Category: Xfinity

Larson outmuscles Nemechek for Darlington Xfinity win

In a fitting end to a true Darlington slugfest, Kyle Larson won Saturday’s Shriners Children’s 200 after bouncing off the wall at the Turn 4 exit and knocking John Hunter Nemechek into the inside SAFER barrier 100 yards short of the finish line. …

In a fitting end to a true Darlington slugfest, Kyle Larson won Saturday’s Shriners Children’s 200 after bouncing off the wall at the Turn 4 exit and knocking John Hunter Nemechek into the inside SAFER barrier 100 yards short of the finish line.

With the help of two opportune cautions, Larson recovered from a speeding penalty that sent him to the rear of the field for the start of the final stage.

Restarting behind race winner Nemechek for the final green-flag run with seven laps left, Larson stalked the No. 20 Toyota and charged into the lead on the final lap, as the top two cars made side-to-side contact on at least three occasions during the run to the checkers.

“We had a really, really good car the whole race, and I made a mistake on pit road,” said Larson, who was driving the No. 10 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing. “I knew we were going to have time to get to the front if we had a caution.

“We were picking off cars really fast and had some lane selections work out for me… We were just bouncing off each other a little bit. I don’t know what happened in (Turn) 3. It seemed like he (Nemechek) tried to get behind me to shove me into the corner.

“It kind of hooked me right, and I hit the wall, and I was trying to stay away from him and get off of (Turn) 4. What an exciting race there.”

The victory was Larson’s first of the season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his first at Darlington in any of NASCAR’s top three divisions. It was Larson’s 14th career Xfinity win in his only start so far this year.

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Nemechek, who beat Larson in a photo finish to win Stage 2, had to settle for fifth after the last-lap crash. Justin Allgaier claimed the runner-up spot, followed by Cole Custer, who pitted for fresh tires on lap 137 and charged forward from 16th after the final restart on lap 141. Austin Hill was fourth in a damaged car.

“Had a really fast race car and battling with one of the best in the sport in my opinion, Kyle Larson,” said Nemechek, who led 57 laps to Larson’s 46. “It was a really great day…

“Just disappointed a little bit from the standpoint of how that ended up there. Overall, we gave it a shot and still had a shot to win off of Turn 4. Fast car, top-five to show for it, when it probably should have been Victory Lane or second.”

Larson paced the field when Sheldon Creed washed up the track and pinched Nemechek’s Toyota against the wall on lap 67. Trying to avoid the wreck, Sam Mayer steered his Chevrolet down the track into the Camaro of Hill, who slid sideways into the path of Brandon Jones. The driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet couldn’t avoid terminal damage.

Behind Jones and Hill, the cars of Ryan Truex and Chandler Smith spun in tandem, with the crush panels cascading out of the driver’s side of Smith’s No. 16 Chevrolet.

All told, 11 cars sustained damage in the wreck, and four others merely spun and continued. Jones, Chandler Smith and Truex fell out of the race.

Unlike Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, which ran without cautions for racing incidents during the first two stages, action in the Xfinity Series event started early and ultimately resulted in 10 cautions for 51 laps.

On lap four, Sammy Smith spun in Turn 2 while running beneath the No. 98 Ford of Riley Herbst, causing the first caution. After the subsequent restart on lap eight, Smith slipped sideways, making slight contact with Justin Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet.

And on lap 12, Herbst pancaked the right side of his Mustang against the outside wall and came to pit road for an unscheduled stop, losing two laps in the process.

Nineteen laps later, Herbst slammed the wall between Turns 1 and 2 and exited the race in last place with irreparable damage.

Jeb Burton spun on lap 39 to cause the second caution. After pit stops, Larson won the first stage six laps later, beating pole winner Nemechek to the green/checkered flag.

The second stage contained its own share of action. Parker Retzlaff spun off Turn 4 across traffic to cause the fourth caution. Lap 60 brought two separate incidents that saw the front right quarter panels ripped off the cars of Sage Karam and Anthony Alfredo.

Seven laps later came the Talladega-sized “Big One” that destroyed the winning chances of more than a handful of contending cars.

