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  • Allmendinger three-peats at the Charlotte Roval, Playoff’s Round of 8 set

    Allmendinger three-peats at the Charlotte Roval, Playoff’s Round of 8 set

    A week after being eliminated in an early accident at Talladega Superspeedway, AJ Allmendinger raced his way into the Round of 8 in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs after leading the final 21 laps and winning the Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for a third consecutive season on Saturday, October 9.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Playoff contender Austin Cindric started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Justin Allgaier.

    Prior to the event, Michael Annett, who returned as driver of the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro for the first time since Richmond Raceway in September, started at the rear of the field due to replacing Josh Berry, who was originally on the entry list.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric and Allgaier battled dead even for the lead entering the first turn while Jeb Burton and Noah Gragson made a four-wide move on Harrison Burton and Justin Haley to move up towards the top five.

    From Turn 1, the six additional infield turns of the Roval and entering Turn 8, Cindric managed to remain with the lead ahead of Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and the field. Behind, Tommy Joe Martins spun entering Turn 8, but the race remained under green as the field scattered to avoid Martins. Shortly after, Kris Wright, who sustained a flat tire, spun entering the backstretch chicane.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Cindric was able to lead the first lap ahead of Allgaier, Hemric, Brandon Jones and Gragson, who was being challenged by Haley.

    As the field made their way out of the infield turns in Turn 8, the first caution flew when Sage Karam spun in Turn 6 following on-track contact. At the same time, Jade Buford, who was trying to dodge Karam, pinned his car against Brett Moffitt and the wall as the field behind was forced to scatter. 

    By the fifth lap, the race restarted on the frontstretch. At the start, Allgaier challenged Cindric side-by-side through the infield turns before Cindric prevailed entering Turn 7. While battling Hemric for the runner-up spot, Allgaier locked up his tires entering the backstretch chicane, but managed to keep his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro straight and through the chicane clean, though he lost the spot to Hemric.

    Three laps later, Allgaier slipped and made contact with the wall in Turn 2, damaging the right side of his Camaro. The incident forced Allgaier to pit under green and fall below the running order. At the same time, Cindric, who was leading, missed the backstretch chicane and served his penalty by stopping on the frontsretch chicane, thus surrendering the lead to Daniel Hemric. 

    Another three laps later, the second caution of the event flew due to Gray Gaulding stalling in the backstretch. Under caution, some like Michael Annett, Brandon Brown and Allgaier pitted while the rest led by Hemric remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 14, Hemric retained the lead over Cindric entering the infield turns as the field fanned out to multiple lanes and jostled for positions. Through the infield turns, the oval turns and the chicanes in the backstretch and frontstretch, Hemric was able to remain ahead of Cindric, Gragson, AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Justin Haley while the field battled in a single-file line.

    With five laps remaining in the first stage, Hemric was leading by nearly a second over Cindric while Allmendinger, Gragson and Haley were in the top five. Brandon Jones was in sixth ahead of Gibbs, Herbst, Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton. Meanwhile, Josh Williams spun in the backstretch chicane, but the race remained under green.

    Just as the pit road closed with two laps remaining in the second stage, Cindric peeled his No. 22 Richmond/Menards Ford Mustang to pit road for service and in preparation for the second stage. Meanwhile, Hemric continued to lead by more than three seconds over runner-up Allmendinger and nearly second seconds over third-place Gragson. By then, Gibbs overtook Haley to move into fourth place.

    On the final lap of the first stage, the third caution of the event flew due to possible fluid on the course and when No. 15 Toyota driven by Kris Wright, who was smoking through the backstretch, came to a stop in Turn 12 due to a broken track bar. The caution was enough for the first stage scheduled on Lap 20 to conclude under a cautious pace as Hemric claimed his eighth stage victory of the season. AJ Allmendinger settled in second followed by Gragson, rookie Ty Gibbs, Haley, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton and Jeremy Clements.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Hemric pitted while few led by Cindric, who pitted prior to the first stage’s conclusion, remained on the track. 

    The second stage started on Lap 22 as Cindric and rookie Sam Mayer filled the front row. At the start, Cindric retained the lead over Mayer entering the first turn while the field fanned out to three and four lanes. Behind, Hemric muscled his pink No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra to third followed by Gragson, who made a four-wide move prior to the first turn to move up into the top five.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Cindric was the leader of a four-car breakaway stretched out by less than a second. Meanwhile, Allmendinger was in fifth, trailing by three seconds, while Austin Hill, Haley, Preston Pardus, Brandon Jones and Gibbs were in the top 10.

    By Lap 25, Cindric continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Mayer while Hemric, Gragson and Allmendinger remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Allgaier was mired in 29th in between Loris Hezemans and Stefan Parsons.

    Three laps later, the fourth caution of the event flew when Josh Bilicki ran over the curbs through the backstretch chicane and destroyed the front spitter of his car, where the front of his car went airborne before he limped to pit road in a cloud of smoke and ended up in the garage. The debris and damage towards the backstretch was enough for the event to be red-flagged for approximately five minutes.

    When the red flag was lifted following the cleanup and repairs to the chicane, names like Herbst pitted under caution while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    Down to the final laps of the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Cindric powered ahead on the inside lane while Mayer struggled to launch on the outside lane. Through the infield turns and the circuit turns while the field jostled for positions, Cindric was leading ahead of Hemric, Haley, Gibbs and Mayer.

    A lap later, Jeb Burton made contact with the wall entering Turn 2, but he proceeded under green and just outside of the top 15.

    When the field surpassed the halfway mark on Lap 35, Cindric stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Hemric. Meanwhile, Gibbs moved his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra up to third place while Haley and Mayer remained in the top five. 

    Just then, the caution returned due to debris reported on the frontstretch. Under caution, some led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Hemric remained on the track.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage, the race resumed under green. At the start, Hemric fended off Haley to maintain the lead entering and exiting the infield turns. He also continued to stabilize his lead through the backstretch chicane, the oval turns and the frontstretch chicane.

    On the final lap of the second stage, Haley started to close in and challenge Hemric for the top spot. Despite getting close to Hemric’s rear bumper through the infield, Hemric continued to lead over Haley. Haley issued a final challenge on Hemric entering the frontstretch chicane, but the latter managed to hold him off to win the second stage on Lap 40 and record his ninth stage victory of the season. Haley settled in second followed by Myatt Snider, Gragson, Clements, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, Gibbs, Jeb Burton and Mayer. By then, Hemric and Allgaier secured their spots for the Round of 8 in the 2021 Xfinity Series Playoffs based on points.

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

    With 25 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Gibbs jumped ahead from the field following a strong start while the rest of the field jostled for positions through multiple lanes.

    The following lap, Gibbs was out in front by one-and-a-half seconds over Mayer, who had Allmendinger and Cindric challenging behind. Herbst, who was now placed in a “must win” situation to keep his title hopes alive, was in fifth ahead of Sage Karam, Allgaier, Ty Dillon, Alex Labbe and Haley while Hemric was mired in 13th. Meanwhile, cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton, both of whom were battling one another for a Playoff spot, were in 16th and 18th.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Gibbs continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Allmendinger, who was methodically closing in for the lead. Behind, Cindric moved up to third while Mayer fell back to fourth. Karam was in fifth ahead of Haley, Allgaier, Hemric, Herbst and Labbe. By then, cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton were in 15th and 16th.

    Just then, Gibbs, who was battling brake issues, missed the backstretch chicane and was forced to come to a complete stop on the backstretch before proceeding. Gibbs’ misfortune allowed Allmendinger to take the lead as Cindric and Mayer moved up to second and third, thus dropping Gibbs to fourth ahead of Karam.

    Five laps later, Allmendinger was leading by nearly four seconds over Cindric while Mayer, Haley and Hemric were in the top five. Karam was in sixth ahead of Gibbs while Allgaier and Herbst battled for eighth in front of Labbe. Harrison Burton was mired in 15th ahead of teammate Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, Clements and Gragson while Michael Annett was in 21st.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over Cindric and Mayer. Haley, who was in fourth, trailed by nearly nine seconds while Hemric, who was mired in fifth, trailed by more than 13 seconds. 

    Not long after, Cindric got loose approaching Turn 7, which allowed Mayer to briefly move into second before Cindric fought back through the oval turns. While both Cindric and Mayer battled, Allmendinger extended his advantage to more than six seconds. In addition, Haley started to close in on Cindric and Mayer for the runner-up spot.

    With five laps remaining, Allmendinger remained as the leader by nearly nine seconds over Cindric, who was under fire by Mayer, Haley, Hemric and Gibbs for the runner-up spot. By then, Herbst took his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang to the garage due to a rear end issue. The late misfortune ended Herbst’s hopes of advancing to the Round of 8.

    A lap later, the caution flew due to an incident involving Tommy Joe Martins in Turn 14. The caution all but evaporated Allmendinger’s advantage of nearly nine seconds.

    Under caution, names like Hemric, Labbe, Allgaier, Gragson, Snider, Michael Annett and Ryan Sieg pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

    With two laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger launched ahead on the inside lane while Cindric spun the tires on the outside lane. Through the infield turns and the chicanes while the field battled for late positions, Allmendinger maintained the lead ahead of Mayer while Gibbs and Cindric battled for third. 

    When the final lap started, Allmendinger continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Gibbs and Mayer, both of whom battled for second ahead of Cindric and Hemric. Then entering Turn 5, Mayer sent Gibbs in a spin, dropping Gibbs back to sixth as Cindric, Mayer, Haley and Hemric moved up the leaderboard. Soon after, Mayer missed the backstretch chicane and came to a stop before proceeding. By then, Mayer dropped out of the top 10.

    In the midst of the late spins and battles, Allmendinger was long gone as he made his way through the frontstretch chicane and cruised his No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet Camaro across the finish line for the win.

    With the victory, Allmendinger captured his sixth road course win, which was the most all-time for an Xfinity competitor. In addition, he captured his fifth victory of the season and his 10th triumph in the Xfinity circuit as he took another step closer in capturing his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    “I knew [the final caution] was coming out,” Allmendinger said on NBC. “It wasn’t gonna go simple like that. That was a fight today. We had to be kind of on defense early, worried about the points. This place was tough to pass. The track was really slick to begin with, obviously with all the rain. [I] Can’t thank all the men and women at Kaulig Racing enough, [team owner] Matt Kaulig, [team president] Chris Rice. This Hyperice Chevy, once it got into the lead, it was stupid fast. The big picture’s the championship, but getting another win, three in a row here at the Roval, that means the world to me…What an awesome day.”

