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  • Austin Hill survives dramatic finish for second Xfinity win at Daytona

    Austin Hill survives dramatic finish for second Xfinity win at Daytona

    From starting at the rear of the field to claiming the lead at the moment of caution, Austin Hill commenced a new season of NASCAR Xfinity Series competition on a thrilling note by winning the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 18.

    The 28-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led four times for a race-high 39 of 125 over-scheduled laps in a season opener that started off on a rough note, when Hill was forced to surrender his pole-winning spot to resolve radio issues to his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro. Starting at the rear of the field, he managed to methodically carve his way to the front and claim the first stage victory. He then spent the majority of the event running within the lead pack and managed to withstand the field during an overtime attempt to emerge victorious under caution amid a multi-car wreck on the final lap and win the opener at Daytona for a second consecutive season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Austin Hill, the reigning Xfinity rookie of the year and the reigning Daytona opener winner, started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 182.563 mph in 49.298 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Parker Kligerman, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 182.441 mph in 49.331 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Blaine Perkins, Gray Gaulding, Kyle Sieg and Joey Gase dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Ryan Ellis also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change while Stefan Parsons also fell back to the rear after replacing an ill Caesar Bacarella in the No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing entry. Jeb Burton would also start at the rear of the field after making a pit stop to replace a battery to his No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing entry.

    Then, just as the start of the event was approaching, Hill peeled off the track and pitted after dealing with radio issues to his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing entry. With Hill having to drop to the rear of the field, this allowed the third-place starter Cole Custer to start alongside Kligerman on the front row.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Kligerman, the new full-time driver of Big Machine Racing’s No. 48 entry, shot out with an early advantage on the outside lane by Sheldon Creed through the first two turns. Kligerman continued to lead through the backstretch until Custer fought back on the inside lane followed by Justin Allgaier and John Hunter Nemechek. Maintaining both lanes to his control, Custer proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 00 Has Ford Mustang before Allgaier launched his bid for the lead on the inside lane. Through the backstretch, Allgaier was able to break away from the pack and move up the outside lane with drafting help from Nemechek as he went on to lead the second lap followed by Nemechek and Riley Herbst while Brandon Jones served as the lead competitor on the inside lane.

    Through the first five scheduled laps and as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, Allgaier was leading by a hair over Nemechek followed by Brandon Jones, Herbst and Daniel Hemric while Custer, Kligerman, Justin Haley, Sam Mayer and Creed were in the top 10. By then, rookie Chandler Smith was in 11th followed by Anthony Alfredo, Hill, Jade Buford and Josh Berry while Jeb Burton, Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg, Brett Moffitt and Myatt Snider were running inside the top 20.

    Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew when smoke billowed out of the No. 4 JD Motorsports entry piloted by Bayley Currey past the frontstretch. During the caution period, a multitude of names that included Herbst, Custer, Mayer, Berry, Burton, Snider, Parker Retzlaff, Jeremy Clements, Brennan Poole, Kyle Sieg, Kaz Grala, Ryan Ellis and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by new leader Nemechek remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 11, Nemechek received a push from Kligerman to shoot to an early lead until Allgaier fought back on the inside lane through the first two lanes and the backstretch. As the field fanned out to three lanes, Nemechek and Allgaier continued to duel for the lead in front of Haley and Hill.

    By Lap 15, Nemechek and Allgaier remained dead even in a tight battle for the lead and in front of a tight pack of cars, with Nemechek running the outside lane in front of Hemric while Allgaier remained on the inside lane in front of Haley.

    At the Lap 20 mark, the caution returned when Mayer made contact with Blaine Perkins by turning Perkins into Hemric as Perkins proceeded to spin and hit the inside wall towards the pit wall entrance while Hemric limped his No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro back to pit road with extensive right-front damage. The incident on the frontstretch was one that ended Hemric and Perkin’s run early. During the caution period, a multitude of names that included Buford, Creed, Kligerman, Moffitt, Custer, Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Clements, Grala, Brandon Jones, Mayer, Snider and Retzlaff pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 25, Allgaier and Haley dueled for the lead until Haley was drafted into the lead on the outside lane following a push from Hill. During the following lap, Hill made his move beneath Haley to contend for the lead as he received drafting help from Allgaier on the inside lane. He would then prevail entering the frontstretch and proceed to fend off challenges coming through both lanes.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage, Chandler Smith launched a final corner attack to Hill’s outside as the field jostled and scrambled for positions towards the front. Hill, however, was able to pull ahead on the inside lane through the frontstretch as he claimed the first stage victory on Lap 30. Smith settled in second while Allgaier, Haley, Burton, Creed, Berry, Kligerman, Nemechek and Snider were scored in the top 10 as all received the first wave of stage points of the season. Under the stage break, some led by Hill pitted while the rest led by Creed remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 36 as Creed and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start, Creed received a push from Kligerman to maintain a slight advantage through the backstretch before Mayer fought back after receiving a draft from Herbst’s No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang. As the rest of the field caught up to the two leaders, Creed and Mayer continued to duel for the lead before Herbst drew himself alongside Mayer to ignite his bid for the lead. By Lap 39, however, Mayer managed to pull away with a slight advantage over Creed and Kligerman.

    Then on Lap 40 and as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch, the caution returned when Creed, who was getting bumped by Kligerman, got loose as he barely hit Hill before veering into the outside wall just past the frontstretch and with damage to his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro. As the field scrambled to avoid the incident, Allgaier got loose as he also spun his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro from the bottom to the inside lane and just in front of Haley’s nose. Stefan Parsons also spun in the middle of the pack as he limped his car back to pit road with flat tires. During the caution period, some like Haley pitted while the rest led by Mayer remained on the track.

    At the start of the following restart on Lap 45, Mayer prevailed on the outside lane with drafting help from Brandon Jones and in front of two tight-packed lanes. Kligerman would soon challenge Mayer on the inside lane as both engaged in a tight side-by-side battle for the lead. By the Lap 50 mark, however, Hill reclaimed the lead.

    With five laps remaining in the second stage, Allgaier, who methodically carved his way back to the front following his spin, was scored as the leader followed by teammate Mayer, Moffitt, Hill and Jeb Burton.

    When the second stage concluded at the halfway mark on Lap 60, Allgaier fended off teammate Mayer to claim the second stage victory on Lap 60. Mayer settled in second followed by Hill, Jones, Moffitt, Berry, Herbst, Nemechek, Custer, and Sammy Smith, who spun past the frontstretch after he got by Burton, who originally got bumped and turned by Alfredo.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Allgaier pitted while some that included Gray Gaulding, Poole, Joey Gase, CJ McLaughlin and Kyle Sieg remained on the track. All five competitors would eventually pit as Allgaier cycled his way back into the lead.

    With 54 laps remaining, the final stage started as Allgaier and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier and Hill dueled for the lead through the first two turns and they continued to battle dead even for the lead entering the frontstretch until Allgaier pulled ahead by a hair on the outside lane. He continued to lead the field as the event reached its final 50-lap mark.

    Then with 45 laps remaining, a wave of competitors led by Allgaier pitted under green while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track. During the pit stops, Kligerman spun, but he managed to straighten his car without hitting the wall. Another lap later, another wave of competitors led by Nemechek pitted under green as Gaulding assumed the lead. Once the final wave of competitors led by Gaulding pitted with nearly 40 laps remaining, Josh Berry cycled his way into the lead followed by Hill, Allgaier, Mayer and Herbst while Jones, Custer, Moffitt, Nemechek and Snider were in the top 10. By then, Allgaier was back in 11th while Kligerman plummeted to 30th.

    Down to the final 35 laps of the event, Berry was leading a 15-car breakaway ahead of Hill, Allgaier, Mayer, Herbst, Jones, Custer, Haley, Buford and Chandler Smith while Alfredo, Burton, Moffitt, Nemechek and Snider.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when CJ McLaughlin and Sammy Smith wrecked on the frontstretch. During the caution period, names like Alfredo, Clements, Retzlaff, Parsons, Josh Williams, Kligerman, Jesse Iwuji, David Starr and Smith pitted while the rest led by Berry remained on the track.

    With 26 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Berry and Hill dueled for the lead until Hill peaked ahead through the first two turns. Berry, however, prevailed on the outside lane as he received a draft from all three of his JR Motorsports teammates to reassume the lead through the backstretch. Then during the following lap, Hill, who was being drafted by Herbst through the first two turns, managed to slide in front of Berry to control the field exiting the backstretch. Soon after, a multitude of competitors settled in a long single-file line on the outside lane as Hill retained the lead followed by Berry, Allgaier, Mayer and Jones while Nemechek, Snider, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Jeffrey Earnhardt were scored in the top 10.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the top-26 competitors were separated by two seconds while running in a long line on the outside lane and as Hill was leading Berry, Allgaier, Mayer, Jones, Nemechek, Snider, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Earnhardt while Kligerman, Herbst, Retzlaff, Joe Graf Jr. and Jade Buford, Gaulding, Parker Chase, Josh Williams, Chandler Smith and Haley occupied the top 20.

    A few laps later, Moffitt dropped out of the 26-car train after scraping the wall and limping back to pit road with a flat tire. Despite the contact, the race remained under green flag conditions as Hill continued to lead the JR Motorsports’ quadruplet. Then with 12 laps remaining, Kligerman made a bold move to the inside lane and back up to the outside lane, where he forced Earnhardt into the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2 as Earnhardt fell off the pace with a flat tire.

    With 10 laps remaining, Hill continued to lead a long line of competitors followed by Berry, Allgaier, Mayer and Jones while Nemechek, Snider, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Kligerman were scored in the top 10. By then, Parker Retzlaff was in 11th while Herbst, Graf Jr., Buford and Gaulding occupied the top 15.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Hill retained the lead ahead of the pack while the four JR Motorsports’ competitors remained in a single-file lane within the top five. Soon after, Kligerman, who was mired within the top 15, made the first move towards the inside lane as he tried to launch his bid to the front.

    Three laps later, Allgaier initiated a move to the inside lane as he overtook Berry for the runner-up spot. Hill then moved back to the bottom of the track to block Allgaier as Jones opted to follow Allgaier. Then on the backstretch, Jones got turned by teammate Berry while running third as he spun his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro through the grass. The incident not only displayed the caution, but it also sent the field into overtime. Prior to overtime, however, Berry fell off the pace after his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet Camaro ran out of fuel. This allowed Alfredo and Nemechek to move up the leaderboard within the top five behind Hill, Allgaier and Mayer.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Allgaier and Hill duked for the lead, with Hill receiving a draft from Alfredo while Allgaier battled back on the inside lane followed by teammate Mayer. Exiting the backstretch, Allgaier started to pull away on the inside lane as he placed a huge distance between himself and a side-by-side battle between Mayer and Hill.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained as the leader, but was far ahead of the pack that quickly caught back to him through the first two turns amid the draft. Through Turns 1 and 2, Mayer made a bold move to Allgaier’s outside to assume a brief advantage. Then entering the backstretch, he moved up in front of Hill’s front nose to block him while also bumping into Allgaier. This resulted with Mayer getting loose as Hill made contact and turned Mayer across the straightaway and into the outside wall. As a result, Mayer’s No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet Camaro hit the wall and overturned on its roof as he slid upside down amid a shower of sparks throughout the backstretch before flipping back on all four wheels in the grass. While a majority of the field dodged the carnage, additional names that included Kligerman, Alfredo, Buford and David Starr also wrecked.

    With the event concluding under caution, NASCAR was left to determine the winner between a tight three-wide battle between Hill, Nemechek and Allgaier. Following an extensive review, Hill was declared the official winner as he emerged out in front of both Nemechek and Allgaier when the caution was displayed.

    With the victory, Hill claimed his third career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his first since winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July 2022. He also became the first Xfinity competitor of this season to be guaranteed a spot for the 2023 Xfinity Playoffs while also recording the eighth Daytona Xfinity victory for Richard Childress Racing and the 50th overall for Chevrolet. By winning the opener at Daytona for a second consecutive year, he became the first competitor to win the opener at Daytona in consecutive seasons since Tony Stewart achieved four consecutive opener wins from 2008 to 2011.

    “I have no idea [how I won],” Hill said on FS1. “I don’t know. I didn’t feel like the inside line was that great all day, for most of the day. I just wanted to choose the top [lane]. I knew [Alfredo] would stay with me. He was pretty committed. When I saw [Mayer] and [Allgaier] get together, I went to go squeeze him. [Mayer] came down. He started getting loose and then, you can’t lift. It’s the last lap. I hope Sam’s okay. That was a heck of flip there, but as soon as the caution lights came out, I thought I had it, but it’s so close. To get back to back [wins] here at Daytona, it’s really special. That’s three wins for me now [at Daytona]. I can’t thank everyone at [Richard Childress Racing]. Our Bennett Chevrolet was so good. We came from the back two different times. [I] Hoped everyone enjoyed [the race]. It was such a blast. I had so much. We won at Daytona! Let’s go!”

    With Hill emerging as the winner, John Hunter Nemechek settled in second place followed by Allgaier, who led 36 laps before being overtaken on the final lap.

    “[I’m] Really proud of everybody at JR Motorsports,” Allgaier said. “Our Chevy Camaros were absolutely blazing fast. This whole team’s worked their guts out. To have the adversity that we had tonight, to go to the back and have that spin, just battled our way through. It’s crazy how fast our car was tonight and how good we were in traffic. [I’m] Disappointed. I thought I could get enough of a draft off of [Berry] and maybe, they couldn’t catch me, but I just got too far out there. That was really all it came down to, but proud of our team. Really proud of the effort we put in. I think we got a lot to walk out of here with our confidence high. We’ll go on next week to California and I think we’ll be as equally fast.”

    Rookie Parker Retzlaff and Myatt Snider finished in the top five while Herbst, Joe Graf Jr., Ryan Sieg, Custer and Haley came home in the top 10 in the final running order. Mayer, who ended up 27th following his final lap wreck, emerged uninjured.

    There were 25 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 32 laps.

