Category: Xfinity

Almirola claims emotional Xfinity victory at Martinsville

With a dramatic victory Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway, Aric Almirola removed an asterisk from his career record and collected a $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus in the process. With considerable help-perhaps unintentional-from Joe Gibbs Racing …

With a dramatic victory Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway, Aric Almirola removed an asterisk from his career record and collected a $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus in the process.

With considerable help—perhaps unintentional—from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sheldon Creed after an overtime restart, Almirola grabbed the lead from Sam Mayer and won the DUDE Wipes 250 under caution when Riley Herbst, pole winner Brandon Jones and Ryan Ellis wrecked in Turn 2 on the final lap.

 

The victory was Almirola’s first since retiring from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition and rejoining Joe Gibbs Racing this season. The record book will show that the driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota has five NASCAR Xfinity Series wins to his credit, but Almirola has always considered his first one tainted.

In 2007, he won the pole at the Milwaukee Mile and started the race but turned the car over to Denny Hamlin, who was late in his commute from a Cup date at Sonoma Raceway. Hamlin won the race, but Almirola got credit for the victory as the driver of record.

“Man, this is so awesome,” Almirola said. “To win for Joe Gibbs Racing… I’ve had an asterisk next to a win for Coach (Joe Gibbs) for 17 years, and this is so awesome to finally put a real win banner up inside the shop at Joe Gibbs Racing.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Coach for calling me and giving me this opportunity to have some fun and still scratch the itch of racing but still get to spend a lot of time with our family.”

Though Almirola led 148 of 251 laps, the outcome was in doubt until he took command after the final restart. Race runner-up Sam Mayer held the lead at that point, but when Almirola’s JGR teammate Sheldon Creed took Almirola and Mayer three-wide in Turn 2 on the penultimate lap, contact slowed Mayer’s progress and allowed Almirola to break clear for the lead.

“Man, those restarts here are just ruthless,” said Mayer, who wrested the top spot from Almirola on lap 243, moments before a five-car pileup on the frontstretch caused the 10th caution of the race.

“Painful. Obviously, the No. 20 was really, really good today. It was good that I was able to keep up and be as fast as them and pass all those JGR cars there at the end and march up to the front. That’s the first time I’ve done that here…

“But at the end of the day, we needed a ‘W,’ and I got one I feel like stolen from me there a little bit.”

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Mayer’s pass on lap 243 was one of four lead changes over the final 12 laps. On lap 239, JGR’s Chandler Smith, who started from the back of the field after crashing in practice on Friday, muscled past Almirola, who returned the favor by moving his teammate into the top lane for a pass on lap 241.

“Chandler, I felt like used me up pretty good, so when I got back to him, I was going to make sure he knew it,” Almirola said. “From there the race was on. Mayer did a great job of getting to me and moving me out of the way.

“And then on that restart I knew it was going to be tough. I was really thankful to be able to hold on to it. They drilled me in the left rear, and I was able to hold on to it and get a good run off (Turn) 2.”

Smith ran third, followed by Carson Kvapil, who finished fourth in his Xfinity Series debut. Justin Allgaier came home fifth after starting from the rear. Creed, Sammy Smith, Cole Custer, Sunoco rookie Jesse Love and Josh Williams completed the top 10.

New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen was 11th in his first trip to Martinsville.

Almirola won the Dash 4 Cash bonus as the highest finisher among four eligible drivers. Since he is not competing at Texas next weekend, the four Dash 4 Cash drivers in Fort Worth are Mayer, Smith, Allgaier and Creed.

RESULTS

C. Smith cruises to Xfinity win in an all-Gibbs podium at Richmond

Chandler Smith led a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep at Richmond (Va.) Raceway Saturday afternoon cruising to a 4.495s victory over teammates Aric Almirola and Tanner Gray in the ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. It marks back-to-back wins in this …

Chandler Smith led a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep at Richmond (Va.) Raceway Saturday afternoon cruising to a 4.495s victory over teammates Aric Almirola and Tanner Gray in the ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

It marks back-to-back wins in this race for Smith – answering his first career Xfinity Series victory last Spring – and he led the final 60 laps in the No. 81 JGR Toyota, 76 laps on the day for his third career win, second of the season. It was his teammate Almirola, who won both stages and led a race best 95 of the 250 laps in his No. 20 JGR Toyota, but the former full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver ultimately could not catch Smith, who pulled away in the closing laps.

