The NASCAR XFINITY Series invaded the Texas Motor Speedway Saturday for round two of the playoffs. Featuring 40 entries with Garrett Smithley and Blaine Perkins not making the field, Justin Allgaier scored the pole position for the event that later had 12 caution periods.
Despite overcoming adversity throughout the day, Allgaier, sweeping both stages, had one of the strongest cars in the field on the Texas oval Saturday. The Illinois native dominated 133 of the 200 completed circuits. Unfortunately for the team, the No. 7 Chevrolet faded late.
Three drivers fought for the victory on a restart with 10 to go. Kligerman pinched race leader Justin Allgaier up the track to take the top spot for a lap before John Hunter Nemechek entered the picture.
Then, with seven to go, Nemechek made a power move to re-take the lead and cruise to his seventh victory.
Nemechek, leading 38 of the 200 laps, started 11th on the grid.
Kligerman ties his best finish of the year with a second-place run, last coming at Road America in July.
Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top five.
Securing top 10s included Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed, Brandon Jones, and Brett Moffitt.
Sam Mayer, one of twelve drivers racing for an XFINITY Series championship in 2023, had one of the most frustrating days of any driver in the field. Not even a lap into the race, the No. 1 machine suffered an issue that forced the JR Motorsports team to the garage early. Because Mayer was on DVP, that meant that the No. 1 Chevrolet was done for the day.
Josh Berry also faced issues in the No. 8 JR Motorsports entry. Along with Kyle Weatherman, Parker Chase, and Austin Hill, Berry tangled in turn four drawing the seventh yellow flag. The driver heading to the Cup Series for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2024 finished 27th on the pylon.
Unofficial driver points leaving Texas: Nemechek 2148, Allgaier -11, Custer -31, A. Hill -50, C. Smith -62, S. Smith -76 Creed -85, Hemric -93, Kligerman -94, J. Burton -112, Berry -120 and Mayer -127.
The series will tackle the Charlotte Roval on October 7th at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Coverage of the Drive for the Cure 300 will air live on USA and PRN Radio at 3:30 p.m. ET.
