Jason Allgaier Holds off Justin Haley to Win Xfinity Race at Richmond

RICHMOND, VA – RIS - Justin Allgaier chased Justin Haley down and moved past Haley for the lead with about 30 laps to go and went on to win Friday night’s Xfinity Series race at Richmond Raceway.  Allgaier lost the lead to Haley on Lap 174 of 250 and began to pull away. Allgaier rallied and got by Haley with 29 laps to go. Allgaier went on to win his second race of the season.

Allgaier caught front-running Justin Haley with 29 laps to go Friday night and held him off the rest of the way to win the NASCAR Xfinity race at Richmond Raceway, giving him his second victory of the season and perhaps signalling an end to his recent frustration.

He wasn’t sure when to make a move back to the front, but it worked out.

“I didn’t know when it was time, to be honest with you,” Allgaier said about becoming more aggressive. “He pushed the pace there early on and these guys did such a fantastic job.”

“We’re just hitting our stride at the right time of the season,” Allgaier said.

Haley finished second. He was followed by Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric and Ross Chastain.

“I thought maybe a few more laps I could have gotten to him because he was really sideways toward the end,” Haley said of Allgaier. “Honestly, he just timed it perfectly. Lapped traffic was not ideal. The whole time I thought we were faster didn’t quite play our cards right.”

Austin Cindric seemed to be on track for another victory.  Cindric won the first stage but faded after that.  He still managed a top five finish, but he didn’t have the car to keep up with Allgaier, Haley and Kyle Busch, who was making a rare Xfinity start.

Allgaier had held the lead for 49 laps before Haley passed him and pulled away, building a lead of nearly 3 seconds in his 48 laps in front before getting caught in lapped traffic as his lead dwindled. Allgaier finally pulled to his outside on Lap 220 and they raced side-by-side before Allgaier reclaimed the top spot and held on, winning by 0.604 seconds.

“I obviously tried to save as much as possible. They wanted me to back it down and I kept backing it down,” Haley said of the long run at the end. “I wasn’t slipping no tires so I didn’t think there was an issue, but Allgaier was just a ittle bit better.”

Busch started 29th and eventually worked his way into contention, but he never led and finished third, followed by series points leader Austin Cindric and pole-sitter Ross Chastain. Michael Annett, who finished seventh, became the ninth driver to secure a spot in the series playoffs with two races remaining in the regular season.

Busch said he was saving his car for a push at the finish, “but I knew if I pushed any harder earlier in the run in order to get there I’d just have nothing at the end. I tried to go with about 18 to go there and try to get a little but closer and was able to knock off a half a second at least, but that was it and she was smoked after that.”

The race was the start of a series doubleheader weekend at Richmond, with the second race to be held Saturday as a prelude to the Cup series taking the track at night.

 “I can’t be more excited to go tomorrow,” Allgaier said.

Unofficial Results: Go Bowling 250, Richmond Raceway - Richmond, VA - 0.75 - Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status

1) 16, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 FilterTime Chevrolet, 250, 5, 1, 2, 78, 6, 56, Running

2) 10, Justin Haley, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 250, 4, 3, 2, 51, , 50, Running

3) 29, Kyle Busch(i), No. 54 Starburst Duos Toyota, 250, 8, 4, , , , 0, Running

4) 7, Austin Cindric, No. 22 PPG Ford, 250, 1, 6, 2, 64, 1, 48, Running

5) 1, Ross Chastain, No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 250, 3, 2, 2, 39, , 49, Running

6) 20, Brett Moffitt(i), No. 02 Robert B Our Inc Co Chevrolet, 250, 9, 7, , , , 0, Running

7) 9, Michael Annett, No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 250, 6, 10, , , , 36, Running

8) 4, Noah Gragson, No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber Camo Chevrolet, 250, , 8, , , , 32, Running

9) 24, Kaz Grala, No. 21 ruedebusch.com Chevrolet, 250, 7, 5, , , , 38, Running

10) 8, Riley Herbst #, No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota, 249, , , , , , 27, Running

