On the sidelines of the longest race of the season (600 miles) which will take place tomorrow evening in the NASCAR Cup series, the drivers of the Craftsman Truck and Xfinity series competed yesterday evening and this Saturday afternoon on the oval of the Charlotte Motor Speedway , in North Carolina. Chase Elliott took some to clinch victory in the Xfinity race, the 2020 Cup Series champion, making his first start of the season in the series, while Nick Sanchez won yesterday in Truck.
Elliott drove the No.17 Xfinity Chevrolet part-time in the series for Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott only led 18 of the 200 laps of the race, which was fairly monotonous overall, but it was enough for him to build up a sufficient lead after the final restart to head towards his 6th career Xfinity race, his first since the 2016 season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Brandon Jones finished 2nd. Coming back to within half a second of Elliott on the last lap, the Chevrolet/JR Motorsports driver saw his chances of contesting victory to the end end when he made light contact with the outside wall. His teammates Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer finished 3rd, ahead of AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet/Kaulig Racing) and Kyle Busch, who completed an all-Chevrolet Top 6 at the controls of the 3rd car of Richard Childress.
Justin Allgaier swept the first two stage victories, leading 38 of the first 90 laps. However, he fell to the back of the field after he and second-placed Austin Hill received penalties for speeding in the pit lane, just before the green flag signifying the start of the final stage was waved. Allgaier, however, quickly returned to the front but he clashed with Ty Gibbs with 24 laps remaining. The two drivers then fought for the lead and this opened the door to victory for Elliott.
Also note the clash between Austin Hill and Cole Custer. Hill pushed his opponent towards the inside wall after initial contact with the outside wall. A voluntary gesture which raises the question of the safety of drivers in a high-speed accident on a super oval like Charlotte. Fortunately Custer was not injured. In total, the race was slowed down by eight neutralizations.
Ryan Sieg, Josh Williams, Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson rounded out the Top 10. For the full rankings, click here. Next week, the Xfinity Series hits the US West Coast at the Portland, Oregon road course.
In the Craftsman Truck series, Nick Sanchez won last night’s race thanks to error-free driving but also an excellent pit stop strategy when he took the gamble of fitting new tires shortly before the final RELAUNCH. Starting 10th with 9 laps to go, it only took the driver of the No.2/Rev Racing Chevrolet 7 laps to find himself in the lead and win ahead of Corey Heim ((Toyota/Tricon Garage). Sanchez’s 2nd victory this season and career in the series.
Sanchez crossed the finish line 0.507 seconds ahead of Heim but the latter was excluded from the results after the race when officials found three loose lug nuts on his vehicle. 3rd on the track, the Canadian Stewart Friesen inherited 2nd place. The Ontario driver thus achieved his best result of the season so far, with his Toyota from his own team, Halmar Racing.
Sanchez led the last nine laps, compared to 72 for Heim and 37 for Christian Eckes, classified 10th at the finish. After dominating the first two stages of the race, Heim fell to 27th place, under neutralization, following a collision with former double champion Matt Crafton. He also had a problem with the jack in the pits, which could justify the problem of a lost nut discovered on arrival.
Grant Enfinger was credited with third place, followed by Matt Mills, Ben Rhodes, Jake Garcia, Connor Mosack and Dean Thompson rounding out the top 9. For the full ranking, click here.
