Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 | Talladega Superspeedway Sunday, October 6, 2024
Unofficial Ford Performance Results:
2nd – Brad Keselowski 12th – Cody Ware 17th – Chris Buescher 18th – Corey LaJoie 23rd – Todd Gilliland 25th – Noah Gragson 30th – Chase Briscoe 32nd – Austin Cindric 33rd – Joey Logano 34th – Harrison Burton 35th – Ryan Preece 36th – Josh Berry 37th – Michael McDowell 39th – Ryan Blaney
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse – IT LOOKED LIKE THE GUYS BEHIND YOU HAD A BIG RUN. ANYTHING AS THE LEAD CAR YOU CAN DO BESIDES JUST BRACE AND HOLD ON? “In that position the best thing you can do is be as predictable as possible, keep your car as straight as possible. The front of the pack got shuffled up from the 38 basically splitting the whole field, which definitely caused some congestion with guys getting out of lanes and obviously an off-center push from the 6 and that’s it for our race. We had an exceptionally fast race car. It was A-plus execution by everyone on the 2 car, so I’m proud of the effort but definitely a bummer to be that close to punching our ticket.”
WHAT HAPPENED? “I just got turned at the front of the field. Unfortunately, that’s how Daytona ended for us and I think what that says is we’ve got really fast race cars and great execution. As the leader, I was trying to be as predictable as possible as far as taking pushes and it’s just a real shame. I don’t really feel like doing a whole lot of complaining about what happened or whose fault it is, it doesn’t really matter. It puts us in a must-win situation for the Charlotte Road Course. We’ve brought some exceptionally fast race cars every single race of the playoffs and I cannot understate how proud I am of my race team and we’ll have to bring another one next week.”
ANY INDICATION IT WOULD GET THAT HECTIC AT THE END? “It usually does.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED DOWN THE STRETCH? “He (Larson) gave me a good push down the frontstrech, but the 24 was able to really stick with the 47 there and just needed a tiny bit. It’s a good finish for us. We’ve been knocking on the door of these plate tracks. I hate that we didn’t bust through with a win, but I’m happy to be right there in contention.”
DID YOU THINK ABOUT GOING TO THE TOP WHEN YOU CLEARED THE 47 OFF TURN FOUR? “No, I knew they were gonna have a really big run and that the 24 was really tight to him and I was just gonna get split, so I felt like I made the right move, but there’s only so much you can do when you’re outnumbered.”
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE BACKSTRETCH ACCIDENT? “It was just an interesting sequence of events. The 38 car came. He was a slow car for whatever reason, I don’t know, and he stayed on the bottom and we had the Ford train pulling the bottom and when he did that it broke us all up and when we rubberbanded back together it just snapped. It’s a tough deal. I was getting pushed from behind and I ran into the 2 car and he spun out. It just wasn’t a good sequence of events for all of us.”
WHAT ABOUT THE FINAL RESTART? “I just needed a half a foot, I guess. I got a really good push from the 5 down the frontstretch, but just wasn’t quite enough.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It’s not the day we wanted, just with the way everything went. I don’t know what the points are, but I’m sure it’s not good. This is one of those races where if you didn’t run top five or whatever, you’re probably gonna be in a must-win either way, so that probably makes it a little more clear now and puts it where it’s not on that bubble of, ‘well, should we go for points or should we just try to win the race.’ At least now I feel it’s pretty obvious, so a frustrating day. It felt like there at the end we were in position and then I don’t know what happened. We had all the Fords in line and thought we were gonna be really good and then the wreck happened.”
YOU WERE FIFTH IN THAT FORD TRAIN. WHAT HAPPENED TO CAUSE THE WRECK? “I don’t know. I was just shoving the 21 and I knew we were in the middle of the back straightaway and then it felt like everybody stopped. Surprisingly, we didn’t hit each other super hard and it felt like everybody was gonna be fine and we were gonna keep going straight and then all of a sudden they all started wrecking from each way. I haven’t seen it, but we’ll just go on to the next one.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – YOU WERE GETTING PUSHED. HOW TOUGH IS IT TO GAUGE THE STRENGTH AND INTENSITY OF A RUN LIKE THAT AT THE END OF THESE RACES? “Everyone was just shoving each other. It’s what you expect coming down to the end of the race. It kind of felt like we were in such a good spot though with the 6, the 2, myself, the 21. I was not in the position to win the race where I was, but I felt like I was in a good enough spot to where I could get a top-five and if they started crossing each other up coming to the checkered I was on the bottom and things were gonna work fairly well for us. I actually thought the bottom was the safest place to be, but the 2 got sideways and there I was.”
WHAT WAS THE DAMAGE ON YOUR CAR? “There was plenty of damage there. I hit the inside wall pretty hard.”
WAS THAT JUST A PUSH GONE WRONG? “Yeah. I mean, I guess. Everyone just gets more aggressive at the end of the races. The 2 got out there a little bit more than what he had been and the 21 gave me a shove and transferred that to the 6. You can’t see what’s in front of you from there and he got to the 2 with a fair amount of steam there. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s not Brad’s fault. It’s not anybody’s fault. It’s just the product of the racing that we’ve got. Everyone is getting more and more aggressive as the laps wind down and it happens. It happens a lot.”
IT’S FUN UNTIL IT’S NOT? “I didn’t even have fun today. You can’t even do anything here. You just get stuck. You’re running four-wide and it looks cool, but you’re running half-throttle and then when you want to go and it’s time to go, everyone is just stuck two-wide, so there’s just not many moves you can make. You just keep trying to re-learn how to run on these superspeedways as it evolves, but the car’s got so much drag on it that you can’t make moves and make runs happen and cross people up. You’re committed to where you are in that line.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WAS IT JUST A SIMPLE MATTER OF A BAD PUSH AT THE WRONG TIME? “Yeah. I don’t know if he ever lifted and just drilled me from like three car lengths back. The worst possible spot you could do it, so it’s pretty dumb on his part and it figures that he gets away scot free per usual. That’s the end of the day.”
HOW DO YOU VIEW THE ROVAL NOW? “We’ll just see where we are at the end of the race on points and go from there.”
WHAT HAPPENED? “I thought Austin and I worked well together. I had a feeling that the 8 would pull out and help Chevy. He wasn’t gonna help me, obviously, so we got in the middle. I didn’t think it was terrible. We were probably still gonna run fifth or sixth, and then the 48 just drove straight through me in the tri-oval. He just wrecked the #$*W out of me. I don’t know what he’s thinking.”
YOU HAD A 28-POINT CUSHION. DO YOU THINK THAT WILL BE ENOUGH TO HAVE SOME LEEWAY AT THE ROVAL? “I have no idea. I don’t have good hope right now, to be honest with you. We didn’t get very good stage points and obviously we’re last, so we’ll just see where it is at the end of it.”
COULD YOU SEE THE 48 BEHIND YOU? WERE YOU THINKING HE WAS GOING TO HAVE SLOW DOWN BEFORE HE GOT TO YOU? “Yeah. I thought he would have more sense than that, but obviously he didn’t. Yeah, I see him coming and I see him hauling ass towards me and you kind of have to lift a little bit. You can’t just run wide-open through somebody in the tri-oval, but he did.”
DID YOU FEEL ANYTHING DIFFERENT IN THE CAR WITH THIS PACKAGE? “I don’t know. It still hurt when I wrecked.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHERE WERE YOU IN ALL OF THAT? “I was just driving into it blind a little bit. I think we were sitting probably 12th or 13th, something like that, when it went down, so by the time I got there the road was already blocked. There wasn’t a lot of lanes available. It’s just unfortunate. We had a really fast Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang. We led a lot of laps and definitely had the speed in the car, it’s just that last pit cycle didn’t work out for us. You need to come out in that top five to protect yourself from this. I’m not sure where the wreck started, but you want to be somewhere near the top five to avoid it and we just weren’t. We were running right in the middle of the hornet’s nest when it happened.”
