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  • Justin Allgaier perseveres for first Xfinity championship; Riley Herbst wins 2024 finale at Phoenix

    Justin Allgaier perseveres for first Xfinity championship; Riley Herbst wins 2024 finale at Phoenix

    As Riley Herbst sent Stewart-Haas Racing off on a winning note in the organization’s final NASCAR Xfinity Series event by winning the 2024 season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 9, Justin Allgaier emerged as the biggest winner of the night by rallying from starting at the rear of the field in a backup car, being nabbed with a pair of midrace penalties that pinned him a lap down and muscling his way back to the front through two overtime attempts to capture his first elusive NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.

    The 40-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, commenced the finale weekend on a sour note after he was one of several competitors who slid and wrecked against the Turn 1 outside wall during Friday’s practice session after he slipped up into Brennan Poole’s spilled oil, the latter of which suffered a mechanical issue. Despite taking the green flag in 37th place of the 38-car field, Allgaier methodically carved his way up through the leaderboard and emerge in sixth place when the first stage period concluded on Lap 45. Amid two caution periods and ensuing restarts throughout the second stage period, Allgaier, who made multiple on-track contacts with Riley Herbst in the closing laps of the stage period that resulted with the Illinois veteran potentially having a left-rear tire going flat, managed to cap off the stage in 10th place.

    Then during the start of the final stage period with 100 laps remaining, Allgaier, who restarted in the top-14 mark, was assessed a restart violation penalty for steering his No. 7 BRANDT/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro below the frontstretch’s apron and pulling out of line from the field prior to reaching the start/finish line. As Allgaier served a pass-through penalty through pit lane, things went from bad to worse when he was penalized a second time, this time for speeding on pit road. Losing a lap to the leaders, Allgaier would spend a majority of the final stage period trying to emerge as the first competitor scored a lap down and place himself in the free pass position.

    As a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced with 55 laps remaining, Allgaier, who opted to remain on the track with a different pit strategy from the leaders and cycled back on the lead lap, thrusted himself back into the championship battle after Anthony Alfredo wrecked with 46 laps remaining. Pitting during the caution period, Allgaier, who restarted within the top-12 mark, used the following restart period and fresh tires with 38 laps remaining to march his way to the front. Thirty-two laps later, Allgaier overtook title contender Cole Custer to assume the lead in the championship battle.

    Despite being overtaken by Custer on pit road and dropping to fifth place on the track amid a late-race caution with three laps remaining and sent the finale into overtime, Allgaier reassumed the top spot in the championship battle back from Custer, who was being blocked by title contender Austin Hill, before another late-race incident sent the finale into a second overtime attempt. During the latest attempt, Allgaier rubbed fenders with rookie Jesse Love to assume the lead in the race as he also retained the lead in the championship standings. Despite being overtaken by Herbst on the final lap for the race win, Allgaier managed to nurse his car to a runner-up result, which was enough to claim his long-awaited first championship in his 14th season competing in the Xfinity Series division.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, William Sawalich claimed his first Xfinity career pole position in his third series start after he posted a pole-winning lap at 134.168 mph in 26.832 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Sheldon Creed, who posted his best qualifying lap at 133.432 seconds. The four Championship 4 contenders that include Austin Hill, Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier are set to start fifth, seventh, ninth and 37th, respectively.

    Prior to the event, the following names that include Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Aric Almirola and Parker Kligerman dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after all wrecked their primary cars during Friday’s practice session. Sammy Smith also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change along with Allmendinger, the latter of which due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as teammates William Sawalich and Sheldon Creed dueled for the lead entering the first two turns. As Championship 4 contender Austin Hill was trying to battle Chandler Smith for fourth place while also trying to fend off teammate Jesse Love, Sam Mayer and title rival Cole Custer through the backstretch, Creed muscled his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra ahead to lead the first lap.

    Over the next four laps, Creed stretched his early advantage to as high as nearly half a second as Riley Herbst made his way into the runner-up spot. Behind, Chandler Smith moved up to third place in front of Sawalich and Hill while Mayer, Love, Custer, Daniel Dye and Connor Zilisch were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Championship 4 contenders AJ Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier were up to 19th and 25th, respectively, as both continued their early march from the rear of the field.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Herbst, who overtook Creed for the lead a lap earlier, was leading in his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang by three-tenths of a second over a side-by-side battle between teammates Creed and Chandler smith while Sawalich and Hill were in the top five ahead of Love, Mayer, Custer, Zilisch and Dye. Behind, Allgaier and Allmendinger were in 18th and 19th, respectively, while Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Matt DiBenedetto, Jeffrey Earnhardt and rookie Shane van Gisbergen were racing in the top 15.

    Just past the Lap 20 mark, Herbst stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Chandler Smith while third-place Creed trailed by more than four seconds. Herbst would proceed to stabilize his lead to more than a second by the Lap 30 mark as both Smith and Creed retained second and third, respectively. Meanwhile, Hill continued to race as the highest-running Championship 4 contender on the track in fourth place while his closest-title rival Custer was mired in seventh place behind Sawalich and Mayer. By then, Allgaier cracked the top 10 as he was up to ninth place while Allmendinger was mired in 18th place.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Herbst claimed his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Chandler Smith, Creed, Hill and Sam Mayer were scored in the top five while Allgaier, Custer, Sawalich, Aric Almirola and Jesse Love followed suit in the top 10. By then, Allmendinger was still mired in 18th place and as the lowest Championship 4 contender on the track.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Herbst pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Herbst retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Hill, Custer, Creed, Chandler Smith, Love, Mayer, Almirola, Sawalich and Allgaier. Amid the pit stops, Shane van Gisbergen was penalized for speeding while entering pit road.

    The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Herbst and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as both Herbst and Hill dueled for the lead in front of a three-wide battle for third place between Custer, Creed and Chandler Smith entering the first two turns. Then as Hill tried to make a move beneath Herbst for the lead through the turns, Custer used the outside lane to overtake both entering the backstretch. Custer would proceed to navigate his No. 00 Haas/Andy’s Frozen Custard Ford Mustang back to the frontstretch and lead the following lap as he was followed by teammate Herbst, Hill, Mayer, Chandler Smith and Allgaier. With Allmendinger making his way into the top 12, Custer led the next lap and teammate Herbst retained second while Hill was trying to fend off Mayer, Allgaier and Chandler Smith for third place.

    At the Lap 60 mark, Herbst, who overtook teammate Custer for the lead a lap earlier, was leading by three-tenths of a second while Mayer, Hill and Allgaier followed suit in the top five. The caution would then return two laps later after Anthony Alfredo, who was battling Stefan Parsons for 20th place, got squeezed into the frontstretch’s outside wall by Parsons, which resulted with Alfredo turning left, clipping and sending Parsons into the outside wall as the latter wrecked while Greg Van Alst spun behind Parsons’ carnage. Following the incident, Alfredo was assessed a two-lap penalty for reckless driving.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 74 featured the leaders and the field fanning out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Herbst barely fended off teammate Custer to retain the lead through the first two turns. With Mayer making his way into the runner-up spot behind Herbst entering the backstretch, Allgaier muscled through into third place while Custer was trying to fend off Hill for fourth place. As Herbst led the following lap, Hill was overtaken by Almirola, Creed and Chandler Smith through the frontstretch while Custer battled and overtook Allgaier for third place on the track and the lead in the championship battle. The caution then returned on Lap 76 when Chandler Smith, who was racing in seventh place, made contact and got loose underneath teammate Creed in Turn 1 as he spun his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra from the top to the bottom of the track.

    During the caution period, some including Creed, Love, Allmendinger, Jeb Burton, Dylan Lupton, Daniel Dye, Matt DiBenedetto, Brandon Jones, Brennan Poole and van Gisbergen remained on the track while the rest led by Herbst pitted.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 82, Creed and Love dueled for the lead in front of the field through the frontstretch. Creed and Love remained dead even for the lead in front of Allmendinger and Jeb Burton through the backstretch while the rest of the field behind fanned out to four and five lanes as a bevy of competitors who either pitted or did not pit during the previous caution period scrambled for positions. As Creed led the following lap, Allmendinger remained as the highest-running Championship 4 contender in third place while Allgaier and Custer, both of whom were racing on fresh tires, carved their way up to sixth and seventh, respectively. Meanwhile, Hill was trapped outside the top-10 mark and trying to navigate his way back to the front.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Herbst, who made multiple on-track contacts with Allgaier five laps earlier, overtook Creed a lap prior to claim his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and second in the finale. Creed settled in second ahead of Almirola, Love and Custer while Zilisch, Allmendinger, Mayer, Sawalich and Allgaier, the latter of whom nursed his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro to the finish with a potentially flat left-rear tire, settled in the top 10. By then, Custer emerged as the highest-running Championship contender while Hill was the lowest Championship 4 contender on the track in 14th place.

    During the stage break, some including Creed, Love, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Jeb Burton, DiBenedetto, Dye, Dylan Lupton, Brandon Jones, van Gisbergen and Poole pitted while the rest led by Herbst and including Custer and Hill remained on the track.

    With 100 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Herbst and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst rocketed his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang away from Almirola and teammate Custer through the frontstretch’s dogleg. As the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch, Herbst proceeded to lead the following lap while Mayer made his way up to third place behind Custer. By then, Hill and Allmendinger were in the top 10 and Allgaier was in 12th place.

    Shortly after, however, Allgaier was penalized for diving his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro below the frontstretch’s apron prior to reaching the start/finish line to start the final stage period. As Allgaier served his drive-through penalty, Herbst retained the lead over teammate Custer with 95 laps remaining. Not long after serving his drive-through penalty to serve his restart violation penalty, Allgaier was assessed a second drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road while serving his first. Compared to the first penalty, the second one caused Allgaier to drop out of the lead lap category as Herbst retained the race lead with less than 90 laps remaining. By then, Custer, who was in second place, was leading the championship battle as he was five spots ahead of Allmendinger and 13 spots ahead of Hill.

    With 80 laps remaining, Herbst was leading by nearly three seconds over teammate Custer while Mayer, Creed and Zilisch were in the top five ahead of Love, Allmendinger, Almirola, Chandler Smith and Sawalich. As Hill was mired in 16th place, Allgaier was scored the second competitor a lap down in 29th place as he was trying to catch Jeremy Clements to be the first competitor scored a lap down.

    Fifteen laps later, Herbst continued to lead the race by more than four seconds over teammate Custer, the latter of whom continued to lead the championship battle, while Creed, Mayer and Love were scored in the top five on the track. Meanwhile, Allmendinger, Custer’s closest championship rival, was scored in seventh place on the track and trailing the championship lead by less than six seconds while Zilisch, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen and Almirola were in the top 10. Behind, Hill was scored in 15th place while Allgaier was scored the second competitor a lap down behind Ryan Sieg and in 27th place.

    Another 10 laps later, a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as the leader Herbst pitted. Love, Chandler Smith and Brandon Jones would also pit before Sawalich, Hill, Allmendinger, Zilisch, Mayer, Almirola, Josh Williams, Custer and van Gisbergen pitted over the next four laps. As more names including Creed pitted with 50 laps remaining, Dye was leading ahead of Parker Kligerman. By then, both along with Allgaier, the latter of whom cycled back on the lead lap, have yet to pit while Herbst carved his way up to third place.

