Category: Xfinity

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.

Full-time Xfinity, part-time Cup programs in 2024 for van Gisbergen

Shane van Gisbergen will begin the NASCAR-focused stage of his career as a full-time Xfinity Series driver with Kaulig Racing in 2024, in addition to running select Cup Series events. On Wednesday, Kaulig Racing and Trackhouse Racing announced a …

Shane van Gisbergen will begin the NASCAR-focused stage of his career as a full-time Xfinity Series driver with Kaulig Racing in 2024, in addition to running select Cup Series events.

On Wednesday, Kaulig Racing and Trackhouse Racing announced a partnership to field New Zealand native van Gisbergen in the No. 97 Chevrolet. The three-time Supercars champion landed Monday in the United States to begin his transition to stock cars.

“After winning in Chicago, I could not stop thinking about racing full-time in NASCAR,” van Gisbergen said. “I am still stunned at how quickly this has all come together. I must thank the NASCAR industry and fans for embracing me and allowing me to chase this dream. I respect every driver who has put in the work to make it to the Cup Series, and I am ready to put in that same effort. I am anxious to get started.”

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Van Gisbergen made his NASCAR debut in July on the streets of Chicago for the inaugural Cup Series event. Driving the No. 91 PROJECT91 entry for Trackhouse Racing, van Gisbergen went toe-to-toe with the best the series has to offer and pulled off the victory. He returned a month later to run at the Indianapolis road course and finished 10th, which was the same weekend he made his oval debut in the Craftsman Truck Series, finishing 19th at Lucas Oil Raceway Park.

The six Cup Series races van Gisbergen will run in 2024 will be split between road courses, superspeedways and intermediates. He will start his campaign at Circuit of The Americas March 24, followed by Talladega Superspeedway (April 21), Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 26), a return to the Chicago street course (July 7), Watkins Glen (Sept. 15) and Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Oct. 20).

“We know Shane will be incredibly competitive at the road course events in both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, but we wanted to get him as much experience on NASCAR ovals as possible, so I am really excited about his 2024 schedule,” Trackhouse boss Justin Marks said. “Kaulig Racing has a history of winning in the Xfinity Series, and as a fellow Chevrolet team, we are so thankful Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice see the potential in Shane that we see. The anticipation for this season is palpable.”

In his Xfinity Series team, van Gisbergen will be able to lean on the experience of AJ Allmendinger, another star in a different style of racing who’s found a home in NASCAR. Nigel Kinrade/Motorsport Images

In the Xfinity Series, van Gisbergen will be a teammate to AJ Allmendinger and Josh Williams. Kaulig Racing won four Xfinity Series races last season. WeatherTech will be sponsor a majority of van Gisbergen’s effort in the Xfinity Series as well as his Cup Series races.

“We started our talks with Trackhouse about the possibility of putting SVG in a Xfinity car for a few races quite some time ago, and from there the talks evolved to discussions about how much it would cost to run a full season,” said Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing. “Once we knew we had an open seat for next season, it became the perfect scenario to put him in the car. We partner with Trackhouse’s pit crew department, and with their key support from Chevrolet, it made teaming up an easy decision.”

Allmendinger returning to full-time Xfinity duty with Kaulig

AJ Allmendinger will return full-time to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2024 with Kaulig Racing, the organization announced Thursday. “We feel AJ returning full time to our Xfinity Series program gives us the best chance to continue growing our …

AJ Allmendinger will return full-time to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2024 with Kaulig Racing, the organization announced Thursday.

“We feel AJ returning full time to our Xfinity Series program gives us the best chance to continue growing our organization as a whole,” Chris Rice, Kaulig Racing team president, said. “He’s passionate, he’s aggressive, and he pushes us to keep getting better. We’re excited to see what we can accomplish in the 2024 season on both the Xfinity and Cup side.”

Allmendinger will be in the No. 16 Chevrolet, which he drove to 15 victories in the series between 2019 and 2023. That includes the 10 victories when Allmendinger was a championship contender in 2021 and ’22, finishing fourth and fifth respectively in the championship standings.

“To Kaulig Racing, AJ is much more than the trophies he’s won or the banners he’s hung in our shop,” said team owner Matt Kaulig. “AJ has always embraced what we are trying to do as an organization, and his contribution to the culture at Kaulig Racing is what truly makes him forever a part of our family.”

