20 Cars Caught Up in 2 Wrecks at Talladega NASCAR Xfinity Series Race

Two wrecks involving a total of 20 cars Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway eliminated several contenders in the Ag-Pro 300 that ended in double overtime with NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie Jesse Love snaring his first career victory.

An 11-car crash occurred on the frontstretch with 47 laps remaining in the scheduled 113-lap race, while a nine-car crash at the 2.5-mile track came in turn four as the field raced to the white flag.

No drivers were injured in the two multi-car crashes.

The two crashes sidelined Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Ryan Truex, Jeremy Clements, Patrick Emerling, and Jordan Anderson. Drivers who were involved but continued in the event were A.J. Allmendinger, Matt DiBenedetto, Leland Honeyman, Parker Kligerman, Ryan Sieg, Kyle Weatherman, Sheldon Creed, Jeb Burton, Austin Hill, Anthony Alfredo, Taylor Gray and David Starr.

In superspeedway races, the pushing and the blocking become more aggressive as the event gets closer to the finish. Truex pointed to that increased aggressiveness as causing the 11-car crash that eliminated his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

“The whole field was thee-wide, I think, and everybody was just trying to shuffle to the front before green-flag stops started,” Truex said. “I couldn’t tell if somebody tried to throw a block or if somebody got hooked or what. I saw the 9 (Jones) backwards and smoke and I tried to avoid him, and I just barely got him.

"It must have hit him perfectly with my right-front tire to just break the right front upper and cut the tire. I was hoping it was just a flat tire, but we brought it down pit road and the right front was broken. It sucks because we really didn’t have much damage. I think I just hit him in the perfect angle to kill our car.”

The second accident was triggered by Hill losing control of his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet after getting a shove from Kligerman while the two were running first and second, respectively, as they charged to the white flag.

Jesse Love went on to win his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series race in a double overtime finish in the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Love, a 19-year-old rookie in the Xfinity Series for Richard Childress Racing, edged runner-up Riley Herbst by.141-second. Love became just the seventh driver to win his first Xfinity race at Talladega.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race - Ag-Pro 300

Talladega Superspeedway

Talladega, Alabama

Saturday, April 20, 2024

1. (2) Jesse Love #, Chevrolet, 124.

2. (8) Riley Herbst, Ford, 124.

3. (11) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 124.

4. (33) Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, 124.

5. (27) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 124.

6. (10) Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 124.

7. (29) Caesar Bacarella, Chevrolet, 124.

8. (28) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 124.

9. (35) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 124.

10. (4) Cole Custer, Ford, 124.

11. (38) Mason Massey(i), Chevrolet, 124.

12. (31) Hailie Deegan #, Ford, 124.

13. (25) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 124.

14. (1) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 124.

15. (13) Taylor Gray(i), Toyota, 124.

16. (36) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 124.

17. (24) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 124.

18. (17) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 124.

19. (14) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 124.

20. (9) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 124.

21. (5) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 124.

22. (18) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 124.

23. (26) Blaine Perkins, Ford, 123.

24. (19) David Starr, Chevrolet, 123.

25. (7) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 123.

26. (37) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 123.

27. (20) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, DVP, 120.

28. (30) Dawson Cram #, Chevrolet, 120.

29. (3) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, Accident, 117.

30. (21) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Ignition, 113.

31. (32) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, Accident, 111.

32. (12) Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, Accident, 111.

33. (23) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, Accident, 65.

34. (6) Ryan Truex, Toyota, Accident, 65.

35. (22) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 65.

36. (15) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 65.

37. (34) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, Engine, 46.

38. (16) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Accident, 24.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 131.323 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 30 Mins, 42 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.141 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 6 for 28 laps.

Lead Changes: 34 among 16 drivers.

Lap Leaders: A. Hill 1-23;J. Love # 24-26;M. DiBenedetto 27;J. Love # 28-30;A. Hill 31-33;C. Custer 34-36;R. Sieg 37-42;C. Smith 43;R. Truex 44;C. Smith 45-46;A. Hill 47-51;J. Anderson 52;J. Love # 53-56;B. Jones 57-60;R. Sieg 61;S. Smith 62;S. Van Gisbergen # 63;S. Smith 64;A. Hill 65-68;D. Starr 69;A. Hill 70-72;R. Herbst 73-81;A. Hill 82-83;R. Herbst 84-86;P. Kligerman 87-88;R. Herbst 89;P. Kligerman 90;A. Alfredo 91-96;P. Kligerman 97;C. Custer 98;T. Gray(i) 99;J. Love # 100-110;A. Hill 111;P. Kligerman 112-117;J. Love # 118-124.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Austin Hill 7 times for 41 laps; Jesse Love # 5 times for 28 laps; Riley Herbst 3 times for 13 laps; Parker Kligerman 4 times for 10 laps; Ryan Sieg 2 times for 7 laps; Anthony Alfredo 1 time for 6 laps; Cole Custer 2 times for 4 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 4 laps; Chandler Smith 2 times for 3 laps; Sammy Smith 2 times for 2 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen # 1 time for 1 lap; Taylor Gray(i) 1 time for 1 lap; Ryan Truex 1 time for 1 lap; David Starr 1 time for 1 lap; Jordan Anderson 1 time for 1 lap; Matt DiBenedetto 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 2,48,21,81,16,20,97,9,98,00

Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,2,16,39,9,81,48,98,27,00