    With 46 laps remaining, however, the caution flew when Alfredo blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 1 hard. Alfredo’s incident served as a pivotal moment for Allgaier, who was scored on the lead lap despite not having yet pitted while Kligerman, who had pitted shortly before Alfredo wrecked, lost a lap in the process. During the caution period, select names including Allgaier, Hill, Mayer and Brandon Jones pitted while the rest led by Herbst remained on the track.

    Down to the final 38 laps of the event, Herbst rocketed away from Love to retain the lead through the frontstretch and the first two turns as the field behind fanned out. As Custer battled Zilisch for third place, his title rivals Allmendinger, Hill and Allgaier were battling within the top 10. A few laps later, Allmendinger, Allgaier and Hill were racing eighth to 10th, respectively, while Custer retained third place on the track and the lead in the championship battle. Meanwhile, teammate Herbst continued to lead the race by seven-tenths of a second over Love with 35 laps remaining.

    With 25 laps remaining, Herbst continued to lead the race by more than two seconds over Love as third-place Custer, who retained the lead in the championship battle, started to close in on Love for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Allgaier carved his way up to sixth place as he trailed Custer for three spots and Hill was mired in eighth place on the track behind Creed while Allmendinger was racing in 11th place behind Almirola and Brandon Jones.

    Two laps later, Custer engaged in a side-by-side battle with Love for the runner-up spot on the track in an effort to generate a gap between himself and Allgaier for the championship battle. Love, however, would not yield the spot to Custer, which allowed Zilisch and Mayer, Allgaier’s teammates at JR Motorsports, to join the battle while Allgaier was slowly narrowing the deficit to Custer. Love would continue to retain second place over Custer as both Zilisch and Mayer would begin to challenge Custer for third place while Allgaier was trying to gain ground on teammate Mayer with 20 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Herbst stabilized his race lead to more than three seconds over Love while Custer retained third place ahead of Zilisch and Mayer. Meanwhile, Allgaier, who retained sixth place, trailed Custer by nearly a second while Hill was up to seventh place and trailing Allgaier by a second. By then, Allmendinger was strapped in 11th place.

    Two laps later, Allgaier overtook teammate Mayer for fifth place on the track. By then, he still trailed Custer on the track for the championship battle by a second as Custer continued to fend off Zilisch for third place. Hill then started to close in on Mayer for sixth place on the track and he also had Allgaier within his sights while Herbst grew his lead to four seconds with 10 laps remaining.

    Then with eight laps remaining, the battle for the championship brewed as Zilisch overtook Custer for third place on the track. As Custer fought back through the backstretch, Zilisch then got loose underneath Custer and made slight contact with the latter, which caused both to briefly fall off the pace entering Turns 3 and 4 as Allgaier zipped by teammate Zilisch for fourth place on the track with seven laps remaining. Allgaier then proceeded to drive up to Custer’s rear bumper through the first two turns and the backstretch before he made his move beneath Custer and overtook him through Turns 3 and 4. By then, Allgaier assumed the lead in the championship standings over Custer with six laps remaining.

    Over the next three laps, Allgaier started to generate a reasonable gap between himself and Custer as he also started to battle Love for the runner-up spot on the track while Herbst maintained a healthy advantage on the track.

    Then with three laps remaining, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime due to an incident involving Leland Honeyman in Turn 4. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Herbst pitted. Following the pit stops, Hill, who pitted for only two scuff tires for his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro, exited first as he was followed by Love, Herbst, Custer, Allgaier, Almirola, Chandler Smith, Mayer, Zilisch and Creed. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier endured a slow pit service, which allowed Custer to overtake him on pit road.

    The start of the first overtime attempt did not last long as Parker Retzlaff spun and wrecked in Turn 2. Prior to Retzlaff’s incident, Love had assumed the race lead and Allgaier, who restarted in fifth place, bolted his way up to second place on the track and first in the championship battle while Hill, who created a roadblock for Custer while trying to launch on his two scuff tires, had dropped to sixth place. By then, Custer had dropped to seventh place while Allmendinger was mired in 10th place. With Retzlaff’s incident, the event was sent into a second overtime attempt.

    The start of the second overtime attempt featured Allgaier and Love dueling for the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg before Allgaier went up the track and made contact against Love’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro, which resulted with both rubbing against one another in smoke and Herbst getting squeezed towards the outside wall entering the first turn. Amid the contact, Allgaier muscled ahead and barely fended off Herbst, Almirola and Hill through the first two turns to muscle ahead entering the backstretch while Love was trying to regain ground. By then, Hill, who got loose after making contact with Almirola, had dropped to seventh place on the track as he was losing ground of Allgaier for the championship battle. Both Custer and Allmendinger were also losing ground of Allgaier on the track.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained in the lead in both the race and the championship battle while runner-up Herbst closed in on him despite developing a left-rear tire rub. Amid the tire smoke, Herbst would then gain a run beneath Allgaier, who had all the markings on his left-rear tire rubbed off, through the backstretch and overtake him for the race lead. As Herbst proceeded to claim the checkered flag to win the finale, Allgaier would have enough muscle to finish in second place and claim the championship over Custer, Allmendinger and Hill.

    With the title, Allgaier, a 25-time race winner in the Xfinity Series who is in his 14th season as a full-time Xfinity competitor and who quietly clinched a Championship 4 round berth by points a week ago at Martinsville Speedway, became the 34th competitor overall to win a championship in the Xfinity Series and the first Illinois native to accomplish the feat. He also delivered the fourth driver’s championship and the first owner’s championship in the Xfinity division for JR Motorsports, the latter of which achieved its first Xfinity title since the 2018 season with Tyler Reddick. The 2024 Xfinity championship was also a first for crew chief Jim Pohlman.

    Overall, the 2024 season marks the eighth time in nine seasons where the current Playoff-elimination format featured a first-time champion in the Xfinity Series as Allgaier, who made his seventh Championship 4 appearance as a title contender, previously finished a career-best runner up in the final standings during the 2020 and 2023 seasons.

    As he celebrated with his pit crew, team owners, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., and family on the frontstretch, Allgaier was asked if he had counted himself out of the championship battle amid his pair of on-track obstacles that pinned him a lap down and way behind his title rivals.

    “Yeah, [I counted myself out] like 10 times,” Allgaier, who fought tears of emotions, said on the CW Network. “You fans are awesome. I don’t think I have a voice left because I was yelling. I’ve been doing this a long time and these people that are standing around me. There’s no words. It’s understated what [Hendrick engine shop and Chevrolet] what they’ve done. [My family] have given up so much for me to come do this job and God’s good, man. I said it all weekend, I don’t know what the plan is. I don’t know what that looks like, but He’s got a reason for everything and tonight is truly that. It’s mind-blowing.”

    No. 7 BRANDT/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “This team never gave up,” Allgaier, who will return to JR Motorsports and attempt to defend his series title in 2025, added. “[Crew chief] Jim Pohlman, his leadership skills are second and none. He told me all weekend that we were going to have a chance. Man, we tried to give it away every which way we could. I was as fast as Xfinity Internet, but on pit road, not on the racetrack where I needed to be. I just wanted to make it exciting for all you fans, all you fans at home. All the men and women, all five of our race teams [at JR Motorsports], just the effort that we’ve put in. I’m at a loss for words and we’re going to celebrate this one, for sure. It’s unbelievable. I just cannot say thank you enough to everybody that’s ever helped me in my career to get to this point. Seven times in the Championship 4 and we finally got it done.”

    As Allgaier proceeded to celebrate his first championship on the championship stage, Cole Custer, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, could only manage a smile on pit road as he settled in eighth place in the final running order of the finale and in the runner-up spot in the final standings. Despite coming up one spot short of defending his series title, Custer is set to move back up to the Cup Series and drive for the newly formed Haas Factory Team in 2025.

    “I think any driver can do something a little bit different,” Custer said. “I tried to go high, tried to go to the middle, tried to go everywhere I could. But [Hill] made his car pretty wide, which is his right. We’re all going for a championship. It just sucks that it ended up screwing us over worse than it did [Allgaier] and he was able to slip by. Man, I can’t say congratulations enough to Justin and all those guys. He’s definitely a deserving champion. They were fast all night. I hate it came down to tire strategies and stuff like that, but man, I can’t say enough about our group. Everything they’ve done over the last two years, [crew chief Jonathan Toney], everybody in [the Stewart-Haas Racing] shop works so hard. I wish we could have ended up with a championship for [Stewart-Haas Racing], but it just wasn’t meant to be on those restarts.”

    Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger, who clinched a Championship 4 berth by winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway three weeks ago, managed a ninth-place result in the finale and settled in third place in the final standings. Austin Hill, who made his first Championship 4 appearance as a title contender, fell back to 10th place in the final running order as he was relegated to fourth place in the final standings. While Hill is set to return to Richard Childress Racing for another full-time Xfinity campaign in 2025, Allmendinger is set to move back up to the Cup Series with Kaulig Racing next season.

    “We just struggled all night,” Allmendinger said. “First off, congrats to Justin [Allgaier], Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] and the No. 7 crew. Justin’s been working at it for a long time. Really cool that he got [the title]. [I] Wished that we could’ve been, at least, in the fight for [the title]. We were off from the start, loose the whole time. I didn’t know what else to do to try to make [the car] faster. Just disappointing that we never really were in the fight. I thought strategy-wise, we could, kind of, steal it, maybe, or the team championship. Disappointing, but proud to be here at least.”

    “We had to try something [strategy-wise],” Hill added. “Lot of hard racing out there. I want to say congrats to the No. 7 team. Justin Allgaier’s being doing this a really long time. To see him finally get it done, I’m very happy for him. He’s a great guy to be around. Hats off to JR Motorsports for getting it done.”

    Amid the championship battle, Riley Herbst, who led a race-high 167 of the 213 over-scheduled laps, celebrated a race victory as he notched his third career win in the Xfinity Series, second of the 2024 season and his first since winning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. The victory was also the last for the Stewart-Haas Racing organization as the team will be rebranded to Haas Factory Team in 2025. It also comes as Herbst’s 2025 racing plans remain to be determined.

    Riley Herbst
    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I’ve been telling people since Daytona that if we got to Phoenix, we’d be the champion,” Herbst, who finished seventh in the final standings, said in Victory Lane. “Everybody looked at me like I was crazy. That’s gone now. We didn’t make [the Championship 4 round], but I’m just so proud of all these guys, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. It was a really, really tough week last week. We had a lot of emotional people at the shop. [Stewart-Haas Racing] was home for me for four years. It’s built me to what I am now and that’s a winning racecar driver in the Xfinity Series. So proud of [crew chief] Davin [Restivo] and all the guys on the No. 98 team. It’s been a hell of a run the last four years. Thank you so much to every man and woman at Stewart-Haas Racing. I love you guys all so much. We’ll see what next year holds.”

    Aric Almirola, who was contending for the owner’s championship for Joe Gibbs Racing’s NO. 20 Toyota team, settled in third place on the track as he fell one spot short to Allgaier in the category. Connor Zilisch and Chandler Smith finished in the top five while Rookie-of-the-Year recipient Jesse Love, Sheldon Creed, Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill completed the top 10.