RESULTS

Ryan Truex cruises to maiden Xfinity victory at Dover

Of all the places for Ryan Truex to absolutely turn in a career day, the 31-year-old led a dominating 124 of the 200 laps at his hometown Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway. He swept both stage wins and ultimately took the checkered flag an impressive 4.8s …

Of all the places for Ryan Truex to absolutely turn in a career day, the 31-year-old led a dominating 124 of the 200 laps at his hometown Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway. He swept both stage wins and ultimately took the checkered flag an impressive 4.8s ahead of the field to claim his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in Saturday’s A-GAME 200.

It was such a big day for the 31-year-old who has raced in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series – primarily part-time – for nine seasons and is scheduled to only make a handful of starts in 2023. Yet he parlayed this part-time opportunity driving the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota into a hugely sentimental victory at a special place – one the Mayetta, N.J. native has always claimed as his “home track.’’

Just before steering his Toyota into Dover’s Victory Lane, he stopped and was greeted by his older brother, NASCAR Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr. – the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who similarly earned his first victory in that series at Dover back in 2007.

“I’m just so thankful, all these fans, my team, they really stuck behind me,” said a smiling and emotional Truex, who becomes the 13th different NASCAR Xfinity Series driver to claim his first win at Dover.

“Most people didn’t believe in me, and I still did — my girlfriend, my family, my parents, my brother did. I’m just so thankful to be here.

“I felt like with 20 to go, I was just waiting for something to happen,’’ he continued. “Just praying, ‘Please God, keep everything straight and let’s get to the end of this.’ What a car, what an amazing Toyota Supra. I’m speechless.

“I thought I’d be more emotional right now, but when I crossed the flag, I couldn’t even talk on the radio and I’m not an emotional guy. This is for everyone that doubted me.”

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JR Motorsports driver and defending race winner Josh Berry finished second to Truex, securing an impressive record at Dover as well. He’s finished either first or second in all three of his Xfinity Series starts at The Monster Mile.

“We made some good adjustments in the second half of the race, the pit crew executed well the last couple stops and had a good green flag cycle and got up to second but the No. 19 (Truex) was just too far out and it seemed like he was the best car all day,’’ Berry said, adding, “It’s a fun day, I love this racetrack. Hate we didn’t get the win, but it was a great rebound and great day for us.’’

Berry’s JRM teammate, Justin Allgaier, was third followed by Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill and Truex’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates John Hunter Nemechek and Sammy Smith. The third place showing for Hill, who led 18 laps, keeps the 2023 three-race winner atop the championship standings by four-points over Nemechek.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer finished sixth – good enough to earn the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash incentive award for the second straight week: the final installment of the bonus for 2023. He also got the big money from series sponsor Xfinity at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last week.

JR Motorsports drivers Brandon Jones and Sam Mayer were eighth and ninth with 2021 series champion Daniel Hemric rounding out the Top-10 on Saturday.

Richard Childress Racing driver Sheldon Creed, whose 41 laps out front were second only to Truex, finished 11th; an impressive outcome considering he spun and brought out a caution flag earlier in the race.

The afternoon, however, unquestionable belonged to Truex, who made his Xfinity Series debut as an 18-year-old driving for Michael Waltrip in 2010 and has since made 73 assorted starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as well.

And now he is a bona fide winner in one of NASCAR’s headline series.

“I belong here, and I just proved that,’’ said Truex, whose 124 laps out front Saturday were more than his previous career total (67) in 88 starts.

“I’ve known it for a while and people around me have known it for a while. And now everyone in this garage area knows it. My goal is to drive a race car full time next year and hopefully we can make it happen.’’

The Xfinity Series returns to action on May 13 in the Shriner’s Children 200 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RESULTS

Jeb Burton survives Talladega carnage, takes Jordan Anderson Racing to first Xfinity Series win

It was the kind of hard-nosed, impatient – and thrilling – competition that NASCAR fans have come to expect in the final laps of racing at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. In the end, Jeb Burton took the checkered flag on a double overtime restart to …

It was the kind of hard-nosed, impatient – and thrilling — competition that NASCAR fans have come to expect in the final laps of racing at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. In the end, Jeb Burton took the checkered flag on a double overtime restart to claim the victory in Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

The victory was the Virginia-native Burton’s second in this Spring event on the 2.66-mile Talladega high banks – both his career wins have come there – and he earned it being fast, patient and at times, truly fortunate. His No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet led 20 of the race’s 121 laps on the afternoon, won the second stage and, most importantly, was able to hold off Sheldon Creed by a mere 0.113s to earn the team its first ever NASCAR Xfinity Series win.