RYAN PREECE, No. 41 Wonder Bread Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I think we knew something was gonna happen when we were catching the 38 and him staying on the bottom that it was gonna shuffle things up and it certainly did. It’s frustrating because I think all of us that were in the top 10 or so were in great position for the end of that race and giving Wonder Bread and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing a great finish and ultimately it wasn’t our day, but certainly still frustrating.”
JOSH BERRY, No. 4 SunnyD Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WERE YOU TRYING TO LINK UP WITH THE FORD TRAIN? “Yeah, I thought we all worked together really well today. We pitted early there in that stage and it just didn’t work out. All of our teammates, I think we worked really well together today. Unfortunately, none of us made it through that wreck.”
Jake Drew Scores Fourth Podium of 2024; Boris Said Jr. Finishes Seventh; Connor Zilisch Comes Home 12th After Foiled Victory Bid from Last on the Grid
Overview:
Date: Oct. 5, 2024 Event: VIR SpeedTour (Round 11 of 12) Series: Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli Division: Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series Location: Virginia International Raceway in Alton Layout: 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course Format: 31 laps or 75 minutes Weather: Sunny, upper-70s TA2 Winner: Thomas Annunziata
Silver Hare Racing:
● Jake Drew – Started 2nd, Finished 3rd (Running, completed 31/31 laps) ● Boris Said Jr. – Started 11th, Finished 7th (Running, completed 31/31 laps) ● Connor Zilisch – Started 30th, Finished 12th (Running, completed 31/31 laps)
Noteworthy:
● Drew earned his fourth podium finish in 10 races this season. ● Drew was awarded the Cool Boxx Coolest Move award for the second time this season.
Jake Drew, Driver, No. 7 Silver Hare Racing/Franklin Road Apparel Chevrolet Camaro:
“It feels amazing to have so many great people on board this car – Cube 3 Architecture, Franklin Road and, of course, Silver Hare Racing with Maurice and Laura (Hull), they’ve made my dreams come true. And, it’s super cool to be on the podium here at VIR my first time here. It was a tough race, for sure. Started having some issues there at the end, but just super thankful to have friends and family here and supporters of Maurice and Laura and this whole team. Just really happy to be here right now.”
Boris Said Jr., Driver, No. 75 HendrickCars.com/Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro:
“We battled our way up there in our HendrickCars.com Camaro, it was good and it got better and better. It started tight, then it got good. And I had a good race with Austin (Green) at the end. The Silver Hare team did a great job. So, overall, it was a good weekend at VIR. Especially considering we had just a handful of green-flag laps in practice and qualifying.”
Connor Zilisch, driver, No. 57 Bankers Insurance/Guy M. Turner/Clark Outdoor/Chevrolet Driver Development Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro:
“It was a fun day getting back in the TA2 car with Silver Hare Racing. Obviously, it’s not the result we wanted, but we had a good run going there until an incident in Oak Tree kind of derailed our day. But I’m just glad that I was able to come back here and get to run with Silver Hare. I knew it was going to be tough starting at the back, but we worked our way inside the top-five until that incident. So it felt good to be back here and have speed and kind of come back where we left off and just enjoy the day, get to see all these guys again, and get to go through the motions with all of them and see all my old friends. It was unfortunate how it ended, but still had fun today and enjoyed the experience. And, hopefully, I’ll be able to come back and do this again.”
Laura Hull, Co-Owner, Team Manager, Silver Hare Racing:
“The old saying is, ‘Home is where the heart is,’ and my heart couldn’t be more full. We just couldn’t be happier with the finishes that we had today. Completely proud of the entire Silver Hare Racing crew. They brought wonderful cars to race this weekend. Jake Drew, just wow, he just continues to amaze us. His talent, his demeanor, just his whole skill, his craft. We’re extremely proud. And for him to finish third, that was just such a gift for us right here at home in our own backyard. He worked really hard for it. It’s extremely hard against the veteran drivers who have had a lot of experience here. Having Connor Zillich come back, what a treat that was. He’s a part of our family, and it was just such a pleasure to have him and his mom and dad, Jan and Jim here with us. And he put on quite a show. To have to start from the very back, he made it all the way up to fourth at one point until the incident. And Boris Said Jr., wow. He just continues to keep moving on up with his finishes and showing consistency. We’re very proud of him, his efforts. He and his dad, Boris Sr., work together really well, and they’re just a joy to have around and be around. Now we’re going to dust off all our cars, clean them up, get them prepped, and go on to COTA and get back on the podium.”
Next Up:
The 2024 Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series season comes to a close Nov. 1-3 with the COTA SpeedTour at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Round 12 of the 12-race campaign kicks off with a pair of TA2 test sessions on Friday, Nov. 1, at 11 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. CDT. Official TA2 practice is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, followed by qualifying at 5:35 p.m. Start time Sunday, Nov. 3, for the 30-lap, 75-minute TA2 race around the 3.4-mile, 20-turn road course is 10:35 a.m. with live television provided by series partner MAVTV, augmented by a live video stream on the Trans Am channel on YouTube.
About Silver Hare Racing:
Silver Hare Racing is a fulltime competitor in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series. The multicar team has won the TA2 Masters class championship three times (2018, 2019 and 2020) with driver and team co-owner Maurice Hull. Under the leadership of Hull’s wife, co-owner and team manager Laura Hull, Silver Hare Racing provides a variety of services that includes private testing and arrive-and-drive programs. The team offers six professionally built and maintained TA2 chassis from Howe Racing and operates from a state-of-the-art facility in High Point, North Carolina. For more information, call 336-870-5151, or visit SilverHareRacing.com.
Barry Boes Earns Seventh Pro-Am Win, 14-Year-Old Tristan McKee Fourth in TA2 Debut, Fellow Teenager Julian DaCosta Eighth, Abrupt End for Thomas Ellis
Overview:
Date: Oct. 5, 2024 Event: VIR SpeedTour (Round 11 of 12) Series: Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli Division: Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series Location: Virginia International Raceway in Alton Layout: 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course Format: 31 laps or 75 minutes Weather: Sunny, upper-70s TA2 Winner: Thomas Annunziata of Nitro Motorsports
TeamSLR:
● Tristan McKee – Started 6th, Finished 4th (Running, completed 31/31 laps) ● Julian DaCosta – Started 12th, Finished 8th (Running, completed 31/31 laps) ● Barry Boes – Started 13th, Finished 11th (Running, completed 31/31 laps) ● Thomas Ellis – Started 15th, Finished 27th (Accident, completed 10/31 laps)
Noteworthy:
● Boes scored his seventh Pro-Am Challenge-class victory in 11 races this season and fifth in the last six races. He entered the weekend with a 129-point lead in the championship within a championship. If he arrives at the season finale at Circuit of the Americas with a lead of 110 points or more, he will have clinched the class championship.
● This was the first career TA2 start for McKee, who became eligible to drive in the series when he turned 14 on Aug. 3.
● The 16-year-old DaCosta’s eighth-place finish was his third top-10 in as many TA2 Series starts this season. He made his series debut with a 10th-place finish April 14 at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, Louisiana, and finished eighth Aug. 31 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario.
● Other top M1 Racecars finishers included Austin Green of Peterson Motorsports, who came home sixth today.
Tristan Mckee, Driver, No. 28 SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“It was a good day. We started off sixth and worked our way up to fourth, which was good. We had a caution and Connor Zilisch got by me, and then Rafa Matos got by me, as well. And then we were all running that way until the last part of the race. I started picking up the leaders, our car was getting pretty good there at the end and they were falling off a little bit. I got Rafa on the last lap for fourth, so that is a good first day. We had good speed, so I think we’ll just keep working on it and get better for the next one.”
