It’s an elimination weekend for both the Xfinity and Cup Series drivers with just four more races after some road course racing on The ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  The doubleheader weekend begins with the Xfinity Series and the Drive for a Cure 250.

Forty-one teams brought cars to CMS for the Drive for the Cure 250 to fill 38 racing spots. 

During practice Noah Gragson crashed his car and will have to move to a backup car; as a result, he will not make a qualifying run and will start the race from the back of the field.

After qualifying, Austin Wayne Self, Gray Gaulding, and Brennan Poole failed to make the race.

With a qualifying time of 81.694 seconds around the 2,3 mile road course, regular season champion AJ Allmendinger put his number 16 car on the pole and will bring the field to green.

Joining the lineup this weekend in the Xfinity Series race are James Davison and IndyCar racer Marco Andretti is making his Xfinity Series debut.

The starting lineup for the Drive for the Cure 250:
AJ Allmendinger
Ty Gibbs
Daniel Hemric
Sheldon Creed
Justin Allgaier
Sam Mayer
Landon Cassill
Austin Hill
Sage Karam
Jeremy Clements
Riley Herbst
Alex Labbe
Stefan Parsons
Josh Berry
Brandon Jones
James Davison
Ryan Sieg
Anthony Alfredo
Preston Pardus
Josh Bilicki
Kaz Grala
Josh Williams
Jeb Burton
Daniil Kvyat
JJ Yeley
Scott Heckert
Brad Perez
Patrick Gallagher
Andy Lally
Marco Andretti
Myatt Snider
Bayley Currey
Brandon Brown
Timmy Hill
Joey Graf Jr
Ryan Vargas
Noah Gragson
Kris Wright

A rather short race with only 67 laps; stages one and two of the race are just 20 laps each with stage three lasting 27 laps around the 2.3 mile road course of Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Drivers can run 32 to 35 laps on a single load of fuel.

Scott Heckert will join Ryan Vargas, and Kris Wright at the back of the field after the crews made some unapproved adjustments to the cars.

Pole sitter AJ Allmendinger has won the past three Xfinity Series ROVAL races and is looking to make it four in a row.

AJ Allmendinger brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Ty Gibbs alongside.  Allmendinger edges out in front for the lead going into turn one with Ty Gibbs in second; Daniel Hemric, Justin Allgaier, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five with much of the field single file.

AJ Allmendinger leads lap one.  After crashing during practice and racing in a backup car, Noah Gragson is already up to 23rd place on lap two.

Lap three, AJ Allmendinger has pulled out to a lead of over half a second on Ty Gibbs; Daniel Hemric, Justin Allgaier, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.

Playoff driver Daniel Hemric has to make an unscheduled trip down pit road after hitting the barrier going into a turn.  Hemric has some damage to the left side of his car.  He has dropped to eleventh place, 25 points behind the lead and below the cut line.

Leader AJ Allmendinger and Noah Gragson with a win each are the only driver who have locked a spot into the next round of the playoffs.  Currently Riley Herbst, Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric, and Jeremy Clements are below the cut line.

Lap four, the top five are AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, and Sam Mayer.

Lap six, AJ Allmendinger has pulled out to a lead of over a second and a half on Ty Gibbs; Justin Allgaier, Landon Cassill, and Sheldon Creed round out the top 10.  Noah Gragson has entered the top 20.

Lap eight, AJ Allmendinger has increased his lead to two seconds on Ty Gibbs; Justin Allgaier, Landon Cassill, and Sheldon Creed round out thetop five.

JJ Yeley spins out on lap eight but the track stays green.

Kris Wright is the only driver not on the lead lap.

Lap nine, AJ Allmendinger continues to increase his lead and is now over 2.5 seconds ahead of Ty Gibbs.

Kris Wright brings out the first caution flag of the race when he gets into the turn too hard and hits the wall.

A few drivers including Noah Gragson come down pit road for service.

The blue rumble strips along the curves are called turtles; a few years ago someone painted them to look like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; this year the “turtles” have been painted in various designs by school children from a local school of the arts.

AJ Allmendinger brings the field down for the gren flag restart of laps 12 and gets out in front for the lead with Ty Gibbs in second; Justin Allgaier, Landon Cassill, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.  Noah Gragson is in 22nd place.

Lap 13, AJ Allmendinger has a half second lead on Ty Gibbs; Justin Allgaier, Landon Cassill, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.  Noah Gragson is in the top 20.

There are five drivers in today’s race that have run in the Indianapolis 500.

Lap 14, AJ Allmendinger has pulled out to a one second lead on Ty Gibbs.  Kris Wright is out of the race.

In 16th place, Noah Gragson’s crew chief has told him to take care of his tires because they will stay out on the track at the end of the stage.

Marco Andretti hits the turtles going into a curve and gets loose after some wheel hop.  The track stays green.