    Following the first event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by six points over Justin Allgaier, 18 over John Hunter Nemechek, 23 over Riley Herbst and 24 over Chandler Smith.

    Results.

    1. Austin Hill, 39 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. John Hunter Nemechek, eight laps led

    3. Justin Allgaier, 36 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Parker Retzlaff

    5. Myatt Snider

    6. Riley Herbst

    7. Joe Graf Jr.

    8. Ryan Sieg

    9. Cole Custer, one lap led

    10. Justin Haley, one lap led

    11. Jeb Burton

    12. Chandler Smith

    13. Stefan Parsons

    14. Brandon Jones

    15. Josh Williams

    16. Parker Chase

    17. Jeremy Clements

    18. Joey Gase

    19. Sammy Smith

    20. Gray Gaulding, one lap led

    21. Kyle Sieg

    22. David Starr, two laps led

    23. Parker Kligerman, one lap led

    24. Anthony Alfredo

    25. Jade Buford

    26. Josh Berry, 17 laps led

    27. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led

    28. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down

    29. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

    30. Jesse Iwuji – OUT, Electrical

    31. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Accident

    32. Kaz Grala – OUT, Engine

    33. Brennan Poole – OUT, Engine

    34. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    35. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

    36. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

    37. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

    38. Bayley Currey – OUT, Engine

    With the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season underway, the competitors and teams will be embarking on a three-race West Coast swing, beginning at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, which will mark the series’ final competition at the two-mile speedway venue. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, February 25, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Ty Gibbs claims controversial Xfinity victory at Martinsville; Championship 4 field set

    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.

  • Allmendinger claims fourth consecutive Charlotte Roval Xfinity Series win

    Allmendinger claims fourth consecutive Charlotte Roval Xfinity Series win

    The road course dominance of AJ Allmendinger continued under a sunny afternoon in Concord, North Carolina, after he claimed a late dominant victory in the fifth annual Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday, October 8. It was his fourth consecutive Xfinity Series win at the Charlotte Roval as the field for the Playoff’s Round of 8 was set.

    The 40-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, led two times for a race-high 25 of 72 over-scheduled laps. Allmendinger capitalized on two overtime attempts while also dealing with power steering issues to overtake and hold off Ty Gibbs to claim his historic fourth consecutive Xfinity Series victory at the Roval. This also marked his second consecutive win following a last-lap photo-finish victory over Sam Mayer at Talladega Superspeedway. Allmendinger was one of eight competitors to officially transfer to the Playoff’s Round of 8.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Allmendinger claimed his fourth pole position of the 2022 season after posting a 102.235 mph lap in 81.694 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff competitor Ty Gibbs, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 102.144 mph in 81.767 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Scott Heckert, Ryan Vargas and Kris Wright dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars along with Playoff competitor Noah Gragson, who started the event in a backup car.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Allmendinger battled and fended off Gibbs to lead the field through the first two turns and approaching the infield road course turns. As the field jostled for positions through the infield and back to the oval turns, Allmendinger remained out in front over Gibbs, Daniel Hemric, Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed. Through the backstretch chicane and back to the frontstretch chicane, Allmendinger retained the top spot by a decent advantage as he navigated his way back to the start/finish line and led the first lap.

    By the second lap, Allmendinger was out in front by seven-tenths of a second over Gibbs followed by Hemric, Allgaier and Creed while Sam Mayer, Landon Cassill, Austin Hill, Jeremy Clements and Sage Karam were in the top 10.

    Then on the third lap, early trouble struck for Playoff competitor Daniel Hemric, who went off the track and hit the wall in Turn 5 and damaged the left side of his No. 11 AG1 Chevrolet Camaro. Following an unscheduled pit stop for repairs, the reigning Xfinity Series champion returned to the track but plummeted to the bottom of the leaderboard.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Allmendinger was leading by nearly one-and-a-half seconds over Gibbs while Allgaier, Creed, Mayer, Cassill, Hill, Clements, Sage Karam and Riley Herbst were running in the top 10. By then, six of 12 Playoff competitors were running in the top 10 as Josh Berry was in 12th, Brandon Jones was scored in 16th, Ryan Sieg was running behind Jones in 17th, Gragson was in 20th and Hemric was mired back in 38th, dead last.

    Four laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Kris Wright wrecked in the first turn. Wright’s incident occurred two laps earlier after JJ Yeley spun all by himself in Turn 7. During the caution period, some of the drivers, including Gragson, pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 11, Allmendinger retained the lead ahead of Gibbs and the rest of the field.

    In the closing laps of the second stage, Marco Andretti, who was making his NASCAR debut in Big Machine Racing’s No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro, spun entering the backstretch chicane. In addition, Alex Labbe went off the course and got a sign stuck to his front end while Allgaier and Cassill spun together in Turn 4. In the midst of the on-track carnage, Creed, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, Labbe, Kaz Grala and Hemric pitted while Allmendinger retained the lead. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 20, Allmendinger claimed his fourth stage victory of the 2022 season. Gibbs settled in second while Mayer, Hill, Herbst, Allgaier, Davison, Cassill, Berry and Karam were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Allmendinger pitted while the rest including Creed, Gragson, Karam, Brandon Jones, Alex Labbe, Ryan Sieg, Hemric, Grala, Josh Williams, Preston Pardus and Brandon Brown remained on the track. During the pit stops, Hill had the hood of his car up due to a power steering issue while Patrick Gallagher was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 22 as Karam and Gragson occupied the front row. At the start, Gragson used the outside lane to his advantage as he stormed to the lead entering the first turn followed by Creed while Karam was left to battle Brandon Jones for third place in front of the field.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Creed was leading ahead of Gibbs, Brandon Jones, Gragson and Karam while Hemric, Herbst, Labbe, Allmendinger and Mayer were running in the top 10. By then, six of 12 Playoff competitors were running in the top 10 as Allgaier was in 11th, Berry was in 13th, Clements was running in 15th, Sieg was back in 17th and Hill was mired back in 32nd. In the midst of the competition toward the front, Bayley Currey spun Brad Perez in Turn 8 as Andy Lally sustained damage from getting into Currey.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 33 and 34, Creed continued to lead by more than three seconds over Gibbs while Brandon Jones, Gragson and Karam remained in the top five. By then, Herbst carved his way up to sixth followed by Allmendinger, Mayer, Hemric and Allgaier while Labbe, Davison, Berry, Alfredo and Clements occupied the top 15.

    In the closing laps of the second stage, some of the drivers, including Karam, Labbe, Cassill, Stefan Parsons, Clements, Jeb Burton, Josh Bilicki, Allmendinger, Gragson and Gibbs, along with the leader, Creed, pitted under green while Brandon Jones cycled his way into the lead.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 40, Brandon Jones claimed his second stage victory of the 2022 season. Herbst settled in second while Mayer, Allgaier, Davison, Hemric, Berry, Alfredo, Creed and Gibbs were scored in the top 10. By then, six of 12 Playoff competitors were scored in the top 10 while Sieg, Gragson, Allmendinger, Clements and Hill were mired in 12th, 17th, 18th, 26th and 30th, respectively. During the stage’s conclusion, Myatt Snider limped his No. 31 TaxSlayer Chevrolet Camaro back to pit road with a flat left-rear tire.

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

    With 24 laps remaining, the final stage started with Creed and Gibbs on the front row. At the start, Creed pulled ahead with the lead through the first turn while Gibbs fended off Allmendinger, Gragson and Karam to remain in second through the infield turns. As the field re-entered the oval turns and approached the backstretch chicane, Gibbs started to close in on Creed as he launched his bid for the lead while Allmendinger kept both within his sights.

    During the following lap, Gibbs moved into the lead over Creed entering the backstretch chicane while Allmendinger remained in third as he started to challenge Creed for the runner-up spot. Not long after, the caution flag flew again when Jeb Burton spun in Turn 6 after getting hit by teammate Anthony Alfredo before he was hit by Marco Andretti, whose NASCAR debut came to an end late in the event.

    When the race restarted under green with 19 laps remaining, Gibbs fended off Creed and a daring three-wide attempt from Allmendinger to lead the field through the infield turns and back to the oval turns. Shortly after, the caution flew when Preston Pardus was hit by Kaz Grala, who spun and got his car stalled backward in the backstretch chicane. In the midst of the carnage, Herbst, who was running toward the top 10, sustained significant damage to the left-rear area of his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang after a stack-up resulted in Davison hitting Herbst.

    During the following restart with 15 laps remaining, Gibbs jumped ahead and retained the lead while Allmendinger and Creed briefly battled for second as Allmendinger prevailed while Karam and Gragson were in the top five ahead of the field. While the field jostled for positions through the infield turns and the backstretch chicane, Gibbs stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Allmendinger while third-place Creed trailed by more than a second.

    A lap later, Herbst spun while exiting the backstretch chicane in 10th place. By then, Brad Perez hit the wall towards the backstretch while Joe Graf Jr. spun in Turn 6. Despite the incidents, the race remained under green flag conditions.

    With 12 laps remaining, however, the caution returned due to debris on the course after Herbst lost a flat left-rear tire carcass and sustained more damage to the left-rear area of his car. At the same time, Allgaier had a sign stuck to the front of his car.

    Three laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Gibbs retained the lead with a strong start while Allmendinger battled and fended off Creed to retain the runner-up spot ahead of the field. Behind, a spin by Grala ignited a stack-up with cars wrecking in Turn 2 that involved Herbst, Patrick Gallagher, Ryan Vargas, Timmy Hill, Josh Bilicki and Brad Perez. Shortly after, Creed spun in Turn 7 after getting hit by Karam before the caution flew amid the carnage.

    Down to the final six laps of the event, the event restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs launched ahead with another strong start while Allmendinger fended off Karam for second place. Behind, teammates Gragson and Allgaier battled for fourth in front of Parsons, Brandon Jones and Labbe as the field scrambled for late positions through the infield turns and back to the oval turns.

    When the field returned to the frontstretch for the final five mark, Gibbs continued to lead by half a second over Allmendinger while Karam, Gragson and Allgaier remained in the top five. By then, Parsons remained in sixth ahead of Davison, Brandon Jones, Labbe and Berry while Mayer, Hemric, Kvyat, Casasill and Sieg were in the top 15.

    Then with four laps remaining, Karam spun from third and backed his car into the wall. As Karam continued and limped his car back to pit road, the race remained under green and Gibbs retained the lead ahead of Allmendinger. Karam’s incident allowed Gragson, Allgaier and Parsons to move up the leaderboard.

    Two laps later, the caution flew due to debris being reported on the track and the event was sent into overtime. By then, Gibbs had extended his advantage to a second over Allmendinger.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Gibbs and Allmendinger dueled for the lead entering the first turn. They rubbed fenders through the first two turns as Allmendinger muscled into the lead entering the third turn. Through the infield turns, Allmendinger and Gibbs pulled away from the field, with Allmendinger closing in on Gibbs. It did not take long, however, for the caution to fly again and send the event into a second overtime attempt when Herbst spun, slapped the wall between Turns 4 and 5 and picked up a billboard sign on the course. Herbst eventually retired with a wrecked race car.

    During the start of the second overtime attempt, Allmendinger and Gibbs dueled for the lead entering the first turn before Allmendinger pulled ahead and came out on top. Behind, Gibbs and Gragson battled for second while James Davison moved up to fourth in front of Allgaier. While Parsons spun in Turn 7, the field scattered to avoid hitting him as the race proceeded under green.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allmendinger remained the leader by more than a second over Gibbs and Gragson. While Gibbs tried to close in on Allmendinger through the infield turns, the oval turns and the backstretch chicane, Allmendinger had enough power to fend off and beat Gibbs to the finish line by half a second.

    In addition to claiming his fourth consecutive victory at the Roval along with his second win in recent weeks, Allmendinger recorded his 15th career victory in the Xfinity Series, his 10th on a road course venue and his fifth of the 2022 season. The victory was also the 19th overall in the Xfinity circuit for Kaulig Racing.

    “It’s unbelievable,” Allmendinger said on NBC. “All the credit goes to all the men and women at Kaulig Racing. This Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevy was pretty good, but Ty [Gibbs] was really good there at the end. I didn’t know if I was gonna be able to get him. I knew I could just get to one restart on the outside of him, at least, we had a chance. I was whining pretty bad there. I was frustrated, didn’t think we had a shot, but I’m always gonna put it on my back when it’s time to go. We got that one. We stole that one!”

    Gibbs settled in second place for the third time this season as he secured his spot in the Playoff’s Round of 8. Gragson came home in third place while James Davison and Justin Allgaier finished in the top five. Alex Labbe finished sixth followed by Brandon Jones, who secured the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 by two points over Ryan Sieg. Berry, Sieg and Landon Cassill completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Playoff competitors Mayer, Clements, Hemric and Hill ended up 11th, 14th, 17th and 29th, respectively, while Herbst, who was unable to finish, was scored in 32nd.

    AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill and Brandon Jones have transferred to the Round of 8 in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs and will continue in their pursuit of this year’s championship. Ryan Sieg, Daniel Hemric, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements have been eliminated from title contention. With Hemric, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, being among one of four competitors eliminated from Playoff contention, the 2022 Xfinity Series will be primed to feature a new champion at season’s conclusion.

