Justin Haley Wins First Career Xfinity Race at Talladega

AP Photo

TALLADEGA, AL – RIS – Justin Haley won his first career Xfinity race Saturday afternoon in a three-lap shootout.  Haley started in second place and passed Jeb Burton and held the lead until the checkers.  He beat teammate Ross Chastain, Jeb Burton, Austin Cindric and Brett Moffitt.

Haley’s win comes in his 47th Xfinity start and gives him wins in all three of NASCAR’s national series.

“First of all I want to dedicate the win to Nick Harrison and the Harrison family, he started this journey with me last year in my rookie year, losing him was pretty big,” Haley told FS1, referring to his former crew chief who died unexpectedly in July of last year. “This is an incredible day.”

Haley, 21, is the third first-time winner this season, joining Harrison Burton and Noah Gragson. This was also the third race in 2020 where the winner won with a last-lap pass.

Chastain’s second-place finish earned him the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus.

The final run to the checkered flag was set up by a large wreck on the frontstretch with nine laps to go. It began when Gragson was turned from contact with his teammate, Justin Allgaier. Other drivers involved were Brandon Jones, Brandon Brown, Myatt Snider and Tommy Joe Martins.

He celebrated with Chastain, who won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash.

Burton finished third.

There were no fans allowed in the grandstands because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Haley dedicated the win to late crew chief Nick Harrison, who died last July the morning after the Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

There were two red flags during day for track clearing after accidents.  One of the incidents involved Chase Briscoe, who was a favorite before the race.  He rallied to finish 17th.

The Xfinity Series now heads to Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania next week.

Unofficial Results, Unhinged 300: Talladega Superspeedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 1, Justin Haley, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 113, 1, 6, 5, 16, 6, 55, Running
2) 9, Ross Chastain, No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 113, 4, 5, 3, 24, , 48, Running
3) 8, Jeb Burton, No. 8 LS Tractor Chevrolet, 113, , 7, 3, 8, , 38, Running
4) 7, Austin Cindric, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford, 113, 6, 3, 3, 8, , 46, Running
5) 20, Brett Moffitt(i), No. 02 Fr8Auctions Chevrolet, 113, 8, 9, , , , 0, Running
6) 10, Anthony Alfredo, No. 21 DUDE Wipes Chevrolet, 113, 2, , 1, 5, , 40, Running
7) 34, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 21, Gray Gaulding(i), No. 07 Walk-Ons.com Chevrolet, 113, 10, , , , , 0, Running
9) 27, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Lake Wales HS Class of 2020 Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 5, Noah Gragson, No. 9 Hellmann's Drizzle Sauce Chevrolet, 113, , 4, 1, 19, , 34, Running
11) 15, Brandon Brown, No. 68 Original Larry's Hard Lemonade Chevrolet, 113, , 10, , , , 27, Running
12) 2, Michael Annett, No. 1 Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet, 113, 9, 2, 2, 11, , 36, Running
13) 18, Jesse Little #, No. 4 Skuttletight Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 13, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 0 Flexfit 110 Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 32, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 AAN Adjusters Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 6, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Menards/Atlas Toyota, 113, 5, 8, , , , 30, Running
17) 17, Caesar Bacarella, No. 90 Alpha Prime/Maxim Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 4, Chase Briscoe, No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford, 113, 3, 1, 1, 15, 1, 37, Running
19) 14, Robby Lyons II, No. 15 Sunwest Construction Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 35, Mason Massey, No. 99 Gerber Colission & Glass Toyota, 113, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 28, Vinnie Miller, No. 78 Koolbox Toyota, 113, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 30, Chad Finchum, No. 13 MOHAWK MARKET Toyota, 113, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 16, BJ McLeod, No. 6 JD Motorsports Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 19, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Repairables.com Chevrolet, 112, , , 1, 1, , 13, Running
25) 25, Mike Harmon, No. 74 Back The Blue Chevrolet, 112, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 33, Timmy Hill(i), No. 61 ROOFCLAIM.COM Toyota, 106, , , , , , 0, Accident
27) 31, Myatt Snider, No. 93 Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet, 105, , , 1, 1, , 10, Accident
28) 12, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT/TradeMark Nitrogen Chevrolet, 105, , , 1, 2, , 9, Accident
29) 36, Jeff Green, No. 38 C2 Freight Resources Chevrolet, 105, , , , , , 8, Accident
30) 3, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMRRoofing.com Chevrolet, 101, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 26, Kody Vanderwal #, No. 52 ADVANCED DAIRY SERVICE Chevrolet, 95, , , , , , 6, Accident
32) 11, Harrison Burton #, No. 20 Morton Buildings/DEX Imaging Toyota, 95, 7, , 1, 3, , 9, Accident
33) 24, Josh Williams, No. 92 Tedlar/General Formulations Chevrolet, 95, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 23, Joe Graf Jr #, No. 08 Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet, 95, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 39, Colin Garrett, No. 26 Rosie Network Toyota, 95, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 29, Tim Viens(i), No. 47 Patriots of America PAC Chevrolet, 90, , , , , , 0, Accident
37) 22, Riley Herbst #, No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota, 76, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 37, Matt Mills, No. 5 J.F. Electric Toyota, 65, , , , , , 1, Overheating
39) 38, John Jackson, No. 66 CrashClaimsR.US Toyota, 30, , , , , , 1, Overheating
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 113 Laps, 300.58 Miles
Race Time: 2 Hrs, 12 Mins, 22 Secs.
Average Speed: 136.249 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.299 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 11, 21, 98, 10, 19, 22, 20, 02, 1, 07
Stage 2 Top 10: 98, 1, 22, 9, 10, 11, 8, 19, 02, 68

Race Comments: Justin Haley won the Unhinged 300 at Talladega Superspeedway, his first 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. 47 (driver change), Nos 8, 16 (failed inspection 3 times), No. 99 (unapproved adjustments).

Caution Flags: 6 for 22 laps:
Laps: 12-14 (Competition Caution [None]):
27-29 (Stage 1 Conclusion [39]);
52-56 (Stage 2 Conclusion [4]);
78-80 (No. 18, 98, 02, 08 Incident Frontstretch [74]);
97-99 (No. 52, 20, 08, 26, 92, 0 Incident Turn 3 [Red Flag 00:10:43} [4]);
106-110 (No. 9, 7, 19, 13, 38, 61, 93, 44, 1, 15, 68, Incident Frontstretch [Red Flag: 00:06:29] [74]).

Lead Changes: 22 among 12 drivers;
J. Haley 1-2;
M. Annett 3;
J. Haley 4;
M. Annett 5-14;
R. Chastain 15;
J. Haley 16-26;
H. Burton # 27-29;
J. Allgaier 30-31;
R. Chastain 32;
A. Alfredo 33-37;
C. Briscoe 38-52;
M. Snider 53;
A. Cindric 54-58;
N. Gragson 59-77;
J. Clements 78;
R. Chastain 79-100;
A. Cindric 101;
J. Burton 102;
A. Cindric 103-104;
J. Burton 105-109;
J. Haley 110;
J. Burton 111-112;
J. Haley 113.

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Justin Haley, No. 11

Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Jesse Little, No. 4

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Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2020, Issue 6, Posted 9:42 PM, 06.20.2020