Just three races remain in the 2022 NASCAR racing season.  The Xfinity Series caps off a double header Saturday with the Contender Boats 300.

Practice and qualifying got off to a bit of a late start when Mother Nature sent a little rain shower through the area.  After the track was dried, NASCAR altered the practice session form 20 minutes to just 10 minutes before the drivers make a qualifying run.

Noah Gragson is the first driver on the track for practice.

Forty teams brought cars to Homestead-Miami to fill 38 starting spots.

Between practice and qualifying, a quick rain shower came back through and NASCAR is getting the track dried before the cars took to the track.

Dillon Bassett is the first driver on the track to make a qualifying run and posts a time of 34.106 seconds around the mile and a half track.

JJ Yeley is the first driver to break the 33 second mark with a time of 32.954 seconds.

Chandler Smith drug the splitter a bit on his qualifying run; getting loose and still posted a time of 32.905 seconds around the track.

Posting a time of 32.400 seconds, Trevor Bayne sits on the pole and will bring the field to green with Noah Gragson starting alongside on the front row.  This is the ninth career pole for Bayne.  Bayne noted that it could be his last start because he doesn’t know what he is doing next season.

Dillon Bassett and Alex Labbe failed to qualify for the race.

Chandler Smith and Brennan Poole are doing a doubleheader on Saturday, running both the Truck Series race and the Xfinity Series race.

The starting lineup for the Contender Boats 300:
Trevor Bayne
Noah Gragson
Ty Gibbs
Daniel Hemric
Brandon Jones
Sam Mayer
Sheldon Creed
Kyle Weatherman
Chandler Smith
Austin Hill
Nick Sanchez
Josh Berry
AJ Allmendinger
JJ Yeley
Riley Herbst
Landon Cassill
Joe Graf Jr
Stefan Parsons
Myatt Snider
Justin Allgaier
Jeb Burton
Timmy Hill
Bayley Currey
Brennan Poole
Ryan Sieg
Jeremy Clements
BJ McLeod
Patrick Emerling
David Starr
Josh Williams
Kyle Sieg
Kris Wright
Anthony Alfredo
Matt Mills
Julia Landauer
CJ McLaughlin

The second round of eight race on the way to setting the final four, Josh Berry is the only driver guaranteed a spot in the final four after his win at Las Vegas.  Currently Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs, and Justin Allgaier are above the cut line; while Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, and Sam Mayer are below the cut line and facing elimination from the playoffs.

For a first in NASCAR, all four of the JR Motorsports drivers are a part of the round of eight drivers – Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, and Sam Mayer.  Currently three of the four are above the cut line.  This season JRM has won 14 of the 30 races run and has won 34 stages – half of them by Noah Gragson – this season alone.  Of the four JRM drivers, only 19 year old Sam Mayer has yet to win a race this season.

Stages one and two of the race are 45 laps each with stage three lasting 110 laps around the mile and a half track.  Drivers can run 55 to 60 laps on a single load of fuel but tires and tire wear will be of more concern to the crews.

Trevor Bayne brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the outside lane with Noah Gragson alongside.  After going side by side, Trevor Bayne gets out in front for the lead as the drivers spread out thee wide across the track.

Lap two, Trevor Bayne leads the race with Noah Gragson in second; Daniel Hemric, Ty Gibbs, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.

The first caution flag of the race comes out on lap three when JJ Yeley gets into the wall and has some heavy damage to the car.  Riley Herbst also has some damage to his car after contact from Yeley.

The eight playoff drivers are all in the top 15.

Trevor Bayne brings the field down for the green flag restart from the outside lane on lap eight but this time Noah Gragson edges out first before Bayne takes the lead.

Lap nine, Trevor Bayne leads the race with Ty Gibbs in second; Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric, and Brandon Jones round out the top five as drivers run three wide.

Noah Gragson is reporting that his car is “super loose”.

Lap eleven, Trevor Bayne has a quarter of a second lead on Ty Gibbs; Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, and Daniel Hemric round out the top five.

JJ Yeley has taken his car to the garage and is out of the race.

Lap 14, Trevor Bayne holds a quarter of a second lead on Ty Gibbs; Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric and AJ Allmendinger round out the top five.

Lap 15, Trevor Bayne and Ty Gibbs battle for the lead; so far, Bayne holds him off.

Lap 17, Noah Gragson begins to challenge Ty Gibbs for second.