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

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 25 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Ty Gibbs, 24 laps led

    3. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    4. James Davison

    5. Justin Allgaier

    6. Alex Labbe

    7. Brandon Jones, three laps led, Stage 2 winner

    8. Josh Berry

    9. Ryan Sieg

    10. Landon Cassill

    11. Sam Mayer

    12. Anthony Alfredo

    13. Myatt Snider

    14. Jeremy Clements

    15. Daniil Kvyat

    16. Sheldon Creed, 18 laps led

    17. Daniel Hemric

    18. Jeb Burton

    19. JJ Yeley

    20. Brandon Brown

    21. Preston Pardus

    22. Scott Heckert

    23. Brad Perez

    24. Ryan Vargas

    25. Stefan Parsons

    26. Bayley Currey

    27. Joe Graf Jr.

    28. Timmy Hill

    29. Austin Hill, two laps down

    30. Sage Karam, two laps down

    31. Andy Lally, three laps down

    32. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    33. Patrick Gallagher – OUT, Engine

    34. Josh Bilicki, six laps down

    35. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

    36. Marco Andretti – OUT, Accident

    37. Josh Williams – OUT, Track bar

    38. Kris Wright – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    2. Noah Gragson – Advanced

    3. Ty Gibbs – Advanced

    4. Josh Berry – Advanced

    5. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

    6. Sam Mayer – Advanced

    7. Austin Hill – Advanced

    8. Brandon Jones – Advanced

    9. Ryan Sieg – Eliminated

    10. Daniel Hemric – Eliminated

    11. Riley Herbst – Eliminated

    12. Jeremy Clements – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to occur next Saturday, October 15, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Allmendinger claims photo finish win at Talladega, advances to Playoff’s Round of 8

    Allmendinger claims photo finish win at Talladega, advances to Playoff’s Round of 8

    AJ Allmendinger saved his absolute best for the last and kept his championship hopes for this season alive after beating Sam Mayer in a photo finish to win the Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 1.

    The 40-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, led three times for a total of three of 113-scheduled laps. Prior to the finish, he was running in second place behind pole-sitter Austin Hill under the final 10 laps. Following a shuffle amongst the front-runners, he made his way to the front of the field with two laps remaining before being overtaken by Sam Mayer prior to the final lap as he was shuffled back to third. Allmendinger then overtook Sieg through the backstretch and tucked in behind Mayer for the following two turns until he seized an opportunity entering the frontstretch to pull a slingshot move on Mayer with drafting help from teammate Landon Cassill. From there, Allmendinger was able to surge ahead and edge Mayer by a nose to claim his fourth checkered flag of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series and a spot to the Playoff’s Round of 8.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Playoff contender Austin Hill claimed his first career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 182.036 mph in 52.605 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Ty Gibbs, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 181.981 mph in 52.621 seconds.

    Prior to the event, names like Jesse Iwuji, Caesar Bacarella, Jeremy Clements, BJ McLeod, Mason Massey and Noah Gragson dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars. Joey Gase also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change along with Bayley Currey, Timmy Hill and Howie Disavino III, all of whom missed driver introductions.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Hill battled Allmendinger dead even for the lead, but managed to retain the top spot and pull away from the field entering Turns 3 and 4 as he proceeded to lead the first lap with drafting help from teammate Sheldon Creed.

    During the third lap, the first caution of the event flew when Ty Gibbs got bumped off the front nose of Justin Allgaier’s No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro as his No. 54 Sport Clips Toyota Supra slipped sideways before spinning across the backstretch. Despite making light contact with the outside wall, Gibbs managed to continue as he was dodged by the field. Under the caution period, names like Gragson, Sam Mayer, Ryan Vargas, Clements and Caesar Bacarella pitted while the rest led by Hill remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on the sixth lap, Hill retained the lead followed by teammate Creed, Allgaier, Brandon Jones and the field. Not long after, Allgaier launched a bid for the lead on the outside lane before rocketing to the top on the eighth lap. By then, he had drafting help from AJ Allmendinger and a number of competitors running on the outside lane while Hill attempted to fight back on the inside lane.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Allgaier was leading ahead of Allmendinger, Hill, Daniel Hemric and Trevor Bayne while the field behind fanned out to three tight-packed lanes.

    By Lap 15, Hill, who reassumed the lead a lap prior, was out in front followed by teammate Creed and Bayne while Anthony Alfredo, Myatt Snider, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger, Gragson, Riley Herbst and Hemric were in the top 10. In addition, 10 of the 12 Playoff contenders were running within the top 20 with Sam Mayer running in 21st and Jeremy Clements mired back in 25th.

    Nearing the first stage’s conclusion on Lap 20, Hill continued to lead as he was out in front of a long line of competitors running towards the outside lane. Creed settled in second followed by Alfredo, Allmendinger, Hemric, Allgaier, Brandon Brown, JJ Yeley, Brandon Jones and Ryan Sieg while Bayne, Snider, Derek Griffith, Gibbs, Gragson, Jeb Burton, Parker Kligerman, Herbst, Berry and Mayer were in the top 20.

    Then with two laps remaining in the first stage, a number of competitors led by Allmendinger dipped to the bottom lane in an attempt to overthrow Hill, but Hill also moved below the bottom lane as he retained the lead.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 25, Hill captured his second stage victory of the 2022 season. Teammate Creed settled in second followed by Hemric, Brandon Jones, Bayne, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Gibbs, Brown and Mayer. By then, seven of 12 Playoff contenders were scored in the top 10 while Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Josh Berry, Gragson and Clements were running within the top 22.

    Under the stage break, some led by Hill pitted while others that included Currey, Timmy Hill, Howie Disavino III, Joey Gase, Ryan Vargas, David Starr, Joe Graaf Jr., Iwuji, McLod and Caesar Bacarella remained on the track. All the competitors who remained on the track under caution eventually pitted prior to the restart, giving Hill back the lead.

    The second stage started on Lap 30 as Hill and Bayne occupied the front row. At the start, Hill retained the lead on the inside lane before Bayne assumed the top spot on the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Brandon Jones, Mayer and a bevy of competitors. As Bayne continued to lead on the outside lane, Hill remained as the lead competitor on the inside lane followed by teammate Creed.

    Ten laps later, Bayne retained the lead followed by teammate Brandon Jones while Creed emerged as the first competitor on the inside lane while launching his bid for the lead followed by Brown. By then, the field started to fan out to three tight-packed lanes.

    Another five laps later, Hill, who made a bold move beneath Bayne through the frontstretch to reassume the lead three laps earlier, was out in front followed by Alfredo and Brown while Bayne, Mayer and Sieg were running three wide while battling for fourth in front of the pack.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 50, Hill, who navigated his way through both lanes while also fending off a late surge from Allgaier, captured his third stage victory of the 2022 season and second of the day. Allgaier settled in second followed by Allmendinger, Bayne, Jeb Burton, Mayer, Brown, Brandon Jones, Sieg and Berry. By then, seven of 12 Playoff were scored in the top 10 while Gibbs, Herbst, Gragson, Hemric and Clements were running in 11th, 12th, 14t, 23rd and 31st, respectively. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Hill returned to pit road for service while names like Currey, Joey Gaase, Jeffrey Earnhardt, David Starr, Joe Graf Jr., Iwuji, Caesar Bacarella, Disavino, Timmy Hill, Ryan Vargas, McLeod and Mike Harmon remained on the track. All eventually pitted prior to the restart, giving Bayne the lead followed by Mayer, Gragson, Brandon Jones and Gibbs.

    With 58 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Bayne and Gragson dueled for the lead before Gragson muscled his way into the lead while Bayne settled in second in front of teammates Brandon Jones and Gibbs. A lap later and with the field fanning out to three tight-packed lanes, Ryan Sieg emerged with the lead followed by a fast-charging Allmendinger and Hill.

    With 50 laps remaining, Sieg was the leader of the race and ahead of a long line of competitors running towards the outside wall followed by Allmendinger, Hill, Brandon Jones and Gragson while Gibbs, Herbst, Landon Cassill, Snider and Jeb Burton were in the top 10.

    Nearing the final 45 laps of the event, green flag pit stops commenced as teammates Jeb Burton and Anthony Alfredo pitted before another wave of competitors, including Gragson, pitted, mainly for fuel. During the pit stops, Myatt Snider turned across the front nose of Blaine Perkins while trying to enter his pit stall as Snider ended up looping his car backwards inside his pit stall.

    With 40 laps remaining, Currey, who was one of 11 competitors who had yet to pit, was leading while Hill, the first competitor who pitted, led a bevy competitors in 12th place as he tried to close in on the lead group.

    Eight laps later, Hill reassumed the lead when the rest of the competitors who had yet to pit led by Currey pitted. By then, Hill led a 14-car breakaway at the front followed by Allmendinger, Gragson, Cassill, Mayer, Kligerman, Creed, Sieg, Herbst, Berry, Gibbs, Bayne, Brandon Jones and Hemric. Behind, the next six competitors trailed by more than four seconds with Jeb Burton in 15th ahead of Allgaier, Alfredo, Derek Griffith, Yeley and Brandon Brown. With all but one of 12 Playoff competitors running within the top 20, Clements was the lone Playoff contender running outside of the top 20 in 25th.

    With 25 laps remaining, Hill retained the lead ahead of Allmendinger, Gragson, Cassill and Mayer while the top-14 competitors remained four seconds ahead of the 15th-place competitor Jeb Burton. In addition, the top-19 competitors were ahead by nearly 23 seconds over the 20th-place competitor Blaine Perkins.

    Five laps later and down to the final 20 laps of the event, Hill continued to lead ahead of Allmendinger, Gragson, Cassill and Mayer while Kligerman, Creed, Sieg, Herbst, Berry, Gibbs, Bayne, Brandon Jones and Hemric remained within the 14-car lead pack.

    With 10 laps remaining, Hill remained as the leader ahead of the 14-car lead pack followed by Allmendinger, Gragson, Cassill, Mayer, Kligerman, Creed, Sieg, Herbst, Berry, Gibbs, Bayne, Brandon Jones and Hemric.

    Then with six laps remaining, Mayer was the first competitor to fan out and start a second lane followed by Sieg and others as they launched a bid for the lead on Hill, who remained on the inside lane. During the following lap, Gragson made a move on the outside lane before he was blocked by Hill through the frontstretch. This then caused the field to fan out to three lanes as Hill was shoved out of the lead draft while Mayer and Allmendinger moved up and battled dead even for the lead ahead of the pack.

    With two laps remaining, Allmendinger was out in front with drafting help from teammate Cassill while Mayer fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Sieg. Through the backstretch, Mayer gained a strong run as he cleared the field and assume the lead with both lanes to his control. While Snider spun behind the leaders in the backstretch, the race remainder under green flag conditions.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Mayer remained as the leader ahead of Sieg, Allmendinger, Cassill and the pack. He continued to lead through three turns until he started to pull away from the pack. This allowed the pack led by Allmendinger and Sieg to gain a momentum and close back in on Mayer entering the frontstretch. Then, Allmendinger, who had teammate Cassill behind him, made his move to the outside of Mayer. With the momentum on his side, Allmendinger was able to beat Mayer by 0.015 seconds to steal the victory.

    As a result, Allmendinger achieved his fourth Xfinity Series victory of the season, the 14th of his career and his first on a superspeedway venue. The victory awarded Allmendinger and his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro team a one-way ticket to the Round of 8 in the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs, where he joins Noah Gragson as the only competitors to be guaranteed a spot for the next Playoff round. It also marks the seventh Xfinity victory for Kaulig Racing on a superspeedway venue (Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway).

    Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I still hate [restrictor plate racing]!” Allmendinger exclaimed on USA Network. “Gosh, we’ve been so close to winning one and I feel like I keep giving them away. I’m still learning, trying to know what too big of a lead is, but honestly, all the credit to [teammate] Landon Cassill. He kept shoving me. He stuck with me. That’s what’s great about Kaulig Racing. When you got teammates like Landon and Daniel [Hemric], that you know no matter where you go, they’re gonna go with you. [It] Makes it a little bit easier. [Cassill]’s gonna share [the win] with me, but I wish we could both be the winner because he deserves it more than I do. Man, I just wanted to win a superspeedway [event]. Finally got it.”

    Mayer, who came within inches of claiming his first Xfinity career victory, settled in a career-best second place for his 10th top-five finish of the season. With the result, Mayer, who came into Talladega a single point above the top-eight cutline, leaves Talladega with a 13-point advantage above the cutline as he is in seventh place in the Playoff standings.

    “This is my first time getting to the end of a speedway race, coming to the checkered [flag],” Mayer said. “It was a good first experience, I guess. [I will] Take a top five [finish] at a place like this any day. Going into today, we were just like get some stage points and hopefully, survive to the end. Obviously, we survived at the end and we did everything right. We were just three feet shy…I’m looking forward to [the Charlotte Roval]. I’m just happy to get through this one, but our Accelerate Chevrolet Camaro probably should be in Victory Lane right now.”

    Cassill came home in third place followed by Ryan Sieg and Josh Berry. Kligerman, Gibbs, Hemric, Brandon Jones and Gragson completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, eight of 12 Playoff competitors finished in the top 10 on the track while Herbst, Hill, Allgaier and Clements finished 11th, 14th, 15th and 20th, respectively.

    There were 20 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 11 laps. All 38 starters finished the event while 23 finished on the lead lap.

    The 2022 Sparks 300 event marks the third and final time the fall Xfinity Talladega event will occur, with the series’ scaling back to competing at Talladega once annually in 2023.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, three laps led

    2. Sam Mayer, three laps led

    3. Landon Cassill

    4. Ryan Sieg, 11 laps led

    5. Josh Berry

    6. Parker Kligerman

    7. Ty Gibbs

    8. Daniel Hemric

    9. Brandon Jones, one lap led

    10. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    11. Riley Herbst

    12. Sheldon Creed, two laps led

    13. Trevor Bayne, 13 laps led

    14. Austin Hill, 60 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    15. Justin Allgaier, six laps led

    16. Anthony Alfredo

    17. Jeb Burton

    18. JJ Yeley

    19. Josh Williams

    20. Jeremy Clements

    21. Joey Gase

    22. Joe Garaf Jr.

    23. Derek Griffith

    24. Bayley Currey, one lap down, 12 laps led

    25. David Starr, one lap down

    26. BJ McLeod, one lap down

    27. Timmy Hill, one lap down, one lap led

    28. Jesse Iwuji, one lap down

    29. CJ McLaughlin, one lap down

    30. Ryan Vargas, one lap down

    31. Caesar Bacarella, one lap down

    32. Howie Disavino III, one lap down

    33. Brandon Brown, one lap down

    34. Mike Harmon, two laps down

    35. Myatt Snider, two laps down

    36. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    37. Jeffrey Earnhardt, four laps down

    38. Mason Massey, 18 laps down

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Noah Gragson – Advanced

    2. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    3. Ty Gibbs +49

    4. Austin Hill +43

    5. Josh Berry +27

    6. Justin Allgaier +25

    7. Sam Mayer +12

    8. Ryan Sieg +6

    9. Daniel Hemric -6

    10. Riley Herbst -10

    11. Brandon Jones -10

    12. Jeremy Clements -47

    The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will continue next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for a 250-mile feature and where the first round of eliminations will occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, October 8, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Gragson wins the battle at Bristol; Allmendinger clinches 2022 Xfinity Series regular-season championship

    Gragson wins the battle at Bristol; Allmendinger clinches 2022 Xfinity Series regular-season championship

    In a late attrition between two Xfinity Series regulars to cap off the regular-season stretch on a strong note, Noah Gragson came out of top over a late battle against Brandon Jones to win the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 16.