    There were 21 lead changes for eight different leaders. The finale featured seven cautions for 53 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Riley Herbst, 167 laps led

    2. Justin Allgaier, four laps led

    3. Aric Almirola

    4. Connor Zilisch

    5. Chandler Smith

    6. Jesse Love, six laps led

    7. Sheldon Creed, 20 laps led

    8. Cole Custer, seven laps led

    9. AJ Allmendinger

    10. Austin Hill, five laps led

    11. Sam Mayer

    12. Shane van Gisbergen

    13. William Sawalich

    14. Parker Kligerman, two laps led

    15. Sammy Smith

    16. Jeb Burton

    17. Daniel Dye, two laps led

    18. Brandon Jones

    19. Dylan Lupton

    20. Jeremy Clements

    21. Josh Bilicki

    22. Blaine Perkins

    23. Ryan Sieg

    24. Brennan Poole

    25. Ryan Ellis

    26. Matt DiBenedetto

    27. Joey Gase

    28.  Patrick Emerling, one lap down

    29. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    30. Garrett Smithley, one lap down

    31. Leland Honeyman, three laps down

    32. Dawson Cram, four laps down

    33. Josh Williams, five laps down

    34. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    35. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Engine

    36. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    37. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Suspension

    38. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates championship finalists

    Final standings

    1. Justin Allgaier

    2. Cole Custer

    3. AJ Allmendinger

    4. Austin Hill

    5. Chandler Smith

    6. Sheldon Creed

    7. Riley Herbst

    8. Jesse Love

    9. Sam Mayer

    10. Parker Kligerman

    11. Sammy Smith

    12. Shane van Gisbergen

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 15, 2025, for a new season of competition.

  • NASCAR reveals penalty report following Xfinity-Cup features at Las Vegas

    NASCAR reveals penalty report following Xfinity-Cup features at Las Vegas

    NASCAR released the penalty report following this past weekend’s Xfinity-Cup Series Playoff events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that occurred between October 19-20, 2024.

    In the Cup Series, John Rosselli (front-tire changer) and Kellen Mills (jackman), both of whom work in the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry XSE team piloted by Erik Jones, have been issued a two-race suspension due to a right-front wheel that detached from Jones’ car towards Lap 70 of 267 during Sunday’s event. The incident occurred during the event’s first caution period that started on Lap 62, when the wheel detached from Jones’ entry on the track entering Turn 1 after the event’s first round of pit stops and after Jones had received the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap.

    Following the incident in an event that was won by Playoff contender Joey Logano, Jones would finish in 25th place, a lap down, of the 37-car field.

    With the suspensions, Rosselli and Mills will not be present for the upcoming Cup Series Playoff events at Homestead-Miami Speedway and at Martinsville Speedway, respectively.

    In the Xfinity Series, three crew chiefs were each fined $5,000 apiece due to their respective entries having a single lug nut unsecured during the post-race inspection process following Saturday’s event.

    The crew chiefs that were penalized include Kevin Johnson, crew chief for Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 38 RSS Racing Ford Mustang team; Jonathan Toney, crew chief for Playoff contender Cole Custer and the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team; and Shane Whitbeck, crew chief for Jeb Burton and the No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet Camaro team.

    During Saturday’s Xfinity Playoff event at Vegas that was won by Playoff contender AJ Allmendinger, Custer would finish the best of the trio in eighth place while DiBenedetto and Burton ended up 16th and 24th, respectively.

    The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series’ teams return to action alongside the Craftsman Truck Series’ teams this upcoming weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the second of three Round of 8 events for each of the three series. The Truck and Xfinity divisions host a doubleheader feature on Saturday, October 26, that will commence with the Trucks at noon ET on FS1 while the Xfinity division will follow suit at 3:30 p.m. on the CW Network. The Cup Series action at Homestead will occur the following day, October 27, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Briscoe, Hamlin and Suarez claim final Round of 12 berths in 2024 Cup Playoffs

    Briscoe, Hamlin and Suarez claim final Round of 12 berths in 2024 Cup Playoffs

    Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suarez maintained their 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship hopes for another three weeks as the trio capped off the Round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race with on-track results that enabled them all to transfer into the Playoff’s Round of 12 on Saturday, September 21.

    For Briscoe, who raced his way into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs overall after winning the regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway, the Playoffs commenced on a rough note for the Mitchell, Indiana, native after he was involved in a harrowing accident by T-boning into Playoff contender Kyle Larson on Lap 55 of 260 during the Playoff’s opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    Strapped with a 21-point deficit with a 38th-place result from Atlanta, Briscoe redeemed himself during the following Playoff event at Watkins Glen International as he dodged a series of on-track carnages that affected a bevy of Playoff contenders to finish in sixth place. The top-10 run enabled him to boost his way up above the top-12 cutline and with a six-point advantage entering the Round of 16 finale at Bristol.

    Once Briscoe took the green flag from fifth place at Bristol, he proceeded to rack up a total of seven stage points with a pair of top-10 runs recorded during both stage periods. Briscoe’s strong night of racing within the top-10 mark then hit a minor roadblock during the final caution period that started with 172 laps remaining when he dropped to within the top-15 mark amid a slow pit service from his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team.

    From the start of the final restart period with 163 laps remaining, Briscoe made up the lost ground by racing his way back into the top 10. Keeping his car intact for the remainder of the event, Briscoe steered his No. 14 Ford without a rearview camera to an eighth-place result, which was enough for him to claim the 12th and final transfer spot into the Playoff’s Round of 12 by 11 points.

    With his accomplishment, Briscoe, who also transferred past the Round of 12 and as high as up to the Round of 8 during his first Playoff bid in 2022, continues to set his sights on making the Championship 4 round and contending for a Cup Series championship for Stewart-Haas Racing, with the organization set to be rebranded to Haas Factory Team and downsized to a single entry for the 2025 season while Briscoe prepares to transition to Joe Gibbs Racing.

    “Honestly, [the race] wasn’t really stressful,” Briscoe said after the race on USA Network. “Even when we had that bad pit stop, we came out 13th or 14th and I felt like I could drive [the car] back up there. Overall, a great night for us. Hopefully, people will start taking us [seriously]. I truthfully feel like we can battle for the championship, so hopefully, tonight proved that. [I] Hate that we had to dig ourselves out of a hole after Atlanta, but hopefully, we can go on to Kansas and start this next round strong. I feel like we can beat anybody on any given day when we put it together from start to finish.”

    After initially being placed under a microscope with back-to-back finishes outside the top 20 that nearly had his championship hopes of the 2024 season diminished, Denny Hamlin responded by finishing fourth at Bristol and racing his way into the Round of 12 by 15 points.

    Taking the green flag from eighth place and with a six-point deficit to start the Bristol event, Hamlin took care of business for the first half of the event by racking up a total of 13 stage points with finishes of eighth and third, respectively, during the first two rounds.

    Restarting inside the top-five mark at the start of the final stage period with 240 laps remaining, Hamlin kept his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota racing towards the front like he had been throughout the first half of the event. Despite being overtaken by his 23XI Racing competitor Bubba Wallace for third place in the closing laps, Hamlin would retain a fourth place on the track as he leaped his way back inside the top-12 cutline and maintained his title hopes with an automatic pass to the Round of 12.

    With his accomplishment, Hamlin, who is in his 19th consecutive season in the Cup Series level, transferred into the Round of 12 for the 10th time in his career. In a season where he notched three regular-season victories, he now sets his sights forward and in pursuit of a first elusive Cup Series championship.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “My aspiration was to win [the race],” Hamlin said. “It looked like [Larson] was better than all of us. Solid car. I thought we were really good towards the middle stages and then there at the end, [I] just got too loose and couldn’t hang on to what we had there. Overall, top-five day. Good stage points. Kind of in the mix. Just not really as good as what we’ve been here in the last couple of times, but overall, thank this whole FedEx Toyota team for giving me something I can move on with. It’s all offense from this point forward.”

    Lastly, Daniel Suarez was left feeling like a sole survivor after utilizing a 36-point advantage he had before Bristol to transfer his way into the Round of 12 by a mere 11 points amid a struggling event that was capped off with a 30th-place run.

    Suarez, who finished second and 13th, respectively, throughout the Round of 16’s first two events, rolled off the starting grid in 35th place and proceeded to spend the first half of the event both inside and outside of the top-30 mark on the track. By then, he was lapped twice by the leader Larson and was unable to recover to score any stage points during the event’s two stage periods, but he remained within contention of claiming a final berth into the Round of 12.  

    Despite cycling his way back to gain one of his lost laps earlier, Suarez would fall four laps behind Larson. During the closing laps, however, he battled Ty Gibbs, who was trying to overthrow Suarez in the Playoff standings and prevented him from overtaking him as Gibbs needed more spots from the top-10 mark to gain more points on Suarez. With Gibbs fading in the closing laps and eventually dropping to 15th place when the checkered flag flew, Suarez, who dropped to 31st place and was flirting between being scored outside and inside the Playoff cutline, was able to remain inside the cutline.

    With the battle for his title hopes continuing into the Round of 12, Suarez, who also transferred as high as into the Round of 12 during his first Playoff run in 2022, expressed his relief on capping off his long weekend and event with a griding duel to fend off Ty Gibbs for a Playoff transfer spot. He also emphasized and recognized the strong Playoff start generated by him and his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet team that enabled them to not lose any additional points.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[Tonight] was a struggle,” Suarez said. “Since yesterday when we unloaded the car for first practice, we just didn’t have the speed. With the short amount of practice, qualifying and going through the race, if you don’t have the speed out of the trailer, it’s very, very difficult to bring [the car] back to speed. We made it better, but it wasn’t good enough. We were running 30th, 28th, 32nd all night long and that was all we had. Luckily, we had a great [run at] Atlanta, decent [finish] at Watkins Glen after a broken wheel. We were able to build a [points] cushion and we definitely used every single point out of that cushion. I can only control so much. I can only control what the No. 99 can do and everything else is out of my hands. I wasn’t fast enough to run away from [Gibbs], so I had to play games to be able to affect him as much as possible in a clean way. Luckily, it worked out good. We have to relax a little bit and focus on the next round.”

    With the Round of 16 in the rearview mirror, Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suarez join Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, William Byron and Joey Logano as 12 competitors to square off against one another throughout the Playoff’s Round of 12 as all continue their pursuit for the 2024 Cup Series championship.

    The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff’s Round of 12 is scheduled to commence next Sunday, September 29, at Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400 which will air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Cole Custer, 104 laps led

    2. Sheldon Creed, 28 laps led

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

    4. Jesse Love, one lap led

    5. Ryan Truex

    6. Brandon Jones

    7. Dale Earnhardt Jr., one lap led

    8. Ryan Sieg, five laps led

    9. Sam Mayer, 55 laps led

    10. AJ Allmendinger

    11. Anthony Alfredo

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

    13. Riley Herbst

    14. Austin Hill

    15. Sammy Smith

    16. Parker Kligerman

    17. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    18. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down

    19. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    20. Josh Bilicki, one lap down

    21. Josh Williams, one lap down

    22. Blaine Perkins, one lap down

    23. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    24. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    25. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    26. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    27. Logan Bearden, two laps down

    28. Carson Ware, five laps down

    29. Greg Van Alst, eight laps down

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

    31. Leland Honeyman, 10 laps down

    32. Chad Finchum, 20 laps down

    33. Stefan Parsons, 24 laps down

    34. Matt DiBenedetto, 25 laps down

    35. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    36. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Rear Gear

    37. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    38. Austin Green – OUT, Accident

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

  • Riley Herbst scores thrilling last-lap Xfinity victory at Indianapolis

    Riley Herbst scores thrilling last-lap Xfinity victory at Indianapolis

    With his racing status for next season currently unknown, Riley Herbst peddled to the meddle and prevailed in a final lap battle with teammate Cole Custer and Aric Almirola to score a monstrous NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 20.