Burton, 30, the son of 2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, was hoarse after the race; having used his voice instead to scream congratulations to his team on the radio on the cool-down lap. It was a big afternoon-turned-evening for all involved.

“Man, I’m pumped up and out of breath from yelling,’’ Burton said grinning. “These guys have made racing fun for me again.’’

The fans were on their feet in the grandstands as the field filed up for the final restart; both Burton and Creed racing for their first wins of the season and most of the remaining top-10 drivers racing for the first win of their careers.

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“I let the No. 27 (Burton) get way out there and had the No. 00 (Cole Custer) on me getting ready for a big run,’’ said Creed, who was in front of Burton when the last caution came out, but the field is set according to the last scoring line and that went in Burton’s favor allowing him first choice on lane selection for that final restart.

“Nonetheless a great day,’’ he added. “Plate racing is not my best and I’ve been trying to get better at it. Happy to get Whelen Manufacturing a good finish. We’ve been up and down this year so just to have a solid day like that is really good for us.’’

Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman finished third with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer and JD Motorsports’ Brennan Poole rounding out the top five.

Caesar Baccarella was sixth in the Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet – his best career finish in part-time starts since 2017. Parker Retzlaff was seventh, followed by Gray Gaulding, Joey Gase and Josh Williams who all earned their first top-10 finishes of the season.

The major Big One of the day saw Daniel Hemric on his roof. Nigel Kinrade/Motorsport Images

The dramatic race ending was indicative of the afternoon – restarts and close-quarter racing. Two red flags slowed the event – a result of multi-car incidents that have become characteristic of this style of competition.

Twelve cars were involved in an accident with three laps remaining – including then-leader Daniel Hemric who ended up upside down against the wall. A red flag was thrown while the safety crew got Hemric out of the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevy and Hemric waved to the crowd, walking to the ambulance on his own.

“Just got too far out it looks like,’’ Hemric said watching his accident on video replay afterward. “For sure late on the block there. I committed – there had been so much give and take on the day.’’

Driver Blaine Perkins was transported to a local medical facility in an abundance of caution after being involved in the first accident to bring out a red flag. He and Dexter Stacey’s cars collided just before the second stage break and Perkins car flipped over multiple times. Both drivers climbed out of their cars on their own.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer won the Talladega Dash 4 Cash $100,000 check with a fourth-place finish – the only one of the four eligible for the bonus to finish the race. With that effort, he, race winner Burton, Creed and Kligerman are eligible for the bonus in next weekend’s final of the four Dash 4 Cash events at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway.

“It’s nice to have a little bit of luck. I’ve been on the wrong side of that many times at these superspeedway races,’’ said Custer, driver of the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, adding “This is the happiest I’ve ever been running fourth.’’

Austin Hill, who leads the series with three wins, reclaimed the NASCAR Xfinity Series points lead by four-points over John Hunter Nemechek, who finished 32nd. Brett Moffitt’s 20 laps out front was most among the 12 leaders.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next week in the A-Game 200 at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway on Saturday (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RESULTS

Jeffrey Earnhardt looks to build on last year’s Talladega moment

Jeffrey Earnhardt returns to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the first time since grabbing headlines in the same race a year ago with a career day. Earnhardt will again be sponsored by ForeverLawn but now …

Jeffrey Earnhardt returns to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the first time since grabbing headlines in the same race a year ago with a career day.

Earnhardt will again be sponsored by ForeverLawn but now driving for Alpha Prime Racing. The fourth-generation driver is competing full-time for the organization this year.

A year ago, Earnhardt put a black No. 3 ForeverLawn Chevrolet on the pole at Talladega while driving for Richard Childress Racing and working with crew chief Larry McReynolds. Earnhardt is the grandson of Dale Earnhardt, who made the No. 3 car famous while driving for Childress and working with McReynolds.

Earnhardt turned his pole-winning run into a second-place finish. He led 10 laps.