“Never give up, never give up,” said Smith, who has top-10 finishes in all six races this year. “This car was not good. Stage 1 wasn’t good, but we were able to do some strategy there with this No. 81 Supra in Stage 2.

“Back here winning races on a consistent basis and took over the points lead too, I’m just blessed,” he added.

 

For his part, Almirola acknowledged he just didn’t have what he needed to catch the 21-year old Georgia-native in the closing laps. He’ll have another chance at victory next week as he’s in the car again at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

“We just got a little bit too loose,” Almirola said. “The run before that in Stage 2, when I took off my car was really, really good. At the end, it just felt a little tight and that last run, for whatever reason, different set of tires or what, I let Chandler go and when I started to just creep back to him, I didn’t have anything to go with.

“I was too loose in and couldn’t get throttle down on exit. Hate that to win both stages and feel like we had the dominant car, and then to let it slip away there at the end is disappointing.”

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The JGR team can also take pride in its third-place finish – considering it was the 19-year old Gray’s series debut. NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series full-timer Corey Heim was fourth followed by series rookie Jesse Love.

It was also a big outing for renowned late model racer Bubba Pollard, punctuating his series debut with a sixth-place finish in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – particularly impressive considering Pollard started 37th.

“I just got behind in qualifying there and it made for a long day,” Pollard said. “But these guys gave me a great race car, JR Motorsports.

“I needed that long green flag run just to get in a rhythm. This place is tough, it’s technical and probably one of the toughest places I’ve been to, and I’ve been to a lot of places.

“I’m happy with it. I enjoyed it and had fun and hopefully the fans enjoyed it too.”

Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, JR Motorsports Sammy Smith and reigning series champion Cole Custer rounded out the top 10. The 20-year old Parker Retzlaff, who won his first career pole position Saturday, finished 16th in the No. 31 Jordan Anderson Chevrolet and led a career high 27 laps.

With their work, Smith, Almirola, Love and Kligerman have qualified for next week’s Dash 4 Cash event at Martinsville Speedway, and the highest finisher of the four Dash 4 Cash drivers in the race will collect an extra $100,000 bonus.

With the win, Smith takes a 10-point driver standings lead over Hill to next Saturday’s DUDE Wipes 250 (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). John Hunter Nemechek is the defending race winner.

RESULTS

Larson fends off aggressive van Gisbergen to win Xfinity at COTA

Kyle Larson was ultimately both patient and smart taking the lead on the final overtime lap to win an aggressive Featured Health 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), the first road course test for the series this year …

Kyle Larson was ultimately both patient and smart taking the lead on the final overtime lap to win an aggressive Featured Health 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), the first road course test for the series this year that earned an “A” for high drama and close competition.

New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill were duking it out for the lead – and pushing each other high off the race line as the field approached the checkered flag. With those two fending each other off, Larson drove his No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet low around both and was able to pull away to a 1.215s victory — the only lap the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champ led all day around the 20-turn 3.51-mile road course.

 

Van Gisbergen finished second in the No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevy but was accessed a 30s penalty for exceeding track limits in that last lap battle with Hill, which ultimately put him in 27th. So Hill, driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet officially is scored runner-up.

Larson was all smiles climbing out of car, conceding he wasn’t surprised things got so aggressive in the end. He was one of the few cars – and only one among the leaders – to drop into pit lane on the final caution to get gas and had worked his way back up front.

“It feels really special because seems like every time we’ve run the No. 17 car – any of us four drivers – we’re always fast on track and somehow give it away,’’ Larson said. “Today I was definitely not the fastest, but we were patient. I knew the No. 21 [Hill] had shoved SVG [van Gisbergen] through [Turn] 1 and if he got to him it could get dicey.

