Noah Gragson Making NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Look Easy
Chevrolet driver Noah Gragson is making something of a runaway of the Xfinity Series Championship Playoffs. His victory on Saturday in the Andy’s Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway was his fourth in a row, seventh in 27 starts this year, and 12th in his career. It tied him with the late multi-time champion Sam Ard (1983) for most consecutive Xfinity Series victories.
Driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s formidable JR Motorsports team, the Las Vegas native led three times for 85 of the 200 laps, including the final 12. He won by a comfortable 1.238 seconds over Austin Hill, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, and Riley Herbst. Earlier this season, Gragson won at Phoenix, Talladega, and Pocono; his current four-race streak includes Darlington, Kansas City, Bristol, and now Fort Worth.
The TMS victory automatically advances Gragson into the Round of 8 races at Las Vegas, Homestead, and Martinsville. Before those, though, he’ll be at Talladega next weekend and then at the Charlotte Roval the weekend of Oct. 7-8 to finish the Round of 12.
He takes a 26-point lead over Allmendinger and a 27-point lead over Gibbs into Talladega, where he beat Jeffrey Earnhardt in triple-overtime in April. Gragson has already signed to drive for the Petty GMS No. 42 Chevrolet Cup Series team next year, replacing Ty Dillon.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race
18th Annual Andy's Frozen Custard 300
Texas Motor Speedway
Saturday, September 24, 2022
1. (2) Noah Gragson (P), Chevrolet, 200.
2. (9) Austin Hill # (P), Chevrolet, 200.
3. (8) Ty Gibbs (P), Toyota, 200.
4. (7) AJ Allmendinger (P), Chevrolet, 200.
5. (11) Riley Herbst (P), Ford, 200.
6. (16) Josh Berry (P), Chevrolet, 200.
7. (13) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, 200.
8. (5) Sam Mayer (P), Chevrolet, 200.
9. (14) Ryan Sieg (P), Ford, 199.
10. (35) CJ McLaughlin, Ford, 199.
11. (20) Nicholas Sanchez, Chevrolet, 199.
12. (18) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 199.
13. (24) Stefan Parsons(i), Chevrolet, 199.
14. (29) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 199.
15. (17) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 199.
16. (32) Matt Mills(i), Chevrolet, 198.
17. (26) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 197.
18. (19) Joe Graf Jr, Ford, 197.
19. (25) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 197.
20. (31) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 196.
21. (23) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 190.
22. (15) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, Accident, 141.
23. (37) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, DVP, 132.
24. (22) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, Accident, 131.
25. (36) Joey Gase, Toyota, DVP, 120.
26. (30) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Accident, 118.
27. (1) Brandon Jones (P), Toyota, Accident, 117.
28. (4) John Hunter Nemechek(i) (P), Toyota, Accident, 116.
29. (6) Justin Allgaier (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 116.
30. (3) Daniel Hemric (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 116.
31. (21) Brennan Poole(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 116.
32. (33) Mason Massey, Chevrolet, Accident, 116.
33. (12) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Accident, 109.
34. (28) JJ Yeley, Ford, Water Pump, 99.
35. (38) Akinori Ogata(i), Toyota, Suspension, 99.
36. (10) Jeremy Clements (P), Chevrolet, Ignition, 79.
37. (34) David Starr, Ford, Accident, 77.
38. (27) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, Accident, 17.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 113.672 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 38 Mins, 21 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.238 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 52 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B. Jones (P) 0;N. Gragson (P) 1-10;J. Nemechek(i) (P) 11-38;D. Hemric (P) 39-47;J. Nemechek(i) (P) 48-53;T. Gibbs (P) 54-55;J. Nemechek(i) (P) 56-81;T. Gibbs (P) 82;D. Hemric (P) 83-85;A. Allmendinger (P) 86-92;N. Gragson (P) 93-155;A. Hill # (P) 156;A. Allmendinger (P) 157-183;J. Burton 184-188;N. Gragson (P) 189-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Noah Gragson (P) 3 times for 85 laps; John Hunter Nemechek(i) (P) 3 times for 60 laps; AJ Allmendinger (P) 2 times for 34 laps; Daniel Hemric (P) 2 times for 12 laps; Jeb Burton 1 time for 5 laps; Ty Gibbs (P) 2 times for 3 laps; Austin Hill # (P) 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,7,21,9,16,8,18,39,54,34
Stage #2 Top Ten: 16,9,18,11,54,21,7,39,19,1
