For the second week in a row, the Xfinity Series is going road course racing but this time around, it is a brand new track for them when they join the Cup Series in the Napa Valley to race on the near two mile course at Sonoma Raceway for the Door Dash 250.

The field of 41 cars to fill 38 spots has several of the Cup Series drivers in the field – last year’s Sonoma winner Daniel Suarez, his teammate Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Ty Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, and Aric Almirola.

During a full 50 minute practice session on Friday, the throttle on Anthony Alfredo’s car stuck in the open position and sent the driver into the tire barrier destroying his car.  Alfredo is fine and will attempt to make the race in a backup car.

This year NASCAR has eliminated the caution flag at stage breaks for road courses since drivers frequently short pit the end of the stage to pit under green anyway.  The stages will continue and the points will be awarded at the end of each stage; there will just not be a yellow flag at the end unless there is an on track incident that requires the yellow flag.

the drivers will be divided into two groups and given 15 minutes to make a qualifying run in a group qualifying format.  The top five drivers from each group will move on to a second round and have 10 minutes to make their best run for the pole.

The first driver on the track to make a run is Ty Gibbs with a time of 79.699 seconds.

Daniel Hemric, Sam Mayer, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, and Justin Allgaier will all move on to round two of qualifying from group A.
 
While most of the drivers are running laps of 79 and 80 seconds; Kyle Larson just posted a time of 78,403 seconds!  And he says he could have done much better in several sections.

Kyle Larson, AJ Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Sheldon Creed, and Sammy Smith will all move on from group B to make a run for the pole.

Not only backing up what he ran in round one, Kyle Larson posted a time of 78.387 seconds beating his first lap to win the pole.  Justin Allgaier will start alongside n the front row.

The starting lineup for the Door Dash 250:
Kyle Larson
Justin Allgaier
Sheldon Creed
Aric Almirola
AJ Allmendinger
Sam Mayer
Ty Gibbs
Daniel Hemric
John Hunter Nemechek
Sammy Smith
Alex Labbe
Parker Kligerman
Austin Hill
Brett Moffitt
Ross Chastain
Parker Retzlaff
Daniel Suarez
Kyle Weatherman
Josh Berry
Chandler Smith
Sage Karam
Josh Williams
Riley Herbst
Jeremy Clements
Josh Bilicki
Cole Custer
Kaz Grala
Brandon Jones
Connor Mosack
Jeb Burton
Brad Perez
Ty Dillon
Dylan Lupton
Ryan Sieg
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Blaine Perkins
Anthony Alfredo
Joe Graf Jr

Brennan Poole, Leland Honeyman, and Mason Filippi failed to make the race.

In their final race of the 2023 season, Kevin Harvick and Austin Cindric joins Adam Alexander in the FOX broadcast booth.

Stages one of the race is 20 laps, stage two is 25 laps with stage three lasting 34 laps for a total of 79 laps around the 1.99 mile track.

Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the inside lane and getting out in front for the lead.  Drivers get three wide going into turn two.

Kyle Larson leads the race with Aric Almirola in second; Justin Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.

Lap two, Kyle Larson has already pulled out to a lead of nearly a second and a half on Aric Almirola; Justin Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, and AJ Allmendinger round out the top five.

Lap three, Kyle Larson has increased his lead to over two seconds on Aric Almirola; Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.

Lap four, Kyle Larson has a lead of over two and a half seconds on Aric Almirola.

Justin Allgaier reports that he may have knocked the toe out of the car.

Lap five, AJ Allmendinger passes Justin Allgaier for third.

Teams were given three sets of tires in the pits for today’s race.

Lap six, Kyle Larson has left the field with a lead of over three seconds on Aric Almirola.  AJ Allmendinger begins to challenge Aric Almirola for second.  Going into turn eleven, Allmendinger passes Almirola for second.

Lap nine, Kyle Larson has a lead of over three seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Aric Almirola, Justin Allgaier, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.  Last week’s winner Cole Custer has move up five spots since the race start.

Lap eleven, AJ Allmendinger is slowly cutting into Kyle Larson’s lead which is now less than three seconds.   The top five drivers are separated by nine secnds.

Lap 12, Kyle Larson has increased his lead to over three seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Aric Almirola, Justin Allgaier, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Lap 13, Ryan Sieg spins out after some on track contact but the track stays green.

Cole Custer has some damage to his car after some on track contact.

