Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series action at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course definitely provided a fascinating race but had the suspected winner.
At one point, race fans saw nearly the whole field almost pile up in the first turn when most of the cars went off circuit and out of the racing line. Thankfully, the majority of the drivers escaped from further calamity, but some weren’t so lucky. That can be said for Noah Gragson who was leading until he missed one of the turns and went sliding all the way through the grass, causing a caution on Lap 19. Fortunately, the Las Vegas native rebounded to a top-five finish as Gragson placed third in the final outing.
Meanwhile, Chase Briscoe was looking for a potential sixth win of the year but got collected in a wreck on Lap 47 with five laps to go. The accident was too much for the Stewart-Haas driver to overcome as he would be credited with a 29th place finish.
With most of the field having their ups and downs, we’ll take a look at how the drivers did following their first Daytona Road Course race.
- Austin Cindric – Cindric continues to be on fire in the Xfinity Series as the playoffs loom in the background. It’s his fifth win in the last six races and he is tied with Sam Ard for another record after winning five races in a season. The Team Penske driver showed his dominance early, winning Stage 1, finishing second in Stage 2, and ultimately leading 21 laps en route to the seventh victory of his career. It was noted during a conference call earlier last week that Cindric is searching for a ride for next year. While he could come back to the No. 22 in 2021, should Cindric keep racking up victories and get the championship, that could help his chances of landing a ride. But as we’ve seen time and time again, nothing is guaranteed in the world of NASCAR.
Previous Week Ranking – First - Noah Gragson – It was a hard-fought third-place finish for Gragson. The Las Vegas native was runner up in Stage 1 by finishing second. After his mishap when Gragson spun from the lead, he had to work all race to get back to the top of the running order. When the checkered flag flew, Gragson earned his ninth top five of the year.
Previous Week Ranking – Fifth - Brandon Jones – Despite not gaining any stage finishes, Jones found himself with a shot to win the race late in the going with the help of a caution. However, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver had to settle for second when all was said and done. The second-place finish was Jones’s first since Homestead back in June. In addition, Jones gained his sixth top-five of the year. It seems as though the No. 19 team might be turning things around after a few weeks of miserable runs aside from winning the Kansas race.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked - Riley Herbst – It took four spins, but Herbst rebounded to seventh place in Saturday’s event, his 10th top-10 of the year. Herbst also collected stage finishes of fourth and 10th. The finish was much needed after a disappointing 23rd at Road America, two weeks ago. But he will have to win soon if he wants to be comfortable in the playoffs.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked - Chase Briscoe – Winning the second stage and finishing seventh in Stage 1 was good enough to keep Briscoe in the rankings but dropped him down a tad. He had the second most dominant car in the race next to competitor Cindric. Overall, Briscoe led the most laps of 26 and was solidly in the top five. But his day would be cut short for the accident in Turn 2. He’ll have to turn to Dover and build on his win total for the season.
Previous Week Ranking – Fourth
Fell Out
- Ross Chastain – Chastain’s day was up in smoke early on Lap 14 when he came to a stop in Turn 8. The Kaulig Racing driver spent the majority of the race behind the wall as the damage was fixed. Eventually, Chastain would return to the race but finished 36th, 18 laps down.
Previous Week Ranking – Second - Ryan Sieg – Sieg piloted the No. 39 machine to an 11th place outing, just barely missing out on the top 10. You could very well say the Daytona Road Course could be a forgettable race for Sieg and the team.
Previous Week Ranking – Third
