The Hot Streak Continues for Ross Chastain Winning Xfinity Race at Daytona

Matt Sullivan / Getty Images

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - RIS - Ross Chantain continued his hot streak by winning the Circle K Firecracker 250 NASCAR Xfinity race at Daytona International Speedway on Friday night.  

Chastain collected the second victory of his Xfinity Series career in his No.16 Chevrolet, 0.109 seconds ahead of teammate Justin Haley, the team’s lone full-time driver, in second place in his #11 Chevrolet. Haley finished 0.097 seconds ahead of teammate A.J. Allmendinger in third in his No.10 Chevrolet.

Chastain started this 100-lap race, which was delayed by more than two hours due to inclement weather, around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked speedway oval  in fourth place and led 49 laps to securing this victory.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell was the highest finishing Toyota driver of this race. He finished in fourth place in his No.20 Toyota. Team Penske’s Austin Cindric was the highest finishing Ford driver of the race. He finished in fifth in his No.22 Ford.

JD Motorsports’ Stephen Leicht, Brandonbilt Motorsports’ Brandon Brown, RSS Racing’s Jeff Green, SS-Green Light Racing’s Gray Gaulding and Jeremy Clements Racing’s Jeremy Clements rounded out the top 10 by finishing in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their No.01 Chevrolet, No.86 Chevrolet,No. 38 Chevrolet, No.08 Chevrolet and No.51 Chevrolet, respectively.

This race featured a total of 18 lead changes among seven drivers. Aside of Chastain, six other drivers led at least one lap of the race. These drivers were Haley, Allmendinger, JR Motorsports teammates Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Michael Annett and Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who started the race from the pole position. Chastain won stage one while Allmendinger won stage two.

This race featured several heavy crashes that resulted in five caution flag periods in addition to the two usual caution flag periods that took place as a result of the regularly scheduled endings of stages one and two. Of the 38 drivers who competed in this race, only 22 finished it, and of the 22 drivers who finished this race, 15 finished on the lead lap.

Unofficial Race Results for the 18th Annual Circle K Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola - July 5, 2019