    As the cars were approaching the finish line, a multi-car melee struck that involved Gibbs, Josh Williams, Brandon Brown and Ty Dillon.

    Cindric, who secured his spot for the Playoffs based on points a week ago at Talladega Superspeedway, finished in second place after leading a race-high 22 laps while Hemric, who won both stages and led 17 laps, made his way up to third place on fresh tires.

    “Pretty solid round,” Cindric said. “I feel like today’s a bit of a missed opportunity. I feel like I was able to drive as hard as I wanted to today. I made some mistakes because of it, but learned some things. [I] Thought we were gonna be a bit better today, but it should set us up for Texas. I know we put in a fast lap early. Finishing second and good in points. I had fun today.”

    Haley, Brandon Jones and Gragson secured their spots for the Round of 8 after finishing fourth, fifth and sixth while Preston Pardus, Snider, Allgaier and Mayer ended up in the top 10 on the track.

    “I think me and AJ probably had the best cars there,” Haley said. “His points gap coming into today just allowed him to short-pit and get the lead, and I had to go through traffic through that second stage. I think we had a pretty good LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet. A second-place car. I don’t know. We never really got towards AJ, but awesome day. Locked into the Round of 8.”

    “Pretty much, all the road courses this year haven’t been too bad to us,” Jones said. “Lot of time, lot of effort into trying to make something of this. There’s been a lot of additions at road courses, so it’s a big part of our schedule now. Today paid off for us, I think, having a lot of preparation to come into this weekend and have a run like we did. [I] Did exactly what I really needed to do. I know when when we step into a race track, we wanna win. That’s our main goal, but we sat down as a team and said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna make it to the next round.’ It’s all about being smart…All that went perfect.”

    “[Today] was alright,” Gragson said. “I didn’t really feel like we had the speed we did here in the rain or the dry in the past. [I] Salvaged a fourth- or fifth-place car. To come home sixth from starting at the back there at the end, we’re just focused on points the whole time. Pretty much, just race the race at 80 percent, 85 percent. There’s a lot at risk, but there’s a lot of reward here at this race track for speed and it’s a big penalty when you go off…Came back, did our job, collected points in all three stages and came home a sixth-place finish. We’ll keep on pushing. On to the next round in the Playoffs.”

    In the midst of the late chaos and battles, Harrison Burton coasted his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra across the finish line in 15th and secured the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 over his cousin Jeb Burton, who had his title hopes come to an end.

    “Yeah, it was a boring race for us ’cause it was just pins and needles,” Harrison Burton said. “We had two decent first stages where we ran about seventh or eighth or wherever. Then we come into this race, the last stage, and it’s like, ‘OK, just stay wherever [Jeb] is.’ It wasn’t the most fun. I wasn’t able to be aggressive, be like myself, just kind of cruising, so that was boring. Glad it worked out. Now we can go and we’ll go win and get into Phoenix. That’s all that matters is getting to Phoenix with a chance. These next three races, [we] might have to win one. These are all great tracks for us, so I’m excited to go try.”

    “I made a couple of mistakes,” Jeb Burton said. “I got in the wall and I was side by side with Harrison. Luckily, it didn’t end our day, but I just need some more laps here. I hadn’t raced here before. I was getting better and better. [I] Appreciate Kaulig [Racing] and everything they’re doing for me. Congrats to AJ. He helped me a lot. Just needed a little bit more.”

    AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, Daniel Hemric, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton have transferred into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs. Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements have been eliminated from title contention.

    “I made a rookie mistake there,” Snider said. “I pulled out too soon on the restart, knowing there were a couple of slow cars in front of me. I was just trying to get all I could and misunderstood the rule that I follow. That’s on me. [Crew chief] Andy Street made a great call to get us tires there at the end, help us get back up there to eighth and get ourselves a fight for it, but finished eighth and we’re still 15 points out, we’re gonna need a lot more than that. Really proud of everybody on the TaxSlayer crew for slaying it. That’s what I gotta learn for next year’s ride. It’s just to not make those rookie mistakes…Something to build on.”

    “We just got in a wreck the first [Playoff] race we couldn’t avoid, broke a rocker arm at Talladega, lost a cylinder and rode around, and battled hard here today with our pink All South Electric Chevrolet,” Clements said. “We weren’t as fast as Xfinity internet this round, but we’re gonna keep digging deep and give it all we got. We got four more races to learn and try to get better for next year. I’m proud of our effort. This is how we should’ve ran the last two races, so it is what it is. We were dealt the cards we had and we were in a big whole, but just proud of our group. I’m proud we made the Playoffs and we’re gonna keep trying to get faster.”

    There were six lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 13 laps.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 21 laps led

    2. Austin Cindric, 22 laps led

    3. Daniel Hemric, 17 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    4. Justin Haley

    5. Brandon Jones

    6. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    7. Preston Pardus

    8. Myatt Snider

    9. Justin Allgaier

    10. Sam Mayer

    11. Josh Williams

    12. Jeremy Clements

    13. Jeb Burton

    14. Alex Labbe

    15. Harrison Burton

    16. Jade Buford

    17. Landon Cassill

    18. Austin Hill

    19. JJ Yeley

    20. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    21. Ty Gibbs, seven laps led

    22. Brandon Brown

    23. Kyle Weatherman

    24. Stefan Parsons

    25. Sage Karam

    26. Ty Dillon

    27. Michael Annett

    28. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    29. Will Rodgers, one lap down

    30. Matt Mills, one lap down

    31. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    32. Ryan Sieg, two laps down

    33. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Accident

    34. Riley Herbst – OUT, Suspension

    35. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Electrical

    36. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Axle

    37. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    38. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    39. Kris Wright – OUT, Suspension

    40. Gray Gaulding – OUT, Rear gear

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    2. Austin Cindric – Advanced

    3. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

    4. Noah Gragson – Advanced

    5. Daniel Hemric – Advanced

    6. Justin Haley – Advanced

    7. Harrison Burton – Advanced

    8. Brandon Jones – Advanced

    9. Jeb Burton – Eliminated

    10. Myatt Snider – Eliminated

    11. Riley Herbst – Eliminated

    12. Jeremy Clements – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will commence next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway for a 300-mile feature. The event will occur on Saturday, October 16, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • Berry wins Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    Berry wins Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    On a night where the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs commenced, a non-title contender stole the show as Josh Berry outran teammate Justin Allgaier to win the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 25.

    The victory was Berry’s second of his Xfinity Series career and in his 20th start of this season. The victory also occurred as Berry filled in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro as a relief competitor for veteran Michael Annett.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger, both of whom wrecked and battled for the win last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, started on the front row. 

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric had Justin Haley pushing him on the outside lane while Allmendinger had Justin Allgaier pushing him on the inside lane through Turn 1. Through Turns 1 and 2, Cindric and Allmendinger battled dead even for the top spot until Cindric was able to clear Allmendinger in Turn 3 and lead the first lap.

    Entering the second lap, Cindric was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allmendinger as the field fanned out to two lanes while battling for positions.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Cindric continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Allmendinger while Justin Haley, Justin Allgaier and rookie Ty Gibbs were in the top five. Harrison Burton was in sixth followed by Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson and Myatt Snider.

    Five laps later, Cindric stabilized his advantage to over Allmendinger. Behind, Allgaier overtook Haley for third while Gibbs, Harrison Burton, Hemric, Gragson, Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst were scored in the top 10.

    Another 10 laps later, Cindric stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Allmendinger. Teammates Gibbs and Hemric were up in third and fourth while Allgaier fell back to fifth.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Cindric remained as the leader of the field. Under the competition caution, some led by Allgaier, who had concerns of oil leaking from his car, pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, Cindric and Allmendinger battled for the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes approaching the first turn. Just then, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 1 that involved Joe Graaf Jr., Ty Dillon, Alex Labbe, Dylan Lupton, BJ McLeod, JJ Yeley, Brandon Brown, Bayley Currey and rookie Sam Mayer. Also involved were Playoff contenders Jeb Burton, Jeremy Clements and Riley Herbst, all of whom were eliminated from the race. At the time of caution, Allmendinger had managed to take the lead.

    Following an extensive cleanup period, the race restarted under green on Lap 40 as Allmendinger and Cindric started on the front row. At the start, Allmendinger received a strong start on the outside lane to retain the lead while Cindric moved up to second. Through the backstretch, Hemric challenged teammate Gibbs for third while Harrison Burton and Gragson battled for fifth. Behind, Brett Moffitt moved up to seventh ahead of Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Allmendinger earned his 10th stage victory of the season. Hemric made his way up to second followed by Cindric, Gibbs, Gragson, Harrison Burton, Sieg, Brandon Jones, Josh Berry and Moffitt. Meanwhile, Snider, Haley and Allgaier were in 11th, 12th and 14th.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hemric emerged with the lead after beating Allmendinger off of pit road by a narrow margin. Back on the track, however, Ty Dillon and Brandon Brown moved up to first and second after both elected to remain on the track. During the pit stops, Gragson was sent to the rear for driving through multiple pit boxes while trying to enter his along with Sieg, who was penalized for an equipment interference

    The second stage started on Lap 51. At the start, Ty Dillon jumped ahead with the lead followed by Hemric as the field fanned out to multiple lanes again through the first turn. Through the backstretch, Brandon Jones muscled his way to third place followed by teammate Harrison Burton and Allgaier, all of whom overtook Brown on fresh tires.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Sieg spun in Turn 2 as he collected Jade Buford. Under caution, Brandon Jones surrendered third place to pit due to a vibration on the right rear of his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra. 

    On Lap 59, the race restarted under green. At the start, Ty Dillon retained the lead followed by Allgaier and Harrison Burton while Hemric fell back to fifth in front of Cindric, Gibbs and Berry.

    On Lap 65, the battle for the lead intensified was Allgaier closed in on Ty Dillon’s No. 31 South Point Chevrolet Camaro for the top spot. Behind, Harrison Burton was in third followed by Cindric, Gibbs and Hemric. Meanwhile, Gragson worked his way up to ninth ahead of Allmendinger, Haley, Brandon Jones and Myatt Snider.

    A lap later, Allgaier motored his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro to the lead. 