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Allmendinger moves back to the series after a full season in the Cup Series (his first since 2018 when driving for JTG Daugherty Racing). On his way to finishing 21st in the standings, Allmendinger took the organization to victory lane at the Charlotte Roval. It was their second career victory, and the first also came with Allmendinger (on the Indianapolis road course).

In addition to his Xfinity Series schedule, Allmendinger will run a limited Cup Series schedule with the team. Those details will be announced later.

“My plans for 2024 have always been whatever Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice think is best for the team,” Allmendinger said. “We’ve got work to do on both our Xfinity and Cup side as we continue to grow but I think we are putting ourselves in the best position to keep improving. With Josh Williams coming on board, it’ll be fun to learn each other’s driving styles and work together as teammates on Saturdays. I’m excited to be a part everything we’re working on at Kaulig Racing and see what we can get done next season.”

NASCAR awards its champions in Nashville ceremony

On Thursday night at the Music City Center, the NASCAR Champion’s Week festivities concluded with the honoring of Ryan Blaney, who reached the pinnacle of the sport – claiming the NASCAR Cup Series title – by outdueling three other Championship 4 …

On Thursday night at the Music City Center, the NASCAR Champion’s Week festivities concluded with the honoring of Ryan Blaney, who reached the pinnacle of the sport — claiming the NASCAR Cup Series title — by outdueling three other Championship 4 contenders Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway.

The 29-year-old Blaney finished second to Ross Chastain in the season finale but crossed the finish line ahead of Playoff drivers Kyle Larson and William Byron — both representing Hendrick Motorsports — to earn his first Cup championship and the second in a row for team owner Roger Penske.

“I know, all the competitors, we don’t agree all the time, but it is a true honor to race with the best in the world on a weekly basis, and I do appreciate that,” Blaney said after an introduction from NASCAR president Steve Phelps and a welcome to the stage from one of Blaney’s favorite bands, Whiskey Myers.

Blaney comes from a racing family that includes his father, Dave Blaney and uncle, Dale Blaney, both superstars in the sprint car realm.

“Obviously, growing up, watching Dad race, that’s just what I wanted to do, and I wanted to be like my Dad,” Blaney said. “I was super lucky to be able see that at a young age and get the whole spectrum of seeing what it’s like as a driver, seeing how teams operated.”

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Blaney had special praise for team owner Roger Penske, who has fielded Cup cars for Blaney for the last six seasons.

“Roger and (wife) Kathy Penske — it’s hard to believe it’s been over 10 years since we first met,” Blaney said. “As a kid, there’s nothing more I wanted to do than to win you a championship and just be successful, because I was such a big fan of you, not only in NASCAR but in every form of motorsport.

“I have such a huge respect for what you did. You stuck with me for over 10 years, and it’s been unbelievable.”

Blaney delivered Penske’s first back-to-back Cup championships this season, with Jonathan Hassler as his crew chief.

“Ryan is the champion, but think about his position in the garage area with other teams and other drivers,” Penske said. “He’s a champion with them, too. It’s very important, as you climb the ladder in this sport.”

For the sixth straight year, Chase Elliot won the National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver Award. Justin Allgaier and Hailie Deegan were most popular drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series, respectively.

Elliott, who is 10 short of the 16 Most Popular Driver Awards won by his father, Bill Elliott, appeared on stage with a sling on his left arm, indicative of recent offseason should surgery.

Ty Gibbs was named Sunoco Rookie of the Year in NASCAR’s top series.

“It’s been a great year, and we want to keep going,” said Gibbs, who scored 10 top-10 finishes with a best result of fourth in his first full-time season.

All 16 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers appeared on stage during the award ceremony. Veteran Michael McDowell perhaps had the best laugh line of the evening.

“It’s taken me a long time not to suck,” said McDowell, a former Daytona 500 winner who earned his second career victory on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course this year.

Kevin Harvick summed up his retirement from full-time Cup racing with a poignant image.

“When I got out of my car in Phoenix, there wasn’t another (race),” said Harvick, who is leaving full-time racing after 23 Cup seasons.

NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton had high praise for Harvick, who will remain prominent in the sport as an analyst in the FOX Sports booth.

“I want to say, ‘thank you’ to everybody in this room,” Harvick said. “It’s been a heck of a ride… “Where’s Bubba (Wallace)? He bet me $100 I’d cry like a baby — I won $100. Thank you!”