Jeffrey Earnhardt on point for Richard Childress Racing last year. Rusty Jarrett/Motorsport Images

“I’m so excited to be back at Talladega,” said Earnhardt. “Last year’s opportunity in the No. 3 car was incredible, and we’re hoping to finish one spot better in our SouthPoint Bank x ForeverLawn Black and Green Grass Machine. They say ’Dega is Earnhardt Country, so we’re going to give them something to cheer for.”

Earnhardt enters Talladega (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, FS1) searching for his first top-10 finish with the No. 44 team. Through eight races, Earnhardt has finished a best 18th at Richmond Raceway and sits 27th in the standings.

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“We are thrilled to be back in Earnhardt Country for a great race like Talladega,” said Dale Karmie, ForeverLawn co-founder. “Jeffrey winning the pole and finishing P2 last year gathered an amazing response, and we hope to replicate those results with the Alpha Prime Racing Team and our No. 44 Camaro.

“We are also happy to have our partners along for the ride as the Black and Green Grass Machine hits the track.”

Nemechek lights up Martinsville with Xfinity victory celebration

John Hunter Nemechek led a dominating 198 of 250 laps to win Saturday night’s Call811.com Before You Dig 250 – besting his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sammy Smith by 1.518s to earn his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2023 season and first …

John Hunter Nemechek led a dominating 198 of 250 laps to win Saturday night’s Call811.com Before You Dig 250 – besting his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sammy Smith by 1.518s to earn his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2023 season and first win in his first series start at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

The 25-year-old Nemechek, of Mooresville, N.C., took the lead for good on a race restart with 32 laps remaining after winning the first two stages of the race. He, Smith and third place finisher Cole Custer were easily the class of the field all night running some version of 1-2-3 for most of the race.

Smith was able to nudge his way past Custer on the final lap for that runner-up showing.

As Nemechek took his No. 20 JGR Toyota to the front stretch to do a traditional burnout celebration, he literally set the track on fire briefly – perhaps a fitting finale to his hot night behind the wheel. Not only did he win the race, he won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash incentive prize awarded by series sponsor Xfinity.

“I can’t say enough about this whole team. If you would have asked me yesterday if we would have won, I thought we were a 10th place car in practice,’’ said Nemechek, whose car was ironically sponsored by a fire extinguisher company (Pye Barker Fire & Safety). “Just grateful the guys made the right adjustments. Let’s celebrate.’’

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While Nemechek’s car was so good on the night, there was still a lot of compelling wheel-to-wheel competition behind him. Fourth place finisher Josh Berry, for example, led the next highest number of laps (27) – his No. 8 JR Motorsport Chevrolet looking especially strong until a tire situation forced a long pit stop midway through the race. He rallied back through the field, however, to take his seventh-consecutive top-10 finish on the year tying the the longest stretch of his career.

Berry’s JR Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones finished fifth – his first top 10 of the season in the No. 9 JRM Chevrolet – followed by another teammate, Justin Allgaier, who was able to keep his No. 7 JRM Chevy in the lead group of cars despite not feeling well himself and finishing the race on much older tires than the rest of the lead group.

Nemechek – who swept both stage wins — Smith, Custer and Berry are now eligible for the next installment of the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash $100,000 award – next week at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The top finishing driver from among that four gets the big check.

“Congrats to them; they were the best car all night,’’ Smith said.

Kaulig Racing teammates Daniel Hemric and Derek Kraus, AM Racing’s Brett Moffitt and Kaulig’s Chandler Smith rounded out the top 10.

Austin Hill – who leads all drivers with three wins this season — finished 16th and with Nemechek’s win the second-generation driver takes over the points lead by 21 points over Hill.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves from the shortest track in the sport to the largest track in the sport – Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway where it will race the Ag-Pro 300 (4 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RESULTS

Chandler Smith duels his way to first Xfinity victory at Richmond

Rookie Chandler Smith earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory Saturday afternoon at Richmond (Va.) Raceway holding off John Hunter Nemechek on a final race restart with six laps remaining to hoist the ToyotaCare 250 trophy. Smith’s No. …

Rookie Chandler Smith earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory Saturday afternoon at Richmond (Va.) Raceway holding off John Hunter Nemechek on a final race restart with six laps remaining to hoist the ToyotaCare 250 trophy.