Lap 17, Noah Gragson has entered the top 15.  AJ Allmendinger holds a one second lead on Ty Gibbs.

The number 36 car driven by Alex Labbe has a sign across his front grille.

Lap 18, several drivers short pit and come down pit road for service including Landon Cassill who had some smoke coming from his car after an on track altercation with Justin Allgaier that spun both drivers out.

Lap 18, AJ Allmendinger has led every lap so far and has a one second lead on Ty Gibbs; Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, and Riley Herbst round out the top five.

The top six spots are held by playoff drivers.

After leading every lap, AJ Allmendinger wins stage one.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
AJ Allmendinger
Ty Gibbs
Sam Mayer
Austin Hill
Riley Herbst
Justin Allgaier
James Davison
Landon Cassill
Josh Berry
Sage Karam

AJ Allmendinger brings much of the field down for service with Ty Gibbs winning the race off of pit road.

Austin Hill is on pit road with the hood up as his crew reports a power steering issue.  Hill noted that the car would not turn.

Patrick Gallagher is caught speeding on pit road.

Noah Gragson and Sage Karam bring the field down for the green flag start of stage two.  Drivers get three wide going into turn one.  Noah Gragson and Sheldon Creed battle for the lead with Brandon Jones, Sage Karam, and Ryan Sieg rounding out the top five.

After placing second in stage one, Ty Gibbs has locked a place in the next round of the playoffs.

Lap 23, Sheldon Creed leads the race with Noah Gragson in second; Brandon Jones, Sage Karam, and Ryan Sieg round out the top five with Ty Gibbs in sixth; AJ Allmendinger is not in the top 10.

There is a bit of smoke coming out of Justin Allgaier’s car whenever he makes a left hand turn.

Lap 25, Sheldon Creed has a lead of nearly a second and a half on Noah Gragson; Brand Jones, Sage Karam, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Brad Perez spins out and gets into a barrier but the track stays green.

Andy Lally has a lot of smoke coming out of his car with some right front damage with a flat tire.

Lap 26, Sheldon Creed has increased his lead to over a second and a half on Noah Gragson but Brandon Jones is closing in on Gragson.

AJ Allmendinger is reporting handling issue in his car; saying that it won’t turn.

Austin Hill is back on the track but the power steering still has not returned.  The cap had come off of the power steering pump and lost fluid.  The cap has been replaced and fluid added.

Lap 30, Sheldon Creed continues to lead the race with Ty Gibbs in second over four seconds back; Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, and Sage Karam round out the top five.

Lap 32, there are 32 cars on the lead lap with just one driver out of the race.

Lap 33, Sheldon Creed has a 3.7 second lead on Ty Gibbs; Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, and Sage Karam round out the top five.  AJ Allmendinger has moved up to seventh.

Lap 34, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, and Daniel Hemric are all ties for the final spot in the playoffs.  Currently Jones holds the spot after placing the highest during the round.

Lap 35, Sheldon Creed has a 3.2 second lead on Ty Gibbs; Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, and Sage Karam round out the top five.

Lap 37, Sheldon Creed had a 3.6 second lead on Ty Gibbs; Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, and Riley Herbst rounding out the top five..

With two laps remaining in stage two, several of the drivers are short pitting the end of the stage and coming down pit road for service.

Leader Sheldon Creed locks up his tires coming to pit road with Ty Gibbs right behind him.  Brandon Jones is the new leader.

With a lead of two and a half seconds, Brandon Jones wins stage two.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Brandon Jones
Riley Herbst
Sam Mayer
Justin Allgaier
James Davison
Daniel Hemric
Josh Berry
Anthony Alfredo
Sheldon Creed
Ty Gibbs

The drivers who did not pit before the end of the stage come down pit road for service.  Brandon Jones wins the race off of pit road.

Austin Hill has locked in a spot in the next round of the playoffs

Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed bring the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Sheldon Creed getting out in front and Ty Gibbs in second; AJ Allmendinger, Sage Karam, and Noah Gragson round out the top five.

Lap 44 Ty Gibbs passes Sheldon Creed for the lead.

There are 32 cars on the lead lap with Josh Williams and Josh Bilicki off the track.

The caution flag comes out with 22 to go for a wreck involving Marco Andretti and Jeb Burton.  Andretti said that he didn’t see Burton sitting sideways on the track. Andretti is out of his car and out of the race.

Ty Gibbs brings the field down for the green flag restart with 19 laps remaining in the race with Sheldon Creed alongside.  AJ Allmendinger tries to make it a three way battle going into turn one with Ty Gibbs taking the lead and AJ Allmendinger in second; Sheldon Creed, Noah Gragson, and Sage Kama round out the top five.

Riley Herbst has some damage to the right quarter panel of his car.

Preston Pardus is stuck on the turtles but manages to get loose and moving again.  Pardus spins out and backs into the turtles.

James Davison has some damage to the right side of his car.