Lap 18, Trevor Bay has pulled out to a near one second lead.  Noah Gragson passes Ty Gibbs for second; Austin Hill and Daniel Hemric round out the top five.

Lap 22, Noah Gragson passes Trevor Bayne for the lead and begins to pull away from the field.

Sheldon Creed brushes the wall and has to come down pit road and is now one lap down; the track stays green.

Trevor Bayne reports on the radio that it wasn’t worth fighting with Noah Gragson for the lead.

Lap 27, Noah Gragson has a lead of a second on Ty Gibbs; Trevor Bayne, Austin Hill, and Landon Cassill round out the top five.

Lap 29, Noah Gragson has pulled out to a lead of nearly two seconds on Ty Gibbs.

Trevor Bayne is very loose on the track.

Lap 31, Noah Gragson has pulled out to a lead of three seconds on Ty Gibbs; Trevor Bayne, Austin Hill, and AJ Allmendinger round out the top five.

Justin Allgaier reports a very loose condition in his car.

Lap 33, Noah Gragson now has a lead of three and a half seconds on Ty Gibbs.

Lap 35, Noah Gragson continues to increase his lead on Ty Gibbs and is now four seconds out in front.

Lap 37, Noah Gragson’s lead is now four and a half seconds on Ty Gibbs; Landon Cassill, Trevor Bayne, and AJ Allmendinger round out the top five.

Lap 39, Landon Cassill passes Ty Gibbs for second.

Lap 40, driving it like he stole it, Noah Gragson has a five second lead on Landon Cassill; Ty Gibbs, Trevor Bayne, and AJ Allmendinger round out the top five.  There are 26 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 41, Mason Massey is slowed on the track against the outside wall.  CJ McLaughlin spins out and brings out the caution flag.  McLaughlin reports that he has a flat tire.

With stage one ending under caution, Noah Gragson wins another stage.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Noah Gragson
Landon Cassill
Ty Gibbs
Trevor Bayne
AJ Allmendinger
Austin Hill
Daniel Hemric
Sam Mayer
Kyle Weatherman
Justin Allgaier

Drivers come down pit road for service with many drivers reporting loose conditions.  Landon Cassill edges out Ty Gibbs in the race off of pit road.

Landon Cassill brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with Ty Gibbs alongside on lap 51.  In a three wide battle Ty Gibbs gets out in front for the lead but Noah Gragson comes up on the inside for a battle of the lead.

Lap 52, Noah Gragson passes Ty Gibbs for the lead but Gibbs comes back to battle. Gragson takes the lead.

Lap 54, Austin Hill comes up to battle Ty Gibbs for second.

Lap 54, the top five are Noah Gragson, Austin Hill, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, and Sam Mayer.

Lap 55, Austin Hill comes up on the inside to battle with Noah Gragson for the lead and takes the spot.

Lap 57, there are 27 cars on the lead lap.

Austin Hill has pulled out to a half second lead on Noah Gragson; Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.

Lap 59, Sam Mayer passes Landon Cassill for fifth.

AJ Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs battle for third.

Lap 61, Ty Gibbs, Landon Cassill, and AJ Allmendinger get in a three wide battle with Allmendinger taking third.

Lap 62, Austin Hill has a near half second lead on Noah Gragson; AJ Allmendinger, Trevor Bayne, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Lap 64, Noah Gragson closes the gap on leader Austin Hill with AJ Allmendinger on his bumper.

Noah Gragson and AJ Allmendinger battle for position but Gragson holds on to second.

Lap 71, Noah Gragson passes Austin Hill to retake the lead.

Lap 71, Josh Berry gets into the wall and makes a trip down pit road for fresh tires.

Lap 72, Noah Gragson leads the race with Austin Hill in second; AJ Allmendinger, Trevor Bayne, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Lap 73, Noah Gragson has a lead of over half a second on Austin Hill.

Lap 75, Noah Gragson has a one second lead on Austin Hill; AJ Allmendinger, Trevor Bayne, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Sheldon Creed has a flat tire and makes his way to pit road after getting into the wall again.

Lap 78, Noah Gragson continues to increase his lead on Austin Hill and is now a second and a half out in front.

Lap 80, AJ Allmendinger passes Austin Hill for second.

Lap 82, Noah Gragson has a lead of over two seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Austin Hill, Trevor Bayne, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Doing double duty today, Chandler Smith is in tenth place after running the Truck Series race.

Kyle Weatherman had to make an unscheduled trip down pit road after getting into the wall.

