It’s Bristol Baby! I will say it until I turn blue, but this is the best racing weekend of the entire season. And the Xfinity race tonight was no exception! There was so much drama, specifically for the drivers fighting for a Playoff spot. I will do my best to recap this evening’s events, but there was a TON of action.
To start, three guys were fighting to fill two Playoff spots based on points. Kaulig Racing Drivers Daniel Hemric and Landon Cassill as well as RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg. The odds looked stacked against Sieg. And with several guys needing wins, Brandon Brown, Sheldon Creed, and others, it was sure to be chaotic.
Early on, Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed made some contact, almost sending Herbst into the inside wall. Both drivers were able to continue, but the aggression only picked up from there. Ty Gibbs eventually went on to win Stage One, but that wasn’t enough to stop AJ Allmendinger from clinching the regular season Championship and pocketing the Playoff Points that come along with it.
Creed found himself in the lead for Stage Two after a strategy call. While battling Justin Allgaier for the win, he chopped the #7 Brandt Chevrolet Camaro, almost wrecking another guy. It was clear, that Sheldon Creed was going for it from lap one today.
But then suddenly Landon Cassill has an issue that sends him to the garage. This was a big shakeup in the points, but with Creed leading, Sieg would need a miracle to make it still. And the miracle, or at least Noah Gragson, happened. Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, and Sheldon Creed were all racing hard when Gragson got into the back of the #54 and wrecked both Gibbs and Creed. In a strange twist of fortune, it was Sieg’s playoff berth to lose.
Justin Allgaier went on to stomp the competition until a late race caution came out when Allgaier made contact with JJ Yeley, a slower lapped car. Teams had to choose whether they wanted to give up track position and take tires or stay out. Drivers like Allgaier and Sieg pit, while Gragson stayed out.
But any chance for Allgaier to come back through the field to win the last race of the Regular Season was dashed when he was busted for speeding on pit lane. So now, it would be up to Gragson to hold off the field behind him, including the hard-chargers with fresher tires. Gragson got a sizeable advantage that was slowly closed by Brandon Jones, current driver of the #19 Toyota Supra and ironically, future driver of the #9. Brandon Jones raced him fairly clean and gave him one bump with two to go.
It wasn’t enough to stop Gragson as he sails to his sixth victory of the 2022 season, and third in a row to close out the Regular Season. Once again, he got sick in his Victory Celebration, which is hopefully something he can work on as he prepares to head to the Cup Series in 2023 for Petty GMS Racing.
Landon Cassill did eventually come out from the garage, but it was not enough to make the Playoffs, as Ryan Sieg claims the final Playoff spot. That being said, the Playoff Grid is set, and is as follows:
- Noah Gragson 2,051 Points
- Ty Gibbs 2,038 Points
- Justin Allgaier 2,033 Points
- AJ Allmendinger 2,032 Points
- Josh Berry 2,022 Points
- Austin Hill 2,016 Points
- Brandon Jones 2,010 Points
- Jeremy Clements 2,005 Points
- Sam Mayer 2,005 Points
- Daniel Hemric 2,003 Points
- Riley Herbst 2,002 Points
- Ryan Sieg 2,001 Points
The Playoffs kick-off for the Xfinity Series next Saturday, September 24th, at Texas Motor Speedway.
