Justin Haley Charges from 10th Place to Win at the Talladega Xfinity Playoff Race

Photo Credit - John Bazemore/AP

TALLADEGA, AL – RIS – Justin Haley charged from 10th place to win the Ag-Pro 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff race Saturday afternoon.  It is Haley’s third consecutive superspeedway win. He won at Talladega in June and at Daytona in August. Only Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had won three consecutive Xfinity races on superspeedways.

“Got this thing into the Round of 8, that’s the most important,” Haley said. “You look up to those guys your whole career and you aspire to be like them,” the 21-year-old Haley said. “To be in that class is special.”

Haley was leading when the caution came out on the last lap for a crash on the backstretch that collected playoff driver Harrison Burton. On the lap before, Chase Briscoe lost the lead and hit the wall.  Once the white flag is displayed, the next flag, whether it be the checkered flag, or the yellow flag determines the winner.

Michael Annett was 16th with 10 laps left and finished second until post-race inspection found the car too low in the left front. NASCAR disqualified him, placing him last in the field and moving the rest of the field up one position. Ryan Sieg went from 18th with 10 laps to go to finish third. He was followed by Noah Gragson and Brandon Jones.

Ross Chastain entered the race below the cut line to transfer. He did not score points in the first stage and was turned on a restart late in stage 2 and hit by Colby Howard. He rebounded o finish seventh. Chastain goes into next week’s race at the Charlotte Roval holding the final transfer spot. He’s three points ahead of Annett.

“I’ve just got to have a great run next weekend,” Annett said.

Chase Briscoe won the two first stages and dominated both.  He led 73 of the 113 laps, but loss of a drafting partner (fellow Ford driver Austin Cindric who crashed in the final stage) and fell to 20th place at the end.  Briscoe has eight wins this season and already moves on to the next round regardless of what happens next week at the Charlotte Roval.

Four drivers will be eliminated after next week’s race on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The four drivers below the cutline with one race remaining in the opening round of the Xfinity Series are Michael Annett, Harrison Burton, Brandon Brown and Riley Herbst. The Xfinity Series will crown a new champion for the first time in three years because back-to-back title winner Tyler Reddick moved to the Cup Series this season.

Official Results, Ag-Pro 300, NASCAR Xfinity Series Race, Talladega Superspeedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 8, Justin Haley (P), No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 113, 4, 4, 1, 2, 5, 54, Running
2) 7, Ryan Sieg (P), No. 39 CMRRoofing.com Chevrolet, 113, 7, 8, , , , 42, Running
3) 2, Noah Gragson (P), No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber Camo Chevrolet, 113, , 10, 2, 2, , 35, Running
4) 10, Brandon Jones (P), No. 19 Menards/Swiffer Toyota, 113, 3, 7, 1, 1, , 45, Running
5) 5, Daniel Hemric, No. 8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet, 113, 9, 3, , , , 42, Running
6) 13, Ross Chastain (P), No. 10 Dyna-Gro Seed Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 17, Josh Williams, No. 92 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 26, Garrett Smithley, No. 07 Trophy Tractor/Black Draft Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 14, Brandon Brown (P), No. 68 Original Larry's Hard Lemonade Chevrolet, 113, , 9, 1, 4, , 30, Running
10) 23, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Can-Am Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 32, Chad Finchum, No. 13 RoofClaim.com Toyota, 113, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 6, Anthony Alfredo, No. 21 Ceco Building Systems Chevrolet, 113, 5, , , , , 31, Running
13) 33, Caesar Bacarella, No. 90 Ap Sports Regimen/Mr Olympia Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 37, Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 CrashClaimsR.US Toyota, 113, , , , , , 0, Running
15) 21, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 AAN Adjusters Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 34, Joe Nemechek(i), No. 47 Mutt and Jeff Porkskins Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 0, Running
17) 31, Mike Harmon, No. 74 Back the Blue Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 35, Josh Bilicki, No. 99 Gravely Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 1, Chase Briscoe (P), No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford, 113, 1, 1, 4, 73, 2, 38, Running
20) 16, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 AllSouthElectric.com Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 27, Matt Mills, No. 5 JF Electric Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 28, Vinnie Miller, No. 78 Koolbox Ice Toyota, 113, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 11, Harrison Burton # (P), No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota, 113, 8, 6, , , , 22, Running
24) 36, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet, 112, , , 1, 24, , 13, Accident
25) 20, Jesse Little #, No. 4 Skuttletight Chevrolet, 112, , , 1, 5, , 12, Accident
26) 19, Myatt Snider #, No. 93 The Original Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet, 112, , , , , , 11, Accident
27) 15, Brett Moffitt(i), No. 02 Fr8Auctions Chevrolet, 112, , , , , , 0, Accident
28) 30, Kody Vanderwal #, No. 52 A-1 Performance Warehouse Chevrolet, 100, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 4, Justin Allgaier (P), No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 95, 10, 5, 1, 1, , 15, Engine
30) 29, Ryan Vargas, No. 6 TikTok Chevrolet, 92, , , , , , 7, Suspension
31) 25, Joe Graf Jr #, No. 08 Bucked Up Chevrolet, 77, , , , , , 6, Engine
32) 24, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 0 KSDT CPA/Swenson Advisors Chevrolet, 76, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 18, Austin Hill(i), No. 61 AISIN Group Toyota, 75, , , , , , 0, Accident
34) 3, Austin Cindric (P), No. 22 Carquest Auto Parts Ford, 75, 2, 2, , , , 21, Accident
35) 12, Riley Herbst # (P), No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota, 48, 6, , , , , 7, DVP
36) 22, Colby Howard, No. 15 Guy Roofing Chevrolet, 45, , , 1, 1, , 1, Accident
37) 9, Michael Annett (P), No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 1, Running
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs qualified, (DVP) Damaged vehicle policy