Lap 16, Kyle Larson continues to lead the race holds a lead of nearly three seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Aric Almirola, Justin Allgaier, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Lap 19, Ross Chastain makes contact with John Hunter Nemechek and sends Nemechek spinning but he recovers and the track stays green.

Cole Custer has moved up to 14th since race start.

On lap 20, Riley Herbst comes down pit road for service.

Leading every lap Kyle Larson wins stage one.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Kyle Larson
AJ Allmendinger
Aric Almirola
Justin Allgaier
Ty Gibbs
Daniel Hemric
Sam Mayer
Parker Kligerman
Sheldon Creed
Sammy Smith

Josh Berry is off of the course and brings out the first caution flag of the race.  John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill, and Sage Karam came down pit road before the caution flag came out.

Drivers come down pit road for service and adjustments with Kyle Larson wining the race off of pit road.  Josh Berry is stopped on pit road.

Josh Berry gets his car moving again after a fuel pump and radio issues and is back on the track but Parker Retzlaff takes his car to the garage.

Austin Hill brings the field down for the green flag restart with John Hunter Nemechek alongside on lap 27.  Austin Hill and John Hunter Nemechek battle for the lead with Austin taking the spot.

The top five are Austin Hill, John Hunter Nemechek, Riley Herbst, Kyle Larson, and Sage Karam.

Kyle Larson passes Riely Herbst for third.

Lap 28, Kyle Larson passes John Hunter Nemechek for second; leader Austin Hill is half a second in front.

Lap 28, Kyle Larson passes Austin Hill for the lead; John Hunter Nemechek, AJ Allmendinger, and Riley Herbst round out the top five.

Lap 29, Ty Gibbs passes Riley Herbst for fifth.

AJ Allmendinger passes John Hunter Nemechek for third.

Cole Custer reports “something funky” with the brake pedal.

Lap 30, Kyle Larson has a second and a half lead on Austin Hill; AJ Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.

Josh Berry is the only driver on the track not on the lead lap – two laps down.  Parker Retzlaff is off the track.

Lap 31, Kyle Larson has a lead of nearly two and a half seconds on AJ Allmendinger.

Ty Gibbs bumps John Hunter Nemechek in a pass for fourth.

Kevin Harvick reports that Kyle Larson has been running the fastest laps of the race over the past four laps.

Sage Karam has some damage to his car.

AJ Allmendinger reports that something is burning inside and the car is smoking.

Lap 33, Kyle Larson now has a lead of nearly four seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Ty Gibbs, Austin Hill, and John Hunter Nemechek round out the top five.

Lap 34, Kyle Larson continues to expand his lead and is now over four seconds in front of AJ Allmendinger.

Josh Williams is slowed on the track with suspension damage but makes it to pit road and the track stays green.

Lap 36, Kyle Larson has a lead of over four seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Ty Gibbs, Austin Hill, and John Hunter Nemechek round out the top five.

Lap 37, Kyle Larson continues to increase his lead and  is now five seconds in front of the field.

Lap 38, Justin Allgaier passes John Hunter Nemechek for fifth.

Josh Williams and Parker Retzlaff are off the track with Josh Berry two laps down; the remainder of the field are on the lead lap.

After Anthony Alfredo’s car was destroyed when the throttle got stuck; the crew pulled out the Portland car and got him ready to race.

Lap 40, Kyle Larson now has a lead of nearly six seconds on AJ Allmendinger.  He has led 33 of the 40 laps runs so far.

Lap 42, “driving it like he stole it” Kyle Larson has pulled out to a lead of over seven seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Ty Gibbs, Austin Hill, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.

Lap 43, Ty Gibbs has caught up to AJ Allmendinger and is challenging for second.

Cole Custer pits on lap 45 before the end of the stage.

With a lead of over nine seconds, Kyle Larson sweeps the stages with his stage two win.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Kyle Larson
AJ Allmendinger
Ty Gibbs
Justin Allgaier
Austin Hill
Aric Almirola
John Hunter Nemechek
Riley Herbst
Parker Kligerman
Sam Mayer

Lap 46, AJ Allmendinger comes down pit road for service.  More drivers are making their pit stops.

Kyle Larson had a lead of nearly eleven seconds on the field.

Josh Williams returns to the track 12 laps down.

Aric Almirola is the new leader.