    The 25-year-old Herbst from Las Vegas, Nevada, led four times for 30 of 100-scheduled laps in an event where he shared the front row with teammate/pole-sitter Cole Custer and implemented an early strategic pit call to claim the first stage victory and gain valuable Playoff points while on old tires. After spending a majority of the event racing towards the front, Herbst, who executed a bold three-wide pass for the lead on both Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger amid a late-race restart with 35 laps remaining, retained the lead during another restart with 29 laps remaining and held a steady advantage over teammate Cole Custer when his momentum was stalled due to another caution for a multi-car wreck with 17 laps remaining.

    Opting to remain on the track on old tires compared to a majority of the field, Herbst quickly lost the lead to Custer during the final restart with 11 laps remaining. Despite also losing the runner-up spot to Almirola, Herbst regained the spot amid light contact two laps later and spent the next seven laps methodically gaining ground on Custer with a strong race car amid the draft. Then as Herbst attempted to side-draft and snatch the lead from Custer through the frontstretch, Almirola threw himself into the picture by overtaking both in a three-wide pass at the start of the final lap. Herbst, however, quickly dispatched Custer and closed back in on Almirola through two turns before he executed his pass while side-drafting Almirola prior to Turn 4. With the lead in his grasp, Herbst, who nearly spun but regained control of his car prior to entering the frontstretch, fended off both Almirola and a hard-charging Custer to grab his first elusive Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season and lock himself into the Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Cole Custer notched his fifth Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season after he posted a pole-winning lap at 167.582 mph in 53.705 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Riley Herbst, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 166.942 mph in 53.911 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Sheldon Creed dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra. Austin Hill and Parker Kligerman also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, teammates Cole Custer and Riley Herbst dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Custer mustered his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang ahead of the field while clearing Herbst in the process prior to hitting the backstretch. Shortly after, Aric Almirola made his way into the runner-up spot over Herbst, who was trying to block Almirola, as Anthony Alfredo and Brandon Jones trailed in the top five.

    Then as the field entered Turn 3, the event’s first caution flew when Sam Mayer, who was trying to fend off AJ Allmendinger and Carson Kvapil for sixth place, slipped underneath Allmendinger as Allmendinger made a bold move to Mayer’s outside prior to the turn, which resulted with Mayer spinning through the turn before he was hit by a sliding Chandler Smith and backed his No. 1 Huck’s Market Chevrolet Camaro both against the outside wall and into the path of Josh Berry, with Jeb Burton, Conor Daly, Justin Allgaier, Leland Honeyman, Jeremy Clements, Parker Retzlaff and rookie Jesse Love all sustaining damage to their respective entries.

    Following an extensive cleanup of the wreckage, the race restarted under green on the seventh lap. At the start, teammates Custer and Herbst dueled for a second time for the lead through the first two turns and they remained dead even through the backstretch. As Almirola tried to navigate his way past Custer, who led the first lap under caution, Herbst started to muscle ahead from the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4, but Custer gained the draft from the inside lane to retain the lead for the next lap as he was followed by Almirola. With Custer leading Almirola, Jones and Alfredo would overtake Herbst through the backstretch. Amid a series of on-track battles around the venue, Custer proceeded to lead at the Lap 10 mark by four-tenths of a second over Almirola.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Custer retained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Almirola, who kept gaining a draft while trying to close in on Custer for more through the straightaways. Behind, third-place Justin Allgaier trailed by four seconds as he was ahead of teammate Brandon Jones and Herbst while Kvapil, Allmendinger, Alfredo, Ryan Sieg and Josh Williams were racing in the top 10. Meanwhile, Matt DiBenedetto occupied 11th place ahead of Daniel Dye, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Hill and Parker Kligerman while Kyle Sieg, Kyle Weatherman, Brennan Poole, Parker Retzlaff and Sheldon Creed were mired in the top 20.

    A lap later, the event’s second caution flew due to Chandler Smith, the fastest competitor during Friday’s practice session who was trying to continue after being involved in the opening lap wreck, falling off the pace due to losing fuel pressure to his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra as he was also unable to limp back to pit road. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Custer pitted for service while the rest led by Herbst and including Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Josh Williams, Matt DiBenedetto, Daniel Dye, Parker Kligerman and Brennan Poole remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 20 featured Herbst and Allmendinger dueling for the lead entering the first turn and they made contact in Turn 2 before they continued to duel in front of a stacked two-by-two through the backstretch. Then Ryan Sieg drafted Herbst into the lead as he cleared Allmendinger and muscled away prior to exiting the backstretch. With Herbst leading Sieg and Allmendinger for the following lap and through the frontstretch, Matt DiBenedetto trailed in fourth place along with Kligerman, Josh Williams and the rest of the field.

    By Lap 25, Herbst stretched his advantage to more than a second over both Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger while Kligerman and DiBenedetto continued to run in the top five. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones, who restarted 18th and whose pit crew discovered a puncture that was removed from a tire when he pitted during the previous caution period, had carved his way into sixth place as he was the first competitor running on the track on fresh tires while Retzlaff, Allgaier, Custer and Almirola followed suit in the top 10.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Herbst claimed his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Allmendinger settled in second place ahead of Ryan Sieg while Jones muscled his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro up to fourth place. Teammate Allgaier settled in fifth place ahead of Custer, who had also charged his way back towards the front, as Kligerman, Almirola, Kvapil and DiBenedetto were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field, including those who did not pit during the previous caution period, led by Herbst pitted while the rest, including those who pitted recently, led by Jones remained on the track. During the pit stops, Kligerman was penalized for an uncontrolled tire penalty while both Retzlaff and Josh Williams were both penalized.

    The second stage period started on Lap 34 as teammates Jones and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start and as the field started to fan out, Jones managed to muscle ahead of teammate Allgaier through the first turn and he would retain the lead through Turn 2 and the backstretch while Custer, Almirola and Kvapil battled for third place. With Austin Hill trying to join the battle as a flurry of on-track battles ensued, Jones retained the lead ahead of Allgaier through the frontstretch and for the following lap.

    Through the Lap 40 mark, Jones continued to lead as he was out in front of a four-car breakaway from the pack that included teammate Allgaier, Custer and Almirola. In the process, Herbst was in sixth place and trying to gain a draft on Kvapil for more. A lap later, Allgaier gained a run beneath Jones and overtook him for the lead through the backstretch. Soon after, however, Custer, who followed Allgaier in the process, battled Allgaier for the lead through Turn 3 and the frontstretch before he muscled ahead along with Jones as Almirola also followed suit. This resulted with Allgaier slipping to fourth place by Lap 42.

    Within the Lap 45 range, Custer was leading by half a second over Almirola, who overtook Jones for the runner-up spot a lap earlier, while Allgaier trailed the lead by a second in fourth place. Meanwhile, Herbst navigated his way back into fifth place ahead of Kvapil and Hill while Ryan Sieg and Creed followed suit in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Conor Daly, Alfredo, Joe Graf Jr. and DiBenedetto.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 50, Custer extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Almirola while Herbst, Allgaier and Jones followed suit in the top five. While Kvapil, Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Hill and Creed were in the top 10, van Gisbergen occupied 11th place ahead of Conor Daly, Graf, Dye and Anthony Alfredo while a total of 35 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Four laps later, the caution flew due to smoke billowing out of the No. 44 Macc Door Systems Chevrolet Camaro as Poole was dealing with a potential power steering pump failure. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Custer pitted while Ryan Sieg, Leland Honeyman and Garret Smithley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Herbst exited pit road first ahead of teammate Custer, Almirola, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Hill, van Gisbergen, Jones, Creed and Conor Daly. Not long after, Smithley voluntarily opted to restart at the rear of the field, which left Sieg and Honeyman restarting on the front row, but on old tires compared to the field.

    The start of the next restart period with a single lap remaining in the second stage period featured Sieg muscling his No. 39 SciAps Ford Mustang ahead as he was drafted into the lead by Herbst. With the field fanning out through the first two turns, Custer got loose as he made light contact with Honeyman as he slipped out of the top five. Amid the contact that involved Custer, the field continued to fan out and jostle for late spots through the backstretch while Sieg was trying to fend off Herbst and Almirola for two final turns.

    When the field returned to the frontstretch, Sieg managed to block and fend off both Almirola and Herbst to claim his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season as the second stage period concluded on Lap 60. Almirola edged Herbst to claim second place while Allmendinger, Allgaier, Custer, van Gisbergen, Hill, Honeyman and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, select few led by Sieg and Honeyman pitted while the rest of the field led by Almirola remained on the track.

    With 35 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Almirola and Allmendinger occupied the front row ahead of Herbst and Allgaier. At the start, Almirola and Allmendinger dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch as Almirola side-drafted Allmendinger to stall his momentum. In the process, Herbst went three wide on both Almirola and Allmendinger to move his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang into the lead as he retained the top spot for two corners and led the next lap. While Herbst made the biggest gain through the backstretch, Almirola was drifting out of the top five while Custer and Allgaier were moving their way up towards the front. Shane van Gisbergen would then make his way up to fifth place as he battled Austin Hill and Almirola through the frontstretch.

    A lap later, however, the caution flew when Almirola, who was mired in sixth place, got tapped by Hill in Turn 1 and did two 360 spins through the turn, though he managed to keep his No. 20 He Gets Us Toyota Supra off the wall and be dodged by oncoming traffic as he limped back to pit road with flat-spotted tires.

    With the race restarting under green with 29 laps remaining, Herbst and Allmendinger dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Herbst then got loose entering Turn 3, which caused him to go high as he avoided Allmendinger while sliding sideways as Allmendinger assumed the lead while Herbst slipped to a side-by-side battle with teammate Custer for the runner-up spot. By the following lap, Custer moved into second place while Herbst settled in third place ahead of Allgaier, van Gisbergen and Hill as the rest of the field behind fanned out.

    With 25 laps remaining, Allmendinger was leading by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Custer, who was using the draft to gain runs on Allmendinger through the straightaways. Then in Turn 1, Custer made his move beneath Allmendinger’s No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro and assumed the lead. Custer, however, briefly lost his momentum in the backstretch, which allowed Allmendinger to fight back and duel with Custer through the backstretch until Herbst gave teammate Custer a draft that allowed Custer to drive his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang away with the lead in his grasp just past the backstretch. Shortly after, teammate Herbst overtook Allmendinger from the outside lane to claim second place while Allmendinger was trying to fend off Allgaier for third place. Despite losing third place to Allgaier not long after, Allmendinger reassumed the spot from Allgaier with 23 laps remaining as both van Gisbergen and Hill tried to close in on Allgaier for fourth place.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Custer was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Herbst, who was closing in on his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate through the straightaways amid the draft. Then entering the backstretch, Herbst gained a run underneath Custer and assumed the lead in his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang. Herbst would stabilize his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Custer during the following lap as he was also trying to muscle away and break the draft off of Custer.

    Three laps later, the caution flew for a vicious multi-car wreck that started when Daniel Dye made contact with Alfredo that got Dye loose towards the apron in Turns 1 and 2 while Alfredo, who scraped the outside wall, fell off the pace with a flat tire to his No. 5 Dude Mint Chill Chevrolet Camaro and made contact with the outside wall again entering the backstretch. In the process, Retzlaff rammed into the rear of Alfredo, who would proceed to hit the inside SAFER Barrier, at full pace as Josh Williams also rammed into Retzlaff’s wrecked No. 31 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet Camaro before he hit the backstretch’s outside wall head on, thus leaving all three with wrecked race cars.

