Justin Allgaier won in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series playoff opener race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night. Friday nights win for driver No. 7 marked his third win of the year and an automatic spot into the Round of 8.
Justin Allgaier told NBC Sports post-race that he has signed a one-year contract extension with Jr Motorsports.
Daniel Hemric was in command of the race in the later stages but was passed by Allgaier, who had fresher tires than race-leader Hemric.
Hemric would go onto finish second.
John Hunter Nemechek finished third, Coke Custer finished fourth and Chandler Smith rounded out the top five in fifth.
Ryan Sieg finished sixth, Trevor Bayne finished seventh, Riley Herbst finished eighth, Sammy Smith finished ninth and Kaz Grala completed the top ten in tenth place.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who returned to the Xfinity Series on Friday night finished 30th. Driver No.88 had a good showing up until his care caught fire. The NASCAR Hall of Famer led an impressive 47 laps and was running inside the top five a good portion of the race until his race got cut short with 29 laps remaining.
Friday night was an eventful night for several playoff drivers.
Austin Hill, who won the regular season championship had a good showing on Friday night up until he got turned by his own Richard Childress Racing teammate Sheldon Creed on Lap 212.
Josh Berry and Sam Mayer who both race for Jr Motorsports got together in Turn 1 on Lap 168. After the incident, Mayer told the media that he felt Berry wrecked him intentionally. Berry on the other hand said he had a tire going down.
Parker Kligerman, who raced himself into the playoffs with a good showing last Saturday at Kansas finished 31st after suffering a wheel hub issue during Stage 2 which forced Kligerman behind the wall. Kligerman would eventually return to competition 54 laps down to the race leader.
Heading into Texas next weekend, John Hunter Nemechek sits atop the point standings over Austin Hill in second. Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, Daniel Hemric and Parker Kligerman currently sit below the cutoff line.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 23rd at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on USA Network
-
-
-
-
-