11) 5, Chase Briscoe, No. 98 Go Bowling Ford, 249, 2, , 2, 7, , 35, Running

12) 6, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMRRoofing.com Chevrolet, 249, , , , , , 25, Running

13) 22, Matt Mills, No. 5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet, 249, , , , , , 24, Running

14) 2, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Menards/Inspire Toyota, 249, , , , , , 23, Running

15) 21, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 AAN Adjusters Chevrolet, 249, , , , , , 22, Running

16) 3, Harrison Burton #, No. 20 Morton Buildings/DEX Imaging Toyota, 249, , , 1, 11, , 21, Running

17) 19, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Repairables.com Chevrolet, 248, 10, , , , , 21, Running

18) 13, Brandon Brown, No. 68 Original Larry's Hard Lemonade Chevrolet, 248, , , , , , 19, Running

19) 23, Joe Graf Jr #, No. 08 Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet, 248, , , , , , 18, Running

20) 31, Joey Gase, No. 07 Donate Life Virginia Chevrolet, 248, , , , , , 17, Running

21) 26, Bayley Currey(i), No. 74 Danny Dietz Tribute Chevrolet, 248, , , , , , 0, Running

22) 12, Josh Williams, No. 92 Alloy/Sleep Well Chevrolet, 247, , , , , , 15, Running

23) 15, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Larue/Rousseau Chevrolet, 247, , , , , , 14, Running

24) 17, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 0 TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet, 247, , , , , , 13, Running

25) 14, Jesse Little #, No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet, 247, , , , , , 12, Running

26) 36, Kyle Weatherman, No. 47 Honor And Sacrifice Chevrolet, 247, , , , , , 11, Running

27) 25, Chad Finchum, No. 61 SMITHBILT HOMES Toyota, 246, , , , , , 10, Running

28) 30, Mason Massey, No. 78 A-Z Companies Inc. Toyota, 246, , , , , , 9, Running

29) 33, Kody Vanderwal #, No. 52 The Rolling Home Show with Bill Malone , 246, , , , , , 8, Running

30) 32, BJ McLeod, No. 6 JD Motorsports Chevrolet, 245, , , , , , 7, Running

31) 34, Vinnie Miller, No. 99 Koolbox Toyota, 242, , , , , , 6, Running

32) 27, Dexter Bean, No. 90 Sleep Well/Alpha Prime Chevrolet, 241, , , , , , 5, Running

33) 28, Jeb Burton, No. 8 State Water Heaters Chevrolet, 233, , 9, , , , 6, Running

34) 18, Colby Howard, No. 15 Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet, 220, , , , , , 3, Running

35) 35, Stephen Leicht, No. 13 RoofClaim.com Toyota, 88, , , , , , 2, Axle

36) 11, Myatt Snider #, No. 93 Superior Essex Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 1, Accident

37) 37, Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 CRASHCLAIMSR.US Toyota, 4, , , , , , 0, Vibration

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 250 laps, 187.5 miles

Time of Race: 2 hr, 2 min, 59 sec

Average Speed: 91.476 mph

Margin of Victory: 0.604 sec

Stage 1 Top 10: 22, 98, 10, 11, 7, 1, 21, 54, 02, 51

Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 10, 11, 54, 21, 22, 02, 9, 8, 1

Race Comments: Justin Allgaier won the Go Bowling 250 at the Richmond Raceway, his 13th victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: No. 5 (unapproved adjustments), No. 07 (driver change).

Caution Flags: 5 for 31 laps;

Laps: 16-23 (No. 15 Stopped In Turn 4 [None]);

42-45 (Competition Caution [None]);

47-52 (No. 93, 92 Incident Backstretch [15]);

77-83 (Stage 1 Conclusion [74]);

152-157 (Stage 2 Conclusion [19]).

Lead Changes: 10 among 6 drivers;

R. Chastain 1-38;

J. Haley 39-41;

R. Chastain 42;

H. Burton No.  43-53;

C. Briscoe 54-59;

A. Cindric 60-78;

C. Briscoe 79;

A. Cindric 80-124;

J. Allgaier 125-173;

J. Haley 174-221;

J. Allgaier 222-250.

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Justin Allgaier, No. 7

Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Riley Herbst, No. 18