Riley Herbst is very distraught over the fact that he may not make the cut for the next round of the playoffs.

Austin Hill is back on pit road where the crew is replacing the power steering pump.

Ty Gibbs brings the field down for the green flag restart with AJ Allmendinger alongside with just 15 laps remaining in the race.  Gibbs gets out in front for the lead. 

The top five are Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, Sage Karam, and Noah Gragson.

Joe Graf Jr spins out but the track stays green.

The rear deck lid of Brad Perez’ car has come loose.

With 14 laps to go, there are 32 cars on the lead lap with no driver just one lap down.

Riley Herbst spins out in the curve but track stays green.  He loses several spots on the track…and in the playoffs.  He has a flat left rear tire and is over halfway away from pit road.

An the sixth caution flag comes out with 12 laps to go.  Justin Allgaier has a sign on his front grille.  Riley Herbst comes down pit road for a tire change.

Once pit road opens, some of the drivers near the back of the field come down pit road for fresh tires.

Ty Gibbs brings the field down for the green flag restart with just nine laps remaining in the race.  Gibbs edges out for the lead from the inside lane with Allmendinger in second.

Several drivers get piled up including Riley Herbst, Kaz Grala, Patrick Gallagher, and Bayley Currey.

Sheldon Creed spins out and brings out the caution flag.

Ty Gibbs brings the field down for the green flag restart with just six laps remaining in the race.  Gibbs jumps out in front for the lead with AJ Allmendinger in second but getting pressure form Sage Karam; Noah Gragson and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.

Sam Mayer’s car is smoking.

Five to go, Ty Gibbs has just a half second lead on AJ Allmendinger.

Four to go, Sage Karam gets off the track and has some damage to his car but the track stays green.

Three to go, Ty Gibbs has pulled out to a one second lead on AJ Allmendinger.  Allmendinger has never lost an Xfinity race at the ROVAL.

With Sage Karam having to come down pit road, Stefan Parsons is in the top five.

The caution flag comes out with just two laps remaining in the race for debris on the backstretch after sparks, parts, and pieces come off of Joe Graf Jr’s car with a flat tire.

the race goes into overtime.

Five points below the cut line and no power steering, Daniel Hemric’s crew chief says that Hemric needs the restart of his life.

Ty Gibbs brings the field down for the green flag overtime shootout with AJ Allmendinger alongside.  Going side by side, the two make contact but Allmendinger gets out in front for the lead.

Riley Herbst gets turned around and gets into the wall but the track stays green for a long time before Herbst gets moving again and the caution flag comes out.  Herbst pushes a Coca-Cola sign on his way out of the grass.

Ryan Sieg makes contact with Daniel Hemric in a battle for position; he is now three points below the cut line after the on track contact.

With a second overtime start coming, some of the crews are concern whether or not their drivers have enough fuel to make it to the end of the race…including leader AJ Allmendinger.

AJ Allmendinger brings the field down for the second overtime shootout and gets a push from Noah Gragson to get out in front to take the lead.  Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson battle for second; James Davison and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.

Stefan Parson spins out back in the pack but the track stays green.

AJ Allmendinger has pulled out to a one second lead on Ty Gibbs.

AJ Allmedinger takes the white flag.

Continuing to battle, Ryan Sieg is two points below the cut line.

Undefeated!!!! Four times in a row!  AJ Allmendinger wins the race with Ty Gibbs in second.  This is his second win in a row after winning the race at Talladega last week.

Not only did AJ Allmendinger have enough fuel to win the race, the had enough to do an impressive burnout.  Once of the older drivers on the circuit at 40, AJ is as excited as a kid with his celebrations.

He credits everyone at Kaulig Racing for helping him earn the win and remain undefeated at the ROVAL; adding that “they stole that one”.

The unofficial results of the Drive for a Cure 250:
AJ Allmendinger
Ty Gibbs
Noah Gragson
James Davison
Justin Allgaier
Alex Labbe
Brandon Jones
Josh Berry
Ryan Sieg
Landon Cassill
Sam Mayer
Anthony Alfredo
Myatt Snider
Jeremy Clements
Daniil Kvyat
Sheldon Creed
Daniel Hemric
Jeb Burton
JJ Yeley
Brandon Brown
Preston Pardus
Scott Heckert
Brad Perez
Stefan Parsons
Bayley Currey
Joe Graf Jr
Timmy Hill
Austin Hill
Sage Karam
Andy Lally
Riley Herbst
Patrick Gallagher
Josh Bilicki
Kaz Grala
Marco Andretti
Josh Williams
Kris Wright


The eight drivers moving on to the next round of the playoffs are:
Noah Gragson
AJ Allmendinger
Ty Gibbs
Justin Allgaier
Josh Berry
Austin Hill
Brandon Jones
Sam Mayer

Ryan Sieg
Daniel Hemric
Riley Herbst
and Jeremy Clements
have all been eliminated from the playoffs.