Allmendinger Wins Xfinity Race at COTA
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AUSTIN, TX – A.J Allmendinger bumped Sheldon Creed out of the lead with 14 laps to go, then held off William Byron over the next couple of laps before pulling away for the victory, his second in a row at the Texas track. Byron will be starting Sunday's NASCAR Cup series race from the pole position.
The pivotal moment was Allmendinger was trying to pass and something happene4d. Allmendinger bumped Sheldon Creed out of the lead with 14 laps to go, then held off William Byron over the next couple of laps before pulling away for the victory, his second in a row at the Texas track. Byron will be starting Sunday’s NASCAR Cup series race from the pole position.
Allmendinger had the best car on the track from the beginning.,
“I feel like I’m on vacation,” Allmendinger told his garage as he steadily pulled away from the pack in the first stage.
Though the first stage was easy, his Pitstop left him with a lot of time to make up. The stop left him 37 seconds behind the leader. He then got stuck in the pack on a restart, one of four in stage two, and the car in front of him got bumped and spun around, forcing Allmendinger into a complete stop.
Creed won the stage, leaving him the chance to race for his first career Xfinity series win. But another restart saw Allmendinger launch from sixth to second and right on Creed’s bumper. Allmendinger soon found himself in a more manageable deficit. With Creed and Allmendinger He then got stuck in the pack on a restart, one of four in stage two, and the car in front of him got bumped and spun around, forcing Allmendinger into a complete stop.
Creed won the stage, leaving him the chance to race for his first career Xfinity series win. But another restart saw Allmendinger launch from sixth to second and right on Creed’s bumper, .He then got stuck in the pack on a restart, one of four in stage two, and the car in front of him got bumped and spun around, forcing Allmendinger into a complete stop. As Creed and Allmendinger battling, Allmendinger tagged Creed’s left rear wheel and pushed him sideways. Creed fought back to finish ninth.
Ty Gibbs finished third. Austin Hill, who won at Daytona, Las Vegas and Atlanta, retired early after reporting gear change problems in the opening laps.
Next stop is next week at Richmond Raceway where they only turn left.
Unofficial Results: Pit Boss 250 presented by USA Today, March 25, 2023, Circuit of The Americas
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps , St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 1, AJ Allmendinger(i), No. 10 Celsius Chevrolet, 46, 1, 6, 2, 28, , 0, Running
2) 9, William Byron(i), No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 46, 5, 7, 1, 1, , 0, Running
3) 3, Ty Gibbs(i), No. 19 Monster Energy Toyota, 46, 4, 8, , , , 0, Running
4) 2, Sammy Smith #, No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota, 46, 9, 9, , , , 37, Running
5) 8, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 46, 7, , , , , 36, Running
6) 11, Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 14, Sam Mayer, No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet, 46, 10, , , , , 31, Running
8) 15, Josh Berry, No. 8 Tire Pros Love The Drive Chevrolet, 46, , 5, , , , 35, Running
9) 4, Sheldon Creed, No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, 46, 2, 1, 3, 16, 1, 47, Running
10) 7, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 46, 6, , , , , 32, Running