Smith’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet led a race best 83 of the 250 laps – the bulk of that early in the race. But the 20-year year old Georgia native was able to run among the top five for most of the day and ultimately drive his Chevy around Nemechek’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on that last restart, pulling away to a 0.298s victory after some intense side-by-side action for the lead in the closing laps.

Smith has had three top-five finishes, including a gut-wrenching near miss at Las Vegas last month. After leading a dominant 118 laps and being out front with one lap to go at Vegas four races ago, he had to settle for third place. So this victory at Richmond was especially motivating for the young driver.

“Feels great,’’ a smiling Smith said. “This goes to testimony as to Vegas, dominated that race but didn’t win and said, it was all in God’s timing. …We are in Richmond, my favorite race track, and we’re sitting in victory lane.’’

It marks the third-consecutive runner-up finish for Nemechek at the 0.75-mile Richmond track, including a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race and the last two NASCAR Xfinity Series races there.

“We weren’t very good on the short run, we had a long-run speed car,’’ Nemechek said, “But we came from the back up there to battle for the win, put ourselves in position.

“Disappointed to run runner-up again, that’s the last three races I’ve run here — finished second. Frustrated, but we’ll go back to work. The No. 16 (Smith) just had the best car on the short run.”

JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry finished third in the No. 8 JRM Chevrolet. He led 63 laps and was out front with 65 laps remaining until a series of caution flags and restarts that characterized the race ending.

Kaz Grala turned in a strong day with a fourth place showing in the No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota — equaling his career best effort in the Xfinity Series. Cole Custer rallied to a fifth place finish in the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford after a problem on pit road and some tight side-by-side racing late in the day.

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Justin Allgaier — who started his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet from pole position after qualifying was rained out Saturday morning – led laps early but had an up-and-down day. Ultimately, he finished 13th and was good enough to take the first $100,000 bonus in the Dash 4 Cash sweepstakes sponsored by Xfinity.

With his work, Allgaier now joins Saturday’s three new qualifiers – Chandler Smith, Berry and Nemechek to contend for the next $100,000 check at the series’ next race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on April 15.

“Weird day today, we didn’t fire off quite as good as we hoped for but they kept working; great pit stops all day.’’ Allgaier said, adding, “It’s weird finishing 13th and still be standing here holding this check but the other guys had a rough day. This puts us in next week for the Dash 4 Cash so huge thanks to Xfinity for all they do for the sport.’’

Seven different drivers led at least 24 laps – and for much of the race there were at least three drivers ranked among the top 10 looking for their first career Xfinity Series win.

Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Parker Kligerman, the season’s three-race winner Austin Hill and Derek Kraus rounded out the top 10. It was the first series start for Kraus, who raced among the top 10 in his No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet for most of the day.

Riley Herbst, who led 27 laps and Brandon Jones, who led 24, were involved in an accident while contending for fourth place late in the race. Herbst finished 23rd while Jones was 21st.

The next race is the Call811.com Before You Dig. 250 at Martinsville Speedway on April 15 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RESULTS

NASCAR podcast: Connor Mosack on Xfinity chance

Connor Mosack is a name you’re going to hear quite often this season as he runs the majority of the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule between the Toyotas of Sam Hunt Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing. Mosack is 24 years old and although he’s from Charlotte, …

Connor Mosack is a name you’re going to hear quite often this season as he runs the majority of the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule between the Toyotas of Sam Hunt Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing. Mosack is 24 years old and although he’s from Charlotte, N.C., admits that racing was never something he consider a realistic career. But after a driving experience day, Mosack was told he had a future if he went for it. Mosack has since graduated through the CARS Tour, late models and Trans AM TA2. He shares his story with The Racing Writer’s Podcast.

Allmendinger beats and bangs to COTA Xfinity victory

A.J. Allmendinger started on pole position and won the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Pit Boss 250 presented by USA Today on Saturday afternoon on the Circuit of The Americas road course. The 46 laps in between the green and checkered flags, however, were …

A.J. Allmendinger started on pole position and won the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Pit Boss 250 presented by USA Today on Saturday afternoon on the Circuit of The Americas road course.