    The 24-year-old Gragson from Las Vegas, Nevada, led the final 25 laps and benefitted through a 20-lap dash to the finish while on old tires to fend off a hard-charging Jones and capture his sixth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season and third in a row in recent weeks at Thunder Valley. The victory enabled Gragson to collect additional bonus points toward the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs as he commences the pursuit of his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Ty Gibbs claimed his fifth career pole position and fourth of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 122.584 mph in 15.563 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Josh Berry, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 122.100 mph in 15.715 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Joe Graf Jr. and Stefan Parsons 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, Gibbs and Berry dueled for the lead while AJ Allmendinger, who started fourth, briefly went up the track and struggled to come up to pace after having a gear shifting issue. By the completion of the first lap, he was mired back in eighth while Gibbs was out in front ahead of Berry, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and Daniel Hemric.

    On the fifth lap, the first caution flew when Nick Sanchez blew a right-front tire entering the backstretch as he fell off the pace and managed to keep the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro off the wall. At the moment of caution, Gibbs was out in front by more than a second followed by Berry, Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Mayer while Jeb Burton, Ryan Sieg, Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones were in the top 10.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 10, Gibbs launched ahead with the lead while Allgaier moved his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro into the runner-up spot over teammate Berry. Behind, Mayer rocketed his No. 1 Huck’s Market Chevrolet Camaro into fourth place after overtaking Smith while Jeb Burton was in sixth ahead of a side-by-side battle between Gragson and Brandon Jones.

    Three laps later, however, the caution returned when Riley Herbst made contact against rookie Sheldon Creed’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro entering Turn 4 while battling for a spot in the top 15 as he spun before his No. 98 Resorts World Ford Mustang went below the apron and continued without sustaining any significant damage.

    During the following restart on Lap 18, Gibbs rocketed away with another strong restart in his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra while Allgaier fended off teammate Berry for the runner-up spot. Behind, Sammy Smith maneuvered his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra around Mayer for fourth while Gragson battled Jeb Burton for sixth place.

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by nearly a second over Allgaier followed by Berry, Smith and Mayer while Gragson, Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones, Hemric and Landon Cassill were in the top 10. By then, Allmendinger was black in 11th ahead of Ryan Sieg, rookie Austin Hill, Creed and Jeremy Clements while Anthony Alfredo, Bayley Currey, Brandon Brown, Jeffrey Earnhardt and JJ Yeley were in the top 20.

    Eleven laps later, the caution flew when Sanchez spun in Turn 4 as this marked his second incident of the night. During the caution period, few names like Brandon Jones, whose window net was loose, and Creed pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 41, Gibbs and Allgaier dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Gibbs managed to clear and fend off Allgaier with the lead. Behind, a trio of JR Motorsports competitors including Berry, Gragson and Mayer battled for third while Jeb Burton retained sixth ahead of Allmendinger, Smith, Hemric and Hill.

    Four laps later, the caution returned when Brandon Brown got loose entering the backstretch as he spun, pounded the inside wall and damaged the rear end of his car.

    Another five laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs and Allgaier dueled for the lead again through the first two turns before Gibbs retained the top spot on the outside lane in Turn 2. Behind, Gragson was in third followed by teammates Berry and Merry while Allmendinger was locked in a battle with Jeb Burton and Hemric for sixth.

    By Lap 60, Gibbs continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Gragson, Berry, Mayer, Allmendinger, Jeb Burton, Hemric, Smith and Ryan Sieg were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Austin Hill was in 11th followed by Cassill, Clements, Currey and Kyle Weatherman while Creed, Herbst and Brandon Jones were in 20th, 21st and 24th, respectively.

    Fifteen laps later and at the Lap 75 mark, Gibbs stabilized his advantage to less than half a second over Allgaier, who kept teammate Gragson behind in his rearview mirror, while Mayer and Berry remained in the top five. Behind, Allmendinger retained sixth as he was slowly catching Berry for position.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 85, Gibbs, who had to navigate his way through lapped traffic while also keeping Allgaier behind him, captured his sixth stage victory of the 2022 season. Allgaier settled in second while Gragson, Mayer, Allmendinger, Berry, Jeb Burton, Hemric, Cassill and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10. By then, Creed was mired in 17th as he was unable to record a stage point in the first stage compared to his rivals (Hemric, Cassill and Sieg) vying for the final Playoff berths.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Gibbs pitted while Creed and Jeffrey Earnhardt remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 94 as Creed and Jeffrey Earnhardt occupied the front row. At the start, Creed took off with the lead on the outside lane followed by Gibbs and Allgaier while Earnhardt struggled to launch on the inside lane. During the following lap, Allgaier overtook Gibbs for the runner-up spot before he went to work on Creed for the lead. 

    Soon after, a tight side-by-side battle for the lead between Creed and Allgaier ignited as Creed refused to give up the top spot. With both competitors refusing to give up and making contact, Creed managed to pull away with a steady lead of half a second while Allgaier was being challenged by Gibbs for the runner-up spot. 

    At the Lap 110 mark, Creed was leading by a tenth of a second over Allgaier followed by Gibbs, Mayer and Gragson while Brandon Jones, Smith, Allmendinger, Earnhardt and Hill were in the top 10. By then, Cassill, who came into the event holding the final transfer spot to the Playoffs, made an unscheduled pit stop under green. Soon after, Cassill, who then had smoke coming out of the right front of his No. 10 Voyager Chevrolet Camaro upon returning to the track with the driver reporting a brake hub issue, took his car to the garage as his Playoff hopes were placed in jeopardy.

    Fifteen laps later, Allgaier prevailed in his intense battle with Creed as he moved into the lead while Creed was left to fend off Gibbs and Gragson for the runner-up spot. Another three laps later, however, disaster struck for Creed when Gragson bumped into the rear of Gibbs as Gibbs went up the track and collided with Creed and both competitors smacked the outside wall hard in Turn 2. The wreck was enough to eliminate Creed from the event as his hopes of making the Playoffs evaporated. Gibbs was also eliminated from the event while Gragson continued. 

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 138, Allgaier took off with the lead on the outside lane while teammate Gragson retained the runner-up spot in front of Brandon Jones, who was racing on two fresh tires. Soon after, Mayer bolted his way into third place while Allmendinger went to work in battling Jones for fourth. 

    At the halfway mark on Lap 150, Allgaier was leading by more than half a second over teammate Gragson followed by Mayer, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones while Hill, Herbst, Jeb Burton, Hemric and Smith were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Ryan Sieg was in 12th in front of Berry, who got into the outside wall earlier, while Cassill was still mired in 37th and undergoing repairs in the garage.

    Ten laps later, Allgaier extended his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over teammate Gragson while Mayer, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones remained in the top five. By then, Sieg remained in Playoff contention as he was in 13th place.

    Then with four laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when Mayer, who tried to pull a three-wide move on both CJ McLaughlin and JJ Yeley, entering Turn 1, made contact with Yeley as both spun through the turn and below the apron while being dodged by Gragson. 

    The incident involving Mayer was enough for the second stage to conclude on Lap 170 as Allgaier captured his eighth stage victory of the 2022 season. Teammate Gragson settled in second while Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Herbst, Hill, Jeb Burton, Hemric, Mayer and Sammy Smith were scored in the top 10. By then, Hemric and Sieg, who settled in 11th, were above the top-12 cutline while Cassill remained in the garage and in 37th place. In addition, Allmendinger locked up the 2022 Xfinity Series regular-season championship for a second consecutive season.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier pitted and Allgaier retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Gragson, Brandon Jones, Hill, Allmendinger and Herbst. Back on the track, however, Bayley Currey and Joe Graf Jr. remained on the track.

    With 121 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Currey and Graf occupied the front row. At the start, Currey launched ahead followed by Allgaier while Graf struggled to get up to speed on the inside lane. When the field returned to the frontstretch, Allgaier navigated his way around Currey as he reassumed the lead. Shortly after, Brandon Jones moved into second place while Currey retained third ahead of Hill, Herbst and Gragson. 

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Allgaier retained as the leader by a tenth of a second over future teammate Brandon Jones while Currey, Hill and Gragson were scored in the top five. By then, Sieg was in 10th on the track behind Hemric and scored six points above the cutline over Cassill, who was in 37th place and more than 90 laps down.

    Twenty-five laps later, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than a second over Brandon Jones, who started to have Hill pressure him for the runner-up spot, while Gragson and Herbst were running in the top five. Behind, Allmendinger was in sixth ahead of Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Currey and Stefan Parsons. By then, Cassill, who was back on the track, was 112 laps behind the leaders while Sieg continued to hold possession of the 12th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs. Hemric, who was back in 15th, also continued to remain above the top-12 cutline.

    With less than 60 laps remaining, Gragson overtook Brandon Jones for the runner-up spot while Allgaier continued to extend his advantage to more than two seconds. By then, Hemric, who was mired back in 22nd and off the lead lap category, was reporting power steering issues to his No. 11 AG1 Chevrolet Camaro.

    Down to the final 35 laps of the event, the battle for the lead started to intensify as Gragson closed in to the rear bumper of teammate Allgaier in his bid for the lead. 

    Then with 30 laps remaining, the caution flew when Yeley, who made contact with the leader Allgaier as Allgaier was trying to lap Yeley and Alex Labbe with a three-wide move, spun and pounded the inside wall in the backstretch as his event came to an end. During the caution period, some led by Allgaier pitted while the rest led by Gragson remained on the track Following the pit stops, Allgaier and Jeffrey Earnhardt were sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. 

    With 20 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gragson rocketed his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro to the lead ahead of Brandon Jones’ No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra while Hill started to challenge Jones for the runner-up spot. Behind, Herbst was in fourth followed by Mayer, Berry, Stefan Parsons and Ryan Sieg, who was trying to finish the event to make the Playoffs.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gragson stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Brandon Jones followed by Hill, Herbst and Berry while Sieg remained in ninth and in contention to make the Playoffs.

    With five laps remaining, a tight battle for the lead ignited between Gragson and Brandon Jones, with the former remaining out in front by a hair over the latter as both also navigated his way through lapped traffic.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gragson retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Brandon Jones. Entering Turn 3, Jones gained a strong run on Gragson in a final bid for the lead, but the run was not enough as Gragson retained the top spot. From here, he made his way back to the frontstretch and beat Jones to the finish line by a tenth of a second to grab his sixth checkered flag of the 2022 season and his third in a row in recent weeks.

    With the victory, Gragson achieved his 11th career win in the Xfinity Series, his second at Thunder Valley and the 12th victory of the season for JR Motorsports. By accumulating six victories along with a bevy of points throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, he will commence the Playoffs with the top seed and with 2,051 points as he pursues his quest of winning his first Xfinity title.

    Photo by Jim Barnes for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Man, three [wins] in a row,” Gragson said on USA Network. “That last caution came out. I knew if we could bring the top [lane], it was gonna be hard for [Jones] to get there. [I] Appreciate Brandon Jones for racing us clean. He fed us the bumper with two [laps] to go. I was hanging on, scrubbing the fence, but we won here at Bristol in 2020. There was no fans here. This is 10 times cooler. [I] Appreciate you, Bristol. Thank you, all you fans, for coming out. You guys are awesome. Man, I’m just so thankful. What a great opportunity to race here for our fans and having the opportunity to win a race. Man, our car was fast all day. Once we got out to the top, we were rolling. Man, I had a blast.”

    Brandon Jones, who is set to join JR Motorsports to pilot the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro in 2023, trailed Gragson and his future ride to the finish line by a tenth of a second as he settled in second place for the second time of the season and for his sixth top-five result of the season. He will line up in seventh place in the Playoff standings with 2,010 points as he also commences his pursuit for his first Xfinity title.

    “I thought this [loss] hurts the most just because that was our race to win,” Jones said. “We fought so many different things tonight, adversity-wise. [I] Just kept piling back up and kept coming back. It was really cool to look at our race, in particular, as a whole to see where it started to where it ended for us. [I] Really thought when [Allgaier] sped [on pit road], I was like, ‘Aw man. Easy piece of cake. We got it.’ The bottom [lane] didn’t take off great. I didn’t have a great restart, but those newer tires, fresher tires, certainly paid a dividend at the very end. I just caught [Gragson] at the wrong time every single time. I could get in deeper into the corner and I could get him to the middle, but I just could never get to the exit. I got him, maybe, two times where I had a shot to try and get to his left rear and try to get him loose. I put maximum pressure on him. [I] Gave it everything I had today. Man, there’s a lot of momentum. These last couple of races we’ve had has really kicked it up here lately, so we’re ready. “

    Hill came home in third place followed by Mayer and Herbst, all of whom have made the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs. Allmendinger settled in sixth place while Berry, Stefan Parsons, Allgaier and Ryan Sieg completed the top 10 on the track.

    By clinching the 2022 Xfinity Series regular-season championship and being awarded an additional 15-point bonus towards the Playoffs, Allmendinger became the first Xfinity competitor to achieve multiple regular-season titles and the first to do so in back-to-back seasons. He will now line up in fourth place in the Playoff standings with 2,032 points as he pursues his first NASCAR title.

