CONCORD, N.C. – After telling his crew chief that he planned to get his fourth straight win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, A.J. Allmendinger went out and did exactly as he said.
The No. 16 Kaulig Racing driver crossed the line 0.582 ahead of race rival Ty Gibbs.
“I couldn’t do what I needed to do to catch him. It was restart or bust,” Allmendinger said, referring to Gibbs. “It’s pretty amazing to be able to win four in a row. This was a race that, at times, I didn’t believe we could get it done.”
After starting first and second on the grid, Allmendinger and Gibbs were out front early, with Gibbs clinging to Allmendinger’s rear bumper throughout stage one.
With the two drivers pulling double duty in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Cup Series this weekend, their added experience on the track appeared to lend them an edge on the rest of the field as Sam Mayer and Austin Hill filed in behind them.
The first caution appeared on lap 10 when Brandon Brown wrecked in turn one. When the race restarted, Allmendinger and Gibbs were still out front.
Notably, JR Motorsports driver Noah Gragson lined up towards the rear of the field, behind the wheel of a backup car, after crashing his No. 9 entry into the wall during practice.
Though Gragson was not in danger in regard to the playoffs – as he already picked up a postseason win – the No. 9 team was still hopeful for a solid finish and made the call not to pit after stage one in order to gain positions on the track.
Allmendinger and Gibbs made a trip to the pits as stage two began, moving them outside the top five and pushing Sheldon Creed and Gragson to the front.
As the race reached a mid-point, the No. 19 Toyota of Brandon Jones was challenging Gragson for second while Gibbs slowly moved through the pack and overtook fourth. Meanwhile, the No. 16 of Allmendinger was struggling to move past 10th, reporting to his team that the car wasn’t moving well through traffic.
Up front, Gragson was shuffled back to fourth while Creed took control of the race with Gibbs and Jones in tow. Sage Karam was close behind in fifth.
Being a non-playoff driver with no pressure to gain stage points, Creed essentially had nothing to lose as he set his sights on the win.
The leaders were once again jostled around as stage two came to a close, with Creed, Gibbs and Gragson visiting the pits. Jones picked up valuable stage points by staying out on the track, moving himself from below the cutline to inside the top eight.
It was 25 to go as stage three began, with Allmendinger, Gragson, Gibbs and Hill being the only four drivers safe from playoff eliminations. All eyes were on Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, Mayer, Riley Herbst and Jones as they put in one last effort to secure their place in the next round.
Gibbs shot past Creed shortly after the green flag waved, with Jones rounding out the top three.
Marco Andretti took a substantial hit with 22 laps to go after making contact with the No. 27 of Jeb Burton, ending his day and his NASCAR debut early in 36th.
Following the caution for Andretti, Gibbs once again surged to the front.
Drama arose from the mid-pack as Herbst sustained considerable damage on the left rear of his No. 98 Ford, but with a playoff position at stake, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver made the decision to remain on the track with 18 laps to go.
With 14 to go, Herbst lost grip and spun on the track, handing his playoff position to Jones. More bad luck struck the No. 98 as his left rear tire went flat, forcing him to pull in the pits.
The tire debris on track brought out another caution and with 10 to go, another restart commenced, tightening the field.
The seventh race caution appeared with nine to go as several cars collected on the restart, including Herbst, Kaz Grala, Ryan Vargas and Brad Perez. Up front, Karam bumped the rear end of Creed, dropping the No. 2 to seventh.
In the late laps, the battle was between Jones and Hemric as they vied for the final playoff position – Jones at five above the cutoff line and Hemric five below as of lap 62.
An eighth caution appeared with two laps to go. On the restart, Allmendinger made a smooth move past Gibbs and secured the lead. However, Herbst brought out a ninth caution as he experienced more trouble and found himself off track once again.
On the final restart, Allmendinger maintained his lead and brought the Kaulig Racing entry across the checkered flag in first.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 8 will include Allmendinger, Gibbs, Gragson, Hill, Allgaier, Mayer, Berry and Jones.