The 46 laps in between the green and checkered flags, however, were dramatic and full of emotional highs and lows for the veteran Allmendinger, who led 14 laps to start the race and the final 14 laps to close it out. The series’ all-time road course winner earned his 11th road course trophy (and 16th career Xfinity Series trophy) despite having to navigate through the field after falling back to 25th place during mid-race green flag pit stops.

It was a major league road course lesson for the rest of the field as the 41-year-old Californian diced and sliced his way forward in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to win this race for the second consecutive year. He ultimately took a 0.853s victory over relentless Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron in the No. 17 Chevrolet.

“William Byron put his best foot forward, you’ve seen all the Cup races he’s winning,” Allmendinger said of the season’s two-race winner Byron. “I knew it was going to be tough just trying to fight to get back up to the front there. Hate that I had contact with Sheldon (Creed), he got under me, I was trying to stay off him, so I hate that happened but so proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. The Celsius Chevy was really hooked up and with all the damage we had it didn’t hurt the car.

“I spent a lot of years not winning anything so I’m going to celebrate every one of them like it’s my last one,” Allmendinger said. “You never know. As much pressure as I put on myself, I’m always going to try to live up to it. The pit crew was awesome and I’m so proud of everyone.”

NASCAR Cup Series rookie Ty Gibbs – the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion – finished third in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota, just ahead of his JGR teammate Sammy Smith and veteran JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier.

The 3.41-mile, 20-turn COTA track is regarded as one of the more challenging stops on the NASCAR schedule and Allmendinger certainly had his work cut out for him on Saturday. He led early, but was shuffled back after winning Stage 1 and gambling on a pit stop later than the other frontrunners.

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Forced to lineup for a re-start toward the back of the field – and miscommunication from the team to driver regarding the exact position he should take – left him 25th near the race midpoint. He answered by reeling off one car after another and made his way into the top-10 with 15 laps remaining – making a dramatic push forward on that final restart to go from sixth to first with 14 laps remaining. He took the lead after a spirited battle with Sheldon Creed, who spun out after contact between the two.

Allmendinger then drove off to more than a 1s gap on the field, but, was doggedly chased by Byron, who will start Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at COTA from the pole position.

“I was getting one final run at him, but obviously they were really good all day, just great at these road courses,” Byron said. “Just a little bit to gain and then made a mistake (navigating the esses).

“It was a great effort, just need to clean it up in the cars…but had a lot of fun racing,” Byron added.

Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric, JR Motorsports teammates Sam Mayer and Josh Berry, Creed and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst rounded out the top 10.

Austin Hill, a three-race winner in 2023 that was leading the championship standings by nearly 50 points coming into Austin, suffered mechanical problems in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and took a DNF. He still holds a 15-point advantage over Herbst atop the championship, however.

This was a Dash 4 Cash qualifying race with the four top-finishing full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitors now eligible for a $100,000 bonus next week at Richmond (Va.) Raceway; the top finisher among the four will earn the big paycheck and is eligible for another the following race at Martinsville, Va. on April 15.

With their showings on Saturday: Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Sam Mayer are the four drivers who race for the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash $100,000 in next week’s Call811 Before You Dig 250 at Richmond Raceway (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RESULTS

Hill escapes chaos to take yet another Xfinity win at Atlanta

In a race that started in chaos and ended in bedlam on the last lap, Austin Hill won his third NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the season, beating Daniel Hemric to the checkered flag in Saturday’s RAPTOR King of the Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor …

In a race that started in chaos and ended in bedlam on the last lap, Austin Hill won his third NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the season, beating Daniel Hemric to the checkered flag in Saturday’s RAPTOR King of the Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

With his family in attendance, the Winston, Ga., native, led three times for a race-high 103 laps and dominated an event that featured a record 12 cautions for 68 laps.

NASCAR called the final yellow on the last lap, after a multi-car wreck erupted as Hill and Hemric approached the finish line.

Parker Kligerman made a race of it until the cars entered the frontstretch dogleg on the last lap. At the end of a two-lap dash to the finish, Kligerman’s Chevrolet turned sideways across the front bumper of Hemric’s car and hit the right rear of Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy.

Hill maintained control and took the checkered flag with Hemric trailing by 0.085s. Kligerman slid backwards across the finish line in fourth, as Ryan Truex edged him for the third spot by 0.001s.

