninjured. Custer’s incident was enough to send the event into overtime.

At the start of the first overtime attempt, Larson and Gibbs dueled for the lead entering the first turn and through the following two turns until he managed to fend off Gibbs on the inside lane entering the straightaway through Turns 4 and 5. As the field scrambled for positions, Larson managed to retain the top spot ahead of Gibbs and Hill through the turns.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by a narrow margin over Gibbs, who had Larson within his sight as he issued his challenge for the lead. Then in Turn 3, Larson slipped and went wide as Gibbs, who bumped Larson earlier in Turn 2, assumed the lead in his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra. Larson then tried to close in for the lead in Turn 5, but Gibbs managed to retain the lead through Turns 6 and 7. With time running out as Gibbs remained in the lead through Turns 8 to 11, Larson then tried to make his move on the outside lane in Turn 12, but he could not make the move in his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro stick as Gibbs remained as the leader. Through the final turn, Turn 14, Larson then made a final bid for the lead, but it was not enough as Gibbs managed to pull away through the uphill straightaway and capture the Road America victory by more than eight-tenths of a second over Larson.

Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

The victory marked Gibbs’ fourth of this year’s Xfinity Series season and the eighth of his career as he became the 13th different competitor to win an Xfinity event at Road America. Ironically, this marked Gibbs’ third time winning an Xfinity event following a last-lap pass as he recorded the 190th Xfinity career win for Joe Gibbs Racing.

“I don’t know [how I beat Larson],” Gibbs said on USA Network. “I just wanna say all glory to Jesus Christ. Thank you to my team and Monster Energy. I had a fun time racing with Kyle. I thought it was gonna get a little rough there, but he’s such a great competitor. He’s a good person. We played golf the other day, so I wanna tell him thanks for the golf lessons. I still suck. Thank you so much. This is just awesome. I can’t believe it. This is just wonderful.”

“I felt like we were a little bit faster in the first half of the track,” Gibbs added. “The last two sectors I felt like we were not as fast, but I fee like, right now, I just need to earn respect back and that’s what I’m doing. Just gotta learn and not make mistakes. It’s cool to race against the Cup Series guys, so hopefully, that says something, but thankful to where I am at.”

Larson, whose final Xfinity Series start and victory occurred at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2018, settled in the runner-up spot following a dominant run in Hendrick Motorsports’ return to the series. He is slated to compete in the upcoming Xfinity events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 16 followed by Darlington Raceway on September 3 for JR Motorsports.

“[Gibbs] did a really good job,” Larson said. “It really started with my final corner coming to the white [flag]. I didn’t get through there very good. [I] Got a little bit tight and missed my apex, and was late back to the throttle. He had a run on me down the frontstretch, so obviously, kind of had to protect the inside [lane]. He just got my angles messed up for those two corners, so he did a really good job executing and I didn’t. Bummer, but really fun race there all race long…Fun and congrats to Ty. That was really impressive. He ran me clean and I was gonna run him clean. Just didn’t work out for me.”

Berry survived the late chaos to come home in third place while Austin Hill and Brandon Jones finished in the top five. Allmendinger, Herbst, Gragson, Clements and Ryan Sieg completed the top 10.

There were nine lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 12 laps.

With 10 races remaining in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch, AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by nine points over Ty Gibbs, 34 over Justin Allgaier, 39 over Noah Gragson and 74 over Josh Berry.

Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and rookie Austin Hill are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular season stretch while Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric, Riley Herbst and Landon Cassill occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points. Currently, Anthony Alfredo trails the top-12 cutline to the Playoffs by 72 points, Brett Moffitt trails by 87, Brandon Brown trails by 88, Jeb Burton trails by 94, Sheldon Creed trails by 98, Myatt Snider trails by 129, Alex Labbe trails by 135 and Jeremy Clements trails by 143.

Results.

1. Ty Gibbs, five laps led

2. Kyle Larson, 31 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

3. Josh Berry

4. Austin Hill

5. Brandon Jones

6. AJ Allmendinger, one lap led

7. Riley Herbst

8. Noah Gragson

9. Jeremy Clements

10. Ryan Sieg, two laps led

11. Preston Pardus

12. Justin Allgaier, three laps led

13. Josh Bilicki

14. Andy Lally

15. Alex Labbe

16. Bayley Currey

17. Josh Williams

18. John Hunter Nemechek

19. Patrick Gallagher

20. Sam Mayer

21. Jeb Burton

22. Jesse Iwuji

23. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

24. Sammy Smith – OUT, Engine

25. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident, six laps led

26. Miguel Paludo – OUT, Accident

27. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Engine

28. Chris Dyson – OUT, Accident

29. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

30. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident

31. Sage Karam – OUT, Accident

32. Landon Cassill – OUT, Accident

33. Myatt Snider – OUT, Accident

34. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident

35. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

36. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Brakes

37. Ty Dillon – OUT, Header

38. Will Rodgers – OUT, Suspension

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ second visit of the season at the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, July 9, at 5 p.m. ET on USA Network.

July 2, 2022