NXS: Justin Allgaier holds off Chase Briscoe to win Saturday's Xfinty Series race at Dover
Justin Allgaier won Sunday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Dover to win his first Xfinity Series race of 2020, ending a 20-race winless streak.
Allgaier led 120 laps of the 200 lap race, including the remaining 50 laps.
For driver No. 7, it’s his sixth straight Dover race in which he’s finished third or better.
“These last 18 to 24 month have been crazy,” Allgaier told NBCSN post-race. “Just proud of these guys and the no give of attitude they’ve got. What a day. What a racecar. We were off a little bit in the beginning and Jason did a great job of getting us where we need to be at.”
Rounding out the top five were Austin Cindric in second, Ross Chastain in third, Noah Gragson in fourth and Noah Gragson in fifth.
Austin Cindric, who finished second has finished runner-up in the last seven races.
Rounding out the top ten were Riley Herbst in sixth, Jeb Burton in seventh, Justin Haley in eighth, Michael Annett in ninth and Chase Briscoe in tenth.
Jeb Burton, who finished seventh earned his third top 10 of the 2020 season with only six starts thus far.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will race once again on Sunday as part of the doubleheader from Dover this weekend with coverage beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern on NBCSN.
For Sunday’s race, the top 15 finishers will be inverted. Brett Moffitt will start from the pole and Brandon Brown will start alongside in second.
Stage 1 Winner: Austin Cindric
Stage 2 Winner: Justin Allgaier
Race Winner: Justin Allgaier
Sauter Scores First Dover Win
With varying strategies on pit road it was Johnny Sauter who was able to go to victory lane in the Bar Harbor 200 from Dover International Speedway
“There’s just some days when you wake up and you don’t feel like it’s going to be your day and things don’t feel like they’re clicking,” said Sauter. “And I just felt like we were off a little all weekend. … It’s just a great day, an unbelievable effort.”
This is Sauter’s 14th career win, but his first ever victory from the Monster Mile. This is also his first win of the 2017 season. This was also Sauter’s first time leading laps at the track.
Sauter and his crew chief, Joe Sear Jr., stayed out 50 laps longer on older tires as many drivers went down pit road for tires and fuel. The GMS Racing team’s strategy played in their favor as they were able to grab the lead and stay there in the closing laps of the race.Although his tires were older than the drivers behind him, clean air still remained king.
Kaz Grala finished second after trying to chase down Sauter in the closing laps. Grala had fresher tires, but was unable to catch Sauter. Grala was close to battling for the lead, but came up short at the end.
Grant Enfinger finished third, Ben Rhodes finished fourth, Austin Cindric finished fifth, Brandon Jones finished sixth, Regan Smith finished seventh, Justin Hayley finished eighth, Noah Gragson finished ninth, and Ryan Truex rounded out the top-10.
Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a trip to Texas Motor Speedway for the winstaronlinegaming.com 400. The race will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 and Motor Racing Network on June 9th beginning at 8:00 p.m. EDT.
NCWTS Dover Preview
After a weekend off, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Dover International Speedway for the 18th annual Bar Harbor 200 Presented by Sea Watch International. The race will have two 45 lap stages and a 110 lap final stage.
32 drivers arrived at Dover International Speedway to compete. There are no major Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers scheduled to compete on Friday afternoon.
There will be two names missing from the field. Timothy Peters and Brett Moffitt will not be in Dover following Red Horse Racing’s announcement that it would be suspending operations until sponsorship is found last week.
There have been 13 different pole winners. 14 different drivers have four their way into victory lane at Dover. Only three races have been won from the pole with Kyle Busch being the last driver to do so in 2014. In 2015, Ryan Blaney set the qualifying record at 158.465 mph. In 2006, Mark Martin set the race record at 120.200 mph.
In the only two practice session for teams, Noah Gragson was at the top of the board during both sessions.
Drivers are excited about returning to the “Monster Mile”.
"There is no other track we go to that you get the sensation, as a driver, that you get at Dover. It's definitely one of my favorite race tracks because you have a lot of tire fall off, and multiple grooves. As a race car driver you always want that ability to move around, and find more grip. Under green, the longer a run goes, the more you see it getting blacker and blacker, where we're laying down the rubber. Then you start moving around - getting out of the rubber, to find more grip,” said Matt Crafton. “When we get a caution, we're driving around on hot tires, picking up all the rubber. Then you take off on fresh tires - everyone is really fast on the bottom, then it starts getting black and slippery again, so you are searching for whiter concrete, for more grip. You are constantly chasing the race track."
