AJ Allmendinger took home the checkered flag in the Drive for the Cure 250 on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval course, giving Kaulig Racing their second-ever XFINITY Series win. It was their second win this season after Ross Chastain took the win at Daytona in July.
Tyler Reddick took home second, while fellow Playoff drivers Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier, and Noah Gragson rounded out the top-five.
Sixth-place went to Alex Labbe in Mario Gosselini’s No. 90 Camaro, while Playoff drivers John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer, and polesitter Chase Briscoe finished seventh through ninth. JR Motorsports driver Ryan Truex rounded out the top-10.
“I can’t thank Matt Kaulig enough,” Allmendinger told NBCSN. “First of all, he put his belief in me. [He] wanted me to come here to try to build this team. The last times at road courses, I’ve been gutted not getting my wins. I can’t thank all my race team enough.
“Really got to thank Tyler Reddick. He’s phenomenal. He told me he needed my help on the road courses. He’s out-qualified me in every race then, beat me in a couple. I knew behind me I could be defensive on the right side and get myself an angle. Tyler wouldn’t shove it down in there, appreciate that.”
Briscoe won the first stage from the pole, earning 10 stage points and a playoff point, while Christopher Bell and Custer battled for the second stage win. Custer prevailed, which helped along with his eighth-place finish as he was able to clinch his spot in the Round of Eight.
The action heated up in the final stage as several drivers including Truex, Custer, and Briscoe all found themselves turned around. The Briscoe incident was the biggest incident of the day in terms of repercussions, as hard driving between Bell and Briscoe led to the latter’s incident after the No. 98 ran Bell’s No. 20 Toyota hard enough that he missed a chicane. NASCAR penalized Bell to the tail-end of the longest line, where he recovered to finish twelfth after unceremoniously dumping rookie Will Rodgers on the last lap.
There were seven cautions for 14 laps, with six drivers swapping the lead seven times. Nemechek, Brandon Jones (16th), Ryan Sieg (30th), and Justin Haley (31st) head into Dover below the Playoff cutoff line. The XFINITY Series Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200 at Dover International Speedway will start at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