Julian DaCosta, Driver No. 17 Powered by Hixon/Austin Hatcher Foundation/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“The most difficult part of the weekend was we weren’t getting any track time. I think we got probably two or three (green-flag) laps each session, which makes it pretty difficult on everybody, it makes it difficult on the team. But TeamSLR did a great job and they kept the car really quick. I knew I had a few things to work on going into the race. I definitely think we improved on a lot and I know what I still need to work on going forward. But, otherwise, it was a really good race, and overall the team did a great job. I have to thank Hixon Motorsports, they definitely helped me out, they’re the whole reason I’m here. And the Austin Hatcher Foundation, I’m really proud to support them, and we’re we’re looking forward to what we can do in the future and hopefully get everybody on the podium soon.”
Barry Boes, Driver No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang:
“We had a had a really good start, we got a couple of positions moving forward. The car was loose on me up the esses. It was perfect in qualifying. I asked them to make no changes, so I’m not sure what happened., a new set of tires or something different, but that’s OK. So I was just loose up the esses and I kept losing time. One time, I said I’ve just got to make this work, and I tried a little bit harder, and it wasn’t going to work for me and I went for a ride and dropped to the back. Then I just had to fight my way back forward again, made it to the front of Pro-Am and was running them down maybe by a 10th (of a second) or two a lap. I was really excited, thinking I might be able to get up to them and do a little racing, but I just ran out of time. All in all a good day. We’re looking good in the Pro-Am championship.”
Thomas Ellis, Driver, No. 8 SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“It was a tough weekend, and I’m not happy about getting taken out by an amateur driver. That’s all I can really say. I feel like we had something at the beginning of the race. We worked on the car all weekend to find rear-end grip and we finally had a package that seemed like was going to work. In the race, we had good pace, but unfortunately got dumped. Better luck next time, I guess.”
Next Up:
TeamSLR, proud to be racing on behalf of partners Franklin Road Apparel and Cube 3 Architecture, heads to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas for the 2024 season finale Nov. 1-3. The COTA SpeedTour, round 12 of the 12-race campaign, kicks off with a pair of TA2 test sessions on Friday, Nov. 1, at 11 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. CDT. Official TA2 practice is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, followed by qualifying at 5:35 p.m. Start time Sunday, Nov. 3, for the 30-lap, 75-minute TA2 race around the 3.4-mile, 20-turn road course is 10:35 a.m. with live television provided by series partner MAVTV, augmented by a live video stream on the Trans Am channel on YouTube.
About TeamSLR:
TeamSLR (Scott Lagasse Racing) competes fulltime in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series in a multifaceted effort that includes dedicated entries in the TA2 division, customer programs, driver coaching and car construction. Its history dates back to 1985 and covers a wide spectrum of motorsports, including NASCAR, IMSA, SCCA, ARCA and ASA. TeamSLR is a family-owned organization run by Scott Lagasse Sr., and Scott Lagasse Jr., The father-and-son duo have combined to win more than 120 races and seven championships across a variety of series and styles of racecars, from paved ovals to road courses to dirt tracks. For more information, please visit us online at www.TeamSLR.com, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram and on LinkedIn.
By being consistent throughout the 2024 ARCA Menards Series season, Andres Perez wrapped up the championship ahead of Saturday’s Owens Corning 200 at Toledo Speedway. (Photo: Zack Silver/ARCA Racing)
TOLEDO, Oh. (Oct. 5, 2024) – History was made on Saturday as Andres Perez (No. 2 Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet) became the first foreign-born champion in the 72-season history of the ARCA Menards Series. Perez, from Mexico City, won the title with an incredibly consistent season, scoring ten top-five finishes, including a trio of runner-up finishes, and 17 top-ten finishes in 20 starts.
He officially locked up the title when he took the green flag in the Owens Corning 200 Presented by CGS Imaging; he finished the final race of the season in sixth.
Additionally, his Rev Racing teammate Lavar Scott (No. 6 Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet) finished second in the final standings, earning the series’ Bounty Rookie of the Year award. It marks the first time a Black driver earned the top rookie award and the first time two members of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program swept the top two positions in the final ARCA Menards Series standings.
Perez is a second-generation champion, following in the footsteps of his father Ricardo, who earned a multitude of championships in the Super Copa Seat Leon (2011-2013), Ferrari Challenge North America (2014), and Tractocaminoes Freightliner (2015) series.
His championship is the second ARCA Menards Series drivers title for Rev Racing in the last three years. He also joins former NASCAR Cup Series champion and current playoff contender Kyle Larson and current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship contender Nick Sanchez as drivers to earn a title while driving for Rev Racing; Larson earned the championship in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East in 2012 and Sanchez was the ARCA Menards Series champ in 2022.
“We are thrilled to see Rev Racing and Andres win the 2024 Drivers Championship,” said Max Siegel, Rev Racing owner. “As an organization that continues to focus on development and results, it is clear that what we are striving for is working. Two drivers championships in three years is both something we are proud of and will continue to work toward each season. We are thankful to our partners, staff and drivers who stay committed to excellence.”
Perez kicked his championship run into overdrive with a hot mid-summer stretch that saw him rack up five consecutive top-five finishes, including three runner-up finishes at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Salem Speedway, and Michigan International Speedway in addition to a pair of fifth-place finishes at Berlin Raceway and Elko Speedway.
“I have grown and learned so much from competing in the ARCA Menards Series these past two years. The racing in Mexico is different than the racing in the US and being able to hone my skills and grow with Rev Racing has been extremely impactful to my development. Being the first AMS Champion from Mexico is an honor and I take pride in representing my country on the track. I’m extremely thankful to Rev Racing, NASCAR Drive for Diversity, Max Siegel, and the entire No. 2 Chevrolet team for this opportunity and for their support.”
Scott had an equally strong season as his teammate, but a slow start hampered his championship hopes. Scott’s season also heated up with the summer temperatures as he scored a pair of runner-up finishes at Berlin Raceway and Elko Speedway.
The Elko race was bittersweet, however, as he led 99 of the final 102 laps; he was passed by eventual race winner William Sawalich with three to go but ran side-by-side not wanting to give up a shot at his first career series win. He nosed ahead down the backstretch and into turn three, but Sawalich got back around off the final turn to win by just 0.011 seconds, the second-closest finish in the ARCA Menards Series since the advent of electronic timing.
Scott completed his first full season in the ARCA Menards Series with a fifth-place run at Toledo Speedway.
“My debut season in the ARCA Menards Series has been full of lessons on and off the track. Rev Racing’s success this season is a testament to the program and its mission of bringing together people from diverse backgrounds and contending for wins and championships. Being the first Black driver to earn the Bounty Rookie of The Year Award is an honor and while I am the first I know that with programs like Rev Racing, I won’t be the last. A huge thank you to the entire No. 6 team for their hard work this season and for pushing me to always try my hardest and finish the best we can.”
“We are very proud of the accomplishments both Andres and Lavar achieved on the racetrack in 2024,” said ARCA President Ron Drager. “They both competed at an extremely high level throughout the course of the season and have proven themselves to be worthy of being the ARCA Menards Series champion and rookie of the year.
“On top of their accomplishments on the track, they have conducted themselves like champions off the track. They are exactly the type of young driver we like to see in the ARCA Menards Series platform, and we look forward to seeing what they do on the track in 2025 and beyond.”
Perez and Scott will be honored as ARCA Menards Series Champion and Bounty Rookie Challenge Rookie of the Year at the NASCAR Regional Awards Ceremony at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Uptown Charlotte on Thursday, November 21.
