Gragson Wins at Bristol for His Second Win of 2020

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BRISTOL, TN – RIS – In a race so similar to what we used to see at Bristol Motor Speedway, Noah Gragson muscled past Jason Allgaier to win the Cheddar’s 300 in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race.  The track appeared to have one fast way around, and that was the inside line, just like the days before the track was changed several years ago.  

Gragson restarted alongside leader and JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier with seven scheduled laps remaining. Gragson made a move on Allgaier on the inside, sliding into Allgaier‘s No. 7 Chevrolet going into Turn 1. Allgaier was unable to maintain control of his race car, spinning out and sliding into the inside wall on the backstretch.

When they got back to racing in an overtime finish, Gragson had to hold off a charging Chase Brisco in a Stewart Haas Ford Mustang.  Briscoe held on to finish second, followed by Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton and Myatt Snider to compete the top five. Allgaier was unable to continue, finishing 18th.

“I really apologize to Justin and the 7 team,” Gragson said on the front stretch after celebrating the win. “That ‘s not how I want to race.  I just got too loose. All of us top-five guys, really anybody in the field, this track is like ice out there right now. We were slipping and sliding.”

“I was terrible here in trucks and Xfinity,” Gragson said. “My crew chief believed in me and he wanted me to come back and run with them and Dave Elenz is the man.”

Allgaier led a race-high 156 laps..

“I’m more mad at myself for making a mistake and getting off the bottom,” Allgaier said. “But, yeah, we got wrecked.”

Gragson is the second repeat winner of the year (he won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway), following Briscoe. He is also the eighth different winner in the last eight Bristol races.

Earlier, Gragson earned the Stage 1 victory, while Allgaier took the green-white-checkered in the second stage.

This race was also the qualifier for the first Xfinity Dash 4 Cash race in Saturday‘s EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Gragson, Briscoe, Jones and Burton will move on to compete for $100,000 at the 1.54-mile Georgia oval.

Unofficial Results: Cheddars 300 Presented by Alsco, Bristol Motor Speedway

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 9, Noah Gragson, No. 9 Plan B Sales Chevrolet, 303, 1, 2, 2, 55, 6, 59, Running
2) 11, Chase Briscoe, No. 98 HighPoint Ford, 303, 3, 5, , , , 49, Running
3) 2, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Menards/Pelonis Toyota, 303, 7, 6, , , , 43, Running
4) 1, Harrison Burton #, No. 20 DEX Imaging/Fields Toyota, 303, , 4, 3, 81, , 40, Running
5) 22, Myatt Snider, No. 21 TaxSlayer Chevrolet, 303, 10, 8, , , , 36, Running
6) 8, Daniel Hemric, No. 8 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, 303, 5, 7, , , , 41, Running
7) 21, Brandon Brown, No. 68 Mid Atlantic Wrecker Services Chevrolet, 303, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 29, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 All South Electric Chevrolet, 303, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 23, Josh Williams, No. 92 Frog Fuel/Verve Chevrolet, 303, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 27, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet, 303, 8, 10, , , , 31, Running
11) 24, BJ McLeod, No. 6 Medek Health Chevrolet, 303, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 14, Vinnie Miller, No. 78 Koolbox Chevrolet, 303, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 36, Joe Graf Jr. #, No. 08 CORE Development Group Chevrolet, 303, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 25, Timmy Hill(i), No. 61 RoofClaim.com Toyota, 303, , , , , , 0, Running
15) 18, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 0 Medek Health Chevrolet, 301, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 5, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMRRoofing.com Chevrolet, 300, 9, , 1, 6, , 23, Running
17) 4, Justin Haley, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 299, 4, 3, 1, 1, , 35, Running
18) 10, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Suave Men Chevrolet, 297, 2, 1, 3, 156, 1, 38, Accident
19) 26, Colby Howard, No. 15 Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet, 296, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 33, Bayley Currey(i), No. 74 Save22.Vet Chevrolet, 295, , , , , , 0, Running
21) 30, Kody Vanderwal #, No. 52 Circle Track Warehouse Chevrolet, 293, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 13, Carson Ware, No. 07 Jacob Construction Chevrolet, 289, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 35, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 Gilreath Farms Red Angus Chevrolet, 284, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 17, Chad Finchum, No. 13 MBM Motorsports Toyota, 277, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 31, Matt Mills, No. 5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet, 268, , , , , , 12, Clutch
26) 15, Jesse Little #, No. 4 Visit Kingsport/Tufco Chevrolet, 260, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 7, Riley Herbst #, No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota, 256, 6, 9, 1, 4, , 17, Accident
28) 6, Ross Chastain, No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 255, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 20, Patrick Emerling, No. 02 Robert B. Our Inc. Chevrolet, 140, , , , , , 8, Accident
30) 34, Mason Massey, No. 99 Gerber Collision & Glass Toyota, 111, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 19, Ronnie Bassett Jr., No. 90 Bassett Gutters & More Chevrolet, 77, , , , , , 6, Engine
32) 28, Joe Nemechek(i), No. 47 Mutt and Jeff Porkskins Inc. Chevrolet, 69, , , , , , 0, Accident
33) 32, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Prolon Controls Chevrolet, 41, , , , , , 4, Overheating
34) 37, Stephen Leicht, No. 66 MBM Motorsports Toyota, 23, , , , , , 3, Suspension
35) 16, Jeff Green, No. 93 C2 Freight Chevrolet, 19, , , , , , 2, Ignition
36) 3, Austin Cindric, No. 22 Odyssey Battery Ford, 8, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 12, Michael Annett, No. 1 Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet, 5, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 303 Laps, 161.499 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 19 Mins, 3 Secs.
Average Speed: 69.687 MPH
Margin of Victory: .328 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 9, 7, 98, 11, 8, 18, 19, 16, 39, 21
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 9, 11, 20, 98, 19, 8, 21, 18, 16

Race Comments: Noah Gragson won the Cheddar's 300 presented by Alsco at Bristol Motor Speedway, his second victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 07 (Unapproved Adjustment).

Caution Flags: 12 for 85 laps;
Laps: 7-15 (No. 10, 22, 1 Incident Turn 4 [None]);
37-42 (Competition Caution [08]);
64-68 (Debris Frontstretch [08]);
87-98 (Stage 1 Conclusion [44]);
103-108 (No. 61, 78 Incident Turn 1  [08]);
125-128 (No. 16 Spin Turn 4 [07]);
143-147 (No. 02 Incident Turn 4 [Red Flag: 00:09:31] [74]);
172-182 (Stage 2 Conclusion [08]);
248-255 (No. 44 Spins Turn 4 [68]);
257-264 (No. 18, 11, 15 Incident Turn 2 [61]);
288-293 (No. 15 Incident Turn 1 [78]);
297-301 (No. 7, 9 Incident Turns 1-2 [16]).

Lead Changes: 10 among 6 drivers;
H. Burton # 1-25;
J. Haley 26;
H. Burton # 27-45;
N. Gragson 46-91;
H. Burton # 92-128;
J. Allgaier 129-175;
R. Sieg 176-181;
J. Allgaier 182-250;
R. Herbst # 251-254;
J. Allgaier 255-294;
N. Gragson 295-303.

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Noah Gragson, No. 9

Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Harrison Burton, No. 20