Brad Keselowski, co-owner/driver at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, pointed to the progress the organization has made in 2023, with both Keselowski and teammate Chris Buescher, a three-time winner, qualifying for the Playoffs.

Cole Custer takes a bow as Xfinity Series champion. Rusty Jarrett/Motorsport Images

Driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, Cole Custer bested Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer and John Hunter Nemechek to win his first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.

Custer returned to the Xfinity Series this season after three disappointing years in NASCAR’s top division.

“I think he’s matured a lot, and it’s very gratifying to see him win the Xfinity Series championship,” said team owner Gene Haas.

NASCAR chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell brought Custer to the stage with high praise for the title-winning performance at Phoenix.

“He dug deep, like he always does,” O’Donnell said, referencing the nail-biting restarts late in the championship race.

“At the end of that race in Phoenix, when we held that championship trophy, I’ve never been more proud to be a part of that (team),” Custer said. “To the whole team, thank you for believing in me — I love you guys.”

Custer also acknowledged the help and advice he received from Harvick, the 2014 Cup Series champion.

Truck Series champion Ben Rhodes with his ThorSport Racing Ford. Rusty Jarrett/Motorsport Images

In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Ben Rhodes won his second title for ThorSport Racing, beating Grant Enfinger, Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim in the Championship 4 finale. Also notable in the Truck Series was Sunoco Rookie of the Year Nick Sanchez, the only rookie driver to qualify for the Playoffs this season.

Rhodes finished the season with Rich Lushes as his crew chief after two in-season changes to that vital role.

Ben Kennedy, NASCAR vice president of racing development and strategy, introduced Rhodes for his champion’s speech.

“I can’t speak for everyone on the team,” Rhodes said, “but I can say they had incredible tenacity. We went through a lot of adversity, and not once did I hear anyone complain… While I stand before you tonight taking recognition, I really defer that to my team, without which none of it would have been possible.”

Carson Hocevar and John Hunter Nemechek earned respective driver of the year honors in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series, while Christopher Bell won the 2023 Busch Light Pole Award for his career-best six pole positions this year.

Kurt Busch held back tears as he was recognized for a NASCAR career that spanned more than two decades.

“I want to say thank you to everyone in this room and everyone in this industry for supporting me for all these years,” said Busch, the 2004 series champion. “I want to thank my father, my mother and my brother Kyle — we always pushed each other to get to the next level.”

NASCAR chairman Jim France presented the Bill France Award of Excellence to Rich Kramer, chairman, president and CEO of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

“I’m completely humbled by this acknowledgement,” Kramer said. “The team you see at the track each weekend — anything I’m acknowledged for is due to them…. Goodyear is long-term partner of NASCAR, I think, because we’re cut out of the same cloth.”

Lesa France Kennedy, executive vice chair of NASCAR, announced Molly Moran, a volunteer at Comfort Zone Camp, as the winner of this year’s prestigious Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award.

Comfort Zone Camp is a non-profit bereavement organization that transforms the lives of children who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, primary caregiver, or significant person.

Ryan Vargas was honored as Comcast Community Champion of the Year for his work with FACES, the National Craniofacial Association. Diagnosed with craniosynostosis as a child, Vargas serves as a board member of FACES and earned a $60,000 donation from Comcast and Xfinity for the organization.

Sherry Pollex, long-time partner of 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., was honored with the NMPA Myers Brothers Award. Pollex lost a valiant, nine-year battle against ovarian cancer this year.

Custer wins three-wide overtime battle for Xfinity title at Phoenix

After an overtime restart that saw title contenders engage in a breathtaking three-wide battle down the backstretch, Cole Custer deftly negotiated a tightly bunched pack of cars to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race and the series title …

After an overtime restart that saw title contenders engage in a breathtaking three-wide battle down the backstretch, Cole Custer deftly negotiated a tightly bunched pack of cars to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race and the series title on Saturday at Phoenix Raceway.

The victory was the third of the season for Custer, who returned to full-time Xfinity Series racing this year after a lackluster three-year stint in the NASCAR Cup Series that produced a single victory.

But Custer proved his mettle after slipping from first to third in the running order moments after the final restart. Championship 4 driver John Hunter Nemechek held a fleeting lead but couldn’t turn his No. 20 Toyota in Turn 1 and lost the top spot to title contender Just Allgaier.