    Photo by Christian Gardner for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[I’m] Really proud of everybody at Kaulig Racing,” Allmendinger said. “[I’m] Frustrated at myself tonight, but all in all, great to win the regular-season championship two years in a row. To finish top six today, [I] really had a really fast car at the end of the race there. On long runs, I thought we had a shot to win the race. Short runs, we struggled a little bit, but overall, great regular season. We got to get ready for the Playoffs. We’ve been struggling a little bit. Tonight was a little bit of a boost and hopefully, get ready for Texas.”

    Sieg’s 10th-place run was enough for him to claim the 12th and final spot to the Playoffs by five points over Cassill, who could only climb his way to 35th place on the track while 112 laps behind the leaders. Hemric also made the Playoffs despite finishing 20th as he will pursue his quest to defend his series title.

    Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Josh Berry, rookie Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric and Ryan Sieg have made the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. 

    Landon Cassill and rookie Sheldon Creed join names like Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Brown, Brett Moffitt, Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider and Alex Labbe as the remaining competitors who did not make the Playoffs.

    There were six lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 58 laps.

    Results.

    1. Noah Gragson, 25 laps led

    2. Brandon Jones

    3. Austin Hill

    4. Sam Mayer

    5. Riley Herbst

    6. AJ Allmendinger

    7. Josh Berry

    8. Stefan Parsons

    9. Justin Allgaier, 148 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    10. Ryan Sieg

    11. Bayley Currey, four laps led

    12. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    13. Anthony Alfredo

    14. Sammy Smith, one lap down

    15. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    16. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    17. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

    18. Sage Karam, one lap down

    19. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    20. Daniel Hemric, two laps down

    21. Josh Williams, two laps down

    22. Myatt Snider, two laps down

    23. Joe Graf Jr., two laps down

    24. CJ McLaughlin, three laps down

    25. Kris Wright, three laps down

    26. Alex Labbe, three laps down

    27. Patrick Emerling, six laps down

    28. Ronnie Bassett Jr., six laps down

    29. Nick Sanchez, six laps down

    30. David Starr, seven laps down

    31. Bobby McCarty, 12 laps down

    32. Mason Massey – OUT, Oil line

    33. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

    34. BJ McLeod – OUT, Brakes

    35. Landon Cassill, 112 laps down

    36. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident, 89 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    37. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident, 34 laps led

    38. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident

    The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to commence next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, September 24, at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Hemric, Sieg clinch 2022 Xfinity Playoff berths; Cassill, Creed eliminated

    Hemric, Sieg clinch 2022 Xfinity Playoff berths; Cassill, Creed eliminated

    At the start of the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 16, all eyes were focused on Daniel Hemric, Landon Cassill, Ryan Sieg and rookie Sheldon Creed, all of whom were battling for the final two transfer spots to make the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.

    When the event concluded following 300 laps of intensity, carnage and chaos, Hemric and Sieg were left victorious as they claimed the final two spots to the Playoffs while Cassill and Creed were left on the outside of the Playoff picture. For Hemric and Sieg, their road to making the Playoffs did not come without drama from start to finish.

    For Hemric, who rolled off the starting grid in eighth place, the majority of his event went smoothly as he claimed top-10 results in both stages and was initially poised for a top-10 run on the track. His event, however, briefly turned sour when he radioed power steering issues to his No. 11 AG1 Chevrolet Camaro and fell out of the lead lap category. Needing to finish to have an opportunity to defend his series, Hemric managed to accomplish his mission after surviving a 20-lap dash to the finish to finish 20th, two laps down, and claim the first of two vacant spots in the Playoffs.

    With his accomplishment, Hemric, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, qualified for his fourth career appearance in the Xfinity Series Playoffs and his first with Kaulig Racing amid a difficult 2022 campaign, where he has recorded nine top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch and is seeking his first victory of the season. Despite the on-track struggles, Hemric sets his sights on the Playoffs and turning the difficulties throughout the regular-season stretch into success for the Playoffs.

    “All the money we spent training, it was worth every penny after [the race],” Hemric said on USA Network. “That was the toughest challenge I’ve ever experienced inside of a race car that 80 or 90-lap run, whatever it was. [I] Had a leak somewhere in the system. That caution with 15 [laps] to go, we got the [pit] stop and it took a full bottle and a half of power steering to have power steering back. Obviously, [I] just got to execute better on that. In the Playoffs, you can’t have issues like that. Thankfully, we are part of that. We got a lot of work to do to get this AG1 Camaro, this entire No. 11 team to be championship contenders. We’re gonna fight. We’re gonna continue to fight, go down swinging. Read to go battle.”

    Perhaps there was no competitor smiling more on pit road in making the Playoffs than Sieg, who started Friday night’s event in 10th place. His road to the Playoffs started with drama three days earlier when the news from NASCAR emerged that Jeremy Clements, who was initially assessed an L2-level penalty for an intake manifold violation and was disqualified from the Playoffs despite winning at Daytona International Speedway in late August, was reinstated back into the Playoff picture after winning his appeal case. Clements’ reinstatement knocked Sieg back below the cutline as he trailed the top-12 cutline by 19 points behind Landon Cassill.

    Throughout the event, however, good fortune struck Sieg, who leaped his way back inside the cutline during the second stage once Cassill took his No. 10 Voyager Chevrolet Camaro to the garage due to a mechanical issue just past the one-third mark of the event. With Cassill multiple laps down, all Sieg had to do was nurse his No. 39 A-Game Ford Mustang to the finish and with a strong on-track result. Despite enduring a total of eight caution periods and a 20-lap dash to the finish, Sieg accomplished his task as he finished in 10th place, which was enough to claim the 12th and final spot in the Playoffs by five points over Cassill.

    With his accomplishment, Sieg, who is currently campaigning in his ninth full-time season in the Xfinity Series with his family-owned RSS Racing organization, qualified for the Playoffs for the fourth time in his career. He will now embark on a seven-race stretch to contend for his first NASCAR national touring series championship. He also continues to pursue his first NASCAR victory, having made 294 previous starts without recording a victory to his resume.

    “It’s Bristol,” Sieg said. “You never know what can happen. “It’s a lot of fun racing on these short tracks. Too bad we didn’t add a couple next year, but all in all, just a great day for our CMR/A-Game Ford. Just grind it out and find ourselves going to the Playoffs. That’s amazing for our small team and we’ll have [crew chief] Cowboy [Starland] back in the Playoffs in his last year. We got a top 10 [finish]. First time here. It’s all turning around a little bit. We’ve struggled through the summer, but we’ve turned it around. Hopefully, we’re headed in the right direction for these Playoffs.”

    The first competitor to be left outside of the Playoff picture following the regular-season stretch was Cassill, Hemric’s teammate. In his first season with Kaulig Racing and amid a roller coaster regular-season stretch, Cassill came into the event retaining the 12th and final spot to the Playoffs after recording nine top-10 results throughout the regular-season stretch. Despite rolling off the grid in 16th place and remaining within striking distance of a strong run to qualify for this first appearance in the Xfinity Playoffs, his championship hopes took a serious hit nearing the Lap 110 mark when he made an unscheduled pit stop under green.

    Soon after, the night went from bad to worse for the Iowa native as he took his car to the garage with smoke coming out of his No. 10 Chevrolet due to an apparent mechanical issue involving the brake hub. By the time Cassill returned to the track, he was 112 laps behind the leaders and needed to either gain a bevy of spots below the leaderboard or have Sieg eliminated from the event. With Sieg managing to finish 10th, Cassill could only climb his way up to 35th place in the final leaderboard, which was not enough for him to retain his Playoff hopes for this season as he missed the cutline by five points. He will be the only Kaulig Racing competitor to not make the Playoffs while his teammates Hemric and AJ Allmendinger, the 2022 Xfinity regular-season champion, will contend for this year’s title.

    Photo by Jim Barnes for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[The event] was fine,” Cassill said. “We were fast enough and I was doing what I needed to do, and then we had a mechanical failure. I really don’t know what to say. We’ll just move forward from here.”

    Another competitor who did not make the Playoffs was Creed, who rallied from a difficult start to his rookie campaign in the Xfinity circuit to endure a strong summer stretch to draw himself back into contention to make the Playoffs. Despite being 32 points below the cutline at the start of the event and qualifying 22nd for Friday night’s event at Bristol, an opportunity presented itself for Creed when he elected to remain on the track with the lead on old tires to start the second stage. Despite being pressured by veteran Justin Allgaier at the start, Creed held his ground on the outside lane and managed to lead 34 laps before he lost the lead to Allgaier on Lap 125.

    Three laps later, however, Creed’s strong run came to a crashing halt when he was caught up in a wreck in Turn 2 that started when the eventual winner Noah Gragson bumped into Ty Gibbs and sent Gibbs up the racetrack and into Creed’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro, with the latter two making hard contact against the outside wall with wrecked race cars. The damage was enough to knock Creed out of the race and out of contention to contend for his first Xfinity title as he sets his sights on concluding the 2022 season on a strong note.

    “[It] Looked like [Gragson] just got [Gibbs] on the left rear, got him loose and shot him up into me,” Creed said. “[We] Did what we had to do. [I] Didn’t have a great qualifying effort. I got track position there and still was super loose, but I had pace. I felt like that was the first time today I had good speed. I thought we were probably one [pit] stop away from being able to race those guys for a win. Man, that’s just the way my year’s gone. We have speed at times and then, stuff like that happens. Unfortunate, but proud of my guys. We never gave up all year. I felt like we gave it one hell of a fight the last few weeks. [I] Felt like we would’ve had a shot [to win] tonight. We’re gonna keep digging this year and maybe, build some new cars.”

    With Cassill and Creed among a handful of competitors failing to make the Playoffs, Hemric and Sieg join 10 other competitors in a seven-race battle for the 2022 Xfinity Series championship. Their Playoff battle begins next Saturday, September 24, at Texas Motor Speedway with the event’s coverage to commence at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Creed salvages 11th-place run at Kansas, eyes Xfinity Playoff berth at Bristol

    Creed salvages 11th-place run at Kansas, eyes Xfinity Playoff berth at Bristol

    Rookie Sheldon Creed maintained his hopes of remaining eligible to make the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs with an 11th-place run in the rain-shortened Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, September 10.

    The 2020 Camping World Truck Series champion from Alpine, California, survived a roller coaster event in Kansas that started off on a positive note when he rolled off the grid in third place after posting the third-fastest qualifying lap on Friday. Through the first 10 laps, however, Creed had fallen out of the top five as he was mired in an on-track battle with teammate Austin Hill for sixth place. He was then scored in ninth place by Lap 20 while continuing to lose spots on the track while wrangling with handling issues to his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro.

    Despite the early handling issues, Creed managed to settle in 14th place following the first stage’s conclusion on Lap 45. He went on to conclude the second stage scheduled on Lap 90 in 11th place in front of teammate Hill, which was where he would ultimately end up in the final scoreboard when NASCAR ruled the event official on Lap 93 of 200 due to increasing precipitation.

    With his 14th top-15 result of the season and his seventh in nine recent events, Creed, who came into Kansas trailing the top-12 cutline to make the Playoffs by 16 points, accumulated three points as he trails the cutline by 13 points behind Ryan Sieg, who finished 14th.

    “I had a lot more confidence in [the car] that I thought what we had today,” Creed said on USA Network. “We fired off [the race] there. I thought we were really good and then, I don’t know, went to really bad when the track started building rubber. I tried so many different things. [I] Just couldn’t get anything to work or make speed. I don’t know where we missed it. [We] Just weren’t as good as thought as we were. Looks like we gained three points. [I] Wished we could’ve finished this one. Maybe play [pit] strategy. I don’t think we had the speed to win today, but maybe, could’ve played it differently and got a better finish and maybe, got a bigger gap to [Ryan Sieg] and us.”

    Creed’s current status in vying for a spot to the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs comes amid a roller coaster start to his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity circuit, where he replaced Myatt Snider to pilot the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing following three full-time seasons in the Truck Series. Despite commencing the season in sixth place at Daytona International Speedway in February, Creed could only record five additional top-10 results through the following 16 scheduled events. Mired within the early top-10 results were nine results outside of the top 20, five DNFs and a four-race suspension handed to Creed’s crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz, car chief Kris McCabe and team engineer Sam Bowers due to a dropped ballast during a practice session at Martinsville Speedway in April.

    Since July, the tides began to turn in favor of Creed, who led 16 laps and finished 12th at Atlanta Motor Speedway before he recorded a pair of fifth-place results at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and at Pocono Raceway, respectively. Then during last weekend’s event at Darlington Raceway, Creed was within striking distance of claiming his first Xfinity victory at Darlington Raceway before he was overtaken by Noah Gragson on the final lap after losing his momentum while scrapping the outside wall to the finish and settled in a career-best second place.

    Ultimately, Creed went from recording an average-finishing result of 20.6 through the first 16-scheduled events to an average-finishing result of 11.3 during the previous 10 events, including his 11th-place result at Kansas. With his focus set for next weekend’s regular-season finale at Bristol, Creed’s bid to make the Playoffs comes down to either winning at Bristol or gaining 13 points on Ryan Sieg.

    “We’re just gonna go and do our best,” Creed added. “We’re gonna show up with the best car that we can and treat it like we’re going to the Final Four [round]. We just need to go and be on our A game at Bristol. We need to go practice good, we need to qualify good, we need to get max stage points and give ourselves a shot at the win at the end.”

    Creed’s final bid to make the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to occur at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 16, which marks the final regular-season event of the season. The event is scheduled to commence at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • GMS Racing to achieve a combined 650 Truck Series starts at Kansas

    GMS Racing to achieve a combined 650 Truck Series starts at Kansas

    GMS Racing is set to achieve a milestone start in the team’s 10th season with one start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. When GMS competitors Grant Enfinger and rookie Jack Wood take the green flag in this weekend’s Playoff event at Kansas Speedway, GMS Racing will reach a combined 650 career starts in the Truck circuit.