“I was just trying to be patient. I was thinking when to make my move and when I saw him shoving him through [Turns] 15 and 16, I thought this could get good and thankfully I cleared them off in that corner. Pretty crazy. Just wild there. … Really cool, just awesome to win here at COTA.’’

Neither van Gisbergen nor Austin Hill were too happy with the final outcome – both their cars damaged from the aggressive beating and banging on the final lap. Asked if he would speak to Hill about the racing, van Gisbergen said, “Yeah, I guess so.’’ But he was mostly positive about having a chance to win in only his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series race of his career.

“It was a crazy race and the car got better and better,’’ van Gisbergen said. “On that last restart he [Hill] just drove through me in [Turn] 1. I guess I stood up for myself. But it was pretty awesome racing with [teammate] A.J. [Allmendinger] and in the end just turned into a mess. That’s how it is.

“It was really fun. Wish I could have gotten through to the lead, but the car [Larson] just snuck through there. He was driving really well. A lot of fun.’’

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While van Gisbergen managed a smile for the post-race television interview, he definitely had to battle all afternoon — including with his Kaulig Racing teammate A.J. Allmendinger, a two-time winner of this COTA Xfinity Series race and the series’ best active road course driver.

They battled head-to-head for the final laps of the regularly scheduled race only for Allmendinger to get swept up and out in a three-wide attempt for the lead in Turn 1 during the first green-white-checker. He was running fifth at the time of the final caution that forced a second overtime start and ultimately finished 10th.

John Hunter Nemechek finished third, reigning series champion Cole Custer was fourth and Parker Kligerman rounded out the top five. Rookie Jesse Love, Austin Green, last week’s winner Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer and Allmendinger rounded out the top 10.

It was a particularly impressive day for Green, son of former Xfinity Series champion David Green, finishing eighth in his very first series start.

Big Machine Racing driver Kligerman earned his first stage win of the year claiming the Stage 1 victory. Brandon Jones seemingly won Stage 2 only to receive a penalty for cutting Turn 5 on the last lap of the stage. Second-place, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst, was instead awarded the stage victory – his first of the season.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next Saturday with the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Chandler Smith is the defending winner – earning his career first Xfinity Series trophy there last Spring.

RESULTS

Smith wins Xfinity at Phoenix after heartbreak for Allgaier

Chandler Smith had a message for his Joe Gibbs Racing team after taking the checkered flag in overtime in Saturday’s Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway. “We’ll take ’em when we can get ’em,” Smith …

Chandler Smith had a message for his Joe Gibbs Racing team after taking the checkered flag in overtime in Saturday’s Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway.

“We’ll take ‘em when we can get ‘em,” Smith radioed before celebrating his second career victory with a burnout near the start/finish line.

It was good fortune—combined with Justin Allgaier’s disastrous bad luck—that put Smith in Victory Lane after 205 laps at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert.

Allgaier held a lead of nearly three seconds after crossing the stripe on lap 195 of a scheduled 200. But as the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet approached Turn 1, his left rear tire went flat.

Allgaier’s car turned sideways and smashed into the outside wall, ending the race for the veteran driver from Illinois.

 

On the subsequent overtime restart, Smith pulled away from teammate Sheldon Creed and reached the finish line 0.365s ahead of Sunoco rookie Jesse Love, who edged Creed for the runner-up spot by 0.019s.

“Going through the dogleg [on the frontstretch], I felt [the tire] come apart, like I ran something over, and at that point you’re just a passenger,” Allgaier said. “I just hate it that we tore up a race car. We didn’t go to Victory Lane. I hate it for all the guys and gals at JR Motorsports.”

Allgaier’s ill fortune was determinative, but it wasn’t that Smith didn’t deserve the victory. He won the first 45-lap stage wire-to-wire and led a race-high 88 laps to Allgaier’s 52.

“We just lacked a little bit on the No. 7 (Allgaier),” Smith said. “I hate that happened to him—he had that in the bag. I’m so proud of everybody back at Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s good finally to get this first win off our back for these guys.

