MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Noah Gragson called his shot.
Gragson said all week that he was going to the Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway so he could race for a championship at Phoenix Raceway. He understood the assignment and left Martinsville Speedway with a Grandfather clock.
The driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet survived two overtime restarts and beat Austin Cindric to the checkered flag in a photo finish for his third win of the year, which automatically advanced him to next Saturday’s Xfinity Series championship race.
“I want to cry right now,” Gragson said after completing a celebration that included shotgunning a beer given to him by a fan. “It’s been a rough, rough season. We got a couple wins at Darlington and Richmond. It wasn’t looking good last weekend. I was pretty fired up.”
He’ll be joined in the Xfinity Series Championship 4 by defending series champion Austin Cindric, A.J. Allmendinger and Daniel Hemric.
Gragson had the dominant car throughout most of Saturday’s race, but had his work cut out for him in the final 40 laps. First he had to deal with Hemric, who came on strong late in the race.
A restart with 26 laps left saw Gragson leading Hemric, but with 19 laps left Hemric worked to Gragson’s inside in turns three and four to take the race lead for the first time. Hemric, who was chasing his first Xfinity Series victory, started to inch away as Gragson fell into a battle with Cindric for second.
Hemric appeared to have the race under control, but the caution flag waved with seven laps left when Justin Haley spun his Chevrolet in turns three and four. That led to an overtime restart, with Gragson opting to restart on the outside of the front row alongside Hemric.
When the green flag waved Gragson did everything right. Rolling the outside, Gragson was able to race ahead of Hemric as the field roared towards the white flag. However, behind them Josh Berry spun in turns three and four and the caution flag waved again before the field saw the white flag.
That meant Gragson, who was now scored the leader, had to survive another restart with Hemric and Cindric behind him. Hemric opted to restart behind Gragson, which allowed Cindric to restart on the front row to Gragson’s outside.
Gragson got a solid jump and pulled clear of Cindric and Hemric, with Cindric emerging as the runner-up behind the leader. On the final lap Gragson was a car length clear of Cindric entering turn three, but he washed up the track and opened the bottom for Cindric coming out of turn four.
Cindric and Gragson drag raced back to the finish line, with Gragson narrowly beating Cindric to win the race and earn a spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway.
“I told my guys that we’ve got an opportunity, we’re still in it,” Gragson said. “I’m just so thankful. It’s such an awesome opportunity. My second win at Martinsville, I get to take home a clock.”
Hemric finished third, which was enough to send him to the Championship 4 at Phoenix. Rookie Sam Mayer finished fifth, while playoff driver Justin Allgaier finished fifth and fell short of advancing to the championship round.
Haley, Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton also failed to advance to the championship round at Phoenix Raceway.