Noah Gragson triumphs in wild NASCAR Xfinity Series duel at Darlington: At the end of a thrilling three-car battle that wasn’t decided until the last corner of the last lap Saturday at Darlington Raceway, Noah Gragson stole a victory from Sheldon Creed and charging Kyle Larson to score his fourth victory of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season. After passing Gragson for second place on Lap 144 of 147, Larson got a strong run on Creed, then the leader, coming to the white flag. Larson steered his No. 17 Chevrolet to the inside of Creed’s Camaro, and the drivers raced side-by-side through the first two corners.(Read More)(9-3-2022)
#9-Noah Gragson won the Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway. The win is his fourth win of the year, second at Darlington, and ninth of his career.
#2-Creed finished second followed by #16-Allmendinger, #7-Allgiaer, #17-Larson, #54-Gibbs, #18-Bell, #8-Berry, and #26-Nemechek.
Pole sitter #19-Jones finished 14th.
Creed led the race with two laps to go but was caught by Larson coming to the white flag. They made contact with one another and slowed. Gragson, running third, caught both drivers and also got into the wall before taking the lead coming to the checked flag.
The race was red flagged for 2 hours and 37 minutes just before the end of Stage 2 due to rain.
Stage 1 was won by #9-Gragson. Stage 2 was won by #7-Allgaier.
There were 10 lead changes among 6 drivers and 5 cautions for 39 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 97.979mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Drivers Points Standings, Owners Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
Darlington Paint Schemes
Race Fast Facts – Darlington:
Noah Gragson won the 40th Annual Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200, his ninth victory in 126 Xfinity Series races.
This is his fourth victory and 17th top-10 finish in 2022.
This is his second victory and seventh top-10 finish in seven races at Darlington Raceway.
Sheldon Creed # (second) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Darlington Raceway. It is his 10th top-10 finish in 2022.
AJ Allmendinger (third) posted his second top-10 finish in four races at Darlington Raceway.
Sheldon Creed (second) was the highest finishing rookie.
AJ Allmendinger leads the point standings by 51 points over Ty Gibbs.
(NASCAR)
Xfinity Series Playoff Standings after Darlington (Race 24 of 33):
2 races remaining before the playoffs
1) #54-Ty Gibbs (5 wins, 29 playoff points)
2) #9-Noah Gragson (4 wins, 32 playoff points)
3) #7-Justin Allgaier (3 wins, 22 playoff points)
4) #16-AJ Allmendinger (3 wins, 17 playoff points, regular season championship leader)
5) #8-Josh Berry (2 wins, 16 playoff points)
6) #21-Austin Hill (2 wins, 11 playoff points)
7) #19-Brandon Jones (1 win, 6 playoff points)
8) #98-Riley Herbst 651, +112
9) #1-Sam Mayer 648, +109
10) #11-Daniel Hemric 593, +54
11) #10-Landon Cassill 573, +34
12) #39-Ryan Sieg 555, +16
Currently below cutline
13) #2-Sheldon Creed 539, -16
14) #78-Brandon Brown 458, -97
15) #23-Anthony Alfredo 458, -97
See the Drivers Points Standings and Owners Points Standings.
Cars to the rear: #18-Christopher Bell (engine change) #23-Anthony Alfredo, #36-Josh Williams, #38-Kyle Sieg, #68-Kris Wright, #78-Brandon Brown (all unapproved adjustments).
At a speed of 165.453 mph, #19-Brandon Jones won the pole for the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway. This is the second pole for Jones in 2022; the first time he’s won multiple pole awards in the same season..
#9-Noah Gragson will line up on the front row (165.231 mph). #2-Sheldon Creed will start from third, his best starting position of the year (164.380 mph). #21-Austin Hill (164.238 mph) and #54-Ty Gibbs (164.111 mph) round out the top five.
May winner at Darlington #7-Justin Allgaier will start sixth, with #17-Kyle Larson, #98-Riley Herbst, #10-Landon Cassill and #11-Daniel Hemric making up the top 10.
Did Not Qualify: #13-Chad Finchum
See the complete Darlington Starting Lineup.
Qualifying Results
Brandon Jones won the Pole Award for the 40th Annual Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 with a lap of 29.722 seconds, 165.453 mph.
This is his fifth pole in 227 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
This is his second pole and 15th top-10 start in 2022.
This is his first pole in ten races at Darlington Raceway.
Noah Gragson (second) posted his 19th top-10 start of 2022 and his sixth in seven races at Darlington
Raceway.
Sheldon Creed # (third) posted his second top-10 start at Darlington Raceway. It is his 13th in 24 races this season.
Sheldon Creed (third) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Practice for the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway is complete. After 20 minutes, the top five, slowest, news and notes:
#7-Justin Allgaier 165.956 mph
#9-Noah Gragson 165.186 mph
#2-Sheldon Creed 165.103 mph
#18-Christopher Bell 164.507 mph
#19-Brandon Jones 164.254 mph
Slowest: #38-Kyle Sieg 155.129 mph
Most laps run: #21-Austin Hill, 27
Notes: Roughly five minutes into the session, #13-Chad Finchum had a mechanical failure in his left front suspension and pounded the wall which bent an upper control arm. #9-Noah Gragson and #98-Riley Herbst scraped the wall.
See full Darlington Practice Results.
Qualifying Order
Crew Rosters
Goodyear Tire Notes
There are 38 cars on the entry list for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington. There are 38 cars entered for 38 spots.
Notables: #02-Ty Dillon, #5-Tommy Joe Martins, #13-Chad Finchum, #17-Kyle Larson, #18-Denny Hamlin, #26-John Hunter Nemechek, #35-Dawson Cram, #36-Josh Williams, #44-Ryan Ellis, #45-Stefan Parsons, #48-Ross Chastain, #68-Kris Wright, #78-Brandon Brown
See the full entry list on the Darlington Entry List page.
Xfinity Series Editon: TandemDraft Stats – Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington
