The NASCAR Xfinity Series continued their stretch of racing this past week as another Monday night race was completed at the “Fastest Half-Mile,” Bristol Motor Speedway.
In what was an action-packed race, that saw 12 cautions for 85 laps, Noah Gragson made a late-race maneuver (that moved teammate Justin Allgaier) and was victorious for the second time this season.
The No. 9 Plan B Sales Chevrolet was a fast car early on after leading a stretch of 46 laps, before averaging a top-five to top-10 run mid-race.
As Gragson scored the victory, many other Xfinity drivers scored their best finish of the season, and for some, the best finish of their career.
This week’s Power Rankings sees a shakeup among the drivers.
With that in mind, here are this week’s Power Rankings following the Cheddar’s 300 at Bristol.
- Chase Briscoe – After a miserable Charlotte outing where he finished 20th, the Indiana native looked to rebound this week at Bristol and have a strong run. With no qualifying in place as of now, Briscoe started the No. 98 Ford in the 11th position. He spent the majority of the race running inside the top-10, averaging sixth, never once falling outside the top-10. In the stages, Briscoe finished third in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2. He was in contention late with an overtime restart with two to go, restarting outside of eventual race winner Noah Gragson. Ultimately, Briscoe drove the No. 98 Highpoint.com Ford to second place and scored his fourth top-five of the season.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked - Noah Gragson – The Las Vegas native shined under the lights in the early going and was there when it counted. Gragson moved his teammate Allgaier out of the way in the last two laps which led to a furious Allgaier, as Gragson picked up the victory for the second time his season. Despite that late-race move, the No. 9 JR Motorsports driver, was up front early and won the first stage. Gragson then piloted the Chevrolet to a second-place finish in Stage 2. Even though the late-race incident might cause some tension between the two teammates, Gragson is solidly locked in the Playoffs with a second win, should the playoffs still take place.
Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked - Brandon Brown – Brown continued his early season momentum after finishing eighth last week at Charlotte, to another season best by finishing seventh at Bristol. The Virginia driver’s last seventh-place finish came at the season opener back in February at Daytona. He was unable to score any stage points in either stage, however, the team continues to ride high on their last few weeks of solid top-10 finishes. Don’t be surprised if Brown can slip into a top-five finish here soon.
Previous Week Ranking – Fourth - Daniel Hemric – The No. 8 South Point Casino and Hotel driver came home to a quiet sixth-place finish Monday night at Bristol. Hemric started eighth and ran the same position throughout the race. He did fell back to 23rd at one point in the race, due to a pit road speeding penalty. Despite that, Hemric spent 94 percent of the race in the top-15, before rallying to another top-10 finish, the fourth of the year for Hemric in six starts.
Previous Week Ranking – Third - Harrison Burton – It was a solid night for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who was awarded the pole after the random draw. Burton had a strong car early on but fell out of the top-10 in the first stage and did not receive any stage points. Eventually, the No. 20 team rallied back to a fourth-place finish in the second stage. Burton led the first 25 laps of the race and would lead again for two more times with a total of 81 laps led. When the checkered flag flew, the North Carolina driver finished fourth, his fifth top-five of the season.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
Fell Out
- Ross Chastain – From first to worst in one week, Chastain never really got a chance to show what he was capable of in the race. He never got to lead a lap and was the reason for the first caution flag of the night. He and Austin Cindric were caught up in a battle before Chastain’s car moved up the racetrack. He would spin out in the process and collected Cindric in the going. While he was able to get back out to the track, the Floridian finished in 28th position, numerous laps down.
Previous Week Ranking – First - Austin Cindric- The Team Penske driver was caught up in Chastain’s incident on Lap 7 of the race, resulting in his back bumper and deck lid being torn to shreds. An upper A-frame damage was too much for the No. 22 team to fix and he was credited with a 36th place finish.
Previous Week Ranking – Second - Michael Annett – Annett was among several drivers that were unfortunately caught up in the wreck with no wrongdoing on his part. He barely escaped the sitting car of Ross Chastain. Annett’s car tore the whole back bumper off of Chastain’s car and sustained major damage to the No. 1 Chevy. The night was done early for the JR Motorsports driver, as he would be credited with a last-place finish.
Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
