Jesse Love Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — It was the first NASCAR Xfinity Series trophy of the season for A.J. Allmendinger but the timing was on point, his Playoff win in Saturday’s Ambetter Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway punching his ticket into next month’s season finale Championship race. The 42-year old Californian held off a hard-charging Ryan Sieg by a mere .156-second to claim his 18th career win – leading a race best 102 of the 201 laps in his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. Allmendinger had toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Worst to first. Sammy Smith and the No. 8 JR Motorsports team are heading to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs after winning Saturday’s United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. Smith came into the day at the bottom of the Playoff standings, some 23 points below the cut-off line, but with his victory on Saturday, he’s the first of the championship contenders to advance to the next round. “Just a great team. My sponsors, everybody that has stuck withRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS City, Kan.— Part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Aric Almirola ran down Playoff leader Cole Custer in the closing laps of Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway and pulled away for his second victory of the season in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. In a Round of 12 Playoff opener that ended with several unhappy drivers and a handful of post-race conversations between Playoff contenders, Almirola picked up his first win at the 1.5-mile track and the sixth of his career.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – One driver’s misfortune was another’s gain. Coming into Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway to close out the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, it appeared to be Justin Allgaier’s points lead to lose with a healthy lead over Cole Custer and others in the points standings. It was going to take some misfortune on Allgaier’s part for Custer and the others to be in position to strike and that’s exactly what happened. After leading the opening 60 laps, Allgaier found himselfRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Introducing. … Connor Zilisch. The 18-year-old North Carolina native made his formal entrée into big time NASCAR racing with a major statement holding off the field on a pair of thrilling overtime restarts at the historic 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International road course to claim his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in his first career start. The Mission 200 at The Glen finished under caution with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sheldon Creed finishing runner-up – for a record 12th time –Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor HAMPTON, Ga. – Three things in life are certain: Death, taxes, and Austin Hill winning NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. For the fourth time in the last six races on the 1.5-mile superspeedway, native Georgian Hill was able to be victorious on his home turf, piloting his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to victory, sweeping the season and banking his third win of the season. Saturday’s win also breaks a winless streak dating back to February when Hill was able to startRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C.—Christopher Bell survived a near-disaster with Cole Custer on the first lap of overtime and held on to win Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 over Custer and snakebit Sheldon Creed. During a green-flag run that started on lap 97 of 150, Creed caught and passed Bell for the lead on Lap 139 and was poised to claim his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory after a record 11 runner-up finishes in the series. But Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger slapped the outside wallRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor CHICAGO – Just when the NASCAR Xfinity Series field thought it had Shane van Gisbergen covered, he showed them how it’s done, winning Saturday’s The Loop 121 on the Streets of Chicago. With two road course wins already in 2024 and a Cup Series win on the Chicago street course last season in his back pocket, van Gisbergen came in as the overwhelming favorite and rightfully so. Rolling off from the pole alongside Kyle Larson, it was a heavyweight fight for the New Zealander and LarsonRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LEBANON, Tenn. – John Hunter Nemechek survived a steamy hot afternoon and held off a highly-motivated field to win the Tennessee Lottery 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Nashville Superspeedway Saturday afternoon. It’s the second Xfinity Series win of the season for Nemechek in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – and 11th of his career in the series. The 27-year-old North Carolinian won Stage 2 and led a race best 76 of the 188 laps, including the final 46 after taking the leadRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor NEWTON, Iowa – For the second day in a row, tires were the talk of the town at Iowa Speedway. After the NASCAR Cup Series had its issues with tire failures in practice on Friday, it was the Xfinity Series turn during Saturday’s HyVee Perks 250. Throughout the day, drivers and teams were riding the ragged edge wondering if they were going to be the next to feel the wrath of the tire gods. When all was said and done, more than an handful of driversRead More