The 2025 ARCA Menards Series season kicks off with the 62nd annual Daytona ARCA 200 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 15. The race will be broadcast live on FOX at 1 pm ET and will be carried on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network. For up-to-the-minute news and updates, follow @ARCA_Racing on X (formerly Twitter).
About ARCA The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum in Toledo, Ohio, and acquired by NASCAR in April 2018, is the leading grassroots stock car sanctioning body in the United States. Bridging the gap between NASCAR’s top three national touring series and weekly and regional tour racing all across the country, the organization sanctions over 100 races per year in the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, ARCA Menards Series West, ASA STARS National Tour, ASA CRA Super Series, ASA Midwest Tour, ASA Southern Super Series plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways. For more information about ARCA visit www.arcaracing.com, or follow ARCA on Facebook (@ARCARacing) and Twitter (@ARCA_Racing).
About Menards A family-owned and run company started in 1958, Menards is recognized as the retail home center leader of the Midwest with 236 stores in 15 states. Menards is truly a one-stop shop for all of your home improvement needs featuring a full-service lumberyard and everything you need to plan a renovation or build a home, garage, cabin, shed, deck, fence or post frame building. You’ll find a large selection of lumber, roofing, siding, construction blocks, trusses, doors and windows, plus cabinets, appliances, countertops, flooring, lighting, paint, plumbing supplies and more. To complete the job, Menards has quality hand tools, power tools, fasteners, electrical tools plus storage options and supplies for everyone from the weekend warrior to the pro!
Menards has what you need to complete your outdoor projects and keep your yard in tip-top shape including mowers, trimmers, blowers, pressure washers and more, plus a beautiful garden center stocked with plants, shrubs, trees, landscaping tools, grass seed, fertilizer options, outdoor décor and patio furniture. Menards also has everyday essentials like health & beauty products, housewares, pet and wildlife supplies, automotive items and even groceries. And at Christmas, an Enchanted Forest display area with impressive trees, lighting, decorations, ornaments, inflatables and more.
Menards is known for friendly Customer Service and as the place to “Save Big Money” with low prices every day, and sales too! For more information, please visit Menards.com to learn about our store locations, offerings and services.
Using lessons and scenarios gained from team owner and former NASCAR veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sammy Smith capitalized on an overtime shootout amid a late battle with his fellow Playoff contenders to advance into the second round of the Playoffs by winning the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 5.
The two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion from Johnston, Iowa, led five times for a total of five of 98 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started the deepest of the Playoff field in 27th place. Despite carving his way up through the field and inside the top-10 mark amid the draft before ending up a single position shy of claiming a stage point after the first stage period, Smith would rally by surging to a second-place finish at the conclusion of the second stage period.
Once the final stage period started under green flag conditions with 38 laps remaining, Smith would lead for the first time on Lap 67 and spend the majority of the stage racing towards the front as the action around him intensified amid three-wide formation and his fellow competitors drafting aggressively.
Following three restart periods and two multi-car wrecks, the latter of which knocked out three of his JR Motorsports teammates, Smith, who restarted alongside Playoff contender Riley Herbst on the front row for an overtime shootout, overtook Herbst for the lead on the final lap before he dueled with Playoff contender Chandler Smith for the lead through the backstretch. With Chandler Smith having no drafting help through the final two sets of turns, Sammy Smith received drafting help from Ryan Sieg to surge ahead and fend off the incoming field to score his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in over one year and automatically transfer from the Playoff’s Round of 12 to 8.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff rookie contender Jesse Love notched his fifth Xfinity career pole position after he posted a pole-winning lap at 182.129 mph in 52.578 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender and teammate Austin Hill, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 181.770 mph in 52.682 seconds.
Before the event, the following names that include CJ McLaughlin, Joey Gase and Tommy Joe Martins dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Aric Almirola also dropped to the rear of the field after his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team was assessed with a windshield violation during the inspection process. In addition, Almirola was assessed a drive-through penalty after taking the green flag.
When the green flag waved and the race started, teammates Jesse Love and Austin Hill dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes before Hill muscled ahead as he started on the inside lane. As the field began to fan out to multiple lanes exiting the backstretch, Hill fended off Playoff contenders Chandler Smith and AJ Allmendinger through two lanes and through the frontstretch to lead the first lap as Aric Almirola served his pass-through penalty.
Through the second to fifth lap, a majority of the field migrated to the outside lane and within a long single-file line behind the leader Hill while Allmendinger led a small parade of competitors drafting and trying to keep pace with Hill on the inside lane. Allmendinger, however, would surge ahead to lead the fourth lap as he had Playoff contender Riley Herbst following suit from the inside lane while Hill was trying to keep pace from the outside lane. Taylor Gray and Playoff contender Sam Mayer also navigated their way to the front while Allmendingergressively blocked both lanes to maintain the lead.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, a series of on-track shuffling ensued towards the front as the field fanned out to three packed lanes, with Love moving back atop the leaderboard ahead of Allmendinger, Hill, Ryan Sieg and Anthony Alfredo. Behind, Riley Herbst and Chandler Smith along with Playoff contenders Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier were racing in the top 10 ahead of Taylor Gray, Brandon Jones, Carson Kvapil, Jeb Burton and Playoff contenders Cole Custer. Meanwhile, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer and Shane van Gisbergen were mired in 17th, 18th and 22nd, respectively.
Five laps later, Love maintained a narrow advantage over Allmendinger as he led two stacked drafting lanes while Chandler Smith, Hill, Alfredo and Justin Allgaier were mired in the top six on the track. By then, Almirola, who was lapped two laps earlier, was mired in 37th place. With a majority of the front-runners racing in two-wide formation amid the draft, Love continued to lead at the Lap 20 mark as he transitioned from both the inside and outside lanes to fend off Chandler Smith and Allgaier for the lead, though Chandler Smith then drew himself alongside Love and led the following lap by a hair.
A lap after being edged by Chandler Smith, Love then got shoved out of the draft entering the backstretch as Allgaier made his move beneath Love and had the drafting momentum with him. With Love drifting back within the top-10 mark, Chandler Smith had the lead to his possession while Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Allmendinger and Gray were scored in the top five.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Playoff contender Chandler Smith fended off final-lap challenges from teammate Creed, Allgaier and Allmendinger to claim his seventh Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Playoff contenders Allmendinger, Allgaier, Austin Hill and Creed followed suit in the top five while Anthony Alfredo, Taylor Gray, Mayer, Custer and Dean Thompson were scored in the top 10. With seven of 12 Playoff contenders accumulating the first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sammy Smith, Herbst, Kligerman, Love and van Gisbergen were mired in 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 23rd, respectively. In addition, Almirola was the recipient of the free pass after being the first competitor that was scored a lap down at the first stage’s conclusion.
Under the stage break, a majority of the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith pitted for a first round of pit service while others led by Blaine Perkins remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Love exited pit road first after he opted to have none of his four tires changed while Chandler Smith, Creed, Allgaier and Allmendinger followed suit in the top five. The remaining competitors, who stayed on the track, led by Perkins, pitted a lap after the rest of the field did, which handed the lead back to Love.
The second stage period started on Lap 31 as Love and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Love muscled ahead from the outside lane through the first two turns, but he would then be locked in a side-by-side battle with Chandler Smith just past the frontstretch. With the field behind closing in amid two stacked drafting lanes, Love managed to lead the following lap while Chandler Smith and Allgaier dueled for second place. Allgaier would then surge into second place in front of Cole Custer and Chandler Smith by Lap 33 as the field fanned out to three packed lanes through the backstretch.
At the Lap 35 mark, Love led a small single-file line that included Allgaier, Custer, Hill, Alfredo and Kvapil while Chandler Smith was mired in seventh place along with Jeb Burton, van Gisbergen and Allmendinger. By the next lap, the top 24 competitors were running under two seconds as Love retained the lead ahead of Allgaier, Custer, Hill and Alfredo. By then, playoff contenders van Gisbergen, Herbst, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Creed, Kligerman and Sammy Smith were mired within the top-20 mark while Sam Mayer was racing in 23rd place. In addition, Almirola had carved his way back into the top-20 mark.
By Lap 40, Love maintained a steady five-car breakaway from two stacked lanes that included Allgaier, Hill, Alfredo and Taylor Gray while Allmendinger and Chandler Smith were trying to charge their way towards the front amid their respective drafting lanes. Allmendinger would then climb his way up to fourth place with a strong surge from the outside lane as he had Custer and Kvapil drafting him.
A lap later, the caution flew when Allmendinger, who had gained a draft on Love from the outside lane, caused a brief stack-up from the outside lane, starting after the backstretch, after he surged to Love’s bumper at a high-rated speed, got loose and was shuffled out of the draft. This resulted in Nick Leitz getting turned and wrecking in front of Kligerman and Jeb Burton as Josh Williams and Dean Thompson were also involved in Turn 4. At the moment of caution, Allgaier had overtaken Love for the lead through Turns 3 and 4.
During the caution period, some including Kvapil, Brandon Jones, Herbst, Taylor Gray, Ryan Sieg, van Gisbergen, Kligerman and Jeb Burton pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Gray was penalized for speeding on pit road.
With the event restarting under green with four laps remaining in the second stage period, Allgaier and Hill dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Cole Custer was shuffled out of the draft despite lining up with the Richard Childress Racing competitors, Hill continued to duel with Allgaier for the lead through the frontstretch, where Allgaier led the following lap, as Allmendinger aggressively shoved his way towards the top-three mark and amid a three-wide move. As the field continued to fan out aggressively, Allgaier managed to move in front of Hill to have both lanes to his control and lead the following lap.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 50, Playoff contender Austin Hill, who used a bold crossover move on Allgaier to assume the lead and outlasted a series of aggressive challenges from his competition amid the draft over the previous two laps, fended off a last-lap surge from Sammy Smith to claim his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Behind, Playoff contenders Sammy Smith, Love, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Allmendinger, Creed and Custer all finished in the top nine while Brandon Jones settled in 10th place. With nine of 12 Playoff contenders racking up the second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Allgaier, Mayer and Kligerman settled in 13th, 17th and 21st, respectively.
During the stage break, Hill led a majority of the field, including all Playoff contenders, back to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Herbst, who only opted for fuel, exited pit road first as he was followed by Brandon Jones, Kvapil, Chandler Smith and Gray.
With 38 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Herbst and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst received drafting help from Chandler Smith to surge ahead of Jones through the first two turns as the rest of the field followed suit amid two stacked lanes. With the field beginning to fan out to multiple lanes through the backstretch, Herbst led the following lap ahead of Chandler Smith while Gray made his way up to third place ahead of Jones, Creed and Love. Love then surged towards the front with no drafting help through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4 before Herbst fought back with all the momentum occurring behind him toward the outside wall. As the majority of the field migrated towards the outside lane led by Herbst, Love continued to fight back from the inside lane as he had Sammy Smith, Almirola and Allgaier following suit.
With 34 laps remaining, Love, who spent the last several laps dueling with Herbst, surged ahead to lead as he was followed by Sammy Smith and the rest of the field. Smith then made his move beneath Love exiting the backstretch and both dueled in front of two stacked lanes through the frontstretch and prior to completing the following lap as Love was still scored ahead of Smith and Herbst.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event and with the field fanned out to three stacked drafting lanes, Herbst was ahead of Chandler Smith, who used the inside lane to lead a few laps earlier amid a three-wide action, and Almirola while Sammy Smith, Love, Allgaier, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Jordan Anderson and Hill were scored in the top 10 ahead of Josh Williams, Mayer, Cred, Kvapil and Alfredo. Meanwhile, Kligerman and Custer were mired in 17th and 24th, respectively, while the top 23 competitors were racing under a second of one another.
Five laps later, Chandler Smith was out in front ahead of Love, Herbst, Sammy Smith, Allmendinger and van Gisbergen while Almirola, Hill, Williams and Allgaier were mired in the top 10 amid a flurry of on-track battles as the field continued to duel amid three tight-packed lanes.
With 20 laps remaining, Allmendinger, who made an aggressive move to overtake Love from the outside lane before he dueled with Chandler Smith for the lead from the inside lane, was leading ahead of Sammy Smith, Herbst, Almirola and Chandler Smith as the top-28 competitors were separated within two seconds.
A lap later, the caution flew when van Gisbergen, who was scored in sixth place approaching the frontstretch’s tri-oval, made contact with Dean Thompson which resulted in van Gisbergen going below the double yellow line zone. Immediately after, Jordan Anderson ran into the rear of Thompson and got Thompson spinning and clipping van Gisbergen, where the latter went back up the track and ignited a multi-car wreck that involved Anderson, David Starr, Taylor Gray, Josh Williams and Austin Hill.
During the caution period, some including Kligerman and Love pitted to top off on fuel while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track. By then, Hill was able to remain on the lead lap after having his car repaired and meeting minimum speed to continue while van Gisbergen was eliminated from further competition.
The start of the following restart period with 13 laps remaining featured Sammy Smith and Allmendinger dueling for the lead just past the frontstretch before Allmendinger surged ahead with drafting help from Herbst and Chandler Smith on the inside lane through the first two turns. The field then scattered before filing back into two draft-packed lanes as Herbst challenged Allmendinger for the lead. By then, Almirola, who was racing towards the front, blew a left-front tire through the frontstretch and fell off the pace, though he continued below the apron without drawing a caution. The caution, however, returned with 11 laps remaining due to debris coming off of Almirola’s car on the backstretch as Almirola limped his car to pit road.
With the race restarting under green with seven laps remaining, Herbst and Sammy Smith dueled for the lead before Herbst surged ahead from the inside lane with drafting help from Allmendinger, Chandler Smith and Allgaier. Allmendinger then tried to duel beneath Herbst for the lead through the backstretch, but he had no drafting help while Herbst retained the lead with drafting help coming from Chandler Smith. As the field fanned out through the frontstretch, Herbst retained the lead for the following lap.
Down to the final five laps of the event and the field still fanned out to three packed lanes, Sammy Smith was leading ahead of teammates Allgaier and Jones while Allmendinger and Herbst battled for fourth place. Allgaier and Herbst then pinned Sammy Smith in the middle of a three-wide battle through the backstretch as Allgaier surged ahead with the lead. With Allgaier leading the following lap ahead of Herbst, Sammy Smith battled Leland Honeyman, Jones, and Chandler Smith for third place as the field behind continued to draft aggressively through three packed lanes.
Then with three laps remaining, the caution returned when Kvapil, who was racing towards the top five, was bumped by teammate Jones exiting the frontstretch, which resulted in Kvapil getting loose and spinning into the path of teammate Allgaier as both smacked the outside wall hard. Kvapil then shot dead left back across the track and clipped Jones as Jones took a vicious head-on hit into the outside wall, where he collected Alfredo and Custer. In the ensuing chaos, more names including Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff, Jeb Burton, Allmendinger, Dylan Lupton, Love and Perkins wrecked. The multi-car wreck was enough to not only send the event into overtime but also place the event in a brief red flag period as Herbst, who made a move beneath Allgaier for the lead through Turns 3 and 4 a lap earlier, was scored the leader.
When the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, some including Allgaier, Allmendinger and Custer pitted for repairs to their respective cars while the rest led by Herbst and Sammy Smith remained on the track.