“So let’s go keep racking ‘em up.”

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Stage 2 winner Cole Custer led 61 laps, but his car suffered from a loose handling condition during the final run.

With Custer fading badly, Smith was in the lead, more than 2.5s ahead of Allgaier, when Hailie Deegan brushed the Turn 2 wall on lap 137. To that point, Smith and Custer had combined to lead all the laps.

The relatively innocent-looking fourth caution, however, set the stage for the chaos that followed. Smith lost three spots on pit road as John Hunter Nemechek took the lead.

On the subsequent restart on lap 144, Smith and Nemechek were racing in close quarters when contact from the right-front of Smith’s Toyota turned Nemechek’s Supra in front of the field.

All told, 11 cars sustained damage, with Nemechek, hard-luck Sam Mayer (third DNF in four races), Hailie Deegan, Parker Retzlaff and Jeb Burton unable to continue.

Smith’s No. 81 Toyota was none the worse for wear and restarted next to Allgaier, the race leader, on lap 152. On the longest green-flag run of the day, Allgaier pulled away and was cruising toward a comfortable victory when disaster struck, opening the door for Smith to secure his first victory since last April’s win at Richmond for owner Matt Kaulig.

Austin Hill came home fourth, with Custer, the defending series champion, claiming the fifth spot. Sunoco rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Anthony Alfredo completed the top 10.

RESULTS

Nemechek wins Xfinity’s desert duel of JGR teammates in Vegas

Chandler Smith won the battle. John Hunter Nemechek won the war. The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates spent most of Saturday afternoon racing each other for the top spot in The LiUNA!, a 300-mile NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It …

Chandler Smith won the battle. John Hunter Nemechek won the war.

The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates spent most of Saturday afternoon racing each other for the top spot in The LiUNA!, a 300-mile NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was Nemechek who proved superior in the long run.

After Smith won the first two stages of the race — the second with a deft last-lap pass of Nemechek’s No. 20 Toyota — Nemechek asserted his dominance.

By the time Nemechek crossed the finish line at the end of lap 200, he held a 4.36s lead over pole winner Cole Custer, who had charged into second place after a late cycle of green flag pit stops.

“Hats off to all the guys on this No. 20 team for Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Nemechek, who led a race-high 99 laps in securing his first victory of the season, his first at Las Vegas and the 10th of his career.

“Man, it’s awesome to come out here and win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a limited number of starts. Our goal is to come and win as many as we possibly could. Nothing else matters.

“Congrats to Tyler (Allen). He’s the crew chief this year on the No. 20 car — his first win as a crew chief. Our spotter, Ryan Blanchard — his first win as well… Man, it feels so good to win here in Las Vegas. Got to rest for tomorrow, so I’m excited.”

Now full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series with Legacy Motor Club, Nemechek will race in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 (3:30pm ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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Smith arguably had the best car in the race until he pitted with the rest of the field at the second stage break.

“We just over-adjusted a little bit,” said Smith, who led 74 laps, including the first 49, and came home third. “[We were] trying to stay ahead of the race track, and it feels actually like it might have gotten a little colder as well.

“It felt like track definitely freed up, and we went in that same direction, thinking it was going to tighten up. So you live and you learn… We were pretty dominant and we just over-adjusted, but I’m happy that a Joe Gibbs Racing car still won.”

Austin Hill, who triumphed in the first two races of the season, at Daytona and Atlanta, was fourth, with Riley Herbst finishing fifth after dominating the Las Vegas race last fall. AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier completed the top 10.

Hill retained his series lead by 22 points over Smith in second. Hailie Deegan was the top Sunoco rookie with a 15th-place finish.

For the second time in three races, ill fortune beset JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer, who completed just 22 of 120 laps in the season opener at Daytona.

Mayer was running 10th on lap eight on Saturday when the No. 31 Chevrolet of fifth-place qualifier Parker Retzlaff turned sideways in front of him and slammed into the right side of Mayer’s car, knocking him out of the race.