    During the caution period, some led by Herbst and including Custer, Allmendinger, Jesse Love, Almirola and DiBenedetto remained on the track while the rest led by Allgaier pitted.

    Down to the final 11 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Custer cleared Herbst amid two turns to assume the lead. Behind, Almirola wasted no time navigating his way past Allmendinger and Herbst to move into the runner-up spot. With Custer stretching his advantage to a second over Almirola with 10 laps remaining, the rest of the field behind fanned out and jostled as both Almirola and Herbst tried to close in.

    With nine laps remaining, Herbst got Almirola loose in Turn 1 and towards the outside wall, which allowed Herbst to reassume the runner-up spot as he set his sights on catching teammate Custer for the lead. Despite trailing teammate Custer by a second with eight laps remaining, Herbst started to close in while logging in faster lap times than Custer while Almirola, Allmendinger and van Gisbergen trailed in the top five.

    With five laps remaining, Custer continued to lead by a second over teammate Herbst, who was not getting closer to Custer and slowly losing valuable lap time as Almirola started to close in on Herbst for the runner-up spot. A lap later, however, Herbst chopped off three-tenths of a second off of teammate Custer’s advantage in his quest to catch him, where he would then trail by six-tenths of a second to Custer with three laps remaining, while van Gisbergen occupied fourth place ahead of Creed, Allmendinger and Hill.

    Then with two laps remaining, Herbst, who spent the previous two laps methodically gaining ground, gained all the ground he needed to get close to Custer’s rear bumper through the backstretch before he planned his move through Turns 3 and 4. As he made his move beneath Custer and dueled with him while also making contact with him through the frontstretch to gain the lead, however, Almirola gained a massive draft on both and he assumed the lead with a bold three-wide move from the outside lane before he started the final lap of the race.

    With Almirola leading, Herbst quickly assumed the runner-up spot just past the frontstretch while Custer drifted back to third place. Herbst then kept the latter close enough in front of him amid the draft and gained the momentum to close back in through the first two turns and the backstretch. Then in Turn 3, Herbst got to Almirola’s left-rear quarter panel, which got Almirola slightly loose, as Herbst side-drafted and snatched the lead entering Turn 4 as he also saved his car from spinning sideways in the process. While Custer regained the momentum to challenge Almirola for the runner-up spot entering the frontstretch, Herbst managed to motor away and streak across the finish line in first place to claim his first Xfinity victory of the 2024 season by a tenth of a second over teammate Custer.

    With the victory, Riley Herbst scored his second Xfinity Series career win in his 162nd series start and his first since winning his first series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track, in October 2023. In addition, the Las Vegas native became the sixth competitor overall to win on Indy’s oval-shaped circuit as he recorded the second consecutive victory of the season for both Stewart-Haas Racing and the Ford nameplate.

    Herbst’s Indianapolis victory also makes him the eighth Xfinity Series regular to win in this year’s regular-season stretch as he is guaranteed a spot into the 2024 Playoffs, where he will contend to win his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “This is Indianapolis,” Herbst said on USA Network. “This is the most famous racetrack in the world. It’s an honor just to walk in this place, let alone win. Man, we’ve had speed all year. I felt like we could win. I just messed up on the restarts a little bit. It was a good fight. I thought I had Cole [Custer] clear and then, [my spotter] said bottom of three [wide] with [Almirola] and I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be tough.’ I just continue to work, continue to work, continue to work. It’s bee a pretty tough week on me mentally, to be honest to you. Proud of these guys, proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. These [No. 98] guys could’ve given up on me, gone to different teams, but they’ve stuck behind me and Cole. That’s back-to-back wins for Stewart-Haas Racing. This is fun. I’m gonna go drink beer and turn my phone off for three weeks.”

    “This is hallowed ground, honestly,” Herbst added “This is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Every person in the world wants to race here and I won here. I don’t care if it’s the Xfinity Series, this is the Cup Series, it’s the go-kart track out back. This is the Brickyard. This is Indianapolis. This is the coolest racetrack in the world and I love you [fans]. This is pretty sweet!”

    Behind Herbst, teammate Cole Custer edged Aric Almirola to claim the runner-up spot a week after he won at Pocono Raceway, with both Herbst and Custer delivering the first 1-2 finish for Stewart-Haas Racing’s in the team’s final season of competition.

    “You could see us beating doors down the frontstretch,” Custer, who led a race-high 47 laps, said. “That was…You’re gonna do everything it takes to win Indy. I was doing everything I could to try and get this [car] to turn. I just needed one less lap. What an awesome day for [Stewart-Haas Racing]. Two cars at the front all day. We qualified one, two. Finished one, two. Unbelievable day for [Stewart-Haas Racing] and hopefully, keep this thing rolling.”

    “[Stewart-Haas Racing drivers] were the class of the field,” Almirola, who led five laps and rallied from his late spin, said. “Those two cars were certainly better than us, but I knew if they got racing, it was gonna be an opportunity to steal it. I got to the lead and thought [I] was gonna be able to steal it. I just got too tight off of [Turn] 3 and [Herbst] got back inside of me. Those guys deserve it. Proud of them and happy for those guys. It was fun to get back in a race car and challenge for a win.”

    Rookie Shane van Gisbergen motored his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro to a stellar fourth-place result in his first NASCAR oval start at Indianapolis while Sheldon Creed ended up in fifth place.

    Austin Hill, Daniel Dye, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier and Carson Kvapil completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 12 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 29 laps. In addition, 29 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 20th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer continues to lead the regular-season standings by 56 points over Justin Allgaier, 87 over Austin Hill, 100 over Chandler Smith and 143 over teammate Riley Herbst.

    Results.

    1. Riley Herbst, 30 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Cole Custer, 47 laps led

    3. Aric Almirola, five laps led

    4. Shane van Gisbergen

    5. Sheldon Creed

    6. Austin Hill

    7. Daniel Dye

    8. AJ Allmendinger, four laps led

    9. Justin Allgaier

    10. Carson Kvapil

    11. Ryan Sieg, four laps led, Stage 2 winner

    12. Parker Kligerman

    13. Jesse Love

    14. Conor Daly

    15. Brandon Jones, 10 laps led

    16. Matt DiBenedetto

    17. Joe Graf Jr.

    18. Sammy Smith

    19. Jeb Burton

    20. Leland Honeyman

    21. Brennan Poole

    22. Kyle Sieg

    23. Ryan Ellis

    24. Joey Gase

    25. Kyle Weatherman

    26. David Starr

    27. Josh Bilicki

    28. BJ McLeod

    29. Blaine Perkins

    30. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    31. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

    32. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Ignition

    33. Chandler Smith, 14 laps down

    34. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    35. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    36. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    37. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    38. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    With the Paris Summer Olympics set to occur for the next two weekends, the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ teams and competitors will be returning to action at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, for the Cabo Wabo 250. The event is scheduled to occur on August 17 and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. 

  • Cole Custer prevails for first Xfinity victory of 2024 at Pocono

    Cole Custer prevails for first Xfinity victory of 2024 at Pocono

    The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer struck gold with his first elusive victory of the 2024 season in the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 13, following a wild four-lap dash to the finish.

    The 26-year-old Custer from Ladera Ranch, California, led twice for 25 of 90-scheduled laps in an event where he started in eighth place but ran up front throughout the event as he assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 26. After winning the second stage period, he would find himself shuffled back within the top-10 mark before he methodically carved his way back towards the front.

    Then after pitting with 29 laps remaining under green before a late-race caution period eight laps later, Custer capitalized on the following restart period with 12 laps remaining to overtake Justin Allgaier for the lead with nine laps remaining. Despite having his momentum stalled due to another late-race caution period for rookie Shane van Gisbergen spinning in Turn 2, Custer fended off both Allgaier and William Byron to muscle ahead and capture his first Xfinity Series victory of the season for himself, the Ford nameplate and Stewart-Haas Racing as he continues his quest to defend his series’ title.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Sheldon Creed notched his second Xfinity career pole position and his first of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 167.255 mph in 53.810 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Brandon Jones, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying time at 166.334 mph in 54.108 seconds.

    Before the event, the following names that included rookie Jesse Love, Josh Berry, Taylor Gray, Ryan Truex and Brennan Poole dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. In addition, Poole was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road due to unapproved adjustments made to Poole’s Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet Camaro following Friday’s inspection process.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, the field jumbled up in tight two-by-two formation through the frontstretch as Sheldon Creed and Brandon Jones dueled for the lead through the first turn before they led the field through the Long Pond Straightaway. Creed then tried to muscle ahead from the outside lane through the Tunnel Curve, but Jones fought back on the inside lane just past the curve as they navigated through the final sets of turns and back to the frontstretch in front of Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier and William Byron. At the start/finish line, Creed managed to lead the first lap by a hair.

    On the second lap and as both Creed and Jones continued to duel for the lead, the event’s first caution flew following a hard accident involving Dawson Cram in Turn 1, where Cram slid sideways towards the apron after he lost his brakes and collided rear-end into the outside wall at full speed.

    Following an extensive cleanup process amid Cram’s incident, the event restarted under green on the sixth lap. At the start, Creed managed to fend off Jones from the outside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns and entering the Long Pond Straightaway. Behind, teammate Chandler Smith would muscle his way up to the runner-up spot before Allgaier would charge his way up to third place followed by William Byron as Jones slipped to fifth place.

    Then on the eighth lap, Allgaier made his move beneath Creed to assume the lead through the frontstretch. At the same time, Chandler Smith moved to Creed’s outside to snatch the runner-up spot as Creed slipped to third place. Shortly after, Jones’ strong start evaporated as he pitted his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro to address a flat left-rear tire, which cost him a lap as he then endured a slow pit service. By then, Josh Berry, who was piloting the No. 15 AM Racing Ford Mustang in place of Hailie Deegan, who was released by the team earlier in the week, pitted with a flat tire.

    Back on the track, a tight battle between Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger, Byron and Creed ensued for third place, with all nearly colliding past the Tunnel Curve. With all four proceeding without wrecking, Byron and Creed continued to duel for fourth place as Austin Hill joined the battle. With Custer in third place, Allgaier proceeded to lead the Lap 10 mark by nine-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith.

    At the Lap 15 mark, Allgaier was leading by three seconds over Chandler Smith followed by Custer, Byron and Hill while AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Creed and Sammy Smith were running in the top 10. Behind, Sam Mayer occupied 11th place ahead of Parker Kligerman, Jeb Burton, Taylor Gray and Anthony Alfredo while Kyle Sieg, Corey Heim, Ryan Truex, Matt DiBenedetto and Parker Retzlaff trailed in the top 20 ahead of Josh Williams, Daniel Dye, Kyle Weatherman, Jesse Love and Jeremy Clements. Meanwhile, rookie Shane van Gisbergen was mired in 27th place behind Brennan Poole.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Allgaier claimed his 11th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Custer followed suit in second ahead of Chandler Smith, Byron and Allmendinger while Hill, Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lap field led by Allgaier pitted for service while Jesse Love remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Anthony Alfredo was penalized for speeding on pit road. Soon after, Allgaier was also penalized and sent to the rear of the field due to an equipment interference, where the tire got loose and rolled into the next pit box.

