Noah Gragson held off Chase Briscoe after a bump-and-run with his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier to earn his second victory of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season in a frantic finish to the Cheddar’s 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Gragson’s No. 9 Chevrolet edged Briscoe’s No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford by a mere 0.328-second for Gragson’s second victory of the season, matching his winning work in the Daytona season-opener. And his victory Monday night on the high-banked Bristol half-miler was equally as dramatic as the three-way finish he prevailed in at the big speedway this past February.
Allgaier, who led a race best 156 of the 303 laps, was leading the field when his 21-year old teammate Gragson caught up, pulled alongside and ultimately made contact sending Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet into the wall and out of the race for an 18th-place finish. It marked the third consecutive Bristol race that Allgaier has led at least 100 laps and didn’t celebrate in Victory Lane.
As Gragson took the checkered flag he apologized on his radio to his teammate Allgaier as he thanked his team for the winning car.
“I really apologize to Justin and the 7 team, that’s not how I want to race but I saw a position open up, he kind of slipped off the bottom the lap before and I tried to get to the bottom and I just got too loose,” Gragson said following his win. “But one heck of a night for this 9-team.”
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Brandon Jones and race polesitter Harrison Burton finished third and fourth followed by Myatt Snider who rallied to a fifth-place finish after starting 22nd.
Daniel Hemric, Brandon Brown, Jeremy Clements, Josh Williams and A.J. Allmendinger rounded out the top-10.
With their top-four finish at Bristol, Gragson, Briscoe, Jones and the rookie Burton have qualified for the first round of the four-race Dash 4 Cash incentive program that begins next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The highest finisher among those four in the Atlanta race will win an additional $100,000 and automatically earn a spot to try again for another big payday at the next race.
“Last year I don’t know if we ever qualified one time for it, this year is a whole new ballgame and I’m showing up to win races,” Jones said of the Dash 4 Cash opportunity, adding, “I think we’re going to be a competitor when we come to tracks that are eligible.”
Despite his disappointment in the outcome, the veteran Allgaier, gave a measured response to the situation telling the PRN radio broadcast, “The team did a great job getting us track position we needed. I’m more mad at myself for making a mistake and getting off the bottom, but yeah, we got wrecked.”
However, he made a point of adding, “There’s a lot bigger stuff going on in this world.”
The early stage wins went to both Gragson and Allgaier, with Allgaier really taking control of things around the race’s midpoint.
Several race favorites were taken out in a typically hard-nosed style of racing that comes at the famed Bristol high-banks with 12 caution periods for 85 laps.
Two drivers among the championship top five coming into the event – Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric made contact a mere six laps into the race – ending Cindric’s day and damaging Chastain’s Chevrolet enough to hamper him the rest of his night. Cindric finished 36th of 37 cars and Chastain was 28th.
The melee dropped Cindric from second place in the standings to sixth place – now 56 points behind the leader Briscoe. Gragson’s victory moved him up to second in the standings only nine points behind Briscoe. Chastain is fifth in the championship, 52 points back from the series standings lead.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway for a doubleheader with the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series on Saturday, June 6.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, TN
Cheddar’s 300 – June 1, 2020
1. (9) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 303.
2. (11) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 303.
3. (2) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 303.
4. (1) Harrison Burton #, Toyota, 303.
5. (22) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 303.
6. (8) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 303.
7. (21) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 303.
8. (29) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 303.
9. (23) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 303.
10. (27) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 303.
11. (24) B.J. McLeod, Chevrolet, 303.
12. (14) Vinnie Miller, Chevrolet, 303.
13. (36) Joe Graf, Jr. #, Chevrolet, 303.
14. (25) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 303.
15. (18) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 301.
16. (5) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 300.
17. (4) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 299.
18. (10) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Accident, 297.
19. (26) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 296.
20. (33) Bayley Currey(i), Chevrolet, 295.
21. (30) Kody Vanderwal #, Chevrolet, 293.
22. (13) Carson Ware, Chevrolet, 289.
23. (35) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 284.
24. (17) Chad Finchum, Toyota, 277.
25. (31) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, Clutch, 268.
26. (15) Jesse Little #, Chevrolet, 260.
27. (7) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, Accident, 256.
28. (6) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 255.
29. (20) Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, Accident, 140.
30. (34) Mason Massey, Toyota, 111.
31. (19) Ronnie Bassett, Jr., Chevrolet, Engine, 77.
32. (28) Joe Nemechek(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 69.
33. (32) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, Overheating, 41.
34. (37) Stephen Leicht, Toyota, Suspension, 23.
35. (16) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, Ignition, 19.
36. (3) Austin Cindric, Ford, Accident, 8.
37. (12) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, Accident, 5.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 69.687 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 19 Mins, 3 Secs. Margin of Victory: .328 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 12 for 85 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: H. Burton # 1-25;J. Haley 26;H. Burton # 27-45;N. Gragson 46-91;H. Burton # 92-128;J. Allgaier 129-175;R. Sieg 176-181;J. Allgaier 182-250;R. Herbst # 251-254;J. Allgaier 255-294;N. Gragson 295-303.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Justin Allgaier 3 times for 156 laps; Harrison Burton # 3 times for 81 laps; Noah Gragson 2 times for 55 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 6 laps; Riley Herbst # 1 time for 4 laps; Justin Haley 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 9,7,98,11,8,18,19,16,39,21
Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,9,11,20,98,19,8,21,18,16
Top 10 in Points: 1. Chase Briscoe – 300 (2 Wins); 2. Noah Gragson – 291 (2 Wins); 3. Harrison Burton – 274 (1 Win); 4. Justin Allgaier – 256; 5. Ross Chastain – 248; 6. Austin Cindric – 244; 7. Brandon Jones – 229 (1 Win); 8. Justin Haley – 221; 9. Ryan Sieg – 215; 10. Riley Herbst – 177.
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