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 4, Ross Chastain(i), No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet, 100, 1, 3, 6, 49, , 0, Running
2) 7, Justin Haley #, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 100, , 4, 1, 4, , 42, Running
3) 2, AJ Allmendinger, No. 10 Cornerstone Produce Group Chevrolet, 100, 6, 1, 3, 33, 1, 49, Running
4) 8, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Ruud-Ferguson Toyota, 100, 9, 6, , , , 40, Running
5) 19, Austin Cindric, No. 22 Pirtek Ford, 100, , 10, , , , 33, Running
6) 25, Stephen Leicht, No. 01 Flex Glue Chevrolet, 100, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 33, Brandon Brown #, No. 86 BMSraceteam.com Chevrolet, 100, 10, , , , , 31, Running
8) 20, Jeff Green, No. 38 Larry's Hard Lemonade Chevrolet, 100, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 5, Gray Gaulding, No. 08 WorldWide Safety Consulting Services Chevrolet, 100, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 37, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet, 100, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 28, Matt Mills, No. 5 J.F. Electric Toyota, 100, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 27, Vinnie Miller, No. 78 Pit Viper Toyota, 100, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 29, Stefan Parsons, No. 99 Jacob Companies Toyota, 100, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 36, Ray Black II, No. 07 ISOKERN Fireplaces & Chimneys Chevrolet, 100, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 35, Garrett Smithley, No. 0 Flex Tape Chevrolet, 100, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 16, Noah Gragson #, No. 9 Switch Chevrolet, 99, 4, 7, 1, 1, , 32, Running
17) 1, Tyler Reddick, No. 2 Gimme Country Chevrolet, 99, 8, , 3, 6, , 23, Running
18) 12, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Vannoy Construction Chevrolet, 99, 7, 5, 4, 6, , 29, Running
19) 11, Riley Herbst(i), No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota, 98, 3, 9, , , , 0, Running
20) 22, Chris Cockrum, No. 25 Advanced Communications Group Chevrolet, 97, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 18, Timmy Hill, No. 66 VSI Racing/Overkill Motorsports Toyota, 97, 5, , , , , 22, Running
22) 32, Shane Lee, No. 28 Circuit City Toyota, 97, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 21, John Hunter Nemechek #, No. 23 Digital Ally Chevrolet, 93, , , , , , 14, Accident
24) 6, Joe Graf Jr., No. 21 Eat Sleep Race Chevrolet, 92, , , , , , 13, Accident
25) 14, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMR Roofing Chevrolet, 89, 2, , , , , 21, Accident
26) 3, Michael Annett, No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 86, , 2, 1, 1, , 20, Accident
27) 15, Cole Custer, No. 00 Jacob Companies Ford, 86, , 8, , , , 13, Accident
28) 31, Chad Finchum, No. 42 Amana Heating & Air Conditioning Toyota, 86, , , , , , 9, Accident
29) 26, Josh Williams, No. 36 SleepWell/StarTron/GeneralFormulations Chev, 86, , , , , , 8, Accident
30) 13, Caesar Bacarella, No. 90 Fisher House Foundation/Alpha Prime Chevrolet, 86, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 17, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Menards/ORCA Toyota, 76, , , , , , 6, Chassis
32) 23, Scott Lagasse Jr., No. 93 Chevrolet, 73, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 34, David Starr, No. 52 Starr Mechanical/Tomi Aircraft Chevrolet, 72, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 30, BJ McLeod, No. 15 Flex Shot Chevrolet, 72, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 9, Sheldon Creed(i), No. 8 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 71, , , , , , 0, Accident
36) 10, Chase Briscoe #, No. 98 Ford Performance Ford, 44, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 38, Joe Nemechek(i), No. 13 MBM Motorsports Toyota, 39, , , , , , 0, Steering
38) 24, Landon Cassill, No. 4 Flex Seal/Contec Chevrolet, 12, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 59 Mins, 15 Secs.
Total Race Length: 100 Laps - 250. Miles
Average Speed: 125.786 MPH
Margin of Victory: .109 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 16, 39, 18, 9, 66, 10, 7, 2, 20, 86
Stage 2 Top 10: 10, 1, 16, 11, 7, 20, 9, 00, 18, 22

Race Comments: Ross Chastain won the Circle K 250 Powered By Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway. His second victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 13, 25, 28 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (3) No. 74 Mike Harmon, No. 35 Joey Gase, No. 61 Austin Hill(i).

Caution Flags: 7 for 31 laps;
Laps: 10-13 (No. 22, 90, 07, 36, 19, 21, 4, 00 Incident Turn 4 [None]);
24-28 (No. 8, 23, 7, 00, 2 Incident Frontstretch [36]);
32-35 (Stage 1 Conclusion [21]);
46-50 (No. 2, 98, 7, 39 Incident Frontstretch [90]);
62-65 (Stage 2 Conclusion [2]);
74-79 (No. 42, 28, 86, 52, 93, 8, 15, 25, 20, 5, 2 Incident Backstretch [19]);
88-90 (No. 1, 36, 08, 9, 00, 66, 90, 01, 42, 21, 39, 10, 20, 23, 86 Incident Backstretch [Red Flag: 17:45] [07]).

Lead Changes: 18 among 7 drivers;
T. Reddick 1-3;
A. Allmendinger 4-5;
M. Annett 6;
A. Allmendinger 7;
R. Chastain(i) 8-31;
A. Allmendinger 32-61;
R. Chastain(i) 62;
J. Allgaier 63-65;
N. Gragson # 66;
J. Allgaier 67;
R. Chastain(i) 68;
J. Allgaier 69;
R. Chastain(i) 70-79;
J. Allgaier 80;
R. Chastain(i) 81-85;
T. Reddick 86;
J. Haley # 87-90;
T. Reddick 91-92;
R. Chastain(i) 93-100.

Duralast Break in the Race Award: Ross Chastain, No. 16 Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Ross Chastain, No. 16 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Justin Haley, No. 11