    The second stage period started on Lap 25 as Love and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Love and Custer dueled for the lead through the frontstretch as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns. With Byron rocketing his way up to third place ahead of Herbst and Chandler Smith through Long Pond Straightaway, Byron then joined the tight side-by-side battle for the lead between Custer and Love just past the Tunnel Curve before he fell off the pace through Turns 3 and 4. With Byron reporting a flat tire as he plummeted in the leaderboard while missing the pit road entrance, Custer, who rocketed ahead of Love through Turns 3 and 4, was leading as Chandler Smith, Herbst and Creed followed suit in the top five. A lap later, the caution returned due to debris being reported on the track and coming from Byron’s No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, with the driver limping his car around the circuit as his tire carcass came off. Despite the early misfortune, Byron managed to pit for fresh tires and remain on the lead lap category.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 30 featured Custer and Chandler Smith dueling for the lead through the frontstretch and the first two turns before they navigated through the Long Pond Straightaway. With Custer retaining the lead, Hill made his way into the runner-up spot over Chandler Smith and Herbst while Love was in fifth place. Love was then overtaken by Creed for fifth place through Turns 1 and 2 during the following lap as Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger went three wide within the top 10 and just past the Tunnel Curve. By then and amid a series of on-track battles ensuing around the Pocono circuit, Custer stretched his advantage to more than a second over a tight battle for the runner-up spot involving Chandler Smith and Hill.

    By Lap 35, Custer continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by three seconds over Chandler Smith with Hill keeping Smith closely within his sights. Herbst and Allmendinger were scored in the top five ahead of Ryan Sieg, Love, Creed, Corey Heim and Sammy Smith while Mayer, Taylor Gray, Kligerman, Allgaier and Ryan Truex were running in the top 15. With Allgaier rallying from his pit road penalty to be scored in the top 15, Byron had carved his way back up to 18th place as he was battling Jeb Burton for more. In addition, Brandon Jones was scored outside the top 20 in his efforts to rally from losing a lap from his flat tire.

    Two laps later, Love and Mayer pitted their respective entries from the top 11 under green. By then, Custer, who remained on the track, was leading by nearly four seconds at the Lap 38 mark with Chandler Smith, Hill, Herbst and Ryan Sieg trailing in the top five and by six seconds on the track.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 40, Custer captured his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Chandler Smith trailed in second place by nearly four seconds along with Hill, Herbst and Ryan Sieg while Allmendinger, Creed, Sammy Smith, Heim and Allgaier were scored in the top 10. With Allgaier scored in 10th place, Byron had carved his way to 12th place behind Kligerman while Jones was in 18th place behind Parker Retzlaff.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Custer returned to pit road for service while select names led by Byron and including Alfredo, Mayer and Love remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Jeremy Clements was penalized for a safety violation.

    With 44 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Byron and Alfredo occupied the front row. The final stage’s start, however, did not last long as a multi-car wreck erupted when Retzlaff got loose in Turn 1 and went up the track as he ran into Ryan Ellis, with both including Leland Honeyman and Poole wrecking against the outside wall. Amid the accident, Byron had retained the lead ahead of Mayer and Love while Chandler Smith, Hill and Custer were scored in the top six. During the caution period, select names including Allgaier, Alfredo, Sammy Smith, Jones and Blaine Perkins pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    With the race restarting with 40 laps remaining, Byron and Love battled for the lead as the field fanned out through the frontstretch. Then in Turn 1, Allmendinger slid sideways as he lightly rubbed fenders with Ryan Sieg, but he kept his car running straight below the apron and the race remained under green flag conditions as Love muscled his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro out in front with the top spot. Love would proceed to lead with 35 laps remaining over Byron before the latter ignited a side-by-side battle through Long Pond Straightaway. By then, Hill tried to join the battle before Byron split his way through both to reassume the lead.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Byron was leading by four-tenths of a second over Hill as Custer, Ryan Sieg and Mayer were scored in the top 10. Behind, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Kligerman and Corey Heim were in the top 10 as Love pitted under green. Love, however, would be penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Byron would then pit from the lead with 29 laps remaining along with Custer and Taylor Gray. With a host of names pitting over the proceeding laps, Allgaier would cycle into the lead with 24 laps remaining.

    Then with 21 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Stephen Mallozzi stopping on the backstretch. During the caution period, some led by Allgaier and including teammate Sammy Smith and Alfredo remained on the track while the rest of the field pitted. Soon after, the next restart period with 16 laps remaining did not last long due to Clements spinning and hitting the outside wall in Turn 2 after getting pinned in a three-wide battle, with Mason Massey also getting collected.

    The next restart period with 12 laps remaining featured Allgaier muscling his No. 7 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro ahead from the outside lane before Custer tried to mount a charge from the inside lane. Allgaier would retain the lead by two-tenths of a second over Custer as the field behind jostled for late positions with 10 laps remaining. Amid the battles, third-place Byron trailed the lead by nine-tenths of a second as Creed and Alfredo were scored in the top five.

    With nine laps remaining, Custer trailed Allgaier by a tenth of a second as he started to close in on Allgaier for the lead. Then through Turn 1, Custer made his move beneath Allgaier and dueled with him through Long Pond Straightaway before he moved his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang into the lead. He would proceed to lead with eight laps remaining and slowly begin to stretch his advantage before the caution returned due to Shane van Gisbergen spinning in Turn 2 after he got hit by Mayer.

    The start of the next restart period with four laps remaining featured Custer and Allgaier dueling for the lead before Custer muscled ahead through Long Pond Straightaway. Allgaier then tried to fight back through the Tunnel Turn and Turn 2, but Custer muscled ahead with the lead through the frontstretch and led the next lap. Soon after, the two-car battle between Custer and Allgaier became a three-car battle as Byron closed in. Behind, van Gisbergen spun for a second time in Turn 2, but the race remained under green as Custer led by nearly half a second over both Allgaier and Byron.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Custer remained as the leader by six-tenths of a second over Allgaier and by seven-tenths of a second over Byron. With both Allgaier and Byron losing ground and unable to narrow the deficit, Custer was able to cycle his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang smoothly around Pocono’s tricky turns for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Xfinity season.

    With the victory, Custer, who came into Pocono as the leader in the regular-season standings, notched his 14th career win in the Xfinity circuit and his second at Pocono after he won his first in 2019. The victory was also his first since winning both the 2023 season-finale event and the series’ championship at Phoenix Raceway last November. The victory was also the first of the year for both Stewart-Haas Racing and the Ford nameplate.

    “Man, you just try and manage it the best you can, but it’s just the luck of the draw on who gets the best push and everything,” Custer said on USA Network. “Man, that was some Doug Yates horsepower right there. We definitely had some [horsepower] on the straightaways today. Man, I just can’t say enough about these guys. They worked so hard this whole year and just haven’t had that final result. To finally get [a win], it’s so awesome. This is the second win here at Pocono for our team, so it’s awesome. We can really carry this momentum through the summer and into the Playoffs. I’ve been telling people [that] I’ve never been so frustrated [at] being the points leader. It was the weirdest feeling in the world. We’ve been so good pretty much all year, just top five [runs], and just haven’t been able to break through the year till now. It’s awesome to get [a win] now and I think we can really carry this.”

    As Custer celebrated on the frontstretch, Allgaier was left disappointed on pit road after coming up four laps shy of netting his second victory of the season, though he had enough fuel to finish. The runner-up result marks the second time Allgaier has finished in the runner-up spot and first since Portland International Raceway in early June.

    “I just feel like, unfortunately, we had the best car all day and at the end, the old tires were just a difference maker,” Allgaier said. “We did what we had to do with the penalty and being able to come through the field. We did all the right things. Obviously, William [Byron] gave me a great push on that last restart and it’s just so hard to keep the right front on [the car] on the long run like that. Really stinks to come out here second. I’ve led so many laps here. [I] Feel like this is same result every time, just not able to go to Victory Lane. Really proud of our team, proud of the effort. Just came up a little bit short and it’s going to sting for a while.”

    William Byron came home in third place in his third Xfinity start of the 2024 season while pole-sitter Sheldon Creed and Taylor Gray finished in the top five.

    AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 10 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 30 laps. In addition, 31 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 19th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer leads the regular-season standings by 51 points over Allgaier, 59 over Chandler Smith and 76 over Austin Hill.

    Results.

    1. Cole Custer, 25 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Justin Allgaier, 30 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. William Byron, 16 laps led

    4. Sheldon Creed, seven laps led

    5. Taylor Gray

    6. AJ Allmendinger

    7. Austin Hill, one lap led

    8. Parker Kligerman

    9. Sammy Smith

    10. Sam Mayer

    11. Riley Herbst

    12. Ryan Sieg, four laps led

    13. Brandon Jones

    14. Anthony Alfredo

    15. Chandler Smith

    16. Corey Heim

    17. Daniel Dye

    18. Josh Williams

    19. Ryan Truex

    20. Kyle Sieg

    21. Jeb Burton

    22. Jesse Love, seven laps led

    23. Kyle Weatherman

    24. Matt DiBenedetto

    25. Leland Honeyman

    26. Brennan Poole

    27. Josh Berry

    28. Thomas Annunziata

    29. Mason Massey

    30. Jeremy Clements

    31. Shane van Gisbergen

    32. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down

    33. Patrick Emerling, one lap down

    34. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Suspension

    35. Stephen Mallozzi – OUT, Engine

    36. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

    37. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Electrical

    38. Dawson Cram – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the return of the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is scheduled for Saturday, July 20, and will air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace and Noah Gragson transfer to 2024 All-Star Race from All-Star Open

    Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace and Noah Gragson transfer to 2024 All-Star Race from All-Star Open

    Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace and Noah Gragson completed the starting grid for the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race after all three transferred from the NASCAR All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, May 19. 

    Gibbs and Wallace, both of whom started towards the front with the former starting on pole position, raced their way into the main event after finishing first and second, respectively, during the Open while Gragson was revealed as the Fan Vote winner for a second consecutive season, thus claiming the final spot of the 20-car grid for the All-Star event that will follow suit at the North Wilkesboro circuit. 

    The starting lineup for the event was based on the current 2024 Cup Series owner’s standings after the event’s on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Friday, May 17, was canceled due to on-track precipitation. As a result, Ty Gibbs was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with Alex Bowman. 

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Ty Gibbs rocketed his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE ahead with the lead from the outside lane through the first two turns and through the backstretch. As the field fanned out and jostled for early spots, Gibbs proceeded to lead the first lap as he was being pursued by Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and a bevy of competitors. Wallace, who also gained a strong launch at the start behind Gibbs from the outside lane, would trail Gibbs for the lead by nearly a second by the fifth lap mark. 

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Wallace followed by Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe while Gragson, rookie Carson Hocevar, Todd Gilliland, John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Josh Berry were racing in the top 10 ahead of Ryan Preece, Corey LaJoie, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Kaz Grala, rookie Zane Smith, Harrison Burton, Daniel Hemric and Timmy Hill, respectively. 

    Ten laps later, Gibbs stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Wallace while Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe continued to trail in the top five and by within four seconds. Behind, Hocevar overtook Gragson for sixth place while Nemechek and Berry were running in eighth and ninth, respectively, ahead of Gilliland. 

    Another 10 laps later, Gibbs extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Wallace while third-place Cindric trailed by more than three seconds as Bowman and Briscoe continued to run in the top five. Behind, Hocevar retained sixth ahead of Gragson, Berry, Nemechek and Gilliland while Austin Dillon, Preece, LaJoie, Justin Haley and Erik Jones trailed in the top 15. 

    By Lap 40, Gibbs continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Wallace while Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe trailed by within four seconds in the top five on the track. Meanwhile, Hocevar trailed by seven seconds in sixth place followed by Gragson, Berry and Nemechek while Austin Dillon cracked the top 10 as he occupied 10th place over Gilliland. 