Six laps remain in stage two; Noah Gragson has a lead of nearly three seconds on AJ Allmendinger.

Ryan Sieg is slowed on the track and takes the access road to pit road with a flat tire.

Kyle Weatherman has to make a second trip down pit road.

Justin Allgaier reports a flat tire and has to make a trip down pit road with four laps remaining in stage two.  He changes all four tires and plans to stay out on the track at the end of the stage.

Noah Gragson has a near four second lead on AJ Allmendinger.

With a three and a half second lead, Noah Gragson wins stage two for the stage sweep for 16 stage wins this season.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Noah Gragson
AJ Allmendinger
Austin Hill
Trevor Bayne
Sam Mayer
Ty Gibbs
Landon Cassill
Daniel Hemric
Chandler Smith
Stefan Parsons

Drivers come down pit road for service.  Noah Gragson wins a photo finish race off of pit road.

Sheldon Creed and Justin Allgaier take the wave around and are back on the lead lap.

Noah Gragson brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 97 and gets out in front of Austin Hill for the lead.

The top five are Noah Gragson, Austin Hill, Trevor Bayne, Sam Mayer, and AJ Allmendinger.

Coming up from the inside lane, Austin Hill passes Noah Gragson for the lead.

Lap 98, Trevor Bayne passes Noah Gragson for second.

Lap 100, Trevor Bayne battles with Austin Hill for the lead and takes the lead.

Lap 102, AJ Allmendinger passes Noah Gragson for third.

Leader Trevor Bayne is reporting some voltage issues.

Lap 104, the top five are Trevor Bayne, Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, and Brandon Jones.

Lap 105, Trevor Bayne has a one second lead on Austin Hill; AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, and Brandon Jones round out the top five.

Josh Berry passes Brandon Jones for fifth.

Lap 111, Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones battle for tenth.

Lap 113, Trevor Bayne has a lead of over a second on Austin Hill; AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, and Josh Berry round out the top five.

Lap 116, Austin Hill has closed the gap on leader Trevor Bayne to just over half a second; AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, and Josh Berry round out the top five.

Ty Gibbs is reporting that his car is “way loose”.

Lap 121, Noah Gragson passes AJ Allmendinger for third.

Lap 122, Noah Gragson passes Austin Hill for second and is just half a second behind leader Trevor Bayne.

Lap 124, Noah Gragson passes Trevor Bayne to retake the lead.

In just one lap, Noah Gragson has pulled out to a lead of one second on Trevor Bayne; AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill, and Josh Berry round out the top five.

Lap 129, AJ Allmendinger passes Trevor Bayne for second.

Austin Hill passes Trevor Bayne for third.

Lap 130, Austin Hill passes AJ Allmendinger for second.  Josh Berry passes Trevor Bayne for fourth.

Lap 133, Noah Gragson has pulled away to a lead of nearly three and a half seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Austin Hill, Josh Berry, and Trevor Bayne round out the top five.

Lap 137, Justin Allgaier is the first driver to make a green flag pit stop.

Lap 138, Noah Gragson has increased his lead to four and a half seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Austin Hill, Josh Berry, and Landon Cassill round out the top five.

Justin Allgaier has a very slow pit stop after there are some jack issues.

Sheldon Creed comes down pit road and missed his pit stall; he had to back up to get into his pit stall.

Lap 141, Austin Hill is the first of the top five drivers to make a pit stop.

Lap 142, Noah Gragson makes his pit stop and gives the lead over the AJ Allmendinger.

AJ Allmendinger makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Josh Berry.

Making his pit stop, Sam Mayer is reporting some brake issues.

Trevor Bayne was caught speeding on pit road.

Lap 145, leader Josh Berry makes his pit stop and gives the lead back to Noah Gragson.

Austin Hill is reporting a vibration.  Crew chief reports that the left rear tire is questionable.

Lap 148, the top five are Noah Gragson, Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Landon Cassill, and Ty Gibbs.

Lap 150, Noah Gragson has led 76 laps so far.

Lap 151, 50 to go, Austin Hill is less than half a second behind leader Noah Gragson.  Trevor Bayne passes Noah Gragson to unlap himself and is now back on the lead lap.

Lap 154, Austin Hill makes an unscheduled trip down pit road with a loose tire.

Lap 155, Noah Gragson has a five second lead on AJ Allmendinger; Josh Berry, Landon Cassill, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

With 43 laps to go, there are only 15 cars on the lead lap.