    By Lap 75, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Ty Dillon while Cindric, Gibbs and Hemric were in the top five. Gragson was in sixth followed by Moffitt, Berry, Harrison Burton and Allmendinger while Haley, Brandon Jones and Snider were in 11th, 12th and 13th.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier claimed his third stage victory of the season. Behind, Ty Dillon fended off Cindric to settle in second followed by Gragson, Hemric, Berry, Gibbs, Moffitt, Allmendinger and Haley.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead followed by Cindric, Hemric, Gragson and Gibbs. Following the pit stops, Gragson was penalized again, this time for speeding on pit road. 

    With 105 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead ahead of Hemric, Cindric and the field as the track fell into night conditions. The following lap, Cindric and Allmendinger overtook Hemric’s No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra for spots in the top three

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by half a second over Cindric while Allmendinger was in third. Hemric and Gibbs were in the top five followed by Berry, Haley, Snider, Moffitt and Brandon Jones.

    Ten laps later, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Cindric and by more than two seconds over Allmendinger. Behind, Gibbs and Berry moved up to fourth and fifth while Hemric settled in sixth ahead of Gragson. 

    Another 10 laps later, the caution flew when a bump from Moffitt sent Haley and his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro spinning in Turn 3. Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Allgaier retained the lead followed by Cindric, Gibbs, Allmendinger and Gragson.

    With 76 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead on the outside lane despite being challenged by Gibbs and Cindric. Behind, Cindric bolted his way to second while Gibbs retained third ahead of Allmendinger and Gragson. 

    Six laps later, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Cindric. Meanwhile, Berry, Gibbs and Allmendinger battled for fifth ahead of Gragson. 

    Another three laps later, Cindric powered his No. 22 Odyssey Battery Ford Mustang to the lead over Allgaier. By then, Allmendinger worked his way up to third. 

    With 63 laps remaining, Allgaier reassumed the lead. Not long after, a battle for the runner-up spot between Cindric and Josh Berry occurred as Berry prevailed. During this battle, Gragson closed in on the top-three leaders followed by Allmendinger and Gibbs.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by nearly a second over teammate Berry while Cindric, Gragson and Gibbs were in the top five.  Allmendinger was in sixth followed by Hemric, Brandon Jones, Haley and Ty Dillon. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton was in 12th while Myatt Snider was back in 15th.

    Nine laps later, Berry, who filled in as an interim competitor in JR Motorsports’ No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro for veteran Michael Annett, made his way into the lead over teammate Allgaier.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Brandon Jones pitted under green. Soon after, Allgaier pitted along with Hemric, Gibbs, Ty Dillon, Moffitt, Gragson, Allmendinger. Berry, the leader, also pitted during this sequence. During the green flag pit stops, Gibbs was penalized for speeding his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Supra on pit road.

    Under the final 20 laps, Haley, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Snider, Allgaier, Berry and Gragson. Once Haley pitted, Allgaier, who overtook teammate Berry on the track, made his way back to the lead. Another two laps later, however, Berry reassumed the lead. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Berry was leading by more than three seconds over teammate Allgaier while teammate Gragson was in third, trailing by nearly nine seconds in his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro. Cindric was up in fourth followed by Hemric and Brandon Jones while Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Haley and Harrison Burton were in the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Berry stabilized his advantage to four seconds over teammate Allgaier while teammate Gragson trailed by nine seconds in third place.

    When the white flag waved and the final laps started, Berry continued to lead by more than four seconds over teammate Allgaier. Following a smooth navigation around the circuit for a final time, Berry came back around and claimed the checkered flag for his first series win since Martinsville Speedway in April.

    In addition to securing his second Xfinity Series career victory, Berry became the first non-Playoff contender to win the Playoff opening race since Tyler Reddick made the last accomplishment at Kentucky Speedway in September 2017. Berry also recorded the 57th Xfinity career victory for JR Motorsports and the first win for JRM’s No. 1 team since Daytona International Speedway in February 2019.

    “Oh my gosh,” Berry, who led 38 laps, said on NBCSN. “This [car] was fast. It just took me a while to figure it out. I knew the race would go down to the bottom at the end, I felt like. I just wanted to really work hard, make sure my car ran good on the bottom [lane] and I just had to stay disciplined and keep working on it. [The No. 1 crew] made the right adjustments. I knew it was fast. Just finally got a long run, put everything together and I was able to do it.”

    “Me and Justin [Allgaier] have raced together a lot this year,” Berry added. “Most of them, he’s got the better of me. Today, we were able to get one. This is cool. This moves the No. 1 car to the next round in the owner’s points. That was really important for this group. They’ve worked so hard, they’ve been through so much and they deserve this. I wanna say hey to Michael [Annett] at home and thank him and his group for trusting me in driving this race car…One, two three finish [for JR Motorsports], that’s pretty cool.”

    With teammates Allgaier and Gragson finished second and third, JR Motorsports achieved its first 1-2-3 finish in NASCAR history.

    Allgaier was the highest-finishing Xfinity drivers’ title contender in second place on the track while teammate Gragson rallied from his pair of pit road penalties to settle in third place at his home track. With the results, Allgaier is ranked in third place in the Playoff standings, 38 points above the top-eight cutline, while Gragson is in fourth place in the standings, 37 points above the cutline.

    “It’s super tough,” Allgaier, who led a race-high 90 laps, said. “First of off, hats off to Josh and the No. 1 team. They, obviously, had a lot of adversity this year, so for them to come home with a victory was really cool. Just proud of our guys, everybody on this No. 7 team. I was disappointed in the middle of the race there. We felt like we were really good and then as the sun went down, we just needed a little bit more right-rear grip. That’s where I feel like [Berry] had us beat. We’ll rebound, we’ll go next week to Talladega. [We] Should’ve gotten some decent points tonight and hopefully, have a good week next week.”

    “I’m really frustrated, but I think the Bass Pro Shops No. 9 team and everybody at JR Motorsports should be really frustrated with me,” Gragson said. “Just ’cause it’s two weeks in a row and I need to get better. [The crew] brought an unbelievable race car to the track. I’m happy, happy for Josh, happy for Justin, happy everybody at JR Motorsports. Wish we could’ve beaten the guy…We’ll go on to Talladega, hopefully don’t get in a wreck, knock on wood and can transfer to the next stage.”

    Austin Cindric, the pole-sitter who led 33 laps, finished fourth and he leads the Xfinity Playoffs by four points over AJ Allmendinger, the 2021 Xfinity Series regular season champion, while Hemric, who was announced as a Kaulig Racing competitor for the 2022 Xfinity Series season, finished fifth and is in fifth place in the Playoff standings, 34 points above the cutline.

    Brandon Jones, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Justin Haley and Harrison Burton finished in the top 10 on the track.

    There were 13 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 32 laps.

    Results.

    1. Josh Berry, 38 laps led

    2. Justin Allgaier, 90 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    4. Austin Cindric, 33 laps led

    5. Daniel Hemric

    6. Brandon Jones

    7. AJ Allmendinger, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Ty Dillon, 17 laps led

    9. Justin Haley, two laps led

    10. Harrison Burton

    11. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

    12. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

    13. Bayley Currey, one lap down 

    14. Tommy Joe Martins, one lap down

    15. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    16. Landon Cassill, one lap down

    17. Ryan Sieg, two laps down

    18. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    19. Ryan Vargas, two laps down

    20. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    21. David Starr, four laps down

    22. Brandon Brown, four laps down

    23. Mason Massey, four laps down

    24. Josh Williams, five laps down

    25. Spencer Boyd, five laps down

    26. Jade Buford, six laps down

    27. Matt Jaskol, six laps down

    28. Matt Mills, seven laps down

    29. Jeffrey Earnhardt, seven laps down

    30. BJ McLeod, eight laps down

    31. Carson Ware – OUT, Electrical

    32. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Overheating

    33. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    34. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    35. Dylan Lupton – OUT, Accident

    36. Jeb Burton – OUT, AAccident

    37. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

    38. Alex Labbe – OUT, Accident

    39. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    40. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Austin Cindric, +66

    2. AJ Allmendinger, +59

    3. Justin Allgaier, +38

    4. Noah Gragson, +37

    5. Daniel Hemric, +34

    6. Justin Haley, +17

    7. Harrison Burton, +13

    8. Brandon Jones, +10

    9. Myatt Snider, -10

    10. Jeb Burton, -27

    11. Riley Herbst, -32

    12. Jeremy Clements, -36

    With the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs underway, the series will next travel to Talladega Superspeedway for the second Round of 12 event of the season. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, October 2, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Gragson goes back-to-back with a win at Richmond

    Gragson goes back-to-back with a win at Richmond

    One week after snapping a 49-race winless drought at Darlington Raceway, Noah Gragson benefitted through a handful of late-race restarts and four fresh tires to lead the final 14 laps and win the Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 11.

    The victory made Gragson the fourth multi-winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season as he claimed his fourth career win in the Xfinity circuit. This also marked the first time in Gragson’s racing career where he claimed back-to-back victories across NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Austin Cindric started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Harrison Burton. Prior to the event, Ty Dillon and Bayley Currey started at the rear of the field due to driver change of their respective machines. Akinori Ogata also dropped to the rear for missing driver introductions.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric jumped ahead with an early advantage over Harrison Burton to lead the first lap. Behind, Justin Haley boosted his way to third place followed by teammate Jeb Burton and Noah Gragson.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Cindric was leading by a narrow margin over Harrison Burton. Jeb Burton was up in third followed by Gragson and Justin Allgaier while Haley fell back to sixth. AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Sieg and Daniel Hemric were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was making his lone Xfinity scheduled start of the season, was up in 24th after starting.

    By Lap 10, Cindric continued to lead by nearly half a second over Harrison Burton. By then, NASCAR crew members and fans paused for a moment of silence through Laps 9 to 11 and saluted with American fans in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

    Through Lap 20 and when the competition caution flew on Lap 35, Cindric was still out in front of the field. Under the competition caution, the leaders remained on the track. During this time, Jeb Burton’s car was pushed to pit road due to a battery issue.

    When the race restarted on Lap 43, Allmendinger and Harrison Burton challenged Cindric for the top spot, but Cindric maintained his ground and continued to lead. Two laps later, however, Allmendinger made his move beneath Cindric to take the lead. Shortly after, Allgaier and Harrison Burton moved up to second and third while Cindric slipped to fourth in front of Ty Gibbs.

    By Lap 70, Tommy Joe Martins, who pitted for fresh tires under the competition caution, emerged with the lead over Allmendinger.