The start of the first overtime attempt featured Herbst and Sammy Smith tightly dueling for the lead through the first two turns, with Chandler Smith drafting Herbst while Creed was drafting Sammy Smith. Through the backstretch, the top-four competitors that included Herbst, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith and Creed muscled away from the rest of the field until Herbst muscled ahead with drafting help from Chandler Smith entering Turns 3 and 4 when Sammy Smith lost his drafting help from Creed.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Herbst remained as the leader as the rest of the field behind came storming back towards the front-runners while Sammy Smith started to make his move beneath Herbst for the lead. Chandler Smith then made his move beneath Herbst with drafting help from teammate Creed, which resulted in Herbst dropping out of the top five as he had not drafting help and left both Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith to duel for the lead in front of Ryan Sieg, Leland Honeyman and Creed through the first two turns.
With the field still fanned out to three tight-packed lanes through the backstretch as Jeb Burton tried to surge to the front, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith remained in a tight duel for the lead until Sammy Smith started to have drafting help from Ryan Sieg through Turns 3 and 4. Then entering the frontstretch, Sammy Smith surged ahead with drafting help from Ryan Sieg while Chandler Smith was losing momentum as he had no drafting help. With no additional drafting runs or challenges occurring behind him, Sammy Smith was able to muscle ahead and claim the checkered flag by a tenth of a second over Ryan Sieg while Creed got turned by Love after taking the checkered flag.
With the victory, Sammy Smith, the reigning Xfinity Series Rookie-of-the-Year recipient, notched his second career win in his 70th start in the Xfinity Series, his first on a superspeedway venue and his first since winning at Phoenix Raceway in March 2023. The victory was also Smith’s first driving for JR Motorsports and the first time the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet entry went to Victory Lane in an Xfinity event since Josh Berry piloted the entry to a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October 2022. In addition, JR Motorsports notched its fourth Xfinity victory at Talladega and its 87th victory overall in the series while rookie crew chief Phillip Bell, who was swapped to JR Motorsports’ No. 8 team from the No. 9 team in early September, achieved his first career win.
As a result, Smith, who came into Talladega 23 points below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, earned an automatic spot into the Playoff’s Round of 8, where he will continue his pursuit of his first Xfinity Series championship.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“It’s been a really tough year,” Smith said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “[Spotter] Tyler Monn, he did a really great job today, helping me. Man, it’s been a while. It’s been a struggle, but I’m very happy to be here and looking forward to, hopefully, go getting better on these ovals and road courses. [I] sat down with [team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.], I think it was on Wednesday. [The conversation] wasn’t a whole lot. Just kind of some stuff he would do in those situations, but man, it feels really good to get a win again.”
Ryan Sieg followed Sammy Smith to the finish line by a tenth of a second as he finished in the runner-up spot for the fourth time in his career while Playoff contenders Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith finished in the top five.
Playoff contender Jesse Love, Jeb Burton, David Starr, Brennan Poole and Kyle Sieg completed the top-10 results in the final running order ahead of Playoff contenders AJ Allmendinger and Parker Kligerman. Behind, Sam Mayer ended up in 16th place while Austin Hill settled in 24th place. In addition, Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer both finished a lap down in 26th and 27th, respectively.
*Following the post-race inspection process, Sam Mayer was disqualified from finishing 16th due to his car failing to meet the rear height requirements and being too low. Instead of leaving Talladega with 24 points and occupying the eighth and final transfer spot in the Playoff standings by 10 points, Mayer officially leaves Talladega 13 points below the cutline and with a single point recorded following his run at Talladega.
With Sammy Smith leapfrogging his way from the bottom to the top of the Playoff standings along with racing his way into the Playoff’s second round, Chandler Smith has also clinched his spot into the Round of 8 by points as he is 64 points above the cutline. Currently, the four competitors who trail the top-eight cutline entering next weekend’s Round of 8 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course are Justin Allgaier, Shane van Gisbergen, Mayer and Parker Kligerman. Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger, who was initially scored 10 points below the cutline, now occupies the eighth and final transfer spot in the standings by seven points over Allgaier.
There were 28 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 27 laps. In addition, 24 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Sammy Smith, five laps led
2. Ryan Sieg, one lap led
3. Riley Herbst, 22 laps led
4. Sheldon Creed
5. Chandler Smith, 11 laps led, Stage 1 winner
6. Jesse Love, 28 laps led
7. Jeb Burton
8. David Starr, one lap eld
9. Brennan Poole
10. Kyle Sieg
11. AJ Allmendinger, 13 laps led
12. Parker Kligerman
13. Tommy Joe Martins
14. Leland Honeyman
15. Ryan Ellis
16. Matt DiBenedetto
17. CJ McLaughlin
18. Blaine Perkins, one lap led
19. Aric Almirola
20. Dean Thompson
21. Joey Gase
22. Carson Ware
23. Austin Hill, seven laps led, Stage 2 winner
24. Dylan Lupton, one lap down
25. Justin Allgaier, one lap down, eight laps led
26. Cole Custer, one lap down
27. Carson Kvapil – OUT, Accident
28. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident
29. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident
30. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident
31. Kyle Weatherman, 11 laps down
32. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident
33. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Accident
34. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident
35. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Accident
36. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Brakes
37. Nick Leitz – OUT, Accident
38. Sam Mayer – Disqualified, one lap led
*Bold indicates Playoff competitors
Playoff standings
1. Sammy Smith – Advanced
2. Chandler Smith – Advanced
3. Cole Custer +37
4. Austin Hill +37
5. Sheldon Creed +32
6. Jesse Love +22
7. Riley Herbst +20
8. AJ Allmendinger +7
9. Justin Allgaier -7
10. Shane van Gisbergen -10
11. Sam Mayer -13
12. Parker Kligerman -16
The Round of 12 in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to conclude next Saturday, October 12, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in Concord, North Carolina, for the Drive for the Cure 250, where the first of two elimination processes will occur. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Jesse Love Earns Sixth-Place Finish in the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway
Finish: 6th Start: 1st Points: 5th
“I’m proud of our No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet team for the effort put forth today at Talladega Superspeedway. We want to win so bad at these drafting tracks because we are so good at them, but sometimes it’s just not in the cards. For our Richard Childress Racing drafting track program, especially the last two races, I have been the weak link, and our car has carried me. I’m proud of myself today though, because I feel like for the first time all year, I did a good job because some of the moves I made worked out. There were a few things that shuffled us back, but we were always able to get back up front. Our strategy helped us do that. We led a lot of laps and gained stage points. Winning wasn’t going to happen at the end with how torn up our car was, but the No. 44 was accurate with his pushes and where he gave them that it kept me alive in the final two laps. We are leaving 15 points above the cut line. Our team started to work on the simulator for the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL immediately after Watkins Glen International. I’ve put a lot of work into that race, and I fully intend to go there and compete for the win.” -Jesse Love
Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Team Win Stage 2 and Gain Valuable Playoff Points at Talladega Superspeedway
Finish: 24th Start: 2nd Points: 2nd
“We had really good speed in our car. Our Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet was fast all day. The balance was a handful in Stage 1, but we still managed to finish fourth in the segment. It still wasn’t exactly where I wanted the handling to be in Stage 2, but we got it a lot better and were able to win the stage which was a nice bonus. I thought the top lane was going to surge a little better, but we got shuffled back when some moves were made that stalled the top lane. I saw the wreck coming. I knew with the way the bottom lane was formed and how they were pushing really hard that there was going to be a wreck. Sure enough, it happened, and I couldn’t clear it enough. I was so close to being clear but got hit in the left rear and slapped the wall which destroyed the car. Solid effort by everyone on our No. 21 team though. We had to fight through some adversity with the amount of damage we had. We came into this race 26 points ahead of the cutline and are leaving 29 points ahead. To gain points on the day at a place like Talladega Superspeedway is all you can ask for. It’s going to be really tight from a points perspective going into the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, so we have to be on our game, run up front all day, and hope it’s enough.” -Austin Hill
AJ ALLMENDINGER No. 16 Morris-Shea Chevrolet Camaro
AJ Allmendinger qualified fifth for the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.
