This week the Xfinity Series travels to the mile and a half superspeedway at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
This is the first time the Xfinity Series drivers have had the chance to qualify on the newly configured Atlanta track. In previous years, weather has been an issue when it comes to qualifying.
After no practice, the drivers hit the track for single car qualifying with Mason Massey the first one on the track and posted a time of 31.251 seconds.
The top 10 drivers will move on to a second round to set the pole.
A total of 38 teams brought cars to Atlanta for 38 starting spots; all of the drivers will make the race. Six of the drivers call Georgia home.
Cup Series drivers Justin Haley and Ty Gibbs will do double duty and run in the Xfinity race.
Parker Kligerman reported a big vibration in his car during his qualifying lap.
After round one of qualifying:
Sheldon Creed
Austin Hill
Cole Custer
Chandler Smith
John Hunter Nemechek
Sammy Smith
Sam Mayer
Riley Herbst
Jeremy Clements
and Josh Berry
will all be running in round two for the pole position.
Posting a time of
Sheldon Creed has some gear issues – when they push it in neutral, the car pops into gear. He will not make a qualifying run in round two.
Austin Hill is also having some transmission issues in his car and will not be making a round two qualifying run.
JR Motorsports drivers Josh Berry and Sam Mayer posted the exact same time of 32.338 seconds in round two of qualifying.
Posting a time of 32.127 seconds puts his number 16 car on the pole with John Hunter Nemechek starting alongside on the front row.
The starting lineup for the Alsco Uniforms 250:
Chandler Smith
John Hunter Nemechek
Josh Berry
Sam Mayer
Riley Herbst
Cole Custer
Jeremy Clements
Sheldon Creed
Austin Hill
Daniel Hemric
Ty Gibbs
Justin Haley
Justin Allgaier
Brandon Jones
Josh Wiliams
Parker Kligerman
Anthony Alfredo
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Parker Retzlaff
Jeb Burton
Blaine Perkins
Ryan Sieg
Josh Bilicki
Parker Chase
Mason Maggio
Brett Moffitt
Joe Graf Jraz Grala
<ason Massey
Kyle Weatherman
Kyle Sieg
David Starr
Akinori Ogata
Garrett Smithley
Greg van Alst
Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed will have to start the race from the back of the field after the crews made transmissions changes in the cars. Parker Retzlaff will also start the race from the back of the field.
Stages one and two are 40 laps each with stage three lasting 83 laps for a total of 163 laps around the mile and a half track.
Chandler Smith brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the outside lane and edges out in front after a push from Josh Berry. Josh Berry comes up on the inside to battle Smith for the lead.
Lap two Josh Berry and Chandler Smith continue to battle for the lead with Sammy Smith, Riley Herbst, and John Hunter Nemechek rounding out the top five.
Lap five, John Hunter Nemechek moves up to give Josh Berry a push and Berry takes the lead.
It isn’t yellow but the red and white line around the inside of the track is a no-go line just like at Daytona and Talladega. Any drivers who goes below that line to improve his position will have to serve a penalty.
Lap seven, Josh Berry has a narrow lead on Chandler Smith; John Hunter Nemecek, Justin Haley, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.
Lap nine, after starting from the back of the field, Austin Hill has entered the top 15, Sheldon Creed in in the top 25.
Lap eleven, Josh Berry holds a narrow lead on Chandler Smith; Riley Herbst, Justin Haley, and John Hunter Nemechek round out the top five.
The 27 car of Mason Maggio is smoking; he is the only driver not on the lead lap.
Lap 13, Josh Berry has a narrow lead with Chandler Smith on his bumper; Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.
Lap 15, Austin Hill is just outside the top 10 in eleventh after the crew had to make a transmission change after qualifying.
Lap 20, Josh Berry continues to lead the race with Chandler Smith on his bumper. Mason Maggio is on pit road with 35 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 22, the top five are Josh Berry, Chandler Smith, Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, and Ty Gibbs.
Lap 25, Josh Berry continues to lead the race by a narrow margin over Chandler Smith.
Josh Berry and Chandler Smith battle for the lead but Riley Herbst gives Josh Berry a push to put him back in the lead.
Lap 26, the top five are Josh Berry, Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, and Chandler Smith. He has led 21 of the 26 laps run so far.
Parker Kligerman brings out the first caution flag of the race when he spins out with a flat tire. The tire carcass comes off the wheel and is rolling down the track.