    When the final lap of the first stage occurred, Martins was still leading by a narrow margin over Allmendinger. Then in Turn 3, Martins got briefly stalled behind the lapped car of David Starr. While Martins went high, Allmendinger went low and was able to edge Martins at the start/finish line to win the first stage on Lap 75 and claim his ninth stage victory of the season. Cindric rallied for third followed by Gibbs, JJ Yeley, Harrison Burton, Daniel Hemric, Gragson, Spencer Boyd and Patrick Emerling settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for service. During the pit stops, Allmendinger got boxed into his pit stall while Allgaier encountered steering issues.

    The second stage started on Lap 84 as Cindric and Hemric filled out the front row. At the start, Hemric battled dead even with Cindric for a full lap before the former prevailed the following lap. Then the following lap, the caution flew when Tommy Joe Martins, who had a strong run in the first stage, spun following contact from Spencer Boyd.

    Five laps later, the race restarted and Hemric retained the top spot. By Lap 98, Ty Gibbs made his way to the lead.

    With four laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when CJ McLaughlin spun and wrecked off the front nose of Jade Buford in Turn 3. The wreck was enough for the second stage scheduled on Lap 150 to conclude under caution as Gibbs claimed his third stage victory of the season. Allmendinger ended up in second followed by Harrison Burton, Gragson, Hemric, Cindric, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg and John Hunter Nemechek.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hemric emerged with the lead followed by Gragson, Gibbs, Harrison Burton and Allmendinger.

    With 92 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Gragson managed to peak ahead of Hemric and Gibbs on the inside lane to take the lead for the first time. 

    Five laps later, Gragson was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Hemric, who was pursued by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Gibbs and Harrison Burton. Behind, Sam Mayer was in fifth followed by Allmendinger, Cindric, Allgaier, Earnhardt Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek.

    Another three laps later, Gibbs made a move to the outside of Gragson to reassume the lead. While Harrison Burton challenged Gragson for the runner-up spot, Hemric, meanwhile, fell back to 10th.

    Nearing the final 80 laps of the event, the caution flew for a spin involving Bayley Currey. Under caution, Ryan Sieg pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track. 

    With 74 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Harrison Burton overtook teammate Gibbs to lead for the first time. While Mayer was up in third, Allgaier charged his way up to fourth after overtaking teammate Gragson. 

    Six laps later, the caution returned due to Landon Cassill coming to a stop at the pit road entrance. Under caution, some led by Harrison Burton and Gibbs pitted while the rest led by Mayer, Haley and Earnhardt Jr. remained on the track.

    Under the final 63 laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, Mayer took off with the lead while the field bumped and fanned out to multiple lanes for a full lap between competitors on old or fresh tires. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton bolted his way up to third place on fresh tires after overtaking a multitude of competitors, including Earnhardt Jr.

    With 58 laps remaining, Harrison Burton reassumed the lead. A few laps later, Ty Gibbs took over the runner-up spot while Allmendinger challenged Mayer for third. Joining the battle were John Hunter Nemechek, Haley and Cindric. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Harrison Burton was leading by a second over teammate Gibbs, with Allmendinger, Nemechek and Cindric in the top five. Allgaier was in sixth followed by teammate Gragson, Alex Labbe, Hemric and Sieg. Meanwhile, Haley was in 12th ahead of Michael Annett, Mayer and Riley Herbst while Myatt Snider was in 16th, Brandon Jones was in 18th and Earnhardt Jr. was in 21st behind Jeb Burton.

    Ten laps later, Harrison Burton continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Gibbs. Meanwhile, Allmendinger continued to run in third followed by Nemechek, Cindric, Allgaier and Gragson. Behind the front-runners, Mayer and Earnhardt Jr. were in 20th and 21st.

    With 27 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Josh Williams spinning and backing his car into the Turn 2 outside wall following contact with Akinori Ogata. Under caution, the leaders led by Harrison Burton pitted while Allmendinger, Cindric and Brandon Jones remained on the track. During the pit stops, Earnhardt Jr. was penalized for speeding while Jeb Burton was also penalized for an uncontrolled tire.

    Down to the final 21 laps of the event, the rare restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger peaked ahead with the lead and Cindric spun the tires on the outside lane while the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the first turn and through the backstretch. Then, the caution returned for Martins wrecking in Turn 1.

    With 14 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger jumped ahead of Brandon Jones, who spun the tires, as the field fanned out to multiple lanes again through the first turn and the backstretch. 

    A lap later, the caution flew due to Clements spinning on the frontstretch after getting turned by Myatt Snider. During the incident, Earnhardt Jr. made contact with the frontstretch outside wall while battling Kyle Weatherman. By then, Gragson emerged with the lead followed by Nemechek while Allmendinger slipped back to third. Under caution, Cindric pitted for tires.

    Down to the final seven laps of the event, the race restarted. At the start, Gragson retained the lead following a strong start followed by Nemechek and Allgaier while Allmendinger fell back to fourth ahead of Gibbs.

    With five laps remaining and the field fanning out across the track, Gragson continued to lead by half a second over Nemechek as Allgaier challenged Nemechek for more.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gragson was ahead by half a second. Behind, Haley made his way to second followed by Nemechek, Allgaier and others. While Haley had a late charge established, Gragson was able to retain the lead and come back around to claim his second consecutive checkered flag of this season and his first at Richmond.

    After celebrating with his burnout, Gragson, who saluted the fans with an American flag, took a moment to pay tribute to the victims and those affected by the September 11 attacks 20 years ago today.

    “I knew [Haley] had tires, but the thing that really kept us alive were those two cautions at the end,” Gragson said on NBCSN. “Today’s not about this team or this win. It’s about everybody who lost their life 20 years ago. You got a lot of heavy hearts. At least in America, we can come together on this day. [I] Appreciate all you race fans for coming out. Man, it’s an emotional day. It’s a special day, but it’s not about us today.”

    “It’s really special to be able to come here to Richmond, to beat Dale [Earnhardt] Jr., which is pretty cool,” Gragson added. “I never thought I’d say that. We’re starting to get momentum at the right time. Appreciate everything, for sure. Very emotional.”

    Haley, winner at Daytona International Speedway in late August, finished in second place at Richmond for a second consecutive season while Nemechek, making his second Xfinity start of the season in the No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota Supra, finished third. 

    “I was fully prepared to do anything it took to win,” Haley said. “We had better tires. We were so fast. We showed a championship-caliber team there coming back through the field, taking a bad day and making it okay. That one’s definitely tough. It hurts, it stinks.”

    Allgaier placed fourth followed by Riley Herbst. Hemric, Gibbs, Brandon Brown, Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton finished in the top 10.

    Mayer finished 12th while Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 14th in his lone NASCAR start of the season.

    Cindric and Allmendinger shuffled back to 16th and 18th while Brandon Jones, Annett, Josh Berry, Snider and Clements finished 20th, 22nd, 24th, 25th and 26th.

    There were 15 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 58 laps.

    AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by five points over Austin Cindric. With their top-20 runs, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst occupy the final three open spots to the 2021 Xfinity Series Playoffs with one regular-season event remaining. Herbst, the 12th-place competitor in the standings, is ahead by 66 points over Michael Annett, 93 over Ryan Sieg, 109 over Brandon Brown and 198 over Josh Williams.

    Results.

    1. Noah Gragson, 22 laps led

    2. Justin Haley

    3. John Hunter Nemechek

    4. Justin Allgaier

    5. Riley Herbst

    6. Daniel Hemric, 17 laps led

    7. Ty Gibbs, 67 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    8. Brandon Brown

    9. Harrison Burton, 43 laps led

    10. Jeb Burton

    11. Ty Dillon

    12. Sam Mayer, seven laps led

    13. Ryan Sieg

    14. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    15. Kyle Weatherman

    16. Austin Cindric, 50 laps led

    17. Mason Massey

    18. AJ Allmendinger, 39 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    19. Alex Labbe

    20. Brandon Jones

    21. Matt Mills

    22. Michael Annett

    23. Josh Williams

    24. Josh Berry

    25. Myatt Snider

    26. Jeremy Clements

    27. Bayley Currey

    28. David Starr, one lap down

    29. JJ Yeley, two laps down

    30. Jeffrey Earnhardt, two laps down

    31. Joe Graf Jr., two laps down

    32. Patrick Emerling, two laps down

    33. Spencer Boyd, two laps down

    34. Akinori Ogata, three laps down

    35. Ryan Vargas, four laps down

    36. Jade Buford, four laps down

    37. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    38. Stephen Leicht, 30 laps down

    39. Landon Cassill – OUT, Ignition

    40. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway, the final regular-season event of the season and where this year’s Xfinity 12-car Playoff field will be determined. The event is scheduled to occur on Friday, September 17, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Ty Gibbs dominates en route to victory at Milwaukee Mile

    Ty Gibbs dominates en route to victory at Milwaukee Mile

    For the first time in 14 years, the ARCA Menards Series made their return to the famous Milwaukee Mile Speedway in West Allis, Wisconsin Sunday afternoon and we saw a familiar face in victory lane as Ty Gibbs scored his ninth win of 2021.

    Ty Gibbs qualified on the pole position for the eighth time this year and led every lap of the 150 lap event in the Sprecher 150 to win the event. It was his 17th career victory in the ARCA Menards Series.

    “All these guys (pit crew), do so much for me and my team,” Gibbs said in victory lane. “These guys work their butts off and they want to win more than I do. That goes a lot into it (winning races). It’s just awesome, nine wins is crazy.

    “I feel like it’s super cool to win here. This track has so much history. I remember being young and watching Denny Hamlin and Aric (Almirola) win here. It’s one of those things where I have to sit back and think about it (the win). I wouldn’t be here without all these guys and all of my sponsors.”

    Coming into the 16th race of the 2021 ARCA season schedule, Ty Gibbs and Corey Heim were tied in the championship points standings. Gibbs had won eight times prior to Milwaukee, while Heim entered with six victories. Even with the pole position, Gibbs knew he couldn’t make a mistake with Heim running him down in the championship chase.

    The Sprecher 150 was broken up into three segments with the first segment ending on Lap 50, the second on Lap 100 and the final segment ending on Lap 150.

    Through the first segment break, Gibbs led every lap but had a few challengers along the way. One of those included his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sammy Smith (who will compete in the ARCA Menards Series regular tour next year) behind Gibbs in second place. However, Smith would eventually be passed by the No. 21 of Daniel Dye on Lap 25, halfway to the race break.