On the opening lap, Allmendinger took over the second position as the leader of the bottom lane. On lap four, the No. 16 took the lead and maintained that position until lap 19 when the top lane had momentum and dropped to the bottom lane. From fifth place, Allmendinger drove up to finish Stage 1 in second place.
Allmendinger restarted the second stage in fifth place. On the restart, he fell to seventh. He fell as far back as 10th before the top lane gained momentum; he was scored in sixth on lap 40. When the caution came out on lap 42, Allmendinger said the Morris-Shea Chevy fired off well, but he got put in a bad spot. The team stayed out under the caution and restarted in sixth place on lap 46. The field went three wide, and Allmendinger was shuffled back to 15th. In the final lap of the stage, Allmendinger went from 15th to seventh, where he finished Stage 2.
The No. 16 Chevy restarted in 16th place for the final stage. By lap 59, Allmendinger was up to ninth. When the field shuffled on lap 70, Allmendinger took the top lane and drove up to second place. Allmendinger dropped from the top lane to the bottom lane and took over the lead on lap 73, two laps before a wreck brought out the caution. After the restart, a debris caution came out on lap 84 when Allmendinger was running third. The team stayed out and restarted on lap 87. Allmendinger made a move to take the lead but was left without a drafting partner and fell back to seventh. He continued to move forward and was running fifth before being involved in a wreck that brought out the caution on lap 91. Allmendinger had left-front damage and came to pit road several times during the yellow flag. The team restarted in 23rd for overtime and went on to finish in 11th.
“The Morris-Shea Chevy was really fast. With all the JRM and Gibbs teammates there, you know you’re not going to get a lot of help. I thought we were going to miss that wreck but got clipped there right at the end. The guys did a really good job to get the car back together, it was still fast.” – AJ Allmendinger
JOSH WILLIAMS No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet Camaro
Josh Williams qualified 17th for the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Williams spent the entirety of the first stage staying out of trouble at the tail of the lead group. He finished in 17th.
Williams brought the No. 11 Camaro down pit road for tires, fuel, and packer and air pressure adjustments. He fired off for Stage 2 in 18th on lap 32. On lap 42, while running in 25th, Williams held the brakes to avoid a wreck in turn three, but he flat-spotted all four tires and took a tiny amount of nose damage. He brought the No. 11 Chevy down pit road twice for fuel and tires under the yellow and restarted 26th with four laps left in the stage. He finished it in 14th.
Williams pitted for fuel only during the stage break and took the green with 38 laps to go from 11th. With the race intensifying, he hooked up with his Kaulig Racing teammates to move towards the front on lap 60. With 19 laps remaining, Williams was involved in a wreck that ended his race. He finished 35th.
“I saw something happened at the bottom. We were okay, things just didn’t go our way with how everyone was spinning. [The hit] wasn’t as bad as it seemed.” – Josh Williams
SHANE van GISBERGEN No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro
Shane van Gisbergen qualified eighth for the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Van Gisbergen reported his race car was “crazy loose” as he battled to stay up front with the pack. The No. 97 team opted to drop to the back of the field to open up its playbook for the remainder of the race. Van Gisbergen finished the caution-free stage in 23rd.
The No. 97 car came to pit road at the stage break caution for fresh tires, fuel and multiple adjustments. Van Gisbergen started the second stage in 20th and quickly made his way into the top 10 within the first 10 laps. The No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet battled in the draft for multiple laps before a caution came out on lap 43. Van Gisbergen reported the overall balance was still loose, and the team opted to come to pit road for more adjustments and four fresh tires. He restarted the stage in 29th with five laps remaining in it. Van Gisbergen gained momentum and track position, ending the stage in fourth and earning seven stage points.
At the stage break, the No. 97 team came to pit road for adjustments, fuel and four tires. Van Gisbergen started the final stage in 13th. He entered the top 10 10 laps into the final stage of the event. The No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet found energy in the middle-lane draft and battled in the top five for multiple laps. On lap 75, Van Gisbergen was collected in accident, ending his day early and resulting in a 36th-place finish.
“What a tough day for my No. 97 Kaulig Racing team. We were loose all day, but our car was getting better and better, and the end of Stage 2 was good. My WeatherTech Chevy Camaro was fast all day, and I had fun running up front there for some laps. Just sucks, really would have loved to get more playoff points and a better finish. We will prepare well and be better next weekend for the Roval.” – Shane van Gisbergen
About Kaulig Racing
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 23 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
STEWART-HAAS RACING United Rentals 250 Date: Oct. 5, 2024 Event: United Rentals 250 (Round 28 of 33) Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval) Format: 94 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/44 laps) Note: Race extended four laps past its scheduled 94-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Sammy Smith of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Chandler Smith of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 2 Winner: Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
● Cole Custer (3rd with 2,093 points, 29 out of first) ● Riley Herbst (6th with 2,078 points, 44 out of first)
Playoff Standings (with one race to go before the Round of 8):
Sammy Smith (2,065 points) 1 Win
Chandler Smith (2,122 points) +57 Points
Austin Hill (2,094 points) +29 Points
Cole Custer (2,093 points) +28 Points
Sheldon Creed (2,090 points) +35 Points
Jesse Love (2,080 points) +15 Points
Riley Herbst (2,078 points) +13 Point
Sam Mayer (2,075 points) +10 Points
AJ Allmendinger (2,065 points) -10 Points
Justin Allgaier (2,057 points) -18 Point
Shane Van Gisbergen (2,054 points) -21 Points
Parker Kligerman (2,049 points) -26 Points
SHR Notes:
● Herbst earned his sixth top-five of the season and his third top-five in nine career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Talladega. ● This was Herbst’s second straight top-10. He finished 10th last Saturday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. ● Since joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2021, Herbst has only finished outside the top-11 at Talladega twice. ● This was Herbst’s second straight top-three at Talladega. He finished second in April. ● Herbst finished sixth in Stage 2 to earn five bonus points. ● Herbst led six times for 22 laps increasing his laps led total at Talladega to 61. ● Custer finished ninth in Stage 1 to earn two bonus points and ninth in Stage 2 to earn two more bonus points.
Race Notes:
● Sammy Smith won the United Rentals 250 to score his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Talladega. His margin over second-place Ryan Sieg was .177 of a second. ● There were six caution periods for a total of 27 laps. ● Twenty-four of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap. ● Chandler Smith is the championship leader after Talladega with a 28-point advantage over second-place Austin Hill.