Time of race: 2 hr, 8 min, 24 sec
Race length: 113 laps, 300.58 miles
Average speed: 140.458 mph
Margin of victory: Under caution

Stage 1 Top 10: 98, 22, 19, 11, 21, 18, 39, 20, 8, 7
Stage 2 Top 10: 98, 22, 8, 11, 7, 20, 19, 39, 68, 9

Race Comments: Justin Haley won the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway, his third career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

Caution Flags: 7 for 25 laps;
Laps: 27-29 (Stage 1 Conclusion [78]);
43-46 (No. 18, 61 Incident in Turn 4 [78]);
47-49 (No. 10, 15, 20 Incident on the Frontstretch [Red Flag: 9:05] [18]);
52-55 (Stage 2 Conclusion [10]);
77-83 (No. 0, 22, 61 Incident on the Frontstretch [52]);
93-95 (Debris on the Frontstretch [52]);
113-113 (No. 02, 4, 16, 20, 93 Incident on the Backstretch [None]).

Lead Changes: 13 among 9 drivers;
N. Gragson (P) 1;
J. Allgaier (P) 2;
C. Briscoe (P) 3-26;
C. Howard 27;
C. Briscoe (P) 28-29;
B. Jones (P) 30;
C. Briscoe (P) 31-51;
A. Allmendinger 52-75;
J. Little # 76-80;
B. Brown (P) 81-84;
C. Briscoe (P) 85-110;
N. Gragson (P) 111;
J. Haley (P) 112-113.

Unofficial Points Report Ag-Pro 300, Talladega Superspeedway
Rank, Driver, Car, Starts, GL, Points, Ldr, Nxt, Race Wins, Stage Wins, Playoff Pts
1) Chase Briscoe (P), 98, 28, 0, 2147, 0, 0, 8, 9, 59
2) Austin Cindric (P), 22, 28, 0, 2113, -34, 34, 5, 10, 50
3) Noah Gragson (P), 9, 28, 0, 2110, -37, 3, 2, 8, 25
4) Justin Haley (P), 11, 28, 1, 2108, -39, 2, 3, 3, 23
5) Brandon Jones (P), 19, 28, 1, 2097, -50, 11, 3, 2, 20
6) Ryan Sieg (P), 39, 28, 1, 2090, -57, 7, 0, 2, 2
7) Justin Allgaier (P), 7, 28, -3, 2082, -65, 8, 3, 12, 33
8) Ross Chastain (P), 10, 28, 1, 2070, -77, 12, 0, 2, 10
9) Michael Annett (P), 1, 28, 1, 2067, -80, 3, 0, 0, 2
10) Harrison Burton # (P), 20, 28, -2, 2063, -84, 4, 2, 0, 14
11) Brandon Brown (P), 68, 28, 1, 2051, -96, 12, 0, 0, 0
12) Riley Herbst # (P), 18, 28, -1, 2034, -113, 17, 0, 0, 1
13) Jeremy Clements, 51, 28, 0, 554, -1593, 1480, 0, 0, 0
14) Josh Williams, 92, 28, 0, 501, -1646, 53, 0, 0, 0
15) Alex Labbe, 36, 28, 1, 493, -1654, 8, 0, 0, 0
16) Anthony Alfredo, 21, 17, 1, 480, -1667, 13, 0, 0, 0
17) Myatt Snider #, 93, 28, -2, 479, -1668, 1, 0, 0, 0
18) Daniel Hemric, 8, 18, 1, 464, -1683, 15, 0, 0, 0
19) Jesse Little #, 4, 28, -1, 456, -1691, 8, 0, 0, 0
20) Tommy Joe Martins, 44, 27, 0, 396, -1751, 60, 0, 0, 0
21) Joe Graf Jr #, 08, 28, 1, 353, -1794, 43, 0, 0, 0
22) Bj Mcleod, , 26, -1, 351, -1796, 2, 0, 0, 0
23) Jeffrey Earnhardt, 0, 24, 0, 340, -1807, 11, 0, 0, 0
24) Chad Finchum, 13, 27, 1, 317, -1830, 23, 0, 0, 0
25) AJ Allmendinger, 16, 9, -1, 306, -1841, 11, 1, 2, 0
26) Matt Mills, 5, 26, 0, 294, -1853, 12, 0, 0, 0
27) Vinnie Miller, 78, 27, 0, 291, -1856, 3, 0, 0, 0
28) Jeb Burton, , 9, 0, 235, -1912, 56, 0, 1, 0
29) Colby Howard, 15, 19, 0, 229, -1918, 6, 0, 0, 0
30) Kody Vanderwal #, 52, 25, 1, 195, -1952, 34, 0, 0, 0

Ron Fleshman

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 10, Posted 7:49 PM, 10.03.2020