    Unfortunately, for the GMS Racing development driver Dye, he slid back to fifth in the running order just before the first segment ended.

    As the second segment began, Gibbs had new contenders to deal with including championship favorite Corey Heim who overtook Smith for second place on Lap 54. Although, Dye fought his way back to the second position on Lap 85.

    Even with the new challengers, Gibbs remained unmatched and led through the second segment that ended on Lap 100.

    One of the most interesting moments during the race came on Lap 118 when the only natural caution occurred. The caution came as the No. 12 of Stephanie Moyer was spun by the No. 20 of Heim coming off Turn 2. Afterward, Heim had some minor damage but later reported the car was down on power.

    With Heim facing challenges of his own, Gibbs knew it was his race to lose at this point. However, following the Lap 123 restart, NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Sam Mayer moved into second and began a rally on Gibbs in the final 20 laps. Mayer though was only able to get within 0.516 of Gibbs while chasing him down.

    Even though Mayer did all he could to catch race leader Gibbs, the victory ultimately went to Ty Gibbs and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team for the ninth time this season. The victory also marked the third time in 2021 that Gibbs has led every lap in an ARCA Menards Series race. Mayer, Dye, Gray and Smith rounded out the top five finishers.

    ARCA Menards East Series Champion, Mayer, finished second to earn the 21st top-five finish of his ARCA career.

    “This place is really fun, I’ve never got to run here before today,” Mayer said. “I wish I would have got to a long time ago, this place is pretty awesome. I’m looking forward to hopefully ARCA coming back here next year and do a one-off race with these guys again because this place is just that fun.

    “NASCAR needs to come here, this place will put on a show for sure.”

    Daniel Dye in the No. 21 GMS machine completed the podium finish for the third time this season.

    “It was really cool trying to figure out the air,” Dye said about the third place finish. “It was fun racing Sam, and him trying to reel in Ty. (Crew chief) Chad Bryant and the GMS Racing group brought a great Solar-Fit, Heise LED Chevy. Milwaukee’s a flat race track and this was the first time I’ve ever been on a flat race track, so I had a lot of fun. Jeff Green did awesome spotting for me and helped out a lot as well. Honestly can’t wait for Bristol, being a track I’ve actually raced at before unlike every other start I’ve had in this 21 car.”

    Gibbs led all 150 laps from pole position en route to victory. There were three cautions for 14 laps.

    Official Results following the Sprecher 150 at Milwaukee Mile:

    1. Ty Gibbs, led 150 laps
    2. Sam Mayer
    3. Daniel Dye
    4. Taylor Gray
    5. Sammy Smith
    6. Corey Heim
    7. Jesse Love
    8. Joey Iest
    9. Thad Moffitt
    10. Gracie Trotter
    11. Parker Retzlaff
    12. Nick Sanchez
    13. Rajah Caruth
    14. Ron Vandermeir Jr, 1 lap down
    15. Max Gutierrez, 2 laps down
    16. Connor Mosack, 3 laps down
    17. Alex Clubb, 7 laps down
    18. Jason Miles, 9 laps down
    19. Mason Diaz, 10 laps down
    20. Stephanie Moyer, 11 laps down
    21. Eric Caudell, OUT, Radiator
    22. Brad Smith, OUT, Handling
    23. Tony Cosentino, OUT, Vibration
    24. Arnout Kok, OUT, Did Not Start

    Up Next: The ARCA Menards Series will head to DuQuoin State Fairgrounds for the annual Southern Illinois 100 Sunday, Sept. 5, and will air live on MAV TV at 9 p.m./ET.

  • Allmendinger survives three overtime attempts to win at Michigan

    Allmendinger survives three overtime attempts to win at Michigan

    Coming off a thrilling Cup victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, AJ Allmendinger extended his momentum in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The veteran competitor from Los Gatos, California, survived three overtime restarts and a late charge from Brandon Jones to win the New Holland 250 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, August 21.

    The victory was Allmendinger’s third of this year’s Xfinity season as he continues his pursuit for his first NASCAR championship.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Austin Cindric, winner of the previous Xfinity event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with AJ Allmendinger.

    Prior to the event, Josh Berry started at the rear of the field due to replacing Michael Annett in the event, with Annett being absent for the fourth time this season as he continues to recover from a leg surgery.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Cindric and Allmendinger battled dead even for the lead until Cindric got dead sideways in the first turn. As Allmendinger pulled ahead with the lead, Cindric got stuck in the middle lane with no cars behind him as a bevy of competitors went by him.

    Following the completion of the first lap, Allmendinger was leading ahead of teammate Justin Haley, Noah Gragson, Cindric, Justin Allgaier, Harrison Burton and the field. The following lap, Allmendinger’s advantage over Gibbs stretched out to nearly two seconds.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Allmendinger was leading by nearly two seconds over Gibbs, with Cindric, Justin Haley and Noah Gragson settling in the top five. Harrison Burton was in sixth followed by Justin Allgaier, Myatt Snider, Brett Moffitt and Daniel Hemric.

    By Lap 10, Allmendinger continued to lead by more than a second over Gibbs. While Cindric and Haley remained in the top five, Harrison Burton made his way into fifth place ahead of Gragson and Allgaier. Behind, Josh Berry was up in 21st behind Alex Labbe.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 15, Allmendinger remained as the leader over Gibbs and the field. Under the competition caution, some led by Tyler Reddick pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track. During the pit stops, Reddick missed his pit box and returned the following lap. 

    The race restarted on Lap 20 and Allmendinger, the leader, had issues launching at the start, which forced Gibbs and Cindric to place Allmendinger in a four-wide battle for the top spot along with Haley. By the second turn, Cindric made his way into the lead followed by Gibbs while Allmendinger was back in third. Harrison Burton was in fourth ahead of teammate Hemric, Haley, Snider, Gragson and Allgaier.

    A lap later, the caution returned due to Caesar Bacarella wrecking in Turn 4. Under caution, names like Allgaier, Jeb Burton, Tommy Joe Maartins, Bubba Wallace, Brandon Brown and Ryan Sieg pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Allgaier was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while Wallace was penalized for an over-the-wall-too-soon violation.

    When the race restarted with four laps remaining in the first stage, Cindric muscle ahead of the top spot to retain the lead through the first two turns while Gibbs challenged Snider for the runner-up spot. A lap later, both Gibbs and Allmendinger overtook Snider for second and third.

    While the field behind jostled for final opportunities of positions, Cindric cruised ahead to claim the first stage victory on Lap 30, which marked his ninth stage victory of the season. Gibbs settled in second followed by Allmendinger, Snider, Gragson, Hemric, Harrison Burton, Brandon Jones, Berry and Haley.

    Under the stage break, a majority led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Jeb Burton remained on the track. During the pit stops, rookie Sam Mayer took his No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to the garage due to transmission issues.

    The second stage started on Lap 35 and Jeb Burton rocketed with the lead followed by Tyler Reddick and the field through the first two turns. Just then, the caution flew for a heavy multi-car wreck in Turn 2 that started when Snider slid up the track in Turn 2, made slight contact with Cindric and ran into Brandon Brown before spinning. In the ensuing chaos, Cindric, who was trying to dodge Snider, ran into Hemric and both spun into the outside wall, collecting Bubba Wallace and Brown. Haley and Joe Graf Jr. were also collected in the wreck. 

    Under caution, Snider was held two laps in his pit stall for improper fueling. By then, Hemric and Cindric, who was strong at the start of the race and was trying to continue, retired.

    Following an extensive caution period, the race restarted on Lap 45. At the start, Jeb Burton retained the lead while Allgaier and Allmendinger overtook Tyler Reddick for spots in the top three. 

    By Lap 54, Allmendinger returned to the lead after he overtook teammate Jeb Burton for the top spot. 

    Down to the final five laps of the second stage, Allmendinger was out in front by nearly a second over Gibbs with Allgaier in third while Jeb Burton was back in fourth ahead of his cousin, Harrison. 

    When the final lap of the second stage struck, Allmendinger continued to lead by nearly a second over Gibbs. With no comers closing in behind, Allmendinger came back around and claimed the second stage victory on Lap 60, thus achieving his eighth stage victory of the season. Gibbs settled in second followed by Harrison Burton, Allgaier, Jeb Burton, Gragson, Brandon Jones, Josh Berry, Brett Moffitt and Riley Herbst.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Allmendinger retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place ahead of Harrison Burton, Allgaier, Jeb Burton and Gragson. During the pit stops, Gibbs got blocked by Josh Williams in his pit box and fell from second to 10th.

    With 59 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Allmendinger launched ahead with the top spot on the outside lane through Turn 1 while Allgaier muscled his way into the runner-up spot ahead of cousins Jeb and Harrison Burton.

    While Allmendinger and Allgaier were running first and second, the Burton cousins occupied third and fourth while Josh Berry, who started at the rear of the field, made his way into the top five ahead of Brandon Jones, Gragson, Gibbs and Herbst. A few laps later, Berry muscled into fourth place ahead of Jeb Burton, who was also being intimidated by Brandon Jones for more.

    With 52 laps remaining, Allmendinger continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Allgaier. By then, Harrison Burton made an unscheduled two-tire pit stop under green due to vibration concerns while Josh Berry moved up to third place.

    With 40 laps remaining of the event, Allmendinger was leading by a tenth of a second over Allgaier and four-tenths of a second over Berry, with the two JR Motorsports competitors closing and issuing a challenging on Kaulig Racing’s Allmendinger for the top spot.

    Two laps later, Allgaier peaked ahead of Allmendinger through Turn 4 to lead for a lap before Allmendinger fought back through Turn 1. Then, when Allmendinger and Allgaier got stalled behind two lapped cars entering Turn 2, Berry zipped by both on the outside lane to take the lead.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Berry was leading by more than a second over teammate Allgaier. 

    Nearing the final 20 laps of the event, pit stops under green occurred as Gragson, who was running in the top 10, pitted. Soon after, Brett Moffitt pitted along with Gibbs, who was then penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Then, Berry and Allmendinger pitted while Allgaier remained on the track for three laps before pitting.

    With approximately 15 laps remaining, Jeb Burton, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Riley Herbst. A few laps later, however, Burton ran out of fuel as his car was coasting below the banking in Turn 1. Soon after, Herbst also ran out of fuel, but he was able to nurse his car back to pit road and his pit stall while Allgaier reassumed the top spot followed by his hard-charging teammate, Berry.