Landon Cassill comes down pit road for fresh tires after reporting a vibration.

Justin Allgaier gets into the wall again but the track stays green.

Forty to go, Noah Gragson has a lead of over six seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Josh Berry, Daniel Hemric, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five with 13 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 164, Noah Gragson continues to run away from the field with a lead of over six and a half seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Josh Berry, Josh Berry, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Thirty to go, Noah Gragson is cruising at the front of the pack with a lead of over seven seconds.

Lap 173, Noah Gragson is now over eight seconds out in front.  Austin Hill and Brandon Jones make contact but the track stays green. 

Just 25 laps remain in the race, Noah Gragson has a lead of over eight and a half seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Josh Berry, Daniel Hemric, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Mason Massey and BJ McLeod are out of the race along with JJ Yeley.   There are just 12 cars on the lead lap.

Leader Noah Gragson is on the bumper of Brandon Jones – the last car on the lead lap.

Twenty to go, Noah Gragson’s lead is down to just eight seconds on AJ Allmendinger.

Chandler Smith brushes the wall but the track stays green.

Lap 182, Josh Berry and AJ Allmendinger battle for second with Berry taking second.

Justin Allgaier hits the wall again and has a flat tire.  The track stays green as Allgaier comes down pit road.

Lap 184, Noah Gragson has increased his lead to nine seconds with just nine cars on the lead lap.

Justin Allgaier passes teammate Noah Gragson to get one of his laps back.

Nick Sanchez hits the wall and has two flat tires.  He gets his smoking car on to the access road heading to pit road.

Caution flag comes out with just 13 laps to go when Stefan Parsons gets loose and spins out after the Sieg brothers make contact and then make contact with Parsons.

The right front tire of Nick Sanchez’ car is on fire as he comes into his pit stall.

A late caution was the one thing that leader Noah Gragson did not want to see.  When the caution flag came out he had a lead of over nine seconds on second place driver Josh Berry.

Pit road opens with just nine laps remaining in the race.  The lead lap drivers including Noah Gragson come down pit road for fresh tires…or in some cases fresher tires.  Noah Gragson wins the race off of pit road with AJ Allmendinger in second.

Noah Gragson brings the field down for the five lap shootout from the outside lane with AJ Allmendinger on the inside.  Noah Gragson jumps out in front for the lead with AJ Allmendinger in second but Ty Gibbs comes up to battle for second.

Four to go, AJ Allmendinger is on Noah Gragson’s bumper and is looking to battle for the lead.  Gragson edges out to a third of a second lead.

Two to go Noah Gragson has a half second lead on AJ Allmendinger.

Ty Gibbs comes up on the outside to pass AJ Allmendinger for second.

Noah Gragson takes the white flag with a half second lead.

After sweeping the stages, Noah Gragson finally gets him a win at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  Gragson becomes the second driver to secure a spot in the final four with his eighth win of the season.  Gragson joins teammate Josh Berry in the final four for a chance to win the championship in two weeks.

Gragson does an impressive burnout the hides the car in smoke.  He lead over half of the laps in today’s race with 127.  Gragson said that he couldn’t thank everybody at JRM enough.  When asked is he was a favourite to win the championship, Gragson said that it wasn’t for him to say.  An exhausted Noah Gragson joined his crewmates to climb the fence…but not all the way up.

The unofficial results of the Contender Boats 300:
Noah Gragson
Ty Gibbs
AJ Allmendinger
Daniel Hemric
Sam Mayer
Trevor Bayne
Chandler Smith
Riley Herbst
Austin Hill
Justin Allgaier
Josh Berry
Landon Cassill
Bayley Currey
Brennan Poole
Brandon Jones
Parker Retzlaff
Sheldon Creed
Anthony Alfredo
Jeb Burton
Kyle Weatherman
David Starr
Myatt Snider
Patrick Emerling
Joe Graf Jr
Nicholas Sanchez
Jeremy Clements
Kris Wright
Julia Landauer
Timmy Hill
Josh Williams
CJ McLaughlin
Matt Mills
Ryan Sieg
Stefan Parsons
Kyle Sieg
BJ McLeod
Mason Massey
JJ Yeley

After the second race in the round of eight, JRM drivers Noah Gragson and Josh Berry have secured spots in the final four.  Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger are currently above the cut line with Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, and Brandon Jones below the cut line with just one more race in the round remaining at Martinsville Speedway.