The Xfinity Series takes to the track to qualify for the Raptor King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway to cap off a double header Saturday.
A total of 38 teams brought cars to Atlanta for 38 starting spots in the race. And there’s an Ernhardt on the track this week when Jeffrey Earnhardt drives the 26 car for this race.
First on the track for a qualifying run is Kyle Sieg with a time of 32.853 seconds around the mile and a half track.
Jesse Love posted a time of 31.948 seconds to be the first driver to break the 32 second mark.
Jordan Anderson had some sort of an issue with his car during his qualifying run.
After all of the cars have made a qualifying run…
Jesse Love
AJ Allmendinger
Parker Kligerman
John Hunter Nemechek
Justin Allgaier
Sheldon Creed
Ryan Truex
Sam Mayer
Riley Herbst
and Austin Hill will move on to a second round of qualifying and a run for the pole.
First up is Sheldon Creed with a time of 32.141 seconds.
Riley Herbst posts a time of 31.999, breaking the 32 second mark.
John Hunter Nemechek posted a time of 31.947 seconds.
Austin Hill posted a time of 31.916 seconds.
But it is Jesse Love for the second week in a row who will sit on the pole with a time of 31.874 seconds. His teammate Austin Hill will star alongside Love on the front row. JesseLove has never driven on the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway before today.
The starting lineup for the Raptor King of Tough 250:
Jesse Love
Austin Hill
John Hunter Nemechek
Riley Herbst
Parker Kligerman
Sam Mayer
AJ Allmendinger
Ryan Truex
Justin Allgaier
Sheldon Creed
Cole Custer
Chandler Smith
Shane van Gisbergen
Sammy Smith
Anthony Alfredo
Josh Williams
Kyle Weatherman
Brandon Jones
Hailie Deegan
Ryan Sieg
BJ McLeod
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Jeremy Clements
Parker Retzlaff
Jeb Burton
Kyle Sieg
CJ McLaughlan
Blaine Perkins
Dawson Cram
Brennan Poole
Nick Leitz
Garrett Smithley
Joey Gase
Ryan Ellis
Leland Honeyman
JJ Yeley
Patrick Emerling
Jordan Anderson
Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski joins Adam Alexander in the FOX broadcast booth for today’s race.
Patrick Emerling, Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, Parker Retzlaff, Joey Gase, Brennan Poole, and Ryan Ellis will have to start the race from the back of the field after the crews made some unapproved adjustments to the cars.
Stages one and two of the race are 40 laps each with stage three lasting 83 laps for a total of 163 laps around the mile and a half track. Drivers can run about 74 laps on a single load of fuel
For the second week in a row in a feat that has never been done before, rookie Jesse Love brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the pole with Austin Hill alongside. Jesse Love takes the lead from the outside lane.
Lap two, Jesse Love leads the race with teammate Austin Hill in second; Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, and Ryan truex round out the top five.
Lap three, Josh Williams has to come down pit lane with a flat tire.
Lap seven, Jess Love has led every lap so far, Riley Herbst, Sam Mayer, Ryan Truex, and John Hunter Nemechek round out the top five.
With a 5pm start time, the sun is proving to be a major issue for the drivers as it begins to set and is very low in the sky.
Lap 16, the top dozen cars have broken away from the rest of the field.
Lap 20, Jesse Love dominated the ARCA Series last year with top 10’s in 18 of the 20 races run and winning 10 of them! He has led every lap so far. The leaders are encountering slower traffic.
Riley Herbst is reporting that his tires are already gone.
Josh Williams is now three laps down after having to come down pit road with a flat tire.
Lap 28, Jesse Love leads the field with Riley Herbst in second; Sam Mayer, Parker Kligerman, and Ryan Truex round out the top five.
Lap 30, back in the Xfinity Series, AJ Allmendinger is in the top 10 at seventh.
Lap 31, the top five drivers have broken away.
Lap 34, there are 32 cars on the lead lap; Josh Williams has fallen to seven laps down.
After leading every lap in the stage, Jesse Love wins stage one.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Jesse Love
Riley Herbst
Sam Mayer
Ryan Truex
Parker Kligerman
AJ Allmendinger
Justin Allgaier
Sheldon Creed
Ryan Sieg
Sammy Smith
Drivers come down pit road for service with Jesse Love winning the race off of pit road.
Shane van Gisbergen makes a second trip down pit road.
Brennan Poole and Brandon Jones come down pit road to serve penalties.
Jesse Love brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 47 and holds on to the lead with Parker Kligerman alongside.
Lap 49, Parker Kligerman edges out Jesse Love for the lead briefly.
There are 31 cars on the lead lap with all but Josh Wiliams just one lap down; Williams is eight laps down after a second tire issue.
Lap 51, the top five are Jesse Love, Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Rigley Herbst, and Parker Kligerman.
The caution flag comes out on lap 59 when JJ Yeley and Kyle Weatherman make contact; spinning Yeley out.
Some of the drivers come down pit road for fuel and service.
Anthony Alfredo and JJ Yeley were caught speeding on pit road.
Jesse Love brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 63 from the outside lane with Austin Hill on the inside. Love edges out for the lead.
Drivers are getting three wide in the field.