    A designated caution period was generated when the All-Star Open reached its halfway mark on Lap 50. By then, Gibbs was leading ahead of Wallace, Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe while Hocevar, Gragson, Berry, Nemechek and Dillon were scored in the top 10. 

    During the caution period, all the competitors led by Gibbs pitted for a mandatory four-tire service. Following the pit stops, Gibbs retained the lead after exiting first as he was followed by Bowman, Wallace, Briscoe, Berry, Cindric, Gragson, Nemechek, Hocevar and Dillon. Amid the pit stops, both LaJoie and Nemechek were penalized for speeding on pit road.  

    When the race restarted with 43 laps remaining, Gibbs and Bowman battled dead even for the lead as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. During the following lap, however, the caution returned after Cindric, who was trying to race his way back into the top five, got squeezed into Gragson by Hocevar amid a tight three-wide battle through the frontstretch as he then slid his No. 2 Keystone Light Ford Mustang Dark Horse against the wall with right-front damage before proceeding. 

    During the following restart with 36 laps remaining, Gibbs fended off a challenge from Bowman for nearly a lap to retain the lead as Wallace overtook Bowman for the runner-up spot. Wallace, Bowman, Briscoe and Berry would all battle for the runner-up spot during the ensuing laps while Gibbs drove away with the lead as he led by half a second with 33 laps remaining.  

    Wallace and Bowman would then engage in another side-by-side battle for the runner-up/transfer spot during the next three laps, with both neither stepping off the throttle as Berry and Briscoe tried to close in. Other competitors mixed towards the battle included Hocevar, Gragson, Haley and Preece while Gibbs was leading by more than a second with less than 30 laps remaining.  

    With 27 laps remaining, Berry made a bold move beneath Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entering Turn 3 to move his No. 4 Harrison’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse into third place as he tried to close in on Wallace for the runner-up spot. Soon after, Haley moved his No. 51 Pinnacle Home Improvement Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the top five while Briscoe, Hocevar and Gragson tried to close in from sixth through eighth. Amid the battles for the runner-up spot, currently occupied by Wallace, Gibbs was gone with the lead as he was on top by two seconds with 20 laps remaining. By then, Haley was trying to overtake Berry for third place in his bid to catch Wallace’s No. 23 Alltroo Toyota Camry XSE for second place. 

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by more than two seconds over Wallace, who had Berry, Haley and Bowman all close in on him for the runner-up/transfer spot. Gibbs would retain the lead by a comfortable advantage of more than two seconds while Wallace would retain the runner-up spot by within two- and three-tenths of a second over Berry as Haley and Bowman tried to close in with 10 laps remaining.  

    With five laps remaining, Gibbs continued to lead by more than two seconds as Wallace retained the runner-up spot by nearly a second over Berry while Haley and Bowman continued to trail in the top five followed by Gragson, Briscoe, Preece, Hocevar and Austin Dillon. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gibbs remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Wallace while third-place Berry trailed by three seconds. Having a comfortable lead to his advantage, Gibbs was able to cruise around the North Wilkesboro circuit smoothly for a final time as he then cycled back to the frontstretch to claim the checkered flag and race his way into the 2024 All-Star Race for a second consecutive season.  

    With the victory, Gibbs, who is coming off a career-best runner-up result at Darlington Raceway, will campaign for his first All-Star Race victory after transferring from the Open for a second consecutive season. Gibbs’ transfer enables all four Joe Gibbs Racing entries to earn starting spots for the 2024 All-Star Race. 

    “Yeah, we were pretty good,” Gibbs said on FS1. “I feel like we were pretty solid, so it’s good to make [the All-Star Race]. Hopefully, we can go ahead and win it. I think we’re solid enough and good enough to [win]. I feel like we learned a lot with what we’re gonna do. I got some good friends here. Let’s go win this thing.” 

    Like Gibbs, Bubba Wallace was also left smiling on pit road after settling in the runner-up spot and transferring into the All-Star Race for the fourth time in his career and his third in a row in recent seasons. As a result, Wallace, who finished second to Kyle Larson during the 2023 All-Star Race, enabled both 23XI Racing entries to make the main event as he will also campaign for his first All-Star victory.  

    “[This event] just made us work extra hard,” Wallace said. “You have to earn every right of this, so I can’t say we deserved, well I guess we deserve to be in the All-Star [Race], but we got to go fight for it every once in awhile. We’re just lacking a little bit. Definitely, a different feel than what we had in practice, so got a little bit of time to make minimal changes to make [the car] better, but all in all, we’re in the show. Appreciate [Bowman] and [Berry] running clean there. That was fun, that was short-track stuff right there. We were able to squeeze away there and hang on to second, but that’s the most stressful spot to be in.”  

    Amid the battles for the top-two finishing spots during the Open, Noah Gragson, who finished fifth in the Open, claimed the final starting spot for the 2024 All-Star Race after being named the 2024 All-Star Fan Vote winner for a second consecutive season. As a result, Gragson joined Chase Elliott and Danica Patrick as the only competitors to be named the Fan Vote winner during the All-Star weekend for multiple seasons, with Gragson becoming the first back-to-back Fan Vote winner since Elliott achieved the honors for three consecutive seasons (2016-18). Gragson’s transfer has also allowed at least one Stewart-Haas Racing entry to make the 2024 All-Star Race as he will attempt to replicate Kasey Kahne’s run by winning the All-Star Race after being voted into the main event by the fans in 2008. 

    “I appreciate all the fans,” Gragson said on the radio following the All-Star Open. “You guys are badass. We didn’t quite have what it took there in that race, but you fans pulled through. Your support means everything. We’re gonna go have some fun.” 

    Rookie Josh Berry and Justin Haley recorded strong finishes of third and fourth place, respectively, but were among the 17 remaining competitors who did not qualify for the 2024 All-Star Race. Among those who also did not make the main event included Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Austin Dillon, rookie Carson Hocevar, Kaz Grala, Corey LaJoie, Harrison Burton, John Hunter Nemechek, Todd Gilliland, Daniel Hemric, rookie Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Timmy Hill and Austin Cindric. 

    There were no lead changes and the race featured two cautions for 11 laps. In addition, 18 of 20 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Results. 

    1. Ty Gibbs, 100 laps led 

    2. Bubba Wallace 

    3. Josh Berry 

    4. Justin Haley 

    5. Noah Gragson 

    6. Alex Bowman 

    7. Chase Briscoe 

    8. Ryan Preece 

    9. Austin Dillon  

    10. Carson Hocevar 

    11. Kaz Grala 

    12. Corey LaJoie 

    13. Harrison Burton 

    14. John Hunter Nemechek 

    15. Todd Gilliland 

    16. Daniel Hemric 

    17. Zane Smith 

    18. Erik Jones 

    19. Timmy Hill, seven laps down 

    20. Austin Cindric, 18 laps down 

    The 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway will follow suit on Sunday, May 19, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, with the green flag scheduled to wave around 8:30 p.m. ET. 

  • Cole Custer to make 150th Xfinity career start at Martinsville

    Cole Custer to make 150th Xfinity career start at Martinsville

    Nearly five months after winning the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, Cole Custer is within reach of achieving a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway, the driver of the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang will make his 150th career start in the Xfinity circuit. 

    A native of Ladera Ranch, California, Custer made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at Richmond Raceway in April 2016. By then, he was competing in his first full-time season in the Craftsman Truck Series for JR Motorsports, where he had racked up two victories in the series, and accumulated a total of five victories within the ARCA regional series (ARCA Menards Series, East and West).

    Driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports, Custer started 17th and rallied from being involved in a late multi-car wreck to notch a sixth-place finish. He would then achieve his first top-five finish in the series in the form of a fourth-place run at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May before making three additional starts in the series at Kentucky Speedway in July, Kansas Speedway in October and Homestead-Miami Speedway, all with JR Motorsports, where he finished no higher than 17th during the three-race span.  

    The following season, Custer was promoted to the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis as he piloted the No. 00 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. Despite commencing his rookie Xfinity season with a 37th-place finish at Daytona International Speedway in February, the Californian earned four top-five results and 13 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch as he qualified for the 2017 Xfinity Series Playoffs based on points.

    He would then record three consecutive top-eight results throughout the Round of 12, enabling him to transfer into the Round of 8. After finishing 19th and fifth during the Round of 8’s first two events, Custer fell two spots short of transferring into the Championship 4 round after being outdueled by Playoff rival Daniel Hemric on the final lap and settling in seventh place during the Round of 8 finale at Phoenix Raceway in November.

    Despite having his championship hopes evaporated for the season, Custer capped off the season in dominant fashion after scoring his first series victory during the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway while leading a race-high 182 laps and beating runner-up Sam Hornish Jr. by more than 15 seconds. The Homestead victory was enough for Custer to settle in fifth place in the final standings. 

    Throughout the 2018 Xfinity season, Custer relied on consistency in the form of two runner-up results, 11 top-five results and 21 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch to make the Playoffs for a second consecutive season on points. By then, he had also racked up his first five career poles. Finishes of 15th, seventh and second throughout the Round of 12 allowed him to transfer into the Round of 8. Custer finished 26th during the Round of 8 opener at Kansas Speedway in October. But during the following event at Texas Motor Speedway, he capitalized on a two-lap shootout and overtook Playoff rival Tyler Reddick on the final lap to capture his first elusive victory of the season and the second of his Xfinity career.

    The victory allowed Custer and the No. 00 SHR Ford team to transfer into the Championship 4 round and contend for the series championship at Homestead in November. Despite leading a race-high 95 laps during the finale, Custer ended up in the runner-up spot both on the track and in the final championship standings behind Reddick. Nonetheless, Custer doubled his top-five total results (14) and earned seven additional top-10 results (26) from his rookie season. He also boosted his average finishing result to a career-high 9.0 and secured the 2018 Xfinity owner’s title for SHR. 

    Determined for redemption in 2019, Custer would embark on another stellar season. He notched three top-10 results during the first four-scheduled events before achieving his first victory of the season at Auto Club Speedway in March after leading 29 laps and outdueling Kyle Busch. Three races later, he steered his No. 00 Ford to a victory at Richmond Raceway in April and claimed his first Dash4Cash bonus after leading a race-high 122 laps. Custer proceeded to claim a final lap victory over Reddick at Pocono Raceway in June followed by dominant summer wins at Chicagoland Speedway and Kentucky Speedway. He was then awarded the victory at Darlington Raceway in September after the initial winner, Denny Hamlin, was disqualified due to his entry failing post-race inspection.

    Custer secured his spot into the Xfinity Series Playoffs for a third consecutive season with a total of six victories and 18 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. He finished third and eighth during the Round of 12’s first two events of the 2019 Xfinity Playoffs. He then secured a career-high seventh Xfinity victory of the season in October at Dover Motor Speedway in his 100th series start to race his way into the Round of 8.

    After finishing 11th, eighth and second throughout the Round of 8, Custer secured a spot in the Championship 4 for a second consecutive season. During the finale at Homestead, Custer engaged in a late battle with title rival Reddick. He ended up in second place both on the track and in the final standings for a second consecutive season. Despite falling short of winning the championship, Custer achieved career-high stats with seven victories, 24 top-10 results, six poles, 922 laps and an average-finishing result of 9.0. 