 

Custer steered his No. 00 Stewart Haas Racing Ford to the inside of Allgaier’s Chevrolet as the three championship hopefuls raced side-by-side down the backstretch before Custer emerged with the lead. A lap later, Custer crossed the finish line 0.601s ahead of charging Sheldon Creed and another 0.007s ahead of Allgaier to win for the first time at Phoenix and the 13th time in his career.

“I thought it was over,” said Custer, who had two previous runner-up finishes in the series standings. “I mean, went from first to third, and I was able to shift the car all night. And Doug Yates horsepower worked out, pulled me off the corner. I can’t believe we won that thing after going back to third on that restart.

“Man, I can’t say enough about these guys (his Stewart Haas team). We started the year off and it was a struggle, and we had to kind of dig deep with each other, really talk about how to get better and to see how much this group has grown through the year.

“I’ve been waiting to hear (congratulations from Xfinity Series director) Wayne (Auton) on the radio for a few times now, so I’m pumped.”

Allgaier spun underneath Nemechek on lap three and worked his way back to the front from 38th in the running order, but Custer had the superior car on short runs and proved it after the final restart.

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“I don’t know if I’ll get another shot at it again next year,” said the 37-year-old Allgaier. “We at least will have a shot at it, but I don’t know if we’ll make it. But so proud of the effort of this team and what we were able to accomplish. The restart was fantastic. I thought we did everything right.

“The No. 20 (Nemechek) kind of missed the bottom and drove all the way up, and honestly, I was afraid I was going to run into the back of him. When I tried to turn back down the hill, it just was enough to let the No. 00 (Custer) get back to my inside and ultimately getting down into Turn 3…

“I don’t know, I’m going to replay this one back in my head a couple times. I drove in there pretty deep and just kind of washed up. The No. 00 had the turning car all night, and we were just a little bit too free.”

Riley Herbst ran fourth on Saturday, followed by title contender Sam Mayer. Nemechek, a series-best seven-time winner this season, suffered a flat tire after the final restart, slammed the outside wall and finished 28th.

“Drove in, and it didn’t turn,” Nemechek said of Turn 1 after the final restart. “I don’t know if we had a right front (tire) start going down or what exactly it was, but just drove in and didn’t turn.

“Toyota GR Supra was really fast, but drive down, it doesn’t turn, it’s not a very good thing. Then once we got pinched in the fence there off of [Turn 2], it kind of hurt the right sides even more. I think we had a right rear start going down, as well.

“It sucks to end up where we finished. Had a really strong effort all day. Proud of this whole No. 20 crew. Proud of this whole group. Just sucks to end our season this way, but overall, a really successful season for this No. 20 team, Joe Gibbs Racing. Was proud to be behind the wheel of this No. 20 car all year, and seven wins is a lot to be proud of.”

In a race that produced eight cautions for a total of 46 laps, Custer led 96 of 202 laps to 66 for Nemechek.

Josh Berry, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, pole winner Sammy Smith and Kaz Grala completed the top 10.

RESULTS

Allgaier beat long odds to race for a Xfinity Series title

As Justin Allgaier sat in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet during a 28-minute red-flag period late in last Saturday’s race at Martinsville Speedway, he calculated his odds for winning the event and qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series …

As Justin Allgaier sat in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet during a 28-minute red-flag period late in last Saturday’s race at Martinsville Speedway, he calculated his odds for winning the event and qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4.

He might as well have been playing roulette, trying to hit a single number.

“Sitting under the red flag at Martinsville truly was probably the best thing that ever happened,” said Allgaier, who was fifth in the running order at the time. “I looked at the odds of making the final four. I gave myself a five-percent chance, and that’s probably being a little bit generous.”

But Allgaier hit the number when Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed took each other out of the running with a bumping-and-rubbing overtime battle for the lead. Allgaier found an opening to the inside off the final corner and beat Creed to the finish line.

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“I don’t know if there’s any destiny in it, but in order to win a championship, you’ve got to be in the final four,” Allgaier said. “And if the five percent doesn’t happen last week at Martinsville, I don’t even have a shot at it, right?

“I think that’s truly something for me that does go a long way. Whether we win or we don’t win, this year has been phenomenal. We’ve had fast race cars. Shoot, I’ve made more mistakes in 2023 than I’ve made probably in entire career combined — pit road speeding penalties and just dumb stuff.

