BetMGM 300
A star-studded field at Charlotte in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this past weekend saw Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch on the front row. Chandler Smith, Jesse Love, and Jeb Burton started in the top five. The other NASCAR Cup Series regulars were Noah Gragson, who started in 18th, and Chase Elliott who started 30th.
The stage lengths for the BetMGM 300 were 45 laps for stages one and two and 110 laps for the final stage. The broadcast was also put on by cup regulars such as Brad Keselowski, Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Erik Jones, and Ryan Blaney.
Allgaier, All Gas
Gibbs got a great jump to start the race and Love passed Smith on the opening lap, however Smith quickly got his position back. Cole Custer made contact with Sheldon Creed. Creed gathered his car back up and passed Austin Hill. Elliott made moves early and quickly jumped into the top 20.
Gibbs and Busch were very fast to start the race. They opened a five-second gap over third place Justin Allgaier. However, Busch used his experience and passed Gibbs for the lead.
Allgaier seemed to be closing the gap with the leaders while Love slipped to seventh. Still finding where the speed was on the track, the drivers put their cars all across the racing surface with the speed seeming to be on the high side or the very bottom of the turns.
Riley Herbst brought out the first caution. Some cars pitted and some stayed out under yellow. Gibbs reclaimed the lead on the restart. Anthony Alfredo was very slow on the high line and complained of a flat tire.
Elliott, who stayed out during the caution, lost a lot of spots with old tires. Allgaier and Busch were fighting to get the lead from Gibbs. Custer was passed by Smith for eighth place. Then, Allgaier passed Gibbs for the lead.
Coming to the stage end, Sam Mayer threaded the needle to pass two cars outside of him. Allgaier won the first stage at Charlotte!
All Gas, No Brakes
Allgaier spun his tires yet still jumped out to the lead. Then, Gibbs had a huge slip in turn 1 and slid straight into the wall trying to save it. AJ Allmendinger got into the wall as well.
Elliott moved into eleventh passing Mayer and Brandon Jones at the same time. Creed was also fast to start the second stage while Allgaier and Busch ran away from the field.
Elliott worked his way up to sixth and was about to make the pass on Gragson but a caution came out. Parker Kligerman got loose by himself in turn four.
Both of the leaders came to the pits under the caution, with Allgaier coming out in front. Gibbs complained of a brake issue. Creed and Elliott restarted on the front row with eleven to go. Creed had a great launch on the restart.
Contact between two cars with older tires in front of Allgaier allowed Busch to sneak by as they raced through the field. Busch got into second as he passed Elliott. Then, Busch regained the lead with Allgaier right behind him. The new tires proved fast on the restart.
Ultimately, Allgaier reclaimed the lead as he passed Busch for the lead again. Then, Allgaier won his second stage of the day claiming the green and white checkered flag!
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
Allgaier was the first off of pit road. Hill came out second and gained a spot. But then the good went bad. Allgaier and Hill were both hit with a speeding penalty on pit road.
Love got a great restart and Busch resided in second, as he had been for most of the race. Allgaier slowly began to catch up, recovering from his penalty.
Then, aother caution came out as Kyle Seig got loose on his own.
Busch and Love restarted from the front row. Gibbs pushed Busch out in front then fell in behind him. Love got back out front but Busch battled and kept his spot in first. Mayer throttled underneath Busch but could not make the pass. Elliott passed Love and Allgaier on the inside and at the same time. He passed Love quickly thereafter.
Suddenly, Creed got a flat right front tire and had to remedy it on pit road. Mayer did not give up his quest for the lead. He passed Busch into turn one but Busch quickly passed him right back. Then, Creed had to retire his car due to mechanical issues.
Continuing the fight, Mayer made contact with Busch, but again, could not make the pass. Gibbs caught up to Mayer and Busch as they were going back and forth. Mayer finally made the pass on Busch.
Green flag pit stops began with about 56 laps left. Busch ran a few extra laps to try to get fresher tires for longer into the run. He ended up pitting with 50 to go in the race.
Patrick Emerling had a left front tire blow out and destroy his fender and car. Mayer was the leader after all pit stops were made. He led Gibbs who would not give up without a fight.
Another caution came out for Ryan Ellis, this time with 34 laps to go.
Caution…
Allgaier was the first off of pit road. Gragson restarted next to him. Gragson had a ton of wheel spin on the restart and got shuffled back. Shane Van Gisbergen tagged the wall. Then, Allgaier got into the wall after running up the track into Gibbs, who also hit the wall. Mayer and Elliott were on the front row for the next restart.
And More Cautions…
A good restart was completed by both drivers – they raced side by side into turn one but Elliot, with much better tires, accelerated away from the field.
Custer got into the wall and then was spun out by Hill. Hill retaliated by wrecking Custer. They were running fifth and sixth. Hill is known as a hot head and things on track may have boiled over.
Hill with a No-No
Elliott and Mayer again restarted on the front row with twelve to go. Mayer got into the wall on the restart. Josh Williams entered into the top ten after all the chaos that happened towards the end of the race.
Jones made Elliott stay in it as he was the faster of the two. Jones even got into the wall and still gained time on Elliott. It did not matter though! Elliott took the white flag and the checkered flag to win at Charlotte!
Marvin’s Moment:
I love the Xfinity cars at Charlotte. I believe the drivers have much more control over their results. The cars are much more on edge and it takes talent to succeed in the series. I wish the Cup drivers would drive the Xfinity cars. The Cup cars put on a good show at mile and a halfs, but the Xfinity cars put on a GREAT one.