“It’s just the year from hell,” Mayer said. “Very frustrating and unfortunate and can’t wait to get to Phoenix [for next Saturday’s race].”

Another early casualty was New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, who took his Kaulig Racing Chevrolet behind the wall with overheating problems after completing 27 laps.

Van Gisbergen and Mayer finished 37th and 38th respectively in the 38-car field.

RESULTS

Nemechek sees key benefits in running Cup/Xfinity double duty

John Hunter Nemechek had a simple explanation to why he’s pulling double duty the first few weeks of the NASCAR season when he has a new ride in the Cup Series. “Why not?” Nemechek said. Nemechek has a second shot in the Cup Series with Legacy Motor …

John Hunter Nemechek had a simple explanation to why he’s pulling double duty the first few weeks of the NASCAR season when he has a new ride in the Cup Series.

“Why not?” Nemechek said.

Nemechek has a second shot in the Cup Series with Legacy Motor Club, which hired him to drive the No. 42 Toyota. It will be his second full season in the Cup Series after a 2020 rookie campaign with Front Row Motorsports, where he earned three top-10 finishes and finished 27th in the championship standings. After the season concluded, Nemechek announced he wouldn’t return to the organization. He has spent the last few years winning races in the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series.

Now the 27-year-old is back where he wanted to be and in much better equipment. But his time and focus will be split this year, especially at the start of the season, as Nemechek will run 10 races in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing. Of those 10 races, Nemechek is doing the first five to start the season: Daytona, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Circuit of The Americas.

“I like to race,” Nemechek said. “I like to be in race cars, and I think getting more laps is more beneficial for myself. Being able to work with the same group of guys at JGR that are on the 20 car besides two positions, I think everyone is still the same. It’s big for me to come back this year and have fun and try to go win races, not really knowing what the Cup side has in store for the first few as far as speed and other things.

“For myself, I wanted to put myself in a situation where I can gain confidence on Saturday and go into Sunday and be able to go out there and strive, learn some things from Saturday to try to apply to Sunday. I’m a race car driver. If we could run all three series every weekend, I’d be raising my hand to be into that.”

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Nemechek won seven races in the Xfinity Series with Gibbs last season and made the Championship 4. He has nine wins in 102 starts.

Over the last three years, Nemechek regained the confidence in himself that was lost when struggling in the Cup Series the first time. But he put himself in a position to succeed by aligning with Toyota and winning organizations like Kyle Busch Motorsports and then Gibbs. It’s also been three years of learning, which Nemechek will be doing again in the Cup Series.

Not only is he driving a car completely different from his rookie season, but it’s also different from what he’s been running in the Xfinity Series. Nemechek doesn’t expect many issues in driving two different cars, but there are some noticeable differences he’ll be aware of on his double-duty weekends.

“I think it’s just remembering what transmissions are in each, where the switches are,” Nemechek said. “(Friday in Atlanta), I went to kill the ignition switch after finishing my qualifying lap, and I reached to where my Cup one is, and it wasn’t in the same spot. So, small things like that.

“But as far as everything else, it’s similar so far. Daytona and Atlanta will be similar; we’re going to have more differences between the two cars when you get to (Las) Vegas, Phoenix, COTA, places like that.”

Xfinity superspeedway king Hill aces major fuel gamble at Atlanta

Sunoco rookie Jesse Love led almost all the laps, but in the end, it was his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Austin Hill, who had Saturday’s RAPTOR King of Tough 250 fall into his lap. For Hill, who won last week’s NASCAR Xfinity Series …

Sunoco rookie Jesse Love led almost all the laps, but in the end, it was his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Austin Hill, who had Saturday’s RAPTOR King of Tough 250 fall into his lap.

For Hill, who won last week’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, it was the continuation of a serendipitous start to 2024. Hill is the first driver since Tony Stewart in 2008 to win the first two events of an Xfinity season.

The victory was Hill’s third in the last four races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the eighth of his career.