Sound Bites:
“Overall, I thought today was okay. I thought the first stage was dismal. We didn’t get any points. The second stage was good. The driver messed up coming to the end of the second stage, and we fought hard in the final stage to finish. It was a good day after an embarrassing day last week. I was a little frustrated that Chandler (Smith) didn’t have more understanding of the situation. I wanted to win the race. I thought we were fast enough, but I didn’t have the help that he had. I knew he had the help when I looked up and saw the 18. I was like, ‘I’m gonna be in trouble here,’ but I didn’t think there was any way he would do it off of two because that’s just not smart and there’s so much time left. I was just letting him know that he needs to go watch the film to see that he could have won the race.” –Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“We just tried to survive and all of our guys did a great job of controlling what we could control. We tried to play it smart and just ended up getting caught in the wreck, but that’s part of it when you come to Talladega. We did a great job with the crash damage and getting back up there. We’ll move onto the Roval. We still have a pretty solid points cushion, so we just have to go out there and survive.” –Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Drive for the Cure 250 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 12 at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval. This is the third race of the playoffs and the final race of the Round of 12. The race begins at 4 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by CW and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
RYAN SIEG, No. 39 Sci Aps Ford Mustang Dark Horse – YOU WERE CHARGING HARD ON THE FINAL LAP. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING AS YOU CAME UP ON THE 8? “The 8 in front of me was about all I could see. I was trying to do what I could do to try to get something going. I thought he was gonna go high right there, but he didn’t block the top so I went up top and he kind of stayed down there. I was gonna go to the bottom, but Timmy Fedewa was guiding me through all that. From all the issues we started out with to come up second is pretty good. These are so tough. We were kind of just riding around most of the day and then tried to be there at the end and win the thing. We’ve been so good here and just haven’t been here at the very end. One of these times it’s gonna be us going to Victory Lane, but, all in all, it was a great day for Sci Aps and Ford. We had a good car. We just have to keep it up.”
DID YOU THINK FOR A MINUTE MAYBE TODAY WAS THE DAY? “Yeah, of course. It was fast enough. It was good. I was doing all I could do.”
RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT WAS THE CONVERSATION WITH CHANDLER AFTER THE RACE? “I was telling him that he had his teammate behind him, which he was in the best spot you want to be in and I told him that he made the right move, but he made it in the extreme wrong place. All he did was kill it. I asked him simply, ‘Where did you finish?’ He said, ‘Fifth.’ And I said, ‘I don’t know why you took that run off of two when you could have waited until three and four,’ and he would have won the race because he had his teammate committed behind him and all he did was kill my run, his run, his teammate’s run and let the 8 get away. I was a little frustrated that he didn’t have more understanding of the situation. I wanted to win the race. I thought we were fast enough, but I didn’t have the help that he had. I knew he had the help when I looked up and saw the 18 I was like, ‘I’m gonna be in trouble here,’ but I didn’t think there was any way he would do it off of two because that’s just not smart and there’s so much time left. I was just letting him know that he needs to go watch the film to see that he could have won the race.”
HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE YOUR DAY? “I thought it was OK. I thought the first stage was dismal. We didn’t get any points. The second stage was good. The driver messed up coming to the second stage and we fought hard in the third stage to finish whatever it was. It was a good day after an embarrassing day last week.”
COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We just tried to survive and all of our guys did a great job of controlling what we could control. We tried to play it smart and just ended up getting caught in the wreck, but that’s part of it when you come here. We did a great job with the crash damage getting back up there and we’ll move onto the Roval. We still have a pretty solid points cushion, so we just have to go out there and survive.”
WERE YOU WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME IN THAT WRECK? “Yeah, we tried to make sure in the last stage not to get wrecked. That helped us in one wreck because we missed the first one, but got caught up in the second one. We tried to play it as smart as we could and it worked out. We still have a solid points cushion.”
IT WOULD BE EASY TO PANIC AFTER THE WRECK, BUT YOUR GUYS KEPT YOU GOING. WHAT WAS THAT PIT STOP LIKE? “It’s definitely all on our guys. They did a great job just getting me back out there and keeping it rolling. That’s all you can really ask for with a green-white-checker is just getting out there and get rolling and hopefully get a couple more spots. They did a great job keeping it going and getting us a decent finish out of it.”
SHELDON CREED, CHANDLER SMITH EARN TOP-FIVE FINISHES AT TALLADEGA Joe Gibbs Racing drivers in ideal positions heading to Round of 12 cutoff
TALLADEGA, Ala. (October 5, 2024) – At the end of another frantic race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith claimed top-five finishes in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, earning the fourth and fifth-place positions, respectively. For Creed, the finish is his 15th top-five of the season, the most in the series, and his fourth in-a-row. The driver of the No. 18 GR Supra kept himself out of trouble throughout the 94 lap-race to put himself in position for a victory, crossing the finish line fourth when the checkered flag flew. Today’s result puts Creed 25 points above the cutline heading to next weekend’s cutoff race.
Smith and his No. 81 GR Supra were at the head of the field most of the day and earned the second-most points during the race (48), which included a Stage 1 win, his seventh of the season. Smith restarted third on the overtime restart and put himself in position to take home the victory. But as typically happens at Talladega, chaos ensued on the final lap and Smith managed to bring home a fifth-place finish. Like Creed, Smith is on a hot streak of late with his fifth consecutive top-five finish and his sixth in the last seven races. He holds a tremendous points advantage going into the cutoff race in Charlotte, 57 points to the good.
Taylor Gray earned points in Stage 1 and was in the heat of the racing action most of the afternoon but was caught up in an incident with 19 laps to go, ending his day with a 33rd-place finish.
The Xfinity Series Playoffs is at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL next Saturday, Oct. 12, concluding the Round of 12. Coverage can be seen on the CW Network at 4 p.m. EST, as well as be heard on PRN and SiriusXM Radio Channel 90.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR Xfinity Series Talladega Superspeedway Race 28 of 33 – 94 Miles, 250.04 Laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Sammy Smith* 2nd, Ryan Sieg* 3rd, Riley Herbst* 4th, SHELDON CREED 5th, CHANDLER SMITH 20th, ARIC ALMIROLA 21st, DEAN THOMPSON 33rd, TAYLOR GRAY *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
SHELDON CREED, No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Describe how that race unfolded today.
“Yeah, overall, a pretty smooth day for us. Just tried to avoid the chaos and the crashes, and kind of do what we did, get points and finish good. I lined up fourth on the restart and knew we’d have a good shot at it. I was trying to get the No. 8 (Sammy Smith) the best push I could and we kind of got too far away from the rest of the pack and I was trying to block coming to the white flag and just fell back there. To be able to make a few moves that last lap and get myself back into contention. And then, yeah, got spun across the line. Overall, good day. I think we’re plus 25 (points) going into the ROVAL. Hopefully we can just go and have a smooth day and hopefully maybe get our first win next week.”
CHANDLER SMITH, No. 81 Wheelers Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
What was your post-race discussion with Riley Herbst like and how was your race today?
“We were talking about different runs, and this, that and the other. He (Herbst) felt like if I did a certain thing, I would’ve won the race. I don’t know. I couldn’t hear out of my left earbud, could barely hear out of my right. I was just trying to listen to what my spotter, Chris Lambert, was saying on where to go and what not, and also looking in the mirror for where runs were coming from. I felt like I did what I should’ve done but obviously, I could’ve won the race a different way so going to go back and study. I keep losing these dang superspeedway races. I’ve come so close and it’s so frustrating. I want to get one so bad. And this group deserves one that bad. I had a really fast No. 81 Wheelers GR Supra today. It was as fast as Xfinity internet today. Just stinks that I’m sitting here complaining. Sammy (Smith)’s the points leader now, I guess, since he advanced, but when you look at raw points, we’re the point leader and plus, whatever (in the standings) with a good buffer. But I’m still bummed and upset about today’s finish but could’ve been worse and super grateful for everybody. Joe Gibbs Racing and the good Lord for blessing me with such a great group of people around me this season.”
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 19 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 33rd
What did you see in that incident?
“Yeah, it looked like the No. 26 (Dean Thompson) got into the No. 97 (Shane Van Gisbergen), came off the bottom a little bit. The No. 26 tried to be aggressive and get to his left side and gave him a bad push, put him on the apron, he got free and (pause), I don’t know who was behind the No. 26, but he just got the No. 26 free and started all of that. It stinks, obviously. We had a pretty fast Joe Gibbs Racing GR Supra. Just guys racing really aggressively with 20 (laps) or so to go. Long ways left and that’s kind of the results at these places.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.