“But when I look at the cars we’ve brought to the racetrack, this is arguably the most speed week-in, week-out, and a lot of it just comes down to preparation for me.”

A case in point was last Saturday at Martinsville, where Allgaier did not have a winning car — until he did.

“I knew we weren’t in position to win the race,” Allgaier said. “We didn’t have the car to win the race. But my team stayed relevant. They stayed behind me, they kept pushing me, and we had a five-percent chance, and we came out with a win.

“And the Red Sea parted — listen, at the end of the day, everything had to be exactly as it was, and it worked out in our favor, and I can’t be more thankful for that… we’re kind of playing with house money. When I sat under that red flag and I knew we didn’t have a shot at it, it kind of changed my perception of the season, and it’s all for the better. I feel like I come here with a new invigoration to be successful and to win races, and it’s good.”

“We’re kind of playing with house money” is how Allgaier sums up his improbable path into the Championship 4. Lesley Ann Miller/Motorsport Images

Further buoying Allgaier’s confidence is the preparation of the track. Gone this year is the resin treatment that has made Phoenix top-lane dominant in recent seasons.

“We’re getting back to the old Phoenix, and I’m excited,” Allgaier said. “Hot, slick, all the things that I want it to be, so we’ve got it all.”

The 37-year-old Allgaier has two victories in 26 starts at Phoenix. Collectively, his Championship 4 competitors — John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer and Sam Mayer — are winless at the track.

“When we leave here,” Allgaier said, “I’d just like everyone else’s win column to stay zero still and ours to have one more.”

Allgaier wins crazy Martinsville Xfinity Championship 4 decider

At the end of Saturday’s chaotic Dead on Tools 250, Justin Allgaier rescued his season with an improbable victory that earned the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet a berth in the Nov. 4 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 event at …

At the end of Saturday’s chaotic Dead on Tools 250, Justin Allgaier rescued his season with an improbable victory that earned the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet a berth in the Nov. 4 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway.

Allgaier’s Camaro crossed the finish line glued to the side of Sheldon Creed’s No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, scoring his first win at Martinsville, his fourth of the season and the 23rd of his career by 0.032s over Creed, who needed a victory to advance to the title race.

Repeated contact between Creed’s car and the Chevrolet of teammate Austin Hill during two overtime laps eventually victimized Hill, the regular-season champion, in a chain-reaction wreck in the final corner and deprived Hill of a chance to race for the championship next weekend.

 

Before the final restart, Allgaier’s chances of qualifying for the title race had dimmed, as both Hill, the race leader at the time, and Cole Custer (seventh for the restart) had control of the final two Championship 4 spots.

Though Custer was collected in the last-lap wreck, which produced the 16th caution of the race, he was credited with a 19th-place finish to Hill’s 21st and bumped the RCR driver out of the Playoffs by seven points.

But no one benefited from the closing mayhem more than Allgaier, who got repeated encouragement from spotter Eddie D’Hondt and crew chief Jim Pohlman during the late stages of the race.

“Both of those guys kept telling me, ‘It’s not over,’” Allgaier said. “Coming to the start/finish line, I don’t think I saw a single person sitting down. I was just hanging on… This car has been lights-out fast all year.

“We’ve got a shot at going for a championship at Phoenix. This is an emotional one. I’ve wanted to win at Martinsville for a long time, and I’ve been on the other end of that (pointing at the crashed cars on the frontstretch) too many times.”

The overtime restart was a recipe for disaster. Hill had lane choice and picked the bottom, with Creed lined up to his outside. Hill initially cleared Creed’s Chevrolet, but the driver of the No. 2 Chevy used his bumper to force Hill up the track and draw alongside.

As the cars ran through Turns 3 and 4 for the final time, John Hunter Nemechek turned Hill’s Camaro and ignited the last-lap wreck that ultimately settled the field for the Championship 4.

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Creed, who is leaving RCR at the end of the season, was subdued but unapologetic.

“I’m not proud of racing like that, but I didn’t blast him,” Creed said. “He was still with me [on the final lap]… I feel like I raced pretty fair for the situation, and he’s going to be mad, but it’s for a Championship 4 spot, and I’m going to fight for my guys all the way to the end.”

As might be expected, Hill had a different view of the final two laps.

“Man, it’s uncalled for for that to happen, and then for neither of the RCR guys to make it to the final four,” Hill said. “It’s frustrating. I’m pretty excited for him to go to his next adventure over at Gibbs, and I don’t have to put up with him anymore.”