    GMS Racing, which was established by Allegiant Travel Company CEO Maurice Gallagher and is currently based in Statesville, North Carolina, made its inaugural presence during the 2011 ARCA Menards Series season. Two years later, the team expanded its program into the Camping World Truck Series and attempted to compete in five events with the No. 21 Chevrolet Silverado piloted by Spencer Gallagher, son of Maurice Gallagher. Throughout the season, Spencer Gallagher managed to qualify for three events as he finished 22nd at Kansas Speedway in April, 20th at Texas Motor Speedway and 32nd at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, respectively.

    In 2014, GMS Racing fielded the No. 21 Chevrolet Silverado as a full-time entry for Joey Coulter. The team also fielded the Nos. 23 and 33 Chevrolet Silverados on a part-time basis, where Spencer Gallagher, Max Gresham and Brandon Jones piloted the entries. Throughout the season, Jones, who piloted the No. 33 truck in two events, finished 32nd and 12th at Martinsville Speedway in October and at Phoenix Raceway in November, respectively. Gallagher and Gresham each recorded a top-10 result in the No. 23 Chevrolet, with Gallagher earning a strong third-place result at Talladega Superspeedway in October. Coulter, meanwhile, earned three top-five results, 10 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 13.1 throughout the 22-race schedule before finishing in seventh place in the final drivers’ standings.

    Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    During the following season, Coulter, who did not compete due to a lack of funding, became team relationships coordinator for GMS while the No. 21 entry made a single appearance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October, where Brennan Poole piloted the truck to an 11th-place result. The Nos. 23 and 33 Chevrolet Silverado entries became full-time entries, with Spencer Gallagher driving the No. 23 truck while Brandon Jones, Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon split the No. 33 ride. At New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, Austin Dillon recorded the first NASCAR career victory for GMS Racing after leading a race-high 80 of 175-scheduled laps en route to his seventh Truck career victory from pole position. To go along with the victory, the Dillon brothers recorded a combined two poles, four top-five results and five top-10 results in six starts in the No. 33 entry while Jones, who made two starts, earned his best result of the season in 12th place at Phoenix in November. In his first full-time campaign in NASCAR, Gallagher notched his career-best result of second place at World Wide Technology Raceway in June along with a total of six top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 14.6 before finishing in 10th place in the 2015 standings.

    The 2016 season featured a major addition to GMS Racing’s Truck driver lineup as veteran Johnny Sauter was named a full-time competitor of the No. 21 Chevrolet Silverado entry, where he competed alongside the No. 23 entry retained by Spencer Gallagher and the No. 33 truck split between newcomers Grant Enfinger and Kaz Grala. GMS also debuted the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado entry that competed on a part-time basis while split between Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, Shane Lee, Grala and Enfinger. In May, Ben Kennedy joined the team’s lineup, where he split time between the Nos. 24 and 33 entries, after departing Red Horse Racing. The team’s highlights throughout the 16-race regular-season schedule included Sauter winning in his debut with GMS at Daytona International Speedway in February and Kennedy notching his first career win in the No. 33 Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. The victories made by Sauter and Kennedy were enough for both to qualify for the inaugural Truck Series Playoffs. Meanwhile, Spencer Gallagher drove the No. 23 Chevrolet to six top-10 results throughout the regular season, which were not enough for him to make the Playoffs, while the No. 24 GMS entry earned a victory at Eldora Speedway in July with Larson along with six top-10 results. Through six of the seven-race Playoff stretch, GMS earned three additional victories after Enfinger drove the No. 24 Chevrolet to his first career win at Talladega Superspeedway in October while Sauter achieved back-to-back wins at Martinsville Speedway and at Texas Motor Speedway between October and November. The Playoff victories made by Sauter were enough to transfer the Wisconsin veteran and the No. 21 team all the way to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. During the finale, Sauter achieved the first NASCAR championship for himself and for GMS Racing after finishing third on the track and ahead of title rivals Matt Crafton, Christopher Bell and Timothy Peters. Overall, the 2016 season was a breakout season for GMS Racing, which went to Victory Lane six times and achieved its first NASCAR national touring series championship, and for Sauter, who achieved his first multi-win season (three), racked up the most top-five (12) and top-10 results (19) in his career and earned his first NASCAR title. While Sauter earned the title, Kennedy finished in seventh place in the final standings after being eliminated from title contention following the Round of 6 while Gallagher, who achieved his first two career poles, ended up in 12th place.

    Photo by Ted Seminara for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Embarking the 2017 season as the reigning champion, Sauter retained his seat in the No. 21 Chevrolet while Kaz Grala graduated to a full-time driving role in the No. 33 Chevrolet. The No. 24 Chevrolet also became a full-time entry for Justin Haley, the reigning K&N Pro Series East champion. Haley, however, was not allowed to compete in the first two scheduled events at Daytona and at Atlanta due to age restrictions, with the events filled by Scott Lagasse Jr. and Alex Bowman, respectively. Lastly, the No. 23 Chevrolet appeared for only the first three events of the schedule, with Spencer Gallagher driving at Daytona while Chase Elliott competed at Atlanta and Martinsville. Throughout the season, Elliott recorded the lone victory for the No. 23 entry at Martinsville in March while the No. 24 entry achieved a total of 13 top-10 results made between Lagasse, Bowman and Haley. Despite commencing his first season in the Truck Series at Martinsville in March and recording 10 top-10 results throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, Haley did not make the Playoffs. Nonetheless, he went on to finish in the top 10 twice during the seven-race Playoff stretch before capping off his first Truck season in 12th place in the drivers’ standings. Meanwhile, Grala commenced his first full-time Truck season by becoming the youngest competitor to win both a pole and race at Daytona at age 18 after he dodged a multi-truck wreck on the final lap to capture his first NASCAR career victory in February. He went on to record five additional top-10 results for the remaining 15 regular-season events before entering the 2017 Truck Playoffs as a title contender. His title hopes, however, came to an early end following respective finishes of 10th, fifth and 29th during the Round of 8. He went on to finish in the top 10 three times during the final four-scheduled events before settling in seventh place in the final standings. Like Grala, Sauter secured his spot for the 2017 Playoffs on the strength of winning at Dover in May and at Chicagoland in September. After recording consistent top-10 results to transfer to the Round of 8, Sauter notched back-to-back victories at Texas and Phoenix in November, respectively, to advance to the Championship Round at Homestead for a second consecutive season. During the finale, however, Sauter finished third on the track, one spot behind Christopher Bell as Bell claimed the championship while Sauter, who was unable to defend his series title, was left with a runner-up result in the final standings coupled with four victories, 13 top-five results, 19 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 6.3. Despite falling short of defending its title, GMS Racing tied its career-high number of victories as an organization in a season at six.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Sauter and Haley remained as drivers of the Nos. 21 and 24 GMS entries for the 2018 season while the team welcomed Cody Coughlin and Dalton Sargeant as drivers of the newly-formed Nos. 2 and 25 Chevrolets, respectively. Midway into the season, however, Sargeant, who earned four top-10 results throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, and Coughlin, who earned six top-10 results in 18 starts, were released from the team and both of their entries were piloted by multiple competitors that included Timothy Peters, Sheldon Creed, Spencer Gallagher and Tyler Dippel for the closing stretch of the season during the Playoffs. The No. 2 team concluded the season in 14th place in the owners’ standings, one spot behind the No. 25 GMS team that went to Victory Lane with Peters at Talladega in October. Meanwhile, Sauter and Haley achieved great on-track success, which started with both finishing first and second at Daytona in February that was won by Sauter. During the next nine scheduled events, Sauter racked up additional victories at Dover Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and at Texas Motor Speedway between May and June while Haley earned his first Truck career victory at World Wide Technology Raceway in June. Sauter proceeded to win the regular-season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway in August and clinch the 2018 Truck regular-season title as he and Haley entered the Playoffs with momentum. Haley commenced the Playoffs on a high note by winning at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in August after overtaking a spinning Todd Gilliland and Noah Gragson on the final lap and final corner. After Sauter won at Martinsville in October and Haley won at Texas following a dramatic final lap overtake on Gilliland, both solidified spots for the Championship 4 finale at Homestead. During the finale, however, Haley finished eighth on the track, four spots ahead of teammate Sauter, as he and Sauter concluded the season in third and fourth place in the final drivers’ standings. Ultimately, the 2018 season produced GMS Racing’s highest number of victories in a season at 10.    

    Photo by Don Dunn for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    In 2019, Brett Moffitt, the reigning Truck Series champion who was released by his championship-winning team Hattori Racing Enterprises, joined GMS Racing to drive the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado in a quest to defend his series title, where he replaced Justin Haley as Haley moved up to the Xfinity Series. GMS also hired Sheldon Creed, the reigning ARCA Menards Series champion who drove the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado on a full-time basis, and newcomer Sam Mayer, who piloted the No. 21 Chevrolet in three events after Sauter parted ways from the organization. Mayer’s best on-track result was 19th at Phoenix in November while Creed, who did not make the Playoffs, notched two runner-up results, four top-five results, 11 top-10 results, a 10th-place result in the final standings and a runner-up result in the Rookie-of-the-Year standings during his first full-time Truck campaign. For Moffitt, he recorded five top-10 results during the first nine-scheduled events before being awarded his first victory of the season at Iowa in June. The victory occurred after NASCAR disqualified initial winner Ross Chastain due to his truck failing the post-race inspection process, thus prompting NASCAR to award the win for the runner-up finisher Moffitt. Two races later, he earned his first win of the season at Chicagoland before the 2019 Playoffs commenced. Moffitt’s pursuit to defend his title commenced on a strong note by winning the first two Playoff events at Bristol and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in September, respectively, as he transferred from the Round of 8 to 6. Despite finishing 29th at Martinsville, Moffitt utilized consistency to transfer to the Championship Round at Homestead for a second consecutive season. He was unable to defend his title after finishing fifth on the track and third in the final standings. Overall, Moffitt achieved four wins, three poles, 13 top-five results, 17 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 8.8 in his first season with GMS.

    Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    The 2020 Truck Series season featured a major expansion for GMS Racing in the series, where the team fielded five entries: the No. 2 Chevrolet for Creed, the No. 21 Chevrolet for rookie Zane Smith, the No. 23 Chevrolet for Moffitt, the newly-formed No. 26 Chevrolet for Tyler Ankrum and the No. 24 Chevrolet for multiple competitors that included Chase Elliott, Chase Purdy, Justin Haley, David Gravel, Kris Wright, Sam Mayer and Greg Biffle. Commencing the season by placing four of its five trucks in the top 10 at Daytona, GMS achieved its first Truck victory of the season at Charlotte in May when Elliott claimed a $100,000 bounty by beating Kyle Busch. The Charlotte event was also a banner event for GMS as teammates Zane Smith, Moffitt and Creed finished in the top five. Throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, Creed piloted the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado to his first three career victories in the series at Kentucky Speedway in July followed by Daytona International Speedway Road Course and World Wide Technology Raceway in August. Smith also earned his first two career victories in the series after winning at Michigan International Speedway and at Dover International Speedway in August following two-lap shootouts. The victories enabled Creed and Smith to make the 2020 Truck Playoffs along with Moffitt and Ankrum, both of whom made it in on points. Mayer then spoiled the start of the 2020 Truck Playoffs by claiming his first career win at Bristol after beating teammate Moffitt by more than four seconds. While Creed, Moffitt, Smith and Ankrum transferred from the Round of 8 to 6, Moffitt and Creed earned respective wins at Kansas Speedway and at Texas Motor Speedway in October to qualify for the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway in November. Smith also transferred to the finale by three points while Ankrum failed to transfer past the Round of 6. During the finale, Creed utilized fresh tires to go from ninth to first during a two-lap shootout to win the 2020 Truck Series championship, which marked his first NASCAR national touring series title in his second season in the series and second for GMS in the Truck circuit. To go along with the championship, the 2020 Truck season was a memorable one for GMS as Zane Smith settled in second place in the final standings and captured the 2020 Truck Rookie-of-the-Year title while Moffitt, who initially had the championship lead within his grasp during the finale prior to the two-lap shootout, concluded the season in third place in the final standings, thus giving GMS a 1-2-3 in the final drivers’ standings. In total, GMS achieved a combined 10 victories, 33 top-five results and 59 top-10 results with its extensive drive lineup.

    Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images.
    Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images.

    Coming off their second championship, GMS Racing remained as a five-truck operation in 2021 while retaining Creed, Smith and Ankrum to the Nos. 2, 21 and 26 Chevrolets, respectively. The only changes made to the team included assigning Chase Purdy to a full-time role in the No. 23 Chevrolet and welcoming Raphaël Lessard to drive the No. 24 Chevrolet. Following the first seven scheduled events, however, Lessard, whose best finish of the season was third at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in March, was released due to funding issues as the No. 24 Chevrolet was split between Ryan Reed, Chase Elliott, Doug Coby and rookie Jack Wood for the remaining 15 events. The lone highlight for GMS throughout the 15-race regular-season stretch was when Creed won at Darlington Raceway in May following a two-lap shootout. While Creed and Smith qualified for the 2021 Playoffs, Ankrum and Purdy did not accumulate enough points to make the postseason battle for the title. Once the Playoffs commenced, Creed notched back-to-back victories at World Wide Technology Raceway and at Darlington between August and September to transfer from the Round of 10 to 8. Then at Martinsville in October, Smith, who also transferred to the Round of 8, prevailed in a two-lap shootout to win and punch his ticket to the Championship Round finale at Phoenix for a second consecutive season. Creed, however, failed to transfer to the finale nor have the opportunity to defend his title by four points. During the finale, Smith was in position to achieve his first Truck title until he was overtaken by Ben Rhodes with eight laps remaining and ended up in the runner-up spot in the final standings for a second consecutive season. Creed finished fifth in the final standings, Ankrum ended up 15th and Purdy, who was absent for one event at Watkins Glen International in August following a positive COVID-19 test and was replaced by AJ Allmendinger, fell back to 19th. The No. 24 “all-star” entry settled in 18th place in the final owners’ standings on the strength of four top-10 results.