    With 10 laps remaining, the caution flew when Jeb Burton stalled his car near the pit road entrance after he was unable to nurse his car back to his pit stall. At the time of caution, Allgaier, who was locked into a fierce battle with Berry, managed to retain the lead ahead of his teammate.

    Under caution, Allgaier surrendered the lead to pit while the rest led by Berry remained on the track. Along with Allgaier, Harrison Burton, Herbst, Jeremy Clements and Gibbs pitted.

    Down to the final four laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger muscled into the lead ahead of Brandon Jones and Berry. Then, the caution flew due to a two-car accident on the backstretch involving Bayley Currey and Jesse Little.

    With the race sent into overtime, the race restarted as Allmendinger and Berry filled in the front row. At the start, Allmendinger retained the lead. The race, however, was sent into another caution period and another overtime attempt when Mason Massey and Colby Howard wrecked.

    In the second overtime attempt, Allmendinger and Berry dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the first turn. Then through Turns 1 and 2, while Berry slowly slid up the track, Gibbs got loose and hit the outside wall. While trying to straighten his car, Gibbs ended up spinning in the straightaway before making contact with the wall again, though he was dodged by the oncoming field. Gibbs’ spin was enough for NASCAR to draw the caution as the race was still not deemed official. At the time of caution, Allmendinger remained as the leader ahead of Brandon Jones, Berry, Gragson and Herbst. 

    In the third overtime attempt, Allmendinger received a push from Jones to pull ahead with the lead ahead of Gragson. While the field fanned out through the backstretch, Allmendinger slowly started to place a gap between himself and Jones. 

    When the final lap started, Allmendinger was leading by two-tenths of a second over Jones, with Gragson trailing by half a second. Despite a valiant final lap effort from Jones, Allmendinger was able to come back around, retain the top spot and streak across the finis line in first place to claim his third checkered flag of the season.

    The victory at the Irish Hills was Allmendinger’s third of this year’s Xfinity Series season and the eighth of his career, with the Xfinity Series making its return to Michigan International Speedway following a one-year absence. The race was also the 11th Xfinity career victory for Kaulig Racing, which achieved its first Cup career win last weekend at Indianapolis with Allmendinger.

    “Wow, what a hell of a six days. Oh my goodness,” Allmendinger, who led a race-high 70 laps, said on NBCSN. “This is what’s awesome, though, to have all the fans back. Indy, last weekend, was spectacular. Michigan, thank you. You, guys, make it fun. I’m more tired from the celebrations than I am from driving. When you’re restarting on the front row, the outside [lane] was the place to be. The problem is, you just got to hope you got pushed. Brandon Jones, thank you so much because he pushed me every time. Man, I can’t thank all the men and women at Kaulig Racing enough. I don’t wanna wake up from this dream.”

    Brandon Jones finished in the runner-up spot for his eighth top-five result of the season and following three DNFs in the previous four Xfinity races while Noah Gragson settled in third place for his eighth top-five result of the season.

    Berry, who led 24 laps, notched a strong fourth-place result as an interim competitor for Michael Annett while Harrison Burton finished in the top five for the eighth time this season. 

    Allgaier, Herbst, Moffitt, Jade Buford and Bubba Wallace finished in the top 10. Ty Gibbs, who was in position for a strong result following his late incident, came home in 13th.

    There were 13 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 43 laps. 

    Despite his early accident and retirement, Austin Cindric continues to lead the regular-season standings by 35 points over AJ Allmendinger as the 2021 Xfinity Series regular-season stretch is four races away from being complete.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 70 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Brandon Jones

    3. Noah Gragson

    4. Josh Berry, 24 laps led

    5. Harrison Burton

    6. Justin Allgaier, nine laps led

    7. Riley Herbst

    8. Brett Moffitt

    9. Jade Buford

    10. Bubba Wallace

    11. Jeremy Clements

    12. Ryan Sieg

    13. Ty Gibbs, one lap led

    14. Matt Mills

    15. Jordan Anderson, one lap down

    16. Tyler Reddick, one lap down

    17. Justin Haley, one lap down

    18. Josh Williams, one lap down

    19. Tommy Joe Martins, one lap down

    20. Colin Garrett, one lap down

    21. Ryan Vargas, one lap down

    22. David Starr, two laps down

    23. Jeffrey Earnhardt, two laps down

    24. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    25. Colby Howard, two laps down

    26. Landon Cassill, two laps down

    27. Gray Gaulding, two laps down

    28. Carson Ware, three laps down

    29. Jeb Burton, four laps down, 23 laps led

    30. Mason Massey – OUT, Accident

    31. Alex Labbe, 16 laps down

    32. Jesse Little – OUT, Accident

    33. Sam Mayer, 25 laps down

    34. Bayley Currey – OUT, Accident

    35. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Dvp

    36. Myatt Snider – OUT, Dvp

    37. Austin Cindric – OUT, Dvp, 12 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    38. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Dvp

    39. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

    40. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ second event of the season at Daytona International Speedway. The event will occur on Friday, August 27, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Cindric tames the Indianapolis Road Course for fifth Xfinity win of 2021

    Cindric tames the Indianapolis Road Course for fifth Xfinity win of 2021

    Scoring the biggest victory of his racing career, Austin Cindric took the lead at the start of the final stage and went on to beat AJ Allmendinger to win the second annual Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday, August 14. The victory was Cindric’s fifth of this year’s Xfinity Series season and it served as a double victory sweep of the day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for team owner Roger Penske and Team Penske after Will Power won the IndyCar event earlier.

    Qualifying occurred on Saturday, August 14, and AJ Allmendinger claimed the top-starting spot with a pole-winning speed at 97.744 mph. Joining on the front row was Austin Cindric, the regular-season points leader. 

    Prior to the event, a number of competitors, including Landon Cassill, Kyle Weatherman, rookie Sam Mayer and Austin Dillon dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines. Ryan Sieg and JJ Yeley also dropped to the rear of the field due to both missing driver introductions.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Allmendinger jumped ahead with an early advantage over Austin Cindric. His race, however, got off to a rocky start when he overshot the first turn, which allowed Justin Haley to move into the lead while Allmendinger fell back to third behind Cindric. 

    While the field battled through the long straightaway in Turns 5 and 6, a series of carnages ensued behind as Harrison Burton, teammate Brandon Jones, Kevin Harvick, Alex Labbe, Josh Bilicki, Brandon Brown and Preston Pardus all wrecked after getting into the orange turtle bumps in Turn 6. Ahead of the carnage, Allmendinger slipped off the track in Turn 12, which dropped him from the top five to the top 10.

    Shortly after, the first caution of the event flew due to Preston Pardus stalling in Turn 7 after being involved in the early multi-car carnage. At the time of caution, Haley was still leading as he led the first lap followed by Austin Cindric, rookie Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier and teammate Noah Gragson. 

    When the race restarted on the fourth lap, Haley and Cindric battled dead even for the lead until Haley cleared Cindric for the lead entering the first two turns. Behind, Justin Allgaier made his way into third place followed by Gibbs, Riley Herbst and Gragson as the field stacked up entering Turn 7. 

    By the fifth lap, Haley was leading by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Cindric, with Allgaier, Gibbs and Herbst in the top five. Myatt Snider moved up to sixth followed by Gragson, Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Will Rodgers. By then, Sage Karam, a part-time IndyCar Series competitor who was making his NASCAR debut in Jordan Anderson Racing’s No. 31 Chevrolet, was in 11th while Jeb Burton was in 16th. 

    At the Lap 10 mark, Haley continued to lead by nearly a second over Cindric while Gibbs, Allgaier and Herbst retained their spots in the top five. Allmendinger, meanwhile, moved up to sixth followed by Gragson, Snider, Hemric and Karam. Behind, Chase Elliott, who filled in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in place of Michael Annett, was up in 15th behind Andy Lally while Harrison Burton was mired back in 30th.

    A lap later, Ryan Sieg fell to the rear of the field following a pair of on-track spins.

    On Lap 14, Cindric, who gained a draft through the frontstretch, made his move to the inside of Haley to take the lead in Turn 1. Despite being pressured by Haley, Cindric managed to maintain the lead through Turns 4 through 7. Behind, Rodgers spun while running near the top 10, but the race continued to run under green.

    A lap later, however, the caution flew due to debris on the frontstretch that came off of Sieg’s No. 39 Ford Mustang, which also had a flat left-rear tire. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Herbst remained on the track.

    With two laps remaining in the first stage, the field restarted under green. At the start, Herbst jumped ahead of Karam and the field to lead for one full lap through the 14-turn circuit. The following lap, Haley made his way up to second place and went to work on Herbst for the lead. By Turn 12, Haley reassumed the lead.

    After reclaiming the lead, Haley went on to claim the first stage victory on Lap 20, which marked his fourth stage victory of the season. Herbst settled in second followed by Jeb Burton, Cindric, Karam, Gragson, Jeremy Clements, Tommy Joe Martins, Elliott and Gibbs.

    Under the stage break, few led by Herbst pitted while the rest led by Haley remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 23. At the start, Cindric and Gragson put Haley in a three-wide situation entering the first turn before Cindric emerged with the top spot through the first two turns. Through Turns 5 and 6, contact from teammate Hemric sent Gibbs spinning. At the same time, Kris Wright caught major air after running over the curbs. Then afterwards, Chase Elliott spun in Turn 7. Despite the trio of on-track incidents, the race continued under green.

    Two laps later, Cindric was leading by more than a second over Gragson while Haley, Allgaier and Clements were in the top five. By then, Gibbs pitted under green. Not long after, Hemric also pitted to address a flat tire following contact with Gibbs.

    On Lap 29, the caution flew due to Austin Hill stalling on the track. Under caution, some like Herbst, Kyle Weatherman, James Davison, Harrison Burton and Hemric pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    With eight laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted. At the start, Gragson emerged with the lead through the first turn while Allmendinger moved up to second over Cindric. By Turn 7, however, Allmendinger carved his way back into the lead. Five turns later, teammate Haley moved up to second as Gragson and Cindric fell back to third and fourth.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Allmendinger, who lost the lead following the first turn on the opening lap, was leading by nearly half a second over teammate Haley followed by Gragson, Cindric and Sam Mayer. Behind, Austin Dillon spun in Turn 1, but the race continued under green.

    Another two laps later, Allmendinger continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Haley, with Gragson, Cindric and Mayer were in the top five. 

