Event: Alsco 300 (Round 6 of 33) Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series Location: Charlotte (N.C) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval) Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/45 laps/110 laps) Start/Finish: 8th/20th(Running, completed 200 of 203 laps) Point Standing: 1st (251 points, eight ahead of second place) Note: Race extended three laps past its scheduled 200-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Overview:
Fresh off a victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ previous race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Chase Briscoe was poised for another strong result in his No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang Monday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway until oil on the racetrack sent him into the turn-three wall 47 laps short of the finish. Briscoe began the Alsco 300 from eighth in the 37-car field and climbed to as high as second. He finished eighth in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2. Shortly after, however, Briscoe’s race began to come undone. An uncontrolled tire penalty stemming from his pit stop after the second stage sent him to the back of the field for the lap-98 restart. Still, the 25-year-old from Mitchell, Indiana, made his way back inside the top-10, rising to sixth before making a green-flag pit stop on lap 148. Unfortunately, Briscoe was cited for speeding on pit road, and he had to serve a pass-through penalty on the following lap. Mired in the middle of the field, Briscoe became a victim of circumstance on lap 156 when his No. 98 Ford Mustang slipped up the banking and into the wall after the engine on Timmy Hill’s Toyota broke and spewed fluid onto the racetrack. While the No. 98 team was able to make repairs, Briscoe returned to the track in 18th, two laps down to the leaders. But on lap 172, a cut tire sent Briscoe back into the wall, deepening the damage to his HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang. Briscoe soldiered on to finish 20th, maintaining his position atop the championship standings.
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We had a pretty good HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang the first run of the race. We were a little off before that first pit stop, but we were able to get the car dialed in and had good track position off pit road. I felt like I was pretty equal to the 54 (Kyle Busch). He was probably a little better in the latter half of the run, but I felt like we were just as good as the leaders. When we started that final stage with the uncontrolled tire, that’s what kind of set everything in motion. We went from starting dead last to sixth and for a while there we were still the fastest car, and I thought were going to be OK if we could catch a caution, but I sped on pit road and from there it was one thing after another. I thought we were a top-three car, for sure, and probably could’ve battled for the win. It’s tough to have a race-winning car and run 20th, but it could’ve been worse. We were able to rally and end up with a top-20 finish. It’s a shame we didn’t run better, but I’m ready to go to Bristol where we should be really good.”
Notes:
● Briscoe finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points and third in Stage 2 to earn eight more bonus points. ● Briscoe remains the championship leader after Charlotte with an eight-point advantage over second-place Austin Cindric. ● Kyle Busch won the Alsco 300 to score his 97th career Xfinity Series victory, his first of the season and his ninth at Charlotte. His margin of victory over second-place Daniel Hemric was .178 of a second. ● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 53 laps. ● Only 11 of the 37 drivers in the Alsco 300 finished on the lead lap.
Next Up:
The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Cheddar’s 300 on Saturday, May 30 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Komentarze