    At the start of this season, GMS Racing scaled back to fielding two full-time entries in the Truck circuit: the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Jack Wood and the No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Grant Enfinger, who reunited with the organization since 2016. Despite recording seven top-10 results throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, Enfinger secured a spot for the 2022 Truck Playoffs based on points. He then rose to the occasion during the first Playoff event at Lucas Oil Raceway in late July by charging from fourth to first during a two-lap shootout to record his first victory of the season and the seventh of his career. With his latest result being a fourth-place run at Richmond in August, Enfinger is currently guaranteed a spot for the Round of 8 in the Playoffs by virtue of winning at Lucas Oil Raceway. Meanwhile, Wood’s highest on-track result is 13th, which occurred at Atlanta in March. To go along with a total of five top-20 results and an average-finishing result of 25.2, he is ranked in fourth place in the Rookie-of-the-Year standings.

    Through a combined 648 starts, GMS Racing has achieved two championships, 42 victories, 14 poles, 158 top-five results, 308 top-10 results and 5,239 laps led with 36 different competitors.

    GMS Racing is set to achieve a combined 650 career starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Kansas Speedway on Friday, September 9. The start of the event is scheduled to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Clements captures thrilling, overtime Xfinity victory at Daytona

    Clements captures thrilling, overtime Xfinity victory at Daytona

    From a three-hour rain delay to three overtime attempts amid a series of late carnages that eliminated numerous top contenders, Jeremy Clements thrusted himself into the main spotlight in an unexpected turn of events by winning the Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway between August 26-27.

    The 37-year-old Clements from Spartanburg, South Carolina, led the final three of 118 over-scheduled laps after placing himself in prime position of contending for the win in the third and final overtime attempt, where he restarted alongside rookie Austin Hill on the front row. When Hill fell out of contention due to electrical issues prior to the restart, Clements found himself in the lead with drafting help from Sage Karam. Despite being challenged by AJ Allmendinger prior to the final lap, Clements was able to retain the lead and start the final lap when the event’s 10th and final caution flew as Riley Herbst spun in the frontstretch. With the event concluding under caution, Clements emerged as the upset winner of a wild event that commenced late Friday evening before concluding early Saturday morning. Clements’ first Xfinity victory in five seasons was also one that guaranteed him and his family-owned organization a spot in the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that would have determined the starting lineup scheduled for Friday but canceled due to rain, AJ Allmendinger was awarded the pole position based on a metric formula per NASCAR’s rulebook. Joining him on the front row was Noah Gragson.

    Prior to the event, Josh Williams dropped to the rear of the field as a result of a driver change, where he replaced Patrick Emerling in the No. 5 BJ McLeod Motorsports entry. Jesse Iwuji, Daniel Hemric and Justin Haley also dropped to the rear of the field following unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started following a three-hour delay due to rain, Allmendinger received a push from Sam Mayer to launch ahead with an early lead through the first turn. He then moved from the outside to inside lane while fending off Mayer and Noah Gragson while Sammy Smith, who started fourth, was getting shuffled out of the lead draft.

    Following the completion of the first lap, Allmendinger, who led the first lap, was ahead of Gragson and Mayer while Josh Berry was in fourth followed by rookie Sheldon Creed, Riley Herbst and the field fanning out to two tight-packed lanes.

    On the fifth lap, Gragson overtook both Allmendinger and teammate Mayer in a three-wide move across the start/finish line to lead for the first time. With Gragson moving to the lead, Allmendinger found himself getting shuffled out of the lead and toward the bottom half of the top 10 while Gragson’s teammates, Mayer and Berry, moved into the top three.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and with the field fanning out in a tight side-by-side pack towards the front, Gragson was leading ahead of teammates Berry and Mayer while Herbst and Ty Gibbs were in the top five. Creed was in sixth ahead of Brandon Jones, Myatt Snider, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg while Brandon Brown, Landon Cassill, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Haley and Daniel Hemric were in the top 15. By then, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Sammy Smith, Blaine Perkins, rookie Austin Hill and Jeb Burton occupied the top 20.

    Five laps later and with Gragson continuing to lead, the first caution of the event flew. Sammy Smith, who was trying to carve his way back to the front after getting shuffled out early, spun and pounded the infield wall in Turn 4 as his first NASCAR national touring series event at Daytona came to an early end. During the caution period, some of the drivers, led by Gragson, pitted, while the rest, led by Berry, remained on the track.

    As the race restarted on Lap 19 with Berry and Herbst occupying the front row, Herbst launched ahead with the lead following a push from the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra piloted by Ty Gibbs. Herbst then moved to the outside lane through the backstretch, which allowed Gibbs to rocket to the lead with a push from Creed as the field fanned out.

    A lap later, the caution returned due to debris coming off of Kyle Sieg’s car. During the caution period, names like Jeb Burton, Berry, Haley, Sage Karam, JJ Yeley and Joe Graf Jr. pitted while the rest, led by Gibbs, remained on the track.

    With six laps remaining in the first stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, the Monster Energy competitors of Gibbs and Herbst dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Herbst received a push from Landon Cassill’s No. 10 Voyager Chevrolet Camaro to move ahead. With Gibbs fighting back on the inside lane, Herbst managed to lead the following lap before both Monster competitors dueled again for the lead.

    During the following lap, Gibbs received a push from teammate Brandon Jones and Allmendinger to pull away from the field while Herbst was getting shuffled towards the rear of the top 10.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Gibbs fended off the field over the previous five laps to claim his fourth stage victory of the 2022 season. Hill carved his way to the runner-up spot while Creed, Allmendinger, Berry, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, Mayer, Haley and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted while the rest led by Berry remained on the track. During the caution period, Hill and Caesar Bacarella made contact on pit road, resulting with Bacarella spinning his No. 45 Clear Cryptos Chevrolet Camaro into his pit box. In addition, Snider lost a fuel can while Stenhouse was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 34 as Berry and Jeb Burton occupied the front row. At the start, Berry and Burton dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Berry received a push from Brandon Brown to retain the top spot while having both lanes to his control. Two laps later, Brown moved his No. 68 Larry’s Lemonade Chevrolet Camaro to the lead before Anthony Alfredo led during the following lap.

    By Lap 40 and with the field fanning out through three tight-packed lanes, Alfredo was out in front followed by Allgaier, Gragson, Ryan Sieg and Mason Massey while Creed, Cassill, Brown, Allmendinger and Berry were in the top 10. 

    Five laps later, Allgaier, who assumed the lead on Lap 41, was leading ahead of Alfredo, Creed, Berry and Jeb Burton while Gragson, Gibbs, Herbst, Ryan Sieg and Stenhouse were in the top 10. 

    At the halfway mark on Lap 50, Alfredo and Allgaier engaged in a side-by-side battle for the lead with the field also fanning out between two and three tight lanes. Shortly after, Daniel Hemric pitted under green to address a flat tire.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage, Creed, who was running in third, got turned by Allgaier as he spun his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro below the backstretch apron. With the race remaining under green and Creed limping back to pit road, Gragson retained the lead ahead of the pack. He was also able to lead the field back to the frontstretch and claim his 11th stage victory of the season after winning the second stage on Lap 60. Alfredo, who led six laps during the second stage compared to Gragson’s 10, settled in second followed by Herbst, Mayer, Berry, Nemechek, Gibbs, Allgaier, Snider and Ryan Sieg.

    Under the stage break, the majority of the field led by Allgaier pitted while names like Ryan Vargas, Jesse Iwuji, David Starr, Bayley Currey, Bacarella and Matt Mills remained on the track. Once the competitors who initially remained on track pitted prior to the restart, Gragson, who was the first competitor to exit pit road, was out in front.

    With 36 laps remaining, the final stage started as Gragson and Herbst occupied the front row. At the start, Gragson received a push from teammate Allgaier to lead the field through the first two turns. Then through Turns 3 and 4, Gibbs moved into the runner-up spot as he settled behind Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro while Allgaier, Herbst and Brandon Jones occupied the top five.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Gragson was leading a long line of competitors running on the outside lane followed by Gibbs, Allgaier, Herbst, Nemechek, Allmendinger, Cassill, Brandon Jones, Stenhouse and Haley.

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Herbst lost a left-rear tire before slipping sideways and spinning his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang at over 100 mph through the infield backstretch grass. Despite looping his car wildly across the backstretch grass, Herbst managed to keep his car off the wall as he slowly limped his way back to pit road. During the caution period, names like Karam, Clements, Alex Labbe, Bayley Currey, Matt Mills, Bacarella, Joey Gase and Herbst pitted while the rest remained on the track.

    Down to the final 24 laps of the event, the race restarted under green, At the start, Gragson and Gibbs battled for the lead through the first two turns until Gragson rocketed clear with the lead followed by teammate Allgaier and Allmendinger. Haley and Jeb Burton then moved into the top five through Turns 3 and 4 while Gibbs fell back to sixth.

    With 20 laps remaining, Gragson continued to lead ahead of teammates Allgaier and Mayer while Allmendinger and Daniel Hemric were in the top five while running within a tight side-by-side pack. Scored in the top 10 were Haley, Hill, Gibbs, Creed and John Hunter Nemechek.

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Nemechek slipped off the front nose of Brandon Brown through the backstretch as he spun and was hit by Creed, whose No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro slid back across the track and was T-boned by Joe Graf Jr.’s No. 07 Chevrolet Camaro. All three competitors involved in the carnage emerged uninjured.

    With 13 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, teammates Gragson and Allgaier battled for the lead until Gragson was shoved out in front and clear of the field by Allmendinger through the backstretch. Gragson then moved up the track to stall Allgaier’s momentum on the outside lane as he retained the top spot when the field returned to the frontstretch.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gragson remained as the leader on the outside lane followed by Allmendinger, Allgaier, Mayer and Hemric while Austin Hill was trying to work his way to the front on the inside lane.

    Then when the field returned to the frontstretch, the caution returned when Allmendinger got turned by Allgaier as both spun below the apron approaching Turn 1. Their spin triggered a chain reaction wreck as Mayer, Berry and Snider also spun below the apron while everyone else escaped. In the midst of the carnage, Hemric was scored in second behind Gragson while Brown, Sieg and Stenhouse were in the top five.

    With four laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gragson received drafting help from Brown and Hemric received drafting help from Ryan Sieg as all four dueled for the lead. Then through the backstretch, Hemric moved into the lead while Hill made a bold three-wide move on both Gragson and Ryan Sieg as he moved into third place.

    During the following lap, Austin Hill assumed the lead as the competitors began to scramble towards the front. Through Turns 3 and 4, Cassill got into the wall after slipping in front of Jeb Burton as he fell off the pace with a flat right-front tire. With the race remaining under green, the caution then returned when Hemric spun while trying to block Gragson as a multi-car wreck erupted in the frontstretch that consumed Brandon Jones, Herbst, David Starr, Alfredo, Allgaier, Jeb Burton and Sage Karam. The multi-car wreck was enough to send the event into overtime.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt amid a stacked restart with contact occurring towards the front, Gragson and Hill dueled for the lead. Not long after, the caution flew and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt when Herbst made contact with Brown through the backstretch as Brown spun and clipped Haley as Gibbs and Ryan Sieg were also clipped and sent spinning. This triggered another multi-car wreck that involved Alex Labbe, Bayley Currey, Caesar Bacarella, Josh Williams, Herbst, Jeb Burton, Kyle Sieg, Ryan Vargas and Stenhouse. In the midst of the incident, Allmendinger carved his way back to third behind Hill and Gragson while Timmy Hill, Clements and Karam were in the top six.

    During the second overtime attempt, Hill retained the lead and moved up the track through the first two turns to block and stall Gragson’s momentum. Just then, the caution returned when Gragson got bumped and turned off the front nose of Allmendinger as he collided head-on into the outside wall on the backstretch. Gragson was then hit hard by Cassill and Myatt Snider, with Blaine Perkins, Hemric, Gibbs and Matt Mills all wrecking in the backstretch. With Hill leading and Allmendinger occupying the runner-up spot, names like Clements, Timmy Hill, Karam, JJ Yeley, Ryan Vargas, Kyle Sieg, Jesse Iwuji and Herbst were in the top 10.

    Prior to the third overtime attempt, Allmendinger, who was in second, peeled to pit road after his No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro ran out of fuel. In addition, Hill, who remained on the track as the leader, reported electrical issues to his No. 21 United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro as he kept his car running below the apron through the turns and shaking it back and forth to keep it under race pace.

    Then at the start of the third overtime attempt, Hill’s electrical issues knocked him out of contention as he was unable to launch on the restart. This allowed Clements to take the lead followed by Karam through the first two turns. Meanwhile, Allmendinger, who emerged in fourth place through the first two turns, began his dash back to the front as he pushed Brown while closing in on both Clements and Karam. Through the backstretch and entering Turns 3 and 4, Karam was shuffled back to fifth while being overtaken by Brown, Allmendinger and Timmy Hill. In addition, Allmendinger overtook Brown for the runner-up spot as he then made his move beneath Clements for the lead.

    With the leaders approaching the frontstretch to start the final lap, contact from Karam sent Herbst, who joined the battle, spinning towards the pit road entrance before he came back across the track and was dodged by the field. By then, Clements’ No. 51 One Stop/ASE Chevrolet Camaro managed to fend off Allmendinger as he took the white flag and started the final lap. A few seconds later, the caution flew and the race was deemed official, thus handing Clements the victory.

    With the victory, Clements achieved his second career win in the Xfinity Series and his first since claiming his first series win at Road America in August 2017. In addition to becoming the 127th different competitor to win multiple Xfinity events, he became the eighth series regular to win throughout the 2022 Xfinity Series regular-season stretch and secure a spot for the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs that will commence in mid-September.

