A.J. Allmendinger Wins at Charlotte Roval in the Rain

NBC Sports

CONCORD, NC – RIS – Road racing acc A.J. Allmendinger won the road race at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval course on Saturday, in the NASCAR Xfinity series playoff elimination race. . It was raining, sometimes pouring, it was dark, and it was quite a spectacle.  Allmendinger avoided spinning cars and kept his car on track during a driving rain to win Saturday’s Xfinity playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

"Oh my God, I don’t know what to say,” Allmendinger said on his radio to his Kaulig Racing team.

The victory was Allmendinger’s fifth of his Xfinity career and second this season. Allmendinger took the lead from Chase Briscoe when Briscoe spun before Turn 2 on the infield portion of track on the overtime restart.

“The driver just made a mistake,” Briscoe said. “In the conditions like this you’ve got to be at 100 percent and I tried going 110 and it bit me, so very unfortunate. That one is gonna sting for a long time.”

Noah Gragson finished second. He was followed by Daniel Hemric, Alex Labbe and Ross Chastain.

Harrison Burton, Brandon Brown, Riley Herbst and Michael Annett, who each entered the race outside a transfer spot, were eliminated from title contention.

Points leader Briscoe ended up 18th in the final standings after leading the most laps in the race, 23 of the 68 laps in the race.

Oh my God, I don’t know what to say,” Allmendinger said on his radio to his Kaulig Racing team.

The victory was Allmendinger’s fifth of his Xfinity career and second this season. Allmendinger took the lead from Chase Briscoe when Briscoe spun before Turn 2 on the infield portion of track on the overtime restart.

“The driver just made a mistake,” Briscoe said. “In the conditions like this you’ve got to be at 100 percent and I tried going 110 and it bit me, so very unfortunate. That one is gonna sting for a long time.”

Noah Gragson finished second. He was followed by Daniel Hemric, Alex Labbe and Ross Chastain.

Harrison Burton, Brandon Brown, Riley Herbst and Michael Annett, who each entered the race outside a transfer spot, were eliminated from title contention.

The race was stopped for more than 35 minutes after 30 laps in the 68-lap race because of rain and puddles on track.

Rain created havoc for many drivers, including some playoff contenders.

Harrison Burton was running second going into the final chicane on the last lap of stage 1 but missed the chicane and had to serve a stop-and-go penalty. The incident kept him from finishing in the top 10 and collecting any stage points. Burton later stopped on track and finished 33rd, failing to advance.

Twelve of the first 30 laps were run under caution. That included Riley Herbst making contact with Gragson as they raced for the lead.

Asked about the contact that sent him into a barrier, Gragson told NBC Sports: “I don’t get really mad, I get even.”

Gragson made contact with Herbst early in the Texas race in July. That contact sent Herbst into the wall

The series opens the Round of 8 at 7 p.m. ET on Oct. 17 at Kansas Speedway.