With 31 laps remaining in the race pit stops continue with Aric Almirola in the lead and Sammy Smith in second; Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, and Josh Bilicki round out the top five.

Aric Almirola comes down pit road for service and gives  the lead over to Kyle Larson.

Thirty to go, Kyle Larson has a seven second lead on Daniel Suarez; AJ Allmendinger, Josh Bilicki, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.

Josh Bilicki comes down pit road for service; Ty Gibbs is in fourth with Justin Allgaier in fifth; Kyle Larson has a near 10 second lead on Daniel Suarez

Daniel Suarez comes down pit road for his pit stop; AJ Allmendinger is back in second place with Kyle Larson eleven seconds ahead.

There are 29 cars on the lead lap.

With 25 laps remaining in the race, Kyle Larson has a lead of nearly 12 seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, and Austin Hill round out the top five.

Anthony Alfredo is out of the race; Parker Retzlaff is still off the track.

The crew that normally services the number 17 car being driven by Kyle Larson this week is in France for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Garage 56 car; Hendrick Motorsports has brought in some guys from the shop who want to start working on a crew.

With 28 cars on the lead lap, Kyle Larson has left the field and is over 12 seconds out in front; AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, and Aric Almirola round out the top five.

Twenty to go, Kyle Larson continues to increase his lead, which is now over 13 seconds on AJ Allmendinger.

Jeffrey Earnhardt brings out the caution flag on lap 60 when he gets into the wall on turn 10.  The caution erased a 13 second lead by Kyle Larson.

Drivers come down pit road for the last set of sticker tires.  Kyle Larson wins the race off of pit road.  AJ Allmendinger comes out second after taking only two tires.

After staying out on the track Alex Labbe and Daniel Suarez bring the field down for the green flag restart with 15 laps remaining in the race.  Kyle Larson starts in third.  Daniel Suarez gets out in front for the lead by Aric Almirola comes up on the outside to take the lead.

The restart is under review by NASCAR.

The top five are Aric Almirola, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson, Justin Allgaier, and Daniel Suarez.

With 14 to go, AJ Allmendinger and Kyle Larson battle for second with Aric Almirola in the lead.  Kyle Larson passes AJ Allmendinger.

Daniel Suarez has been posted for jumping the restart and will have to serve a pass through penalty.

Brandon Jones spins out and gets into the dirt but gets going again and the track stays green.

Thirteen to go, Kyle Larson has moves up to a tenth of a second behind leader Aric Almirola.

Justin Allgaier passes Austin Hill for fifth.

Just eleven to go, Aric Almirola has a half second lead on Kyle Larson; AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.

Ten to go, Aric Almirola has a lead of less than half a second on Kyle Larson; AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.

Eight to go, Aric Almirola and Kyle Larson are nose to tail.

Going into turn eleven, Kyle Larson goes wide and gets loose; AJ Allmendinger takes second.

Six laps to go, Aric Almirola has a near two second lead on AJ Allmendinger; Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.

Parker Kligerman challenges Justin Allgaier for fifth.

Five to go, Aric Almirola has a lead of over two seconds on AJ Allmendinger.

Three to go, Aric Almirola holds a lead of over two seconds on AJ Allmendinger; Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.

Aric Almirola takes the white flag.

Driving for RSS Racing, Aric Almirola gets the team their first Xfinity Series win.  Almirola burns it down in celebration.  His kids meet him at the car even before he gets out.

The unofficial results of the Door Dash 250:
Aric Almirola
AJ Allmendinger
Kyle Larson
Ty Gibbs
Parker Kligerman
Cole Custer
Justin Allgaier
Austin Hill
Sammy Smith
Sam Mayer
Sheldon Creed
Brett Moffitt
Daniel Hemric
Chandler Smith
Riley Herbst
John Hunter Nemechek
Jeremy Clements
Ross Chastain
Josh Bilicki
Kaz Grala
Brandon Jones
Kyle Weatherman
Ty Dillon
Dylan Lupton
Alex Labbe
Jeb Burton
Daniel Suarez
Ryan Sieg
Brad Perez
Blaine Perkins
Joe Graf Je
Conner Mosack
Josh Berry
Sage Karam
Josh Williams
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Anthony Alfredo
Parker Retzlaff

Kyle Larson said that he got too greedy and came down too low and hit the tire pile and knocked the toe on the car.