“I am very excited to get behind the wheel and start my first NASCAR Camping World Series truck race at Dover. Anytime you can go to the racetrack with Kyle Busch Motorsports, you know you’re going to have a competitive truck. It gives me a lot of confidence going into the race and I can’t wait to get the weekend started,” said Todd Gilliland.
“I enjoy running Dover and I’m looking forward to getting in a truck there. I’ve raced there a few times in K&N and done well, so I’m comfortable with the track itself. The team has done a great job preparing me for what to expect each week and I’ve really used my teammates and their experience to try to get ahead before we ever get on track. We’ve learned a lot with each race, so we’ll look at this weekend as an opportunity to do the same and hope that we get a good finish out of it,” said Justin Haley.
Teams will qualify for the race at 2:30 p.m. EST on Fox Sports 2 and race at 5:30 p.m. EST. The race will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 and Motor Racing Network.
UPDATED: Drive Sober 200 Postponed For Sunday Double Header
Due to a persisting mist, NASCAR has postponed the Drive Sober 200 from Dover International Speedway. NASCAR did their best effort to throw the green flag, but rain returned to the area after engines fired.
Erik Jones is on the pole, Kyle Busch will start second, Joey Logano will start third, Alex Bowman will start fourth, and Daniel Suarez will start in the fifth position
Logano will not race, but Ryan Blaney will be the replacement in the no. 22 Team Penske Ford. Regan Smith will replace Austin Dillion in the no. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Drew Herring will replace Busch in the no. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. All three drivers were slated to race, but due to the elimination race and the drivers not being locked into the next round in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the teams have decided to find replacement drivers.
Tomorrow’s Drive Sober 200 will begin at 10AM EST on CNBC and Motor Racing Network.
Drive Sober 200 Preview
After a week alone in Kentucky, the NASCAR Xfintiy Series thunders into Dover, Delaware to Dover International Speedway for the 31st annual Drive Sober 200, the second race in the Round of 12 in the chase. 40 teams have made their way to Dover to compete for 40 spots on Saturday.
The field for Dover is graced with the presence of Sprint Cup Series drivers. The five Sprint Cup drivers participating on Saturday include Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Matt DiBenedetto, Joey Logano, and Josh Wise.
Dover International Speedway is known as “The Monster Mile”. It is a one-mile concrete oval. The straightaways are banked at nine degrees with the turns banked at 24 degrees.
This will be the 66th race at Dover. There have been 42 different pole winners with Darrell Wallace Jr as the youngest and Dick Trickle as the oldest pole winner. 43 different drivers have graced victory lane with Casey Atwood as the youngest and Harry Gant as the oldest winner. Seven drivers have won from the pole position with Joey Logano being the last driver to do so back in 2013. Logano also holds the race record at 131.219 mph set back in 2013. Ky. Busch holds the qualifying record at 158.288 mph set back in 2010.
After dismal performances by many chase drivers at Kentucky, Elliott Sadler tops the grid with his win last weekend. The bottom three of the grid are Justin Allgaier, Brennan Poole, and Blake Koch.
In their weekly press releases, drivers are excited about the return to Dover.
"With the win last weekend, we can afford to go out and race, be aggressive, and maybe try some different things to get ready for the second round of the Chase. We have a lot of momentum on our side right now and we are looking forward to getting to Dover this weekend and having some fun,” said Sadler
“Last week I made a mistake laying it all out on the line for a win, but we definitely had the speed and that’s encouraging heading in to this weekend. At this point, we’ll need to focus a little more on points racing and go to Dover with that mindset and try to go out and get a solid finish. I think we can get a top-five finish the next two weeks and hopefully that will put us in a good position to move on to the next round and keep us in contention for the championship,” said Erik Jones.
“Our Lilly Diabetes/American Diabetes Association team had a really solid run last weekend at Kentucky. I’m so proud of their effort – we never gave up that whole race. I think this weekend at Dover we can keep building on that momentum. We have to have a solid run to keep ourselves in Chase contention,” said Ryan Reed, who will be making his 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series start on Saturday.
Qualifying for the Drive Sober 200 will be at 11:30AM EST on CNBC. The race will be at 3:00PM EST on NBCSN and Motor Racing Network.