Noah Gragson opened the NASCAR Xfinity Sequence playoffs the identical approach he ran a lot of the season.
Gragson sidestepped an online of points plaguing playoff drivers and gained Saturday’s 300-mile race at Texas Motor Speedway, tying a decades-old Xfinity report by successful for the fourth consecutive race. Sam Ard, previously a collection mainstay, gained 4 in a row in 1983.
Gragson, persevering with to determine himself because the championship favourite, took the lead with 11 laps to go from Jeb Burton as many of the day’s leaders have been operating totally different tire and gasoline methods over the closing laps.
“This quantity 9 group, man, they’re on hearth,” Gragson advised NBC Sports activities. “Luke Lambert (crew chief) and the boys executed an incredible race.”
MORE: Texas Xfinity outcomes
The win was Gragson’s seventh of the 12 months. Following within the prime 5 have been Austin Hill, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger and Riley Herbst.
The victory pushed Gragson into the second spherical of the playoffs.
A giant crash on the entrance of the sphere on lap 117 modified the face of the race. John Hunter Nemechek misplaced management of his automotive on the skin and was clipped by Justin Allgaier, beginning a wreck that scrambled many of the discipline. Damages pressured playoff drivers Daniel Hemric and Allgaier from the race.
Six laps earlier, one other multi-car crash scattered the sphere and broken the automotive of playoff contender and common season champion AJ Allmendinger.
The wreck began when Brandon Brown slipped in entrance of Allmendinger and went right into a slide, forcing Allmendinger to the within apron. A number of vehicles scattered behind them attempting to keep away from the accident.
Playoff driver Jeremy Clements had a troublesome day. He parked with what he referred to as mysterious mechanical points about midway by the race.
Stage 1 winner: Daniel Hemric
Stage 2 winner: AJ Allmendinger
Subsequent: The second race within the first spherical of the Xfinity playoffs is scheduled Oct. 1 at 4 pm ET (USA Community) at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
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Noah Gragson wins Xfinity race at Texas Motor Speedway initially appeared on NBCSports.com