    Two laps later, names like Cindric, Snider, Rodgers, Mayer, Elliott, Spencer Pumpelly, Karam and Austin Dillon pitted under green. During the process, Mayer, who was exiting pit road, drew the caution when fire came out of his No. 24 Toyota Supra, which eliminated him from contention near the pit road exit. During the caution, Allgaier, who was trying to pit prior to pit road closing, was ruled to have pitted too soon after he failed to enter pit road prior to its closure.

    The on-track mechanical issue for Rodgers was enough to have the second stage scheduled on Lap 40 conclude under caution as Allmendinger, the race leader, claimed his seventh stage victory of the season. Teammate Haley settled in second followed by Gragson, Gibbs, Andy Lally, Jeb Burton, Hemric, Clements, Herbst and Josh Williams.

    Under the stage break, some led by Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track. Prior to the restart, Allgaier was sent to the rear of the field following his pit road misfortune for pitting while the pits were closed.

    With 19 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Gibbs launched ahead and led the field through the first pair of turns while Cindric moved up to second ahead of Harrison Burton and the field.

    A lap later, Cindric passed Gibbs entering the fourth turn to take the lead. Behind, Mayer, who was having a strong run in the making, spun and hit the tire barriers in Turn 6 following contact with teammate Elliott. Despite the incident, the race continued to run under green as Mayer pulled the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro out of the racing course.

    Back on the track, Cindric was leading by more than a second over Myatt Snider while Allmendinger moved up to third ahead of Elliott and Gibbs. Behind, Austin Dillon was up in sixth followed by Haley, Harrison Burton, Gragson and Spencer Pumpelly.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Cindric was leading by more than four seconds over Allmendinger while Elliott, Haley and Snider were in the top five. Gibbs was in sixth followed by Austin Dillon, Gragson, Herbst and Harrison Burton. Behind, Spencer Pumpelly spun in Turn 1 while competing in the top 15, but the race continued under green.

    With five laps remaining, Cindric remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Allmendinger while Elliott, Haley and Snider continued to run in the top five. Meanwhile, Gibbs, who was running in the top five but was told was three laps short on fuel, pitted under green.

    Down to the final two laps, Cindric stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over Allmendinger while Haley moved up to third ahead of Elliott. Meanwhile, Gragson was in fifth ahead of Austin Dillon, Snider, Herbst, Harrison Burton and Andy Lally.

    When the final lap of the event started, Cindric was leading by less than three seconds over Allmendinger. Behind, Haley and Elliott were more than nine and 10 seconds behind.

    Through the 14-turn road course, Cindric was able to have enough horsepower and muscle to race back to the frontstretch and cross the finish line with the victory by more than two seconds over Allmendinger.

    In addition to claiming his first victory at Indianapolis and the fifth of this year’s Xfinity season, Cindric notched his 13th career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his fifth on a road course event as he continues his pursuit to a second consecutive Xfinity title before moving up to the Cup Series in 2022.

    “Unbelievable,” Cindric said on NBCSN. “First of all, I gotta thank [team owner] Roger Penske for every opportunity I’ve had in my career, every opportunity he’s given you race fans to enjoy this beautiful weekend with three race series. How awesome is this facility now, guys?! It’s amazing! I’m so proud to be a part of this Penske family. Obviously, this race track is so much deeper than just that. My family history. What this place means to me, I can’t even put into words what it means to win at Indianapolis.”

    Behind, Allmendinger came home in second place while teammate Haley finished in third place.

    “Kaulig Racing needed a better driver today, quite honestly,” Allmendinger said. “I messed up way too much early, got us off track today. It’s tough, sometimes, with these road courses and the Xfinity Series with the way these stages lined up…We had a really fast Hyperice Chevy. I was awful today.”

    “I’m really proud of the third place [result],” Haley said. “I think me and AJ had the best cars today. Everyone on this LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet team did a great job. Proud of Kaulig Racing for second and third…This is my third trip at Indy, my hometown, and my third top five [result], so I’m pretty proud of that that we could come and run pretty good in our hometown.”

    Elliott, who reportedly did not have enough fuel to finish, crossed the finish line in fourth while teammate Gragson completed the top five.

    Austin Dillon, Snider, Herbst, Harrison Burton and Andy Lally finished in the top 10.

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

    With his victory, Austin Cindric continues to lead the regular-season standings by 82 points over AJ Allmendinger.

    Results.

    1. Austin Cindric, 29 laps led

    2. AJ Allmendinger, eight laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Justin Haley, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Chase Elliott

    5. Noah Gragson

    6. Austin Dillon

    7. Myatt Snider

    8. Riley Herbst, three laps led

    9. Harrison Burton

    10. Andy Lally

    11. Justin Allgaier

    12. Daniel Hemric

    13. Alex Labbe

    14. Jeremy Clements

    15. Josh Williams

    16. Kyle Weatherman

    17. Landon Cassill

    18. James Davison

    19. Ty Gibbs, four laps led

    20. Jade Buford

    21. Tommy Joe Martins

    22. JJ Yeley

    23. Jeb Burton

    24. Spencer Pumpelly – OUT, Ignition

    25. Josh Bilicki, two laps down

    26. Sage Karam – OUT, Electrical

    27. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    28. Will Rodgers – OUT, Brakes

    29. Austin Hill – OUT, Steering box

    30. Kris Wright – OUT, Accident

    31. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Axle

    32. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Suspension

    33. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Power steering

    34. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident

    35. Preston Pardus – OUT, Accident

    36. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ return to Michigan International Speedway following a one-year absence. The event will occur on Saturday, August 21, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Ty Gibbs scores third Xfinity career win at Watkins Glen

    Ty Gibbs scores third Xfinity career win at Watkins Glen

    In a late shootout between a future star and a pair of road-course ringers, rookie Ty Gibbs came out on top after the Charlotte, North Carolina, native fended off late challenges from AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric to win the Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey 200 at Watkins Glen International on Saturday, August 7. The victory at The Glen was Gibbs’ third of his Xfinity Series career and his third of the season while coming in his 10th series start.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Justin Allgaier started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Austin Cindric, winner of the recent Xfinity Glen event in 2019.

    Prior to the event, Ryan Sieg and Jesse Little started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Allgaier and Cindric battled dead even for the lead until Cindric managed to pull ahead through the Esses. Through the backstretch, the Inner Loop, the Bus Stop and the seven-turn, 2.45-mile circuit, Cindric managed to lead the first lap. Behind, Ryan Sieg and David Smith spun in Turn 6, but the field continued to compete under green.

    Three laps later and while Cindric continued to lead, the caution flew due to Michael Munley wrecking into the tire barriers in Turn 5.

    The race restarted on the eighth lap. At the start, Cindric maintained the lead while AJ Allmendinger moved into second place over Allgaier while teammates Harrison Burton and Daniel Hemric battled in the top five ahead of their other teammate, Ty Gibbs, and the field.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 10, Cindric was still leading. Under the competition caution, some led by Austin Dillon pitted while the rest remained on the track.

    On Lap 13, the race restarted with Cindric and Allmendinger leading the field. Behind, the No. 99 Chevrolet of Kyle Tilley was turned and spun past the start/finish line, but the race continued under green.

    At the front, Cindric maintained the lead ahead of Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric, Allgaier and Ty Gibbs. Behind, Kris Wright spun near Turn 11, but the race continued under green.

    In the closing laps of the first stage, names like Allgaier, rookie Ty Gibbs, Myatt Snider, Brandon Brown, Alex Labbe and Josh Williams pitted under green.

    Back at the front, Cindric remained uncontested and was able to win the first stage on Lap 20. Allmendinger settled in second followed by Hemric, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Justin Haley, Gragson, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst and Sam Mayer.

    Under the stage break, some led by Cindric and Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Harrison Burton remained on the track. By then, Labbe lost an axle.

    The second stage started on Lap 24. At the start, Harrison Burton managed to retain the lead until his teammate, Brandon Jones, took it through the Esses. A lap later, Gibbs muscled his way into the lead. Behind, teammate Daniel Hemric spun in Turn 1, but he was able to continue with the race remaining under green.

    On Lap 34, the caution flew when Alex Labbe spun and got his car stuck in Turn 1. Under caution, names like Myatt Snider, Jeb Burton, Justin Haley and others pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 36, Allmendinger issued a challenge and managed to overtake Gibbs through the Esses.

    Despite being pressured by Gibbs, Allmendinger managed to retain the top spot over Gibbs and win the second stage on Lap 40. Settling in third was Cindric followed by Allgaier, Gragson, Herbst, Mayer, Michael Annett, Erik Jones and Hemric.

    Under the stage break, several names led by Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

    With 41 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Gibbs managed to fend off Cindric for the lead while Mayer moved up to third ahead of teammate Gragson and Harrison Burton. Two laps later, Gibbs managed to extend his advantage to more than a second over Cindric and the field.

    On Lap 49, the caution flew due to Matt Mills getting into the tire barriers out of the bus stop turn. The incident occurred as Mills was trying to avoid the No. 52 car of David Smith. 

    Under caution, few led by Hemric remained on the track while the rest pitted. During the pit stops, Riley Herbst was busted for speeding on pit road and rookie Sam Mayer was penalized for an over-the-wall too soon penalty.

    With 32 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Hemric, who did not pit under the last caution, led the field ahead of Bayley Currey and Brandon Jones. 

    On Lap 56, Hemric surrendered the lead to teammate Gibbs to pit. By then, Austin Dillon pitted and then took his No. 23 Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to the garage due to a mechanical issue. 

    On Lap 59, Jeremy Clements spun following contact from Jeb Burton, but the race continued under green.

    Six laps later, Brandon Jones and Allgaier pitted for service. Shortly after, Kris Wright spun following contact with Sam Mayer in the bus stop, but the field continued under green.

    Then on Lap 68, the caution flew when Erik Jones, driving the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro for Jordan Anderson Racing, lost his brakes and wrecked hard in Turn 6, with his damaged car getting stuck in the gravel trap.

    Under caution, names like Gibbs, Cindric, Allmendinger, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones, Tommy Joe Martins, Landon Cassill, Kyle Weatherman, Allgaier and Clements remained on the track while the rest pitted.

    With 12 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Gibbs was leading until he went wide in Turn 1, which allowed Cindric to muscle ahead. While Gibbs, tried to peak ahead through Turn 7, Cindric maintained the lead. A lap later, though, Gibbs was back in the lead.

    Just under the final laps, the caution flew due to Kyle Weatherman stopping on the track in the backstretch and climbing out of his car.

