XFINITY Series Talladega Superspeedway

NASCAR XFINITY Series

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Sparks 300

Saturday, October 2nd, 2021

Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, AL

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  • 28 Chevrolet
  • 9 Toyota
  • 3 Ford

  • Talladega Superspeedway
  • Sparks 300
  • Pole Winner: Justin Allgaier
  • Age: 35
  • Team: No. 7 - Brandt Chevrolet
  • Owner: JR Motorsports
  • Crew Chief: Jason Burdett
  • Start positions set by NASCAR's Performance Metrics Qualifying (PMQ).
  • Justin Allgaier won the Pole Award for the Sparks 300 by having the highest total PMQ.
  • PMQ is a total number calculated on four performance metrics from the previous race:
  • 15% of the driver's fastest lap time position.
  • 25% of the driver's final race finish position.
  • 25% of the owner's final race position.
  • 35% of the Owner Points position.

  • Saturday, October 2nd, 2021
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
As darkness falls on Talladega, Brandon Brown gets breakthrough NASCAR Xfinity win

As he crossed the finish line under caution on a dark race track, Brandon Brown surrendered to the emotion of his first victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. "Thank God," Brown exulted. "We did it. We did it. We won!"

On a day of unexpected victories at Talladega Superspeedway—a track where the unexpected sometimes seems commonplace—Brown had a narrow lead three-wide with Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones at the previous scoring loop