Several drivers come down pit road for service 10 laps before the end of the stage. Sam Mayer wins the race off of pit road.
Ty Gibbs was charged with an uncontrolled tire on pit road and will have to restart the race from the back of the field.
Josh Berry brings the field down for the green flag restart from the outside lane on lap 35; six laps from the end of stage one.
Josh Berry edges out John Hunter Nemechek for the lead after a push from Riley Herbst.
Josh Berry and John Hunter Nemechek battle for the lead with five laps remaining in stage one.
Austin Hill has entered the top 10.
John Hunter Nemechek slides up the track in to the middle lane.
With two laps remaining in stage one Josh Berry leads the race with Riley Herbst in second; Chandler Smith, Justin Haley, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Riley Herbst comes up on the outside and passes Josh Berry to win stage one for his first career stage win.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Riley Herbst
Josh Berry
Chandler Smith
Justin Haley
Austin Hill
Justin Allgaier
Jeremy Clements
Sheldon Creed
Joe Graf Jr
Parker Retzlaff
Drivers who did not come down pit road at the caution flag make their pit stops. Taking fuel only, Jeb Burton wins the race off of pit road.
After staying out on the track, Sheldon Creed leads the race and brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 47 with Cole Custer alongside. Drivers get three wide across the track.
Sheldon Creed leads the race with Cole Custer in second; Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, and Ty Gibbs rounds out the top five.
Sheldon Creed and Cole Custer battle for the lead.
There are 35 cars on the lead lap with all 38 drivers on the track.
Drivers get four wide across the track.
In a three way battle, Ryan Sieg battles for the lead with Sheldon Creed and Cole Custer.
The caution flag comes out on lap 51 when Parker Retzlaff gets loose but saves the car and avoids contact with the wall or fellow drivers.
Austin Hill reports that the cars are much harder to handle than they were back in March.
Ryan Sieg brings the field down for the green flag restart from the outside lane with Sheldon Creed alongside on lap 57 with Sheldon Creed getting the lead after a push from Chandler Smith.
Ryan Sieg comes down on the inside to battle with Sheldon Creed for the lead.
Lap 58, Ryan Sieg comes back up to battle with Sheldon Creed for the lead with the two swapping the lead back and forth; depending on who gets a push from behind.
Josh Berry gets loose in a three wide battle.
Grag van Last brings out the caution flag after getting to the fence causing a lot of sparks and fluid from the car. There were flames from underneath the car. When the tow truck pulls away with the car, a spring is rolling around on the track. The car has leaked a good deal of fluid and will require an extended cleanup to get it all off of the track. Pieces of the wall were stuck in the tires. Van Last is the first driver out of the race.
Ryan Sieg was listed as the race leader at the time the caution flag came out – Sheldon Creed, Cole Custer, Chandler Smith, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Justin Allgaier reports that he doesn’t have any “suck up” ability in his car.
Some of the drivers come down pit road for service. Reports are that the drivers can run around 75 laps on a single load of fuel but with 93 laps remaining in the race, some of the drivers believe they have made their last pit stops.
Ryan Sieg brings the field down for the green flag restart from the outside lane on lap 72 with Sheldon Creed alongside. Getting a push from Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed gets out in front for the lead with Ryan Sieg in second; Cole Custer, Austin Hill, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.
Josh Berry and Ty Gibbs make contact but the track stays green. Kyle Weatherman gets into the wall after the contact but the track stays green.
With five laps remaining in stage two, Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed battle for the lead. The two drivers have gone from worst to first after starting the race from the back of the field.
Sheldon Creed gets out in front for the lead.
Sheldon Creed wins stage two with teammate Austin Hill in second.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Sheldon Creed
Austin Hill
Ryan Sieg
Josh Berry
Justin Allgaier
Cole Custer
Daniel Hemric
Chandler Smith
Parker Kligerman
Sammy Smith
Drivers come down pit road for service with Mason Massey, Akinori Ogata, and Joe Graf Jr stayed out on the track. Justin Allgaier missed his pit stall. Sheldon Creed did not take any fuel and had to make a second trip down pit road.
Joe Graf Jr brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 87 with Justin Haley taking the lead.
Ty Gibbs gets into the wall and has a flat tire.
The caution flag comes out for a big crash involving Ryan Sieg, Kyle Weatherman, Sam Mayer, Blaine Perkins, Brennan Poole, Josh Williams, Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Jones, and Sheldon Creed after a three wide battle. Riley Herbst gets loose and into the wall before the melee started.