    Down to the final four laps of the event, the race restarted. At the start, Allmendinger managed to pull ahead through the Esses. Behind, Hemric spun in Turn 1 again.

    A lap later, Gibbs was able to take the lead back from Allmendinger through Turn 6. From there, Gibbs went to work in fending off Allmendinger and Cindric with the top spot. Allgaier settled in fourth behind the three front-runners while Harrison Burton, Brandon Jones and Gragson battled for a spot in the top five.

    When the white flag waved to signal the final lap of the race, Gibbs remained ahead of Allmendinger and Cindric.

    For a final lap, Gibbs was able to navigate his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra through the seven-turn course and streak across the finish line in first place for his third checkered flag of the season.

    The victory was the 10th of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team, three of which came from Gibbs, as Gibbs also collected his second road-course victory of the season.

    “I felt like [Cindric] got a really great restart the restart before and he got a little wide,” Gibbs, who led a race-high 43 of 82 laps, said on CNBC. “First of all, I have to say thank you to the man above. That was probably the most fun race I’ve ever been in with AJ and with[Justin Allgaier] and [Cindric], those guys are very experienced veterans in this racing series. To be able to race and beat them just means a lot. I learned a lot from them too. I just can’t thank Monster Energy, [Toyota Racing Development]. My Toyota Racing Supra was super fast today and this is just a dream come true…This is just wonderful – I can’t even believe it.”

    Behind Gibbs, Allmendinger and Cindric, two road-course ringers and Xfinity Series full-time competitors whom led a combined 28 of 82 laps and battled for the win at The Glen in 2019, finished in second and third.

    “[The 54 car]’s a fast car,” Allmendinger said. “Ty was doing a great job. We weren’t very good a couple years ago, so we went with a completely different setup. The Hyperice Chevy was pretty solid; second-best race car, unfortunately. Gibbs is tough and that No. 54 car, all year, has been tough. Ty did a great job. He was clean, made a great move on me. I couldn’t do really anything to defend it…I’m ready to go win at the Brickyard [next weekend].”

    Allgaier came home in fourth while Harrison Burton finished in the top five. Brandon Jones crossed the finish line in sixth followed by Gragson, Jeb Burton, Haley and Sam Mayer.

    Michael Annett, who returned following a two-race absence, finished 11th ahead of Brandon Brown, Herbst, Josh Williams and Myatt Snider. Clements and Sieg finished 16th and 18th while Hemric fell back to 22nd following his late spin.

    There were 12 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 15 laps.

    With his 13th top-five result of the season, Austin Cindric continues to lead the regular-season standings by 80 points over AJ Allmendinger.

    Results.

    1. Ty Gibbs, 43 laps led

    2. AJ Allmendinger, six laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Austin Cindric, 22 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Justin Allgaier

    5. Harrison Burton, three laps led

    6. Brandon Jones, one lap led

    7. Noah Gragson

    8. Jeb Burton

    9. Justin Haley

    10. Sam Mayer

    11. Michael Annett

    12. Brandon Brown

    13. Riley Herbst

    14. Josh Williams

    15. Myatt Snider

    16. Jeremy Clements

    17. Kris Wright

    18. Ryan Sieg

    19. Tommy Joe Martins

    20. Landon Cassill

    21. Jade Buford

    22. Daniel Hemric, seven laps led

    23. Preston Pardus

    24. Josh Bilicki

    25. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    26. Brett Moffitt

    27. Jesse Little

    28. Stephen Leicht

    29. Timmy Hill, one lap down

    30. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    31. Colby Howard, one lap down

    32. Bayley Currey, one lap down

    33. Dave Smith, two laps down

    34. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Electrical

    35. Michael Munley – OUT, Suspension

    36. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident

    37. Austin Dillon – OUT, Chassis

    38. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    39. Alex Labbe – OUT, Rear gear

    40. Kyle Tilley – OUT, Dvp

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is another road course venue as the series will compete at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday, August 14. The event is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Chris Gayle to call 150th Xfinity race as crew chief at Atlanta

    Chris Gayle to call 150th Xfinity race as crew chief at Atlanta

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Chris Gayle, crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team piloted by multiple competitors in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. By participating in this weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Gayle will call his 150th Xfinity career race as a crew chief.

    A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Gayle spent two years as a student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville before transferring to the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 2002. Not long after, he joined Joe Gibbs Racing to work as a race engineer.

    Eleven years later, Gayle, who was a senior engineer for Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Cup Series, was promoted to the crew chief role, where he was paired with veteran Elliott Sadler and JGR’s No. 11 Toyota Camry team for the 2013 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Throughout the 33-race Xfinity schedule, Gayle and Sadler earned nine top-five results and 20 top-10 results before finishing in fourth place in the final standings.

    Eight races into the 2014 Xfinity season, Gayle earned his first NASCAR career victory as a crew chief at Talladega Superspeedway in April, where Sadler held off the field in a three-lap shootout to return to Victory Lane following a one-year winless season. They went on to earn a pole, seven top-five results and 25 top-10 results before settling in third place in the final standings.

    Prior to the 2015 season, Sadler departed JGR and the team shuffled its crew chief lineup, placing Gayle as crew chief for the team’s No. 54 Toyota Camry piloted by multiple competitors, starting with Kyle Busch for the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February. The season, however, started off on a harrowing note when Busch was involved in a late multi-car accident that saw his car make head-on contact into a concrete wall installed with no SAFER barriers and the driver being transported to a local hospital, where he suffered a massive compound fracture to his right leg and a fractured left foot.

    With Busch absent and recovering from his injuries, Gayle spent the following 11 Xfinity events working with Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin and Boris Said. When Busch returned at Michigan International Speedway in June, he and Gayle went to Victory Lane after Busch completed a late pass on Chase Elliott en route to his first win of the season and in his first Xfinity start since the Daytona accident. A week later, Gayle went to Victory Lane with Erik Jones at Chicagoland Speedway. 

    In total, Gayle achieved seven Xfinity victories in 2015, six with Kyle Busch and one with Erik Jones. In addition, he notched five poles, 17 top-five results and 23 top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule for JGR’s No. 54 Toyota team, which settled in the runner-up position behind Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang team in the final Xfinity owners’ standings.

    Gayle remained as JGR’s Xfinity “all-star” crew chief in 2016, where he worked with Dakoda Armstrong, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Drew Herring, Sam Hornish Jr., Owen Kelly, Bobby Labonte, David Ragan and Matt Tifft, all of whom took turns piloting the No. 18 Toyota Camry throughout the season. Throughout the 33-race schedule, Gayle earned 11 victories (10 with Kyle Busch and one with Hornish), 11 poles (nine with Kyle Busch, one with Ragan and one with Tifft), 19 top-five results and 23 top-10 results. When the final checkered flag of the season flew, JGR’s No. 18 Toyota team ended up in fourth place in the owners’ standings.

    Following the 2016 Xfinity season, Gayle moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he worked as a crew chief for Erik Jones and the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota Camry team. After a four-year run in the Cup Series, where Gayle earned two career victories between 2018 and 2019 with Erik Jones, Gayle returned to the Xfinity Series for the 2021 season, where he was assigned to JGR’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team piloted by multiple competitors, starting with Ty Dillon for the season-opening event at Daytona in February. 

    Following a 14th-place result with Dillon at Daytona, Gayle returned to Victory Lane the following weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course with Ty Gibbs, grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, winning his first Xfinity race in his series’ debut. Since then, Gayle has achieved four additional victories this season, three with Kyle Busch and another with Ty Gibbs. Currently, with seventeen races of the 2021 season complete, JGR’s No. 54 team led by Gayle is ranked in second place in the owners’ standings.

    Through 149 previous Xfinity appearances, Gayle has achieved 25 victories, 20 poles, 63 top-five results and 102 top-10 results while working with 15 different competitors.

    Gayle is primed to call his 150th Xfinity race as a crew chief at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 10, with Kyle Busch scheduled to drive the No. 54 JGR Toyota Supra and with the race scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

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

    Kyle Busch conquers Road America for 101st Xfinity Series win

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, five laps led

    2. Daniel Hemric, three laps led

    3. Michael Annett

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

    5. Harrison Burton

    6. Kevin Harvick

    7. Riley Herbst

    8. Austin Cindric, 10 laps led

    9. Noah Gragson, four laps led

    10. Justin Haley

    11. Brandon Brown

    12. Justin Allgaier, five laps led

    13. Andy Lally

    14. Jeb Burton

    15. Tommy Joe Martins

    16. Preston Pardus

    17. Josh Williams

    18. Kaz Grala

    19. Brandon Jones, four laps led

    20. Timmy Hill

    21. Alex Labbe

    22. Ryan Sieg

    23. Myatt Snider

    24. Cody Ware

    25. Kris Wright

    26. Stephen Leicht

    27. Landon Cassill

    28. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    29. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    30. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

    31. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    32. Natalie Decker – OUT, Accident

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

    34. Jade Buford – OUT, Suspension

    35. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    36. Spencer Pumpelly – OUT, Accident

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

  • Cindric emerges triumphant over Gibbs at Pocono

    Cindric emerges triumphant over Gibbs at Pocono

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

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Harrison Burton started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Justin Allgaier.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Austin Cindric, 26 laps led

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

    3. Justin Allgaier, 10 laps led

    4. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    5. AJ Allmendinger

    6. Daniel Hemric, 18 laps led

    7. Brandon Jones

    8. Jeb Burton

    9. Josh Berry

    10. Myatt Snider

    11. Brett Moffitt

    12. Michael Annett

    13. Jeremy Clements, two laps led

    14. Santino Ferrucci

    15. Brandon Brown

    16. Alex Labbe, one lap led

    17. Ryan Sieg

    18. Sam Mayer, one lap down

    19. Jade Buford, one lap down

    20. Tommy Joe Martins, one lap down

    21. Landon Cassill, one lap down

    22. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down

    23. Matt Mills, one lap down

    24. Colby Howard, one lap down

    25. Austin Hill, one lap down

    26. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

    27. Loris Hezemans, one lap down

    28. Carson Ware, two laps down

    29. Jesse Little, two laps down

    30. Mason Massey, two laps down

    31. Jesse Iwuji, two laps down

    32. Joe Graf Jr., two laps down

    33. David Starr, three laps down

    34. Blaine Perrkins – OUT, Suspension

    35. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    36. Joey Gase – OUT, Clutch

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

    38. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident

    39. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Accident

    40. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

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