Lap 67, Jesse Love continues to lead the race with Justin Allgaier in second; Riley Herbst, Ryan Truex, and Sammy Smith round out the top five.
Lap 69, John Hunter Nemechek slaps the wall after some on track contact; the track stays green.
Lap 72, Jesse Love continues to lead the race; he has led all but one of the laps. In just two races, Love has led over 100 laps.
Lap 74, the top five are Jesse Love, Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst, Ryan Truex, and Sammy Smith.
Leaders have gotten single file with six laps remaining in stage two.
Kyle Sieg and Dawson Cram have been charged with driving below the line. Going below the line is forbidden at Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta.
John Hunter Nemechek takes his car to pit road.
For the stage sweep, Jesse Love wins stage two. He has led 78 of the 80 laps run.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Jesse Love
Justin Allgaier
Riley Herbst
Ryan Truex
Sammy Smith
Chandler Smith
Cole Custer
Timmy Hill
AJ Allmendinger
Sheldon Creed
Drivers come down pit road for service. AJ Allmendinger wins the lead off of pit road after taking fuel only.
Jeremy Clements was caught speeding on pit road. Jeremy Clements had too many crew members over the wall.
AJ Allmendinger brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 88 with Jesse Love on the inside. Getting a push from Riley Herbst, Allmendinger edges out for the lead.
Lap 89, Jesse Love battles with AJ Allmendinger for the lead.
This is start number 100 in the Xfinity Series for AJ Allmendinger.
Lap 94, Jesse Love retakes the lead.
With 67 laps remaining in the race; the top five are Jesse Love, AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, Ryan Truex, and Parker Kligerman.
With 63 laps to go, Jordan Anderson brings his car down pit road with sparks flying.
With 58 laps remaining in the race, Jesse Love’s crew chief tells him that he needs to save fuel because they are two laps short of making it to the end of the race.
Jesse Love is just 19 years old!
In the broadcast booth, Brad Keselowski reports that he doesn’t believe the drivers are really saving any fuel. He notes that the further back in the field a driver is the easier it is to save fuel.
Fifty to go, Jesse Love continues to lead the race with AJ Allmendinger in second; Riley Herbst, Ryan Truex, and Parker Kligerman round out the top five.
With 47 laps to go, Riely Herbst battle AJ Allmendinger for second and sends Allmendinger out of the top 10.
Forty to go, Jesse Love has a quarter second lead on Riley Herbst; Ryan Truex, Parker Kligerman and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Jesse Love has led 114 of 124 laps run so far.
There are just 28 cars on the lead lap with 33 laps remaining in the race.
Thirty to go, Jesse Love has dominated the race with Riley Herbst in second; Ryan Truex, Parker Kligerman and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Jordan Anderson is the only driver out of the race.
A few drivers back in the field have come down pit road for fuel with 26 laps remaining in the race.
With 24 laps to go, there are 26 cars on the lead lap. Jesse Love leads the race with Riley Herbst on his bumper pushing. The top five drivers have broken away.
Twenty to go, all four of the JR Motorsports cars are in the top 10.
The top five remains Jesse Love, Riley Herbst, Ryan Truex, Parker Kligerman, and Austin Hill.
Brandon Jones slaps the wall but the track stays green.
Ten to go, Jesse Love shows why he won so many ARCA races last season as he has dominated the race so far. Riley Herbst, Ryan Truex, Parker Kligerman and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Just six laps remain with Jesse Love in the lead as drivers begin to worry about fuel.
Five to go and Jesse Love has led 148 laps in the race.
Leaders encounter slower traffic.
Riley Herbst and Cole Custer run out of fuel with three laps to go.
Just two laps remain and the caution flag comes out as Ryan Sieg is stopped on the track out of fuel.
The race goes into overtime.
Hailie Deegan runs out of fuel.
All of the cars that have run out of fuel are Fords.
Several drivers come down pit road for fuel.
Still in the lead, Jesse Love brings the field down for the overtime two lap shootout to the end of the race with Ryan Truex alongside. As the green flag drops, Justin Allgaier runs out of fuel. Drivers spread out three wide as more cars run out of fuel including Jesse Love. Austin Hill takes the lead.
Austin Hill takes the white flag.
Austin Hill wins the race for the second week in a row and his third win at Atlanta. He even had enough fuel to do a burnout!
After dominating the day, Jesse Love finishes in 12th place.
The unofficial results of the Raptor King of Tough 250:
Austin Hill
Chandler Smith
Shane van Gisbergen
Sheldon Creed
Parker Retzlaff
Jeremy Clements
Anthony Alfredo
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Ryan Truex
Sammy Smith
Sam Mayer
Jesse Love
AJ Allmendinger
Brandon Jones
Riley Herbst
Cole Custer
Kyle Weatherman
BJ McLeod
Parker Kligerman
Brennan Poole
Leland Honeyman
Ryan Sieg
Jeb Burton
JJ Yeley
Ryan Ellis
Nick Leitz
Hailie Deegan
Justin Allgaier
Joey Gase
Blaine Perkins
Dawson Cram
John Hunter Nemechek
Patrick Emerling
Carrett Smithley
CJ McLaughlin
Kyle Sieg
Josh Williams
Jordan Anderson