(Hill may have anticipated Creed’s next move, which is yet to be announced.)

Pole winner Sammy Smith, another driver in a must-win situation to continue in the Playoffs, led 147 of the 256 laps and finished third. But Smith also left Martinsville with a grudge against a teammate—John Hunter Nemechek, who had clinched a Championship 4 berth on points by the end of the second stage.

In Smith’s view, Nemechek made it impossible for him to fight for the win in overtime.

“They were telling me that he wasn’t going to make any enemies,” Smith said. “I asked him if he was going to choose the top, and he said he wasn’t going to do that. I had a good run on him, and he went to block me down to the bottom.

“He didn’t want to make any enemies, but I’m really frustrated right now. He definitely made one. I’m not going to let that one go, and we will see how things go.”

In a race that started in daylight and ended under a full moon after a 28-minute stoppage to clear the track after a 12-car wreck on lap 244, Riley Herbst ran fourth, followed by Josh Berry and Daniel Hemric.

Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Jeb Burton and Parker Kligerman completed the top 10.

Sam Mayer, already part of the Championship 4 by virtue of last week’s victory at Homestead, was knocked out of the race in the lap 244 wreck and finished 25th. Playoff driver Chandler Smith completed 187 laps before being sidelined by an accident and eliminated from the postseason.

RESULTS

Mayer fends off charging Herbst to grab Xfinity win at Homestead

Sam Mayer claimed his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series oval victory in the second half of a NASCAR doubleheader at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday in the Contender Boats 300 after holding off last week’s race winner Riley Herbst by a mere …

Sam Mayer claimed his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series oval victory in the second half of a NASCAR doubleheader at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday in the Contender Boats 300 after holding off last week’s race winner Riley Herbst by a mere 0.227s.

It marks the JR Motorsports driver’s fourth series victory of the season and his career. Most important for Mayer – who joked he didn’t breath the final four laps: it is his ticket into the Championship 4 finale that will decide the series title at Phoenix Raceway in two weeks.

The 20-year old Wisconsin native’s No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet led 46 laps on the day – including the final 30 – but brushed the wall exiting Turn 3 as he pushed forward on the last lap to keep a fast-closing Herbst behind him. Mayer’s fellow NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contender John Hunter Nemechek finished third in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after leading seven laps despite feeling under the weather.

Regular-season champion Austin Hill was fourth in the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and NASCAR Hall of Famer and crowd favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fifth in his second and final start of the season.

“It’s unreal; we won on an oval,’’ a grinning Mayer screamed into the front grandstands. “This Chevrolet Camaro was so good.

“It’s all about putting a full race together,’’ he continued. “I’m so proud of these guys. They kicked tail on pit road and we made it happen with these HMS (Hendrick Motorsports) engines.

“It’s just really cool to be able to beat an amazing organization like that (Herbst’s Stewart-Haas Racing team). We’ve got to turn it on a little harder going into Phoenix.’’

 

Herbst’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer won Stage 1 and led a dominating 114 of the race’s 200 laps only to suffer a tire problem with 50 laps remaining and drop a lap down. He rallied back but still finished 13th after an impressive early race. Custer and Hill are now tied three points above the cutoff line heading into next week at the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Nemechek holds a healthy 44 point edge above them.

Another title favorite, Mayer’s JRM teammate Justin Allgaier – who came into the race ranked second in the championship standings — also had a tire issue after a pit stop and dropped back midway through the race. He rallied back to finish 15th, but dropped to fifth place in the standing, three points behind Hill for the automatic transfer position for the Championship 4.

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Nemechek’s JGR teammate Sammy Smith, who finished ninth, is now 49 points back in sixth place. It was a more dramatic day for the other championship contenders with Richard Childress Racing’s Sheldon Creed finishing 26th after exiting onto pit road with smoke trailing out of his Chevy with only two laps remaining in the race.

Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith rounds out the Playoff 8 – but finished a frustrating 34th place after being collected in an early accident. They are now 54 (Smith) and 65 (Creed) points below the fourth place transfer line and will need to win the race at Martinsville next week to meet their Playoff goals.

Kaulig’s Daniel Hemric, Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman, JRM’s Brandon Jones, and the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Sammy Smith and Joe Graf Jr. rounded out the top 10 on Saturday.