But victory for the driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet came at the expense of Love, who started from the pole, swept the first two stages and led 157 of 169 laps. Love ran out of fuel at the start of a two-lap overtime, as Hill grabbed the lead for the first time and held off eventual runner-up Chandler Smith by 0.106s.

 

The bottom line? Running behind the leaders in a single-file line, Hill was able to save more fuel than his teammate at the front of the pack. Hill had enough in his tank to stave off Smith who had pitted for fuel under caution on lap 164.

“I was really thinking we were down and out,” Hill said. “I was thinking the No. 2 (Love) was going to go get ‘em, and hey, if I can’t win, let my teammate win. We were riding there in fourth or fifth—whatever it was—I was saving fuel…”

On the overtime restart on lap 168, Hill’s car stumbled when he shifted from third to fourth gear.

“The No. 81 (Smith) hit me really hard, and that woke it back up, and I had enough fuel to complete the lap. But I’ve got to take this moment to congratulate, Jesse Love, my teammate. He ran an awesome race. To be a rookie and to lead that many laps, he should be sitting in Victory Lane right now.”

The coup de grace for Love came when the Ford of Ryan Sieg ran out of fuel on lap 161 of a scheduled 163 and stopped on the track in Turn 4. The caution extended the race by six laps and allowed a dozen cars to pit before the overtime restart.

Among those who took advantage of the fuel stop was New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, who finished third in his second Xfinity Series start.

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“It’s almost comical,” Love said. “Man, I’m just so…proud of everybody on this Whelen car. It just wasn’t meant to be. Obviously, as a Christian, I’m not going to allow myself to question why we were under caution so long or what happened.

“I always try to take responsibility for everything, so I as a driver I should have saved more fuel. Man, I just didn’t want anybody to catch me off-guard. I thought I saved a ton. Man, that overtime or that caution just lasted forever.

“No matter what, I’m really proud of our guys. We had a great showing. Led a lot of laps man. It just wasn’t in store for us today.”

Van Gisbergen was delighted to be on the other side of the fuel equation.

“Pretty awesome,” he said. “Great job by (crew chief) Bruce (Schlicker) on the box there to pit us. I had so much fun. Just learning about it and running in the pack. Yeah, to be P3 in the second race in the WeatherTech Chevy is pretty awesome. I’m stoked.

“It’s just good to get a result and have a clean car, especially after last week (at Daytona) when I got involved in so much stuff. So, to have a clean race, not make too many mistakes, and complete every lap, we learned a lot. It was awesome.”

Riley Herbst, Love’s foremost challenger over the closing laps was among the first to run out of fuel—from the second position on lap 160. Cole Custer hit empty almost simultaneously, then Sieg, causing the fateful caution.

The gas shortage throughout the field scrambled the finishing order, leaving Sheldon Creed fourth and Parker Retzlaff fifth. Jeremy Clements, Anthony Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Truex and Sammy Smith completed the top 10.

Note: Love is the first driver since Christopher Bell in 2017 to lead more than 100 laps in his first two Xfinity Series starts combined. Bell led 152 of 250 laps in his second start at Iowa. Love led 34 laps in his series debut last Monday at Daytona, giving him a total of 191 for the two races.

RESULTS

NASCAR Xfinity race at Daytona postponed until Monday

The United Rentals 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway has been postponed from Saturday to Monday because of rain. The Xfinity season opener has been rescheduled for 11am ET on Monday, February 19 and will be broadcast …

The United Rentals 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway has been postponed from Saturday to Monday because of rain.

The Xfinity season opener has been rescheduled for 11am ET on Monday, February 19 and will be broadcast on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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During a break in the weather on Saturday afternoon, the Xfinity Series cars were able to qualify. Richard Childress Racing teammates Jesse Love (a Sunoco rookie) and Austin Hill ran 1-2 in time trials, with Love securing his first pole position in his first career attempt in the series.

Hill, a four-time winner with RCR last year, is the two-time defending winner of the Xfinity season opener at Daytona. Hill posted a time of 49.705 (181.068 mph) seconds in qualifying, narrowly losing the pole to Love’s 49.702 (181.079 mph).