Unofficial Results, Drive for the Cure 250 presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Pts, Status, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts
1) 22, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet, 68, , , 40, Running, 4, 12, 5
2)
 1, Noah Gragson (P), No. 9 Lionel Racing Chevrolet, 68, 2, 5, 50, Running, 4, 16, 
3)
 3, Daniel Hemric, No. 8 OnDeck Capital Chevrolet, 68, 7, 6, 43, Running, , , 
4)
 16, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Can-Am Chevrolet, 68, 3, 3, 49, Running, , , 
5)
 5, Ross Chastain (P), No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 68, 6, 2, 46, Running, , , 
6)
 11, Austin Cindric (P), No. 22 Wurth Ford, 68, , 4, 38, Running, , , 
7)
 38, Cody Ware, No. 17 Jacob Construction Ford, 68, , , 30, Running, , , 
8)
 24, Jade Buford, No. 07 Big Machine Distillery Chevrolet, 68, , 10, 30, Running, , , 
9)
 14, Michael Annett (P), No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 68, , , 28, Running, , , 
10)
 4, Brandon Jones (P), No. 19 Toyota Service Centers Toyota, 68, , , 27, Running, , , 
11)
 26, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 0 Contec Inc Chevrolet, 68, , , 26, Running, , , 
12)
 13, Riley Herbst # (P), No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota, 68, , , 25, Running, 1, 7, 
13)
 32, Josh Bilicki, No. 78 Insurance King Toyota, 68, , , 24, Running, , , 
14)
 21, Myatt Snider #, No. 93 The Original Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet, 68, , , 23, Running, , , 
15)
 31, Joe Graf Jr #, No. 08 Watchonista Chevrolet, 68, , , 22, Running, , , 
16)
 18, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 AllSouthElectric.com Chevrolet, 68, , , 21, Running, , , 
17)
 25, Ryan Vargas, No. 6 TikTok Chevrolet, 68, , , 20, Running, , , 
18)
 8, Chase Briscoe (P), No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford, 68, , 1, 29, Running, 3, 23, 1
19)
 20, Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 LEITHCARS.COM Toyota, 68, , , 0, Running, , , 
20)
 34, Kody Vanderwal #, No. 52 Space Shuttle Inn Chevrolet, 68, , , 17, Running, , , 
21)
 6, Ryan Sieg (P), No. 39 CMRRoofing.com Chevrolet, 68, , , 16, Running, , , 
22)
 29, BJ McLeod, No. 4 Swenson Chevrolet, 68, , , 15, Running, , , 
23)
 10, Justin Allgaier (P), No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 68, 5, 8, 23, Running, , , 
24)
 28, Stephen Leicht, No. 13 JANIKING Toyota, 68, , , 13, Running, , , 
25)
 23, Matt Mills, No. 5 Thompson Electric Toyota, 67, , , 12, Running, , , 
26)
 7, Brandon Brown (P), No. 68 Ray's Siding Co. Chevrolet, 63, 10, 7, 16, Accident, , , 
27)
 17, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 AAN Adjusters Chevrolet, 63, , , 10, Running, , , 
28)
 33, Gray Gaulding(i), No. 74 CountOnMeNC.org Chevrolet, 60, , 9, 0, Electrical, , , 
29)
 36, CJ McLaughlin, No. 99 Hyundai Material Handling Chevrolet, 54, , , 8, Running, , , 
30)
 37, Jesse Little #, No. 15 Tufco Flooring Chevrolet, 48, , , 7, Engine, , , 
31)
 12, Kaz Grala, No. 21 ruedebusch.com Chevrolet, 44, 1, , 16, Suspension, 1, 3, 1
32)
 30, Preston Pardus, No. 90 Chinchor Electric/Danus Chevrolet, 41, 9, , 7, Ignition, , , 
33)
 9, Harrison Burton # (P), No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota, 37, , , 4, Transmission, , , 
34)
 15, Josh Williams, No. 92 General Farmulations/Star Tron Chevrolet, 36, 8, , 6, Accident, , , 
35)
 2, Justin Haley (P), No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 34, 4, , 9, Accident, 2, 7, 
36)
 27, Austin Hill(i), No. 61 AISIN AW Toyota, 13, , , 0, Accident, , , 
37)
 35, Kyle Weatherman, No. 47 Thin Gold Line Solutions Chevrolet, 13, , , 1, Accident, , , 
38)
 19, Brett Moffitt(i), No. 02 Robert B. Our Co., Inc. Chevrolet, 2, , , 0, Accident, , ,
(i)
 Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs qualified

Time of race: 2 hr, 43 min, 5 sec
Race Length: 68 laps, 157.76 miles
Average speed: 58.041 mph
Margin of victory: 0.446 seconds

Stage 1 top 10: 21, 9, 36, 11, 7, 10, 8, 92, 90, 68
Stage 2 top 10: 98, 10, 36, 22, 9, 8, 68, 7, 74, 07

Race comments: AJ Allmendinger won the Drive for the Cure 250 presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina at Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, his fifth victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Caution Flags: 10 for 24 laps;
Laps: 4-6 (No. 02 Incident Turn 14 / Weather [5]);
15-18 (No. 5, 44, 61 Incident Turn 5 [47]);
22-23 (Stage 1 conclusion [74]);
28-33 (No. 18, 9 Incident Turn 3 [Red: 00:38:22] [5]);
35-36 (No. 90, 11 Incident Turn 3 [5]);
38-39 (No. 20 Stalled In Turn 4 [90]);
42-42 (Stage 2 conclusion [90]);
50-50 (No. 15 Stalled In Turn 4 [13]);
61-61 (No. 99 Stalled In Turn 1 [39]);
65-66 (No. 68 Stalled In Turn 4 [5]).

Lead changes: 14 among 6 drivers;
N. Gragson (P) 1-4;
J. Haley (P) 5-6;
N. Gragson (P) 7-13;
J. Haley (P) 14-18;
N. Gragson (P) 19;
K. Grala 20-22;
N. Gragson (P) 23-26;
R. Herbst # (P) 27-33;
A. Allmendinger 34-35;
C. Briscoe (P) 36-50;
A. Allmendinger 51-55;
C. Briscoe (P) 56-60;
A. Allmendinger 61-63;
C. Briscoe (P) 64-66;
A. Allmendinger 67-68.

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Riley Herbst, No. 18 

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 10, Posted 8:44 PM, 10.10.2020