“They knew we were here,” Kligerman radioed to his Big Machine Racing team.

The defending race winner, Hill came to Atlanta with victories at Daytona and Las Vegas and, understandably, the Xfinity Series lead. The win was Hill’s second at Atlanta and the fifth of his career.

The only thing that shook Hill all night was the contact with the right rear of his car in the final 100 yards.

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“I have no idea how I saved it coming to the line,” Hill said, after his young daughter ran out to greet him at the finish line. “What a start to the season. Everybody at Richard Childress Racing, ECR engines—we’ve just had such a fast start with Chevrolet. This has been special, for sure.”

Riley Herbst finished fifth, followed by Brett Moffitt, Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek, Sam Mayer and Justin Haley.

Hill won the first stage, and Kligerman gave Big Machine its first-ever stage victory in the second.

In the first two stages combined, the race featured more caution laps than green-flag laps—49 to 31, to be exact—the result of nine yellow flags.

Josh Williams’ No. 92 Chevrolet sustained damage in a lap 27 accident with the No. 02 Chevy of Kyle Weatherman, and when Williams dropped debris on the frontstretch to cause the fourth caution moments after the subsequent lap 32 restart, NASCAR parked him under the Damaged Vehicle Policy.

Instead of driving his car to the garage, however, a frustrated Williams parked it at the start/finish line. NASCAR ordered Williams to the hauler for a discussion of the incident, after he was released from the infield care center.

RESULTS

Sammy Smith wipes field en route to first Xfinity win at Phoenix

High school senior Sammy Smith made the most of the fastest car in Saturday’s United Rentals 200, becoming the youngest NASCAR Xfinity Series winner Phoenix Raceway at age 18. In a race that featured 11 cautions for 69 laps, Smith held off teammate …

High school senior Sammy Smith made the most of the fastest car in Saturday’s United Rentals 200, becoming the youngest NASCAR Xfinity Series winner Phoenix Raceway at age 18.

In a race that featured 11 cautions for 69 laps, Smith held off teammate Ryan Truex after a restart with 15 of 200 laps left to give Joe Gibbs Racing its 16th victory at the 1.0-mile track.

Smith led a race-high 92 laps, including the last 52, taking the lead from Kyle Busch onlLap 149. To secure his first victory in the series in his 13th start, Smith had to survive restarts on laps 157, 177 and 186.

“That was tough with all of those restarts—and going against some of the best,” said Smith, who takes his high school classes online. “I just have to thank everybody on Pilot/Flying J, Toyota, JGR guys and everybody on this 18 team for giving me an awesome car. This is awesome.

“This is a dream come true, and I did know that at some point this was coming. It took a lot of hard work and a lot of great people around me. Without all of these guys, I wouldn’t be here.”

In a part-time role with JGR, Truex matched his career-best finish after restarting seventh on lap 186.

“That was a good restart at the end,” Truex said. “I thought I could at least try to make it exciting. Congrats to Sammy—he was the class of the field all day. His car was so good. He could really kind of do whatever he wanted.

“Sammy was just a little bit faster, but I’ll try again next time.”

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Sheldon Creed ran a miraculous third after spinning and losing track position on lap 148 to cause the ninth caution. Creed got help from Kaulig Racing teammates Busch and Chandler Smith, who tangled on the last lap while racing for fourth.

Smith got the better of the exchange, finishing fifth to Busch’s ninth.

Busch and Chandler Smith weren’t the only teammates who traded paint on Saturday. JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry spun off the bumper of Sam Mayer on lap 84 and fought back to finish eighth.

Justin Allgaier, who won the race’s first two stages, crashed hard on lap 178 after contact from JR Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones and Sam Hunt Racing’s Kaz Grala. The accident eliminated Allgaier and set up Smith’s triumphant run to the checkered flag.

Riley Herbst ran fourth. John Hunter Nemechek recovered from a restart penalty—dipping below the yellow line on the apron before the start/finish line—to come home sixth. Austin Hill was seventh, followed by Berry, Busch and Daniel Hemric.

Mayer finished 11th and pole winner Cole Custer 12th.

Hill leads the series standings by 30 points over second-place Nemechek.

RESULTS