Brandon Jones steals a win at Darlington Raceway

It was the perfect day for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway, also known as the “Track Too Tough To Tame”. Many drivers earned their Darlington stripe today and several drivers more than once. There was one driver who happened to be at the right place at the right time and that was Brandon Jones in his No. 19 Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing, who came away with the win, his third of the season.

“Look at the right side of this thing!” he exclaimed, “I think everybody’s looks like this. That’s what’s so much fun about this track.’ He added, “This is a tough place to get around.”

Coming in second place today was the No. 10 Chevy of Ross Chastain.

“Denny (Hamlin) was faster, I knew that and everyone watching NBC knew that,” Chastain commented, “I just kept ripping the top as best I could, I probably hit it 25 times.” He added, “I was really struggling on entry. I’m just proud of this group and proud of their effort.”

Ryan Sieg brought his No. 39 RSS Racing Chevy into third place today.

Riley Herbst and Hamlin would round out the top five. Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson, Michael Annett, Austin Hill, and Myatt Snider finished sixth through 10, respectively.

Stage 1 only had 2 cautions. The first was for the cars of Sieg, Hemric and Brandon Brown who got tangled up together. The second was a scheduled competition caution. By Lap 34 Hamlin took the lead after starting at the rear of the field. He would win the stage.

Stage 2 had one caution for Noah Gragson. Allgaier had tire trouble and went behind the wall and later returned to the track. Hamlin retook the lead from Briscoe on Lap 84 and went on to win the stage.

Stage 3 is where all the action was. Jeremy Clements stalled on the track and brought out the caution. David Starr smacked into the wall after his tire went down. Next, Brett Moffitt’s car laid fluid on the track, sending several cars spinning and bringing out the red flag for cleanup. When the race resumed, a battle between Chastain and Hamlin was on. It was exciting to watch as Hamlin tried to take the lead away. Both cars bounced off the wall several times. Coming down to the white flag both Hamlin and Chastain got into the wall, and Jones, who was in third, jumped into the lead and the race win. It was such an exciting race to watch, I can’t wait for the rest of this weekend’s racing.

Austin Cindric leads the Xfinity Series points standings with 1005 points, in second is Chase Briscoe with 951 points, third in the points is Chastain with 911 points, fourth is Gragson with 878 points, and rounding out the top five is Harrison Burton with 789 points.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads next to Richmond Raceway on Friday, Sept. 11.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 23

Darlington Raceway – Darlington, SC – 1.366 – Mile Paved

Total Race Length – 147 Laps – 200.802 Miles