Some of the drivers come down pit road to top off the fuel cells and repair crash damage.
The top three drivers – Justin Haley, Daniel Hemric, and Chandler Smith are all teammates.
Justin Haley brings the field down for the green flag restart from the outside lane with his teammates behind him on lap 97. John Hunter Nemechek and Justin Haley battle for the lead.
Justin Haley leads the race with Daniel Hemric in seconde; John Hunter Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Josh Berry gets into the wall and reports a tire rub; the track stays green.
Justin Haley leads the race with Daniel Hemric in second; Chandler Smith, Joe Graf Jr, and John Hunter Nemechek round out the top five. There are 27 cars on the lead lap.
The caution flag comes out on lap 100 for a crash involving Kyle Weatherman. He reports that he had a blown tire before getting into the wall near the entrance to pit road.
Out of the race after a crash, Riley Herbst said that it was fun while it lasted.
Justin Haley brings the field down for the green flag restart from the outside lane with John Hunter Nemechek on the inside on lap 107. Getting a push from behind, Haley gets out in front for the lead.
The top five are Justin Haley, Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill, and Joe Graf Jr.
Austin Hill drops down to the inside and blows past John Hunter Nemechek for third.
Austin Hill drops down to the inside and passes Daniel Hemric for second.
With 49 laps remaining in the race Justin Haley leads the race with Austin Hill in second; Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek, and Joe Graf Jr round out the top five.
Cole Custer comes up to take fifth place.
Lap 123, Justin Haley continues to lead the race with Austin Hill in second; Chandler, Daniel Hemric, and John Hunter Nemechek round out the top five. Just a tenth of a second separate Justin Haley and Austin Hill.
Austin Hill comes down on the inside to battle with Justin Haley for the lead. Hill falls to fourth after failing to take the lead.
Just 32 laps remain in the race with Justin Haley leading the race; Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek, and Cole Custer round out the top five. Austin Hill has fallen to sixth place.
Lap 140,Justin Haley holds on to the lead with Chandler Smith in second; Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
With 20 to go, Austin Hill comes down and passes John Hunter Nemechek for fourth.
Less than half a second separates the top four drivers,
With 16 laps to go, John Hunter Nemechek drops down to the inside lane to try and pass Austin Hill but could not get it done.
With 14 laps to go, leaders encounter slower traffic.
Thirteen to go, Justin Haley leads the race with Chandler Smith in second; Daniel Hemric, Austin Hill, and John Hunter Nemechek round out the top five.
Ten to go! Justin Haley continues to lead the race.
Seven to go, with Justin Haley leading the way, the top three drivers are all Kaulig Racing cars. Kaulig has never had a 1-2-3 finish.
There are just 18 cars on the lead lap with 10 cars out of the race.
Five to go, Austin Hill comes down to pass Daniel Hemric but cannot quite pull it off.
Parker Chase gets loose and slides down the track but makes it to pit road and the track stays green.
Austin Hill brings out the caution flag when he gets loose after a close encounter with Parker Kligerman. The two never touched but Hill had the air off of his spoiler.
The race goes into overtime!
Justin Haley was told to “save like a pig” because he is very low on fuel.
Justin Haley brings the field down for the green overtime finish with John Hunter Nemechek on the inside lane. Drivers are out of fuel with John Hunter Nemechek in the lead.
John Hunter Nemechek takes the white flag.
John Hunter Nemechek wins his third race of the season.
The unofficial results of the Alsco Uniforms 250:
John Hunter Nemechek
Daniel Hemric
Cole Custer
Justin Haley
Sam Mayer
Ty Gibbs
Kyle Sieg
Parker Kligerman
Josh Williams
Sammy Smith
Brett Moffitt
Austin Hill
Jeb Burton
Kaz Grala
Jeremy Clements
Parker Retzlaff
Justin Allgaier
Josh Bilicki
Josh Berry
Chandler Smith
Joe Graf Jr
David Starr
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Mason Massey
Ryan Ellis
Garrett Smithley
Parker Chase
Brennan Poole
Akinori Ogata
Mason Maggio
Kyle Weatherman
Blaine Perkins
Brandon Jones
Anthony Alfredo
Sheldon Creed
Ryan Sieg
Riley Herbst
Greg van Alst