    “I’m speechless, man,” Clements said on USA Network. “I don’t even know what to say. That’s incredible, man. We were as fast as Xfinity internet and it feels so good. We survived that big wreck back there somehow. It was like a Days of Thunder wreck. Then I was like, ‘Well, if we can just keep up with these guys, it’ll be a good day.’ Top five and bring this car home in one piece, and that’s a good day. Wow, this is incredible. Thank you, [fans], so much for sticking around. I know it’s late as hell. It’s time to drink a beer!”


    “I just, honestly, didn’t have the car to get up there,” Clements added. “I had a car to just stay with the pack. I couldn’t really get in there. I’d have to have somebody pushing me. Just trying to be aggressively cautious and it worked for once. I’ve done a lot of these speedway races and a lot of them haven’t worked out. I guess we finally got one. It’s incredible to win at Day-freaking-tona, man! Holy crap! Wow!”

    In the midst of the carnage and unexpected turn of events capped with a surprise winner, Timmy Hill claimed a career-best runner-up result followed by Allmendinger, who maintained his lead in the regular-season standings. Brandon Brown and Sage Karam finished in the top five while Ryan Vargas, Ty Gibbs, Alex Labbe, JJ Yeley and Kyle Sieg completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were 19 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The event featured 10 cautions for 41 laps.

    With three races remaining in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch, AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by 58 points over Ty Gibbs, 80 over Justin Allgaier and 115 over Noah Gragson.

    Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Josh Berry, rookie Austin Hill, Brandon Jones and Jeremy Clements 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 and Landon Cassill occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points. Ryan Sieg trails the top-12 cutline by 12 points, rookie Sheldon Creed trails by 55, Anthony Alfredo trails by 91 and Brandon Brown trails by 98.

    Results.

    1. Jeremy Clements, three laps led

    2. Timmy Hill 

    3. AJ Allmendinger, four laps led

    4. Brandon Brown

    5. Sage Karam

    6. Ryan Vargas, one lap led

    7. Ty Gibbs, 11 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Alex Labbe

    9. JJ Yeley

    10. Kyle Sieg

    11. Jesse Iwuji

    12. Myatt Snider

    13. Justin Allgaier, 11 laps led

    14. Austin Hill, 18 laps led

    15. Riley Herbst, two laps led

    16. Joey Gase, two laps down

    17. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    18. Josh Berry, three laps down, six laps led

    19. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Dvp, one lap led

    20. Brandon Jones, four laps down

    21. Jeb Burton, five laps down

    22. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident, 52 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    23. Landon Cassill – OUT, Accident

    24. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    25. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident

    26. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident

    27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    28. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

    29. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    30. Bayley Currey – OUT, Accident

    31. David Starr – OUT, Accident

    32. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident, eight laps led

    33. Mason Massey – OUT, Engine

    34. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    35. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

    36. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident

    37. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    38. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ second trip of the season to Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, on Saturday, September 3, during Labor Day weekend. The event is scheduled to occur at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Gragson outduels Gibbs for third Xfinity victory of 2022 at Pocono

    Gragson outduels Gibbs for third Xfinity victory of 2022 at Pocono

    A week after having a top-five result at New Hampshire Motor Speedway stripped due to a failed post-race inspection to his car, Noah Gragson rebounded with vengeance after fending off Ty Gibbs to win the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 23.

    The 24-year-old Gragson from Las Vegas, Nevada, led three times for a race-high 43 of 90-scheduled, including the final 21, as he overtook teammate Josh Berry for the top spot. From there, he fended off a hard-charging Gibbs, including a final lap side-by-side duel with Gibbs through the Long Pond straightaway, to retain the top spot and claim his third victory of the 2022 Xfinity Series season by more than two-tenths of a second.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Justin Allgaier, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, started on pole position after clocking in a pole-winning lap at 168.669 mph in 53.359 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 168.319 mph in 53.470 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Allgaier and Gibbs dueled for the top spot entering the first turn as Allgaier managed to fend off Gibbs and Brandon Jones to lead the field through the Long Pond straightaway. Behind, newcomer Sammy Smith and AJ Allmendinger dueled for fifth ahead of Josh Berry and Richard Childress Racing’s rookies Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill.

    During the following lap, the first caution flew when Rajah Caruth made contact with Alex Labbe entering the frontstretch as both were sent spinning and colliding against the inside wall. Despite the hard accident, both competitors emerge uninjured from their wrecked race cars.

    When the event restarted under green on the sixth lap, Allgaier rocketed his No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro with the lead on the outside lane as he fended off Gibbs’ No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra. Shortly after, Brandon Jones overtook teammate Gibbs for the runner-up spot followed by Allmendinger and Creed as Gibbs was stuck n a side-by-side battle with Hill on the inside lane with no momentum. 

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Allgaier was leading by more than a second over Brandon Jones’ No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra followed by Allmendinger, Creed and Gibbs while Hill, Noah Gragson, Berry, Daniel Hemric and Sammy Smith were in the top 10. Riley Herbst was in 11th ahead of Santino Ferrucci, Cole Custer, Landon Cassill and Ryan Sieg while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brett Moffitt, Myatt Snider, Sam Mayer and Anthony Alfredo were in the top 20.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 20, Allgaier captured his sixth stage victory of the season as he was leading by more than a second over Brandon Jones. Allmendinger settled in third followed by Gibbs, Creed, Berry, Gragson, Sammy Smith, Hemric and Hill.

    Under the stage break, Anthony Alfredo remained on the track while the rest led by Allgaier pitted. During the pit stops, Allgaier dropped out of the top five due to a slow pit stop and an issue with his jack as Brandon Jones was the first competitor to exit off of pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 25 as Alfredo and Brandon Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Alfredo took off with the top spot followed by a hard-charging Gragson as Gragson assumed the lead through the Long Pond straightaway. As the field, which was fanned out, returned to the start/finish line, Gragson was out in front ahead of Gibbs, Berry, Brandon Jones and Creed while Allgaier was mired in ninth in between Hemric and Sammy Smith.

    By Lap 35, Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro was out in front by four-tenths of a second over Gibbs’ No. 54 entry while Brandon Jones, Creed and Berry were in the top five. Allgaier was back in sixth while battling teammate Berry as Allmendinger, Hemric, Landon Cassill and Hill occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Sam Mayer, who had pitted a few laps earlier due to suffering a flat tire, was back in 36th and off the lead lap from the leaders.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 40, Gragson notched his seventh stage victory of the season while Gibbs fended off teammate Brandon Jones for the runner-up spot. Creed, Berry, Allgaier, Allmendinger, Cassill, Hemric and Hill were scored in the top 10 at the stage’s conclusion.

    Under the stage break, names like Hill and Myatt Snider remained on the track while the rest led by Gragson pitted as Gragson was the first competitor to exit off of pit road.

    With 45 laps remaining, the final stage started as the event reached its halfway mark. At the start and as Myatt Snider took his car to pit road with a flat right-rear tire, Hill and Gragson dueled for the lead before Gragson rocketed with the lead on the inside lane as Hill was being challenged by Brandon Jones and Gibbs for the runner-up spot.

    Then as the field made their way back to the frontstretch, the caution flew when Santino Ferrucci got sideways entering the frontstretch and triggered a multi-car wreck as he was hit hard by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Then as Stenhouse’s wrecked No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro slid towards the inside wall, he was hit by an oncoming Jeb Burton, who was running towards the inside wall to avoid the incident as Burton was sent upside down as his No. 27 Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro slid across the frontstretch before coming to a rest just past the start/finish line while the car remained on its roof. Other competitors that were involved in the wreck included Jeremy Clements and Ronnie Bassett Jr. Despite the incident, all competitors, including Burton, emerged uninjured as the event was red-flagged for more than eight minutes.

    When the red flag lifted and the race proceeded under green with 40 laps remaining, Gibbs powered his No. 54 entry to the lead followed by Creed’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro as Brandon Jones battled Gragson for third place. Through the Tunnel Curve, Gragson held on for third place as Hemric challenged Jones for fourth place.

    Two laps later, the caution returned when Sammy Smith got loose underneath Cassill in Turn 1 and backed his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra into the outside wall with significant damage. During the caution period, the field led by Gibbs pitted and Gibbs exited with the top spot followed by Berry, Allgaier, Alfredo and Creed, all of whom opted for only fuel to their respective cars, while most of the field opted for two tires. During the pit stops, Creed nearly made contact with David Starr and Stefan Parsons while trying to exit his pit stall. Following the pit stops, Allgaier was penalized for speeding on pit road. 

    With 34 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Riley Herbst and Brett Moffitt, both of whom remained on the track, occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst took off with the lead and Berry carved his way into the runner-up spot as the field fanned out through the Long Pond straightaway.

    Four laps later, Berry rocketed his No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro to the top of the leaderboard over Herbst’s No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang as Creed and Gragson duked for third place in front of Gibbs. 

    Another nine laps later, Gragson, who had stalked and intimidated teammate Berry for the lead, seized an opportunity and returned to the lead while Gibbs remained in third place. By then, Brandon Jones had made a pit stop under green due to a flat right-rear tire to his car. Shortly after, Gibbs muscled his way into the runner-up spot after he overtook Berry.

    With 15 laps remaining, Gragson was leading by four-tenths of a second over Gibbs followed by Berry, Allmendinger and Creed while Hill, Mayer, Allgaier, Herbst and Hemric occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Cassill was in 11th ahead of Cole Custer, Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg and Myatt Snider while Brett Moffitt, Anthony Alfredo, Kyle Weatherman, Josh Williams and Sage Karam were in the top 20.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gragson continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Gibbs. Berry remained in third, trailing by nearly four seconds, while Allmendinger and Creed settled in the top five. Filling out the top 10 were Hill, Sam Mayer, Allgaier, Hemric and Cassill while Herbst fell back to 11th.

    Then with six laps remaining and with the leaders making their way through lapped traffic, Gragson and Gibbs dueled for the lead through the frontstretch, but Gragson managed to retain the top spot. Both competitors went at it for the lead during the following lap, but Gibbs could not seal the deal as Gragson remained as the leader. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gragson remained as the leader by a tenth of a second ahead of Gibbs, who was setting up for a final lap challenge for the victory. Entering the Long Pond straightaway, Gibbs then gained a huge run and managed to pull himself alongside Gragson’s No. 9 entry as both went side-by-side and made little contact. Through the Tunnel Curve, hover, Gragson managed to pull ahead on the outside lane while Gibbs nearly got loose on the inside lane. With Gibbs unable to launch another attack for the win, Gragson cycled his way back to the frontstretch and cross the finish line to win by nearly three-tenths of a second over Gibbs.

    With the victory, Gragson earned his eighth NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory, his third of the season and his first since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in April. He also recorded the eighth Xfinity victory of the season for JR Motorsports and he became the third Xfinity regular to achieve three-plus victories throughout the season.

    “That was probably the best I’ve ever driven there,” Gragson said on USA Network. “Man, I’m worn out. It really wasn’t that long of a race. Just working my ass off there to keep [Gibbs] back. He’s pretty fast. [Crew chief] Luke Lambert and the rest of this 50th anniversary Bass Pro Shops, Black Rifle Coffee, True Timber team did an unbelievable job with coming down pit road there, putting four tires on. Man, I had to work for it. It was tough. Just getting tight, tight, tight. I didn’t think with 15 [laps] to go, I didn’t think I could hold him off. We just keep digging. This team is unbelievable. I’m fired up. Our third win of the year. It’s a dream come true and it doesn’t get any better than in front of you badass race fans out here. I wanna thank you, guys, for coming out, baby!”

    Ty Gibbs settled in the runner-up spot for the second time of this season and for a second consecutive season at Pocono while Berry, Allmendinger and Creed finished in the top five.

    “It definitely hurt us being on a tire advantage, but also so surprised to be able to hang with [Gragson] when he was on rights,” Gibbs said. “Great car, just didn’t put it together. I wanna say that was, I feel like, on my part. I just made some mistakes, but we’ll come back at it next weekend. I just put myself in a bad position there, but I always love racing out here. Congratulations to [Gragson]. We both went in [the Tunnel Curve] side-by-side. I just lost my side force and got loose under him, but that’s racing. I put myself in that position, but I feel like I definitely have to look back and see what other options I had. Thank you to everybody that’s a part of this deal. I had a great time”

    There were nine lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 18 laps.

    With seven races remaining in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch, AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by 16 points over Justin Allgaier, 22 over Ty Gibbs, 87 over Josh Berry and 90 over Noah Gragson.

    Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, 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 Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Sieg and Landon Cassill occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points. Sheldon Creed trails the top-12 cutline to make the Playoffs by 47 points, Brandon Brown trails by 66, Anthony Alfredo trails by 77, Brett Moffitt trails by 89, Jeb Burton trails by 123, Myatt Snider trails by 144, Jeremy Clements trails by 146, Myatt Snider and Alex Labbe trails by 171.

    Results.

    1. Noah Gragson, 43 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Ty Gibbs, three laps led

    3. Josh Berry, nine laps led

    4. AJ Allmendinger

    5. Sheldon Creed

    6. Sam Mayer

    7. Justin Allgaier, 22 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Austin Hill, four laps led

    9. Daniel Hemric

    10. Cole Custer

    11. Landon Cassill

    12. Riley Herbst, four laps led

    13. Brandon Brown

    14. Myatt Snider

    15. Ryan Sieg

    16. Anthony Alfredo, three laps led

    17. Brandon Jones

    18. Brett Moffitt, two laps led

    19. Kyle Weatherman

    20. Sage Karam

    21. Josh Williams

    22. Kyle Sieg

    23. Stefan Parsons

    24. Mason Massey

    25. Ryan Vargas, one lap down

    26. Bayley Currey, one lap down

    27. David Starr, one lap down

    28. JJ Yeley, one lap down

    29. Patrick Emerling, one lap down

    30. Timmy Hill, one lap down

    31. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident

    32. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    33. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

    34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    35. Santino Ferrucci – OUT, Accident

    36. Ronnie Bassett Jr. – OUT

    37. Alex Labbe – OUT, Accident

    38. Rajah Caruth – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course as part of a NASCAR and IndyCar doubleheader feature. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, July 30, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.