    Following 2019, Custer spent the next three seasons competing in the Cup Series for Stewart-Haas Racing, where he achieved his first series victory at Kentucky Speedway in July 2020, qualified for the 2020 Cup Playoffs and claimed the 2020 Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    During the three-year span, he also made six starts on the Xfinity circuit, with his first occurring at Circuit of the Americas in May 2021 as he piloted SS-Green Light Racing’s No. 17 entry to a seventh-place finish. The following season, Custer achieved his second series victory at Auto Club Speedway and delivered the first NASCAR win for SS-Green Light Racing after leading a race-high 80 laps. He would back up the victory four races later by finishing third at Circuit of the Americas before competing at Road America, Pocono and Watkins Glen, where he earned an additional top-10 finish during the span.  

    Returning to the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis and in SHR’s No. 00 Ford Mustang in 2023, Custer commenced the season by finishing ninth at Daytona in February before finishing no higher than 12th during the following five events. He then ignited a hot streak by finishing no lower than seventh amid five top-five results during his next six starts before grabbing a late, thrilling victory at Portland International Raceway in June. Three races later, he would achieve his second victory of the season in the series inaugural, rain-shortened Chicago Street Race in July and proceeded to finish in the top 10 in five of the final 10 regular-season events before the Playoffs commenced.

    Making his fourth career appearance in the Playoffs in 2023, Custer finished fourth, sixth and second, respectively, throughout the Round of 12, which enabled him to transfer into the Round of 8. Despite finishing third, 13th and 19th, respectively, during the Round of 8, the Californian was able to claim the fourth and final transfer spot into the Championship 4 round. In his third bid to win the title, he sealed the deal on an overtime shootout after fending off title rivals Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer and John Hunter Nemechek to win both the finale at Phoenix Raceway in November and score his first Xfinity Series championship. With his accomplishment, Custer became the 33rd competitor to win an Xfinity title and the seventh different Ford competitor to achieve the feat while also recording the first series title for Stewart-Haas Racing. 

    Through 149 Xfinity starts, Custer has achieved one championship, 13 victories, 20 poles, 58 top-five results, 100 top-10 results, 2,359 laps led and an average-finishing result of 10.7. He is currently ranked in third place in the 2024 Xfinity Series regular-season standings and trails the points lead by 41 points on the strength of three top-five results through the first six scheduled events.

    Cole Custer is scheduled to make his 150th Xfinity Series career start at Martinsville Speedway for the DUDE Wipes 250. The event is scheduled to occur this Saturday, April 6, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • Noah Gragson collects second top-10 of the season at Las Vegas

    Noah Gragson collects second top-10 of the season at Las Vegas

    Noah Gragson claimed his second top-10 of the season in the NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a sixth-place finish. After starting 30th, he methodically made his way toward the front in his No. 10 Fanitik Ford. It was his best result since joining Stewart-Haas Racing this year and the third top-10 of his Cup Series career.

    It has been a fresh start for Gragson who was suspended by NASCAR in 2023 for violating its member conduct code when he liked an offensive social media post. He was reinstated on Sept. 12 after completing a NASCAR-mandated course. Gragson asked for and received a release from Legacy Motor Club.

    In December 2023 it was announced that Gragson had signed a multi-year deal to drive the No. 10 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing.

    “Stewart-Haas is filled with racers and I saw that and felt it as soon as I walked onto the shop floor,” he said. “There are high expectations here and a strong desire to compete and win races. I have high expectations for myself and I want to deliver for Tony and Gene and everyone at Stewart-Haas.”

    So far, Gragson has kept his promise to deliver.

    “These guys are good. It feels good to do it in front of the hometown crowd. I was battling Ty (Gibbs) and Ross (Chastain) there at the end for a top-five. I really wanted a top-five, but coming from 30th to sixth, I’m just really proud of everyone’s effort,” he said.

    “This Mustang Dark Horse is bitchin’. It’s fast and it’s been really good. This compared to last year just has a lot more speed. You can go where you want. We’ve got a good pit crew and just a good team.

    “We’re going to take this and get back into the positives in points and just keep on working, keep on learning and becoming better than we were yesterday and just keep that attitude. I think we’ve got the tightest group in the garage. They’re awesome to work with and I love every one of them.”

    Tune in next weekend as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Phoenix Raceway for the Shriners Children’s 500.

  • Kurt Busch’s ‘The Double’ Challenge: 10 Years Later

    Kurt Busch’s ‘The Double’ Challenge: 10 Years Later

    Ten years ago on this day, March 4, Kurt Busch announced his attempt to tackle ‘The Double.’ It’s the ultimate motorsports challenge that involves competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, two prestigious events centered around two motorsports series, on the same day during Memorial Day weekend. 

    Busch’s first interest in attempting ‘The Double’ occurred in early May 2013 when he tested an IndyCar powered by a Chevrolet engine for Andretti Autosport at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. By then, the 2004 Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, was campaigning in the Cup circuit for Furniture Row Racing after spending the majority of the previous season driving for Phoenix Raceway.  

    After spending the remainder of the 2013 season along with the early months of the 2014 season mulling over the decision to attempt ‘The Double’, Busch’s decision and announcement for the challenge was officially made on March 4, 2014, two months before the Indy 500 would occur, as he would join forces with Andretti to pilot a fifth entry for the organization. 

    On April 28, Busch’s Indy 500 ride with Andretti Autosport was revealed, where he would pilot the No. 26 Dallara-Honda sponsored by Suretone Entertainment in IndyCar’s most prestigious events on the calendar to commence the double duty process. He would then fly back to Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, in time to compete in NASCAR’s longest event on the calendar, the Coca-Cola 600, behind the wheel of his full-time Cup Series ride: the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing. 

    A day later, Busch’s double challenge on the track commenced as he piloted his Andretti entry around Indianapolis Motor Speedway during a refresher test program. He turned in 66 laps during the program and recorded a top speed of 220.844 mph. Another week later, the Las Vegas veteran topped the speed charts during the event’s Rookie Orientation Program with an average running speed of 222.289 mph, which cleared him to attempt a qualifying run for the Indy 500, before he posted the second-fastest speed at 224.159 mph behind teammate EJ Viso during a practice session the following week. 

    On May 17, when the qualification process of the 2014 Indy 500 occurred, Busch made two qualifying attempts and ended up posting the 10th-fastest average speed at 229.960 mph, which was one spot short of reaching the Fast Nine Shootout. Flying back to Charlotte Motor Speedway to compete in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, where he finished 11th, Busch would participate in the Indy 500’s second qualifying session the following day, May 18. With his best four-lap average qualifying speed averaging at 230.782 mph, he ended up claiming the 12th-place starting spot for the 2014 Indy 500 and watched from a distance as Indianapolis native Ed Carpenter claimed the pole position. 

    Aside from time management, the only hurdle to Busch’s double attempt was being involved in a hard accident during the post-qualifying practice session on May 19, where he slid into the outside wall while entering the backstretch and spun across the track before coming to rest towards the backstretch’s infield grass. The wreck resulted in Busch’s team using a backup car from teammate Marco Andretti as Busch’s for Carb Day and the Indy 500.  

    Meanwhile, Busch would proceed to qualify in 28th place for the Coca-Cola 600 on May 22 as his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team had Parker Kligerman tabbed as a backup competitor for Busch in the event of a scheduling conflict that would result in the latter having traveling issues from Indianapolis to Charlotte. 

    On race day for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25, Busch, who started alongside IndyCar champions Scott Dixon and Juan Pablo Montoya on the fourth row from 12th place, ran a consistent race and spent the majority of the day running within the top 20. Amid a handful of late-race incidents that eliminated Dixon, Charlie Kimball, teammate James Hinchcliffe and pole-winner Carpenter out of contention, Busch climbed his way up the leaderboard to run within the top 10 with 25 laps remaining.

    Then while running in seventh place with 10 laps remaining, he barely dodged an accident entering the backstretch that eliminated Townsend Bell out of contention to gain a spot. With scheduling concerns rising as the event was placed in a red-flag period to clear Bell’s wreckage, the race would proceed in stable time for a six-lap shootout, where Busch would steer his No. 26 Honda to a strong sixth-place finish while teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay fended off a late charge from Helio Castroneves to win the Indy 500 for the first time in his career.  

    Despite returning to Charlotte Motor Speedway in time for the start of the Coca-Cola 600, Busch was ultimately forced to start at the rear of the field due to missing the pre-race driver’s meeting. When the green flag for the start of the 600-mile event, he spent the early stages of the event pinned a lap down and mired within the top 30 in the running order. While trying to methodically carve his way up the leaderboard, Busch gained a break on Lap 148 when a debris caution enabled him to cycle back onto the lead lap after being pinned a lap down, and by then, he was running within the top 15.  

    Racing as high as within the top-10 mark as the event surpassed its halfway mark of 400-scheduled laps, where he would receive the free pass a second time due to another debris caution on Lap 222, Busch’s 600-mile event at Charlotte slowly began to go south just past the Lap 250 mark as he radioed the loss of two cylinders to his No. 41 Chevrolet. By Lap 273, his event came to a bitter end after his engine went up in smoke entering the backstretch, which resulted in Busch nursing his car to the garage as he retired in 40th place, thus ending his long double run, while pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson would proceed to win. 

    Overall, Busch completed a total of 906 miles from the planned 1,100 (471 of 600 combined laps). He joined John Andretti, Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart as the only competitors to have attempted and achieved ‘The Double’ at least once to date. Despite not achieving a victory in either event during his double challenge, Busch would be named the 2014 Indy 500 Rookie-of-the-Year recipient as he was the highest-finishing rookie on the track.

    In addition, his sixth-place result during the Indy 500 matches Gordon and Stewart’s best on-track result in the Indy 500 for any competitor participating in ‘The Double’ challenge. Stewart, however, is the only competitor to date to have completed all 1,100 miles of competition during ‘The Double’, which he accomplished in 2001 after finishing sixth at Indy before settling in third at Charlotte. 

    “We gave it our all,” Busch said in the garage on FOX. “To feel the stock car right after driving an INDYCAR was a day I’ll never forget. I can’t let the mood here with the [expired] car [at Charlotte] dampen what happened up at Indy today. That was very special. It takes a team everywhere. All in all, I’m very satisfied. I trained hard. [I] had a lot of people helping me out. Everybody worked hard on both sides.” 

    Following his 2014 double attempt, Busch, who would not make any additional attempts for another double bid, would proceed to make the 2014 Cup Series Playoffs and end up in 12th place in the final standings. He then spent the next eight seasons accumulating a total of nine Cup victories and making the Playoffs from 2015-21 while competing between three organizations (Stewart-Haas Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing and 23XI Racing). An accident during a qualifying session at Pocono Raceway in July 2022 would force Busch to retire from full-time NASCAR competition before the 2023 season amid sustaining concussion-like symptoms, with Busch officially announcing his retirement from racing for good this past August. 

    This season, a new name strives to be added to the list of competitors who have successfully performed the double on Memorial Day weekend as Kyle Larson declared his bid in January 2023 to attempt ‘The Double’ challenge for the 2024 season. Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, will join forces with Arrow McLaren and attempt to qualify for this year’s 108th running of the Indy 500 in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Dallara-Chevrolet.

    He will then travel to Charlotte Motor Speedway and conclude the day by competing in the Coca-Cola 600 behind his familiar No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup circuit, where he will bid for his second 600 victory after winning his first in 2021. 

    The 2024 Indianapolis 500 is scheduled to occur on May 26 and air at 11 a.m. ET on NBC. The 2024 Coca-Cola 600 will follow suit on the same day and air at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.