Earnhardt’s participation was certainly a crowd pleaser and his fifth-place effort in the JR Motorsports Chevy was his fifth top-five showing since he retired from full-time competition in the NASCAR Cup Series after the 2017 season. He methodically worked his way forward from a 23rd place starting position and survived a close call in the closing laps, ironically with Josh Berry, who drives for Earnhardt.

“Luckily it didn’t hurt our car and we were able to finish really good, so I’m happy about that,’’ Earnhardt said, noting he felt badly having an incident with one of his own team cars.

The series moves to the half-mile Martinsville Raceway for next Saturday’s Dead On Tools 250 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) which will formally decide which three drivers will join Mayer in championship eligibility at the Phoenix season-ender.

“Getting that first oval win [today] was big. … we finally won on an oval and my confidence is feeling good,’’ Mayer said with a huge grin.

RESULTS

Herbst looking for more at Homestead-Miami

Just how badly did Stewart-Hass Racing driver Riley Herbst want to win his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race? Last July, on the eve of the Chicago Street Course race, Herbst, still searching for his first career Xfinity Series race after a five-year …

Just how badly did Stewart-Hass Racing driver Riley Herbst want to win his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race? Last July, on the eve of the Chicago Street Course race, Herbst, still searching for his first career Xfinity Series race after a five-year run in the division, said to this writer:

“I need that race win as bad as I need oxygen.”

Herbst got the hit of the oxygen he needed last weekend when he led 103 of 201 laps to win the Xfinity Series race at his hometown Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I finally got some life,” said Herbst on Friday afternoon from Homestead-Miami Speedway. “I needed the win to live. I’m just so happy. I can’t stop smiling. This has been a dream come true and I’m just so excited.

“It’s a feeling that has been a long time coming, “added the 24 year-old driver of the No. 98 SHR Monster Energy Ford Mustang. “I’m excited to get to the track. I’m excited to hop in my race car and try to go do it again and go to battle.”

Almost immediately after Herbst took the checkered flag in Las Vegas, he was greeted by an an outpouring of congratulatory social media.

“I didn’t notice it at first, but after a few people told me about it, I started to look around,” he said. “There was definitely a good amount of outreach and everybody at Monster Energy and my other sponsors were so pumped-up and happy. It was just cool that everybody was relieved and just super-excited for me.”

So did the first victory feel as good as he’d envisioned?

“Way better than I expected, honestly,” he said. “It was the biggest weight off my shoulders that I’ve ever could have imagined. The win was a really good relief.

“It was even better than I thought it would be. I had all my family and all my friends and all my best childhood friends there with me in victory lane. We celebrated the win and then we went to dinner. It was truly just a storybook day. I’m very, very grateful for the opportunity.

“What s funny is that I did not feel anything different before the race weekend, but in practice on Friday I knew we had a really good car. However, we’ve had a lot of really good cars this year and I just wasn’t able to capitalize. On Saturday in Las Vegas I was able to put everything together and capitalize, so it was just everything coming together at the right time and it was really awesome.

“We actually had to start last. We qualified eighth and had to start last, so we picked them off one at a time. I just tried to be disciplined and just do my job to the best of my abilities and ultimately we were able to win. It was a really good feeling.

“This was a big race because NASCAR could lock everybody into Phoenix and the championship race so everybody brought the best car off the shelf. We whipped them pretty good. It was a really good feeling to have that happen.”

Somewhat outshined by Herbst’s first win was the announcement that came down two days before Vegas that he’ll be back with SHR in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series .

“Yeah, that’s good to have,” he said. “Hopefully in the last three races of this year we can clean up the small stuff and we’ll be rolling to Daytona next year in February as a favorite, and we can go dominate all next year. It’s really good at SHR. A relationship has to work both ways, so I feel like I’ve found a place that respects me and I respect them and it has just been going really well.”

So now comes Saturday afternoon at Homestead-Miami. How does he plan to approach things?

“It’s going to be fun,” he said. “It’s a very difficult racetrack to race, but I’m going to approach it the same way I approached last weekend’s race. I’m just going to go there and give my best effort and I’ll let the race come to me.”

That’s followed by Martinsville – “an ‘elbows-up’ type of racetrack,” according to Herbst – before the finale at Phoenix.

“I love Phoenix,” said Herbst. “We ran really well there in the springtime and finished fourth. Hopefully we can go back there in a few weeks and repeat, if not a few spots better…”