Veteran AJ Allmendinger, who returns to the Xfinity Series full-time this season, will start third, with Parker Kligerman beside him in the fourth spot.

New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, winner of last year’s Chicago Street Race in his first NASCAR Cup Series start, had an auspicious beginning to his NASCAR Xfinity Series career with a fifth-place qualifying effort in Kaulig Racing’s No. 97 Chevrolet.

After qualifying, the rain picked up later in the afternoon, forcing the postponement.

Riley Herbst on taking the next step with RWR

NASCAR Cup team owner Rick Ware has brought Riley Herbst into the Rick Ware Racing Cup Series program for multiple 2024 races, explaining that he sees clear progression in the 24-year-old. “Riley continues to impress as a driver,” said Ware. “He …

NASCAR Cup team owner Rick Ware has brought Riley Herbst into the Rick Ware Racing Cup Series program for multiple 2024 races, explaining that he sees clear progression in the 24-year-old.

“Riley continues to impress as a driver,” said Ware. “He showcased what we could do together by securing a top 10 in his first Cup Series start in last year’s Daytona 500, so we look forward to using that as our benchmark when we return to do it again in a few weeks.“

Herbst will line up for Stewart-Haas Racing in the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford in Saturday’s season-opening Xfinity Series race at Daytona, and will wheel the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang in today’s Cup Series Duels ahead of Sunday’s Daytona 500.

“This is the most excited I’ve been for our season in a long time,” said Herbst. “I finished the Xfinity season last year with five straight top-five finishes and a win at Las Vegas (pictured above) and all of that just provided so much momentum and chemistry with the team in 2023. I am just ready to continue that this year and get some more wins.

“And yeah, it’s gonna be double duty, so it’s huge for me,” acknowledged the Las Vegas native. “Thank you to Stewart Haas Racing for doing a collaboration with Rick Ware Racing. Thanks for having the support and the backing from everybody. It’s gonna be awesome. As far as I see it, it is every person’s dream to race in the ‘Great American Race,’ the Daytona 500. Me getting to do it this year is pretty special.”

Herbst enters his fifth year in the Xfinity Series after a highly competitive 2023 season where he not only won his first career NASCAR race and consistently ran in the top five, but gained self-confidence.

“Yeah, the confidence is key in any sort of racing,” admitted Herbst. “You always believe in yourself, but if you’ve never done it, it’s hard to continue with that confidence. But now that we get it, the confidence has skyrocketed and we’re just ready to build on that and continue to grow. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve grown as a race car driver and as a person. Real big things are in store for us and we’re ready to go obtain them.”

A key variable in Herbst’s development as both a racer and a competitor has come from his close working relationship with crew chief Davin Restivo.

“Yeah, Davin has been great. He has been a great addition,” Herbst said. “The confidence he instills in myself and everybody on the team is second to none and I love the way he conducts himself and the team and the confidence he has to go win every race.

“I think racing is about who surround yourself with. From everybody like the guys at Monster Energy, Kevin Harvick and Kevin Harvick Incorporated and everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing, we are surrounded by good people. They’re dependent on me, but I’m depending on them. So we win together. We lose together for sure.

“I’m continuing to develop in this sport. I’m proud of how I have become a better race car driver. What has really helped me I think is just being curious and asking questions. You’re here to learn and you’re here to get better. I don’t think you can learn without asking questions. I just kind of study a lot of film. There are lot of ideas bouncing back and forth between me and my teammate Cole Custer. Repetition is key — just understanding your surroundings and putting yourself in good positions. Sometimes you put yourself in bad positions to learn from. Hopefully positions that are more good than bad, but it’s all about repetition.”

Riley Herbst is soaking up all the NASCAR experience he can get. Nigel Kinrade/Motorsport Images

Speaking of learning, doubling up in Cup and Xfinity races helps drive home the differences between the two cars for Herbst.

“Yeah, they’re very different from the way they drive and from the way you shift them — the downforce on them is way different,” Herbst explained. They are extremely different race cars. So that’s going to be another challenge this year, going back and forth between the Cup and Xfinity cars. It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to where I can continue to learn and continue to grow.

Competing in the Cup Series is the ultimate goal Herbst is looking towards, though: “I want to continue to win races and to compete for a championship in the Xfinity Series, but everybody wants to make it to Cup one day and race at the highest level. So I am working every day to achieve that.”

Herbst hopes he and Stewart-Haas Racing will continue to build on the momentum they built during the 2023 Xfinity Series, particularly in its later races.

“We’re gonna approach Xfinity the same way we did at the end of last year where we were showing up at the racetrack knowing we can win every week,” said Herbst. “We’ll be looking to dominate races and go in there with the attitude that we can do it.That was a really good points grab the last five or six races. So we will be continuing that and knowing we still have a lot of work in front of us, but we are right there for the opportunity.”

The positivity and support Cup owner Rick Ware has been throwing his way lately has also made a strong impression on Herbst.

“Yes, it’s good to hear that stuff from Rick, for sure,” he agreed. “He’s somebody who’s heavily involved in motorsports and involved in lot of different series with IMSA and IndyCar and Supercross and NHRA drag racing. He does a little bit of everything and it’s cool to be aligned with a guy like that. You know, everybody in this sport walks and runs at different times and we’re ready to take that next step this year and be contenders weekend week-in and week-out. I know we can do it.”

Almirola joins JGR for part-time Xfinity program

Aric Almirola’s NASCAR program in 2024 will be a part-time schedule in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing. Almirola, who left Stewart-Haas Racing after six seasons with the team, was included in an extensive Wednesday announcement for Gibbs as …

Aric Almirola’s NASCAR program in 2024 will be a part-time schedule in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Almirola, who left Stewart-Haas Racing after six seasons with the team, was included in an extensive Wednesday announcement for Gibbs as it laid out its four-car lineup. Almirola will split time in the No. 20 Toyota Supra with John Hunter Nemechek.

It marks a return to the organization for Almirola, who made 27 starts in the series with JGR between 2006 and ’07. Almirola was credited with a win at Milwaukee in 2007 after starting the race that Denny Hamlin finished.

The number of races Almirola will run was not announced. Nemechek will drive the car in 10 races.

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Ryan Truex, William Sawalich, Joe Graf Jr., and Taylor Gray will share time in the No. 19 Toyota Supra. It will be the third season for Truex with the organization. Graf returns for a second season with the organization after making six starts last year.

Sawalich and Gray will be making their debuts in the series next year. Sawalich will run at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Phoenix Raceway at the end of the year. Those races are timed for after Sawalich turns 18.

Joe Gibbs Racing will have two full-time drivers. Sheldon Creed joins the organization to drive the No. 18 Toyota Supra. Creed spent the last two seasons competing for Richard Childress Racing.

Chandler Smith will drive the No. 81 Toyota Supra. Smith makes the move from Kaulig Racing where he won one race in his rookie season.

“Over the last couple of months, we’ve been working diligently to put together our 2024 Xfinity program, which will include the addition of a fourth team,” said Steve DeSouza, EVP of Xfinity Series/Development at JGR. “Our 2024 roster has a great balance of experience, youth, wisdom and talent. We believe the veteran drivers will continually benchmark our program, complement and challenge each other, as well as assist our younger drivers to further develop their skill set.

“We are also excited about our crew chiefs and the teams they have assembled. We take a lot of pride in not only our program’s on-track success, but also in the opportunity to develop and promote our team members.”

Tyler Allen will be the crew chief of the No. 20 team for Almirola and Nemechek. He moves into the role after nine seasons in various engineering roles with the organization.

Seth Chavka will be the crew chief on the No. 19 team. He was most recently the lead race engineer for Ty Gibbs.

Creed will work with Sam McAulay. For the last eight years, McAulay was the lead race engineer in the Cup Series for Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 team.

Jeff Meendering will oversee the No. 81 team with Smith. Meendering worked with Sammy Smith, who finished sixth in the championship standings, last season.