11) 26, Brandon Jones, No. 9 Menards/Char-Broil Grills Chevrolet, 46, 8, , , , , 29, Running
12) 27, Chandler Smith #, No. 16 Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 18, Miguel Paludo, No. 88 BRANDT Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 25, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Straitline Nitro Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 23, Alex Labbe, No. 92 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 29, Anthony Alfredo, No. 78 Pit Boss Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 34, Parker Retzlaff #, No. 31 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 20, Kaz Grala, No. 26 Fire Department Coffee Toyota, 46, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 22, Connor Mosack, No. 24 Toyota Racing Development Toyota, 46, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 32, Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Four Loko Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 21, Jeb Burton, No. 27 State Water Heaters/HeartBeat Chevrolet, 46, , 10, , , , 17, Running
22) 33, Kyle Weatherman, No. 02 Our Motorsports Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 31, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMRroofing.com Ford, 46, , 2, , , , 23, Running
24) 13, Aric Almirola(i), No. 08 Rush Truck Centers Ford, 46, , 4, , , , 0, Running
25) 36, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 45 Gas POS/BZ Mart Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 38, Kyle Sieg, No. 28 Ford, 46, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 6, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 20 Romco Equipment Toyota, 46, , 3, , , , 18, Running
28) 24, Josh Bilicki, No. 91 Insurance King/Zeigler Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 30, Brad Perez, No. 53 Apex/Weiss Sand & Clay LP Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 35, Joe Graf Jr., No. 38 G-Coin Ford, 46, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 5, Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Big Machine Racing Spiked Chevrolet, 46, 3, , 1, 1, , 14, Running
32) 10, Cole Custer, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 45, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 37, Brennan Poole, No. 6 BeONE Sports Chevrolet, 29, , , , , , 4, Steering
34) 28, Brett Moffitt, No. 25 AM Technical Solutions Ford, 27, , , , , , 3, Engine
35) 16, Sage Karam, No. 44 Quality Roof Seamers Chevrolet, 23, , , , , , 2, Engine
36) 19, Preston Pardus, No. 50 Garage Oil Spirits Chevrolet, 16, , , , , , 1, Suspension
37) 12, Austin Hill, No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, 13, , , , , , 1, Engine
38) 17, Carson Hocevar(i), No. 07 Engine Parts Plus Chevrolet, 7, , , , , , 0, Transmission
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie
Race Length: 46 Laps - 156.86 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 5 Mins, 3 Secs.
Average Speed: 75.263 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.853 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 10, 2, 48, 19, 17, 98, 7, 9, 18, 1
Stage 2 Top 10: 2, 39, 20, 08, 8, 10, 17, 19, 18, 27
Comments: A.J. Allmendinger has won the Pit Boss 250 presented by USA Today at the Circuit of The Americas, his 16th career 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 reason indicated: Nos. 6, 7, 16, 25, 26, 28, 38, 44, 45, 78, 92, 00, 02 (unapproved adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: (4) 66 Cameron Lawrence, 74 Baltazar Leguizamon, 4 Garrett Smithley, 35 Parker Chase.
Cautions: 5 for 7 laps;
Laps: 9-9 (No. 07 Stopped Turn 1 [None]);
18-19 (No. 50 Stopped Turn 1 [44]);
22-22 (Debris Turns 13 and 14 [44]);
29-29 (No. 25 Stopped Turn 1 [None]);
31-32 (No. 00 Stuck In Gravel Turn 4 [38]).
Lead Changes: 6 among 4 drivers;
A. Allmendinger(i) 1-14;
S. Creed 15-26;
W. Byron(i) 27;
S. Creed 28;
P. Kligerman 29;
S. Creed 30-32;
A. Allmendinger(i) 33-46.
Unofficial Points: Pit Boss 250 presented by USA Today, Circuit of The Americas
Pos) Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1) Austin Hill 21 6 0 249 0 0 3 3 18
2) Riley Herbst 98 6 1 234 -15 15 0 0 0
3) John Hunter Nemechek 20 6 -1 220 -29 14 1 1 6
4) Justin Allgaier 7 6 1 200 -49 20 0 3 3
5) Chandler Smith # 16 6 -1 196 -53 4 0 0 0
6) Sam Mayer 1 6 0 187 -62 9 0 0 0
7) Sammy Smith # 18 6 0 185 -64 2 1 0 5
8) Sheldon Creed 2 6 4 184 -65 1 0 1 1
9) Josh Berry 8 6 -1 183 -66 1 0 0 0
10) Daniel Hemric 11 6 0 176 -73 7 0 0 0
11) Parker Kligerman 48 6 0 156 -93 20 0 1 1
12) Cole Custer 00 6 -3 152 -97 4 0 2 2
13) Ryan Sieg 39 6 1 143 -106 9 0 0 0
14) Anthony Alfredo 78 6 1 129 -120 14 0 0 0
15) Brandon Jones 9 6 2 128 -121 1 0 0 0
16) Brett Moffitt 25 6 -3 126 -123 2 0 0 0
17) Jeb Burton 27 6 -1 124 -125 2 0 0 0
18) Jeremy Clements 51 6 1 114 -135 10 0 0 0
19) Joe Graf Jr 38 6 -1 103 -146 11 0 0 0
20) Parker Retzlaff # 31 6 0 100 -149 3 0 0 0
21) Kyle Sieg 28 6 0 89 -160 11 0 0 0
22) Josh Williams 5 0 71 -178 18 0 0 0
23) Ryan Truex 2 0 69 -180 2 0 0 0
24) Kaz Grala 26 6 1 69 -180 0 0 0 0
25) Ryan Ellis 43 6 1 64 -185 5 0 0 0
26) Kyle Weatherman 02 4 1 60 -189 4 0 0 0
27) Brennan Poole 6 6 -3 56 -193 4 0 0 0
28) Alex Labbe 92 3 5 50 -199 6 0 0 0
29) Jeffrey Earnhardt 45 6 1 47 -202 3 0 0 0
30) Gray Gaulding 5 -2 41 -208 6 0 0 0
31) Joey Gase 5 -2 40 -209 1 0 0 0
32) Connor Mosack 24 3 5 38 -211 2 0 0 0
33) Myatt Snider 1 -2 33 -216 5 0 0 0
34) Patrick Emerling 3 -2 29 -220 4 0 0 0
35) Blaine Perkins 5 -1 26 -223 3 0 0 0
36) Stefan Parsons 1 -1 24 -225 2 0 0 0
37) Miguel Paludo 88 1 26 24 -225 0 0 0 0
38) Parker Chase 1 -2 21 -228 3 0 0 0
39) David Starr 2 -1 17 -232 4 0 0 0
40) Josh Bilicki 91 2 4 15 -234 2 0 0 0
41) Jade Buford 1 -2 12 -237 3 0 0 0
42) Leland Honeyman 1 -2 10 -239 2 0 0 0
43) Brad Perez 53 1 18 8 -241 2 0 0 0
44) Sage Karam 44 2 1 8 -241 0 0 0 0
45) Jesse Iwuji 1 -4 7 -242 1 0 0 0
46) Cj Mclaughlin 2 -4 7 -242 0 0 0 0
47) Garrett Smithley 3 -4 7 -242 0 0 0 0
48) Preston Pardus 50 1 17 1 -248 6 0 0 0
49) Dawson Cram 1 -3 1 -248 0 0 0 0
50) Caesar Bacarella 1 -3 1 -248 0 0 0 0
51) AJ Allmendinger(i) 10 1 0 0 -249 1 1 1 0
52) William Byron(i) 17 1 0 0 -249 0 0 0 0
53) Ty Gibbs(i) 19 1 0 0 -249 0 0 0 0
54) Kyle Busch(i) 2 -5 0 -249 0 0 0 0
55) Austin Dillon(i) 1 -5 0 -249 0 0 0 0
56) Justin Haley(i) 2 -5 0 -249 0 0 0 0
57) Tyler Reddick(i) 2 -5 0 -249 0 0 0 0
58) Rajah Caruth(i) 2 -5 0 -249 0 0 0 0
59) Ross Chastain(i) 1 -5 0 -249 0 0 0 0
60) Chad Chastain(i) 1 -5 0 -249 0 0 0 0
61) Aric Almirola(i) 08 1 0 0 -249 0 0 0 0
62) Bayley Currey(i) 4 -14 0 -249 0 0 0 0
63) Timmy Hill(i) 1 -7 0 -249 0 0 0 0
64) Carson Hocevar(i) 07 1 0 0 -249 0 0 0 0
65) Dexter Stacey 0 -8 0 -249 0 0 0 0
66) Mason Maggio(i) 0 -8 0 -249 0 0 0 0
67) Cameron Lawrence 0 0 0 -249 0 0 0 0
68) Ryan Vargas(i) 0 -9 0 -249 0 0 0 0
69) Baltazar Leguizam?n 0 0 0 -249 0 0 0 0
-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Ronald Fleshman and John Davison
Ron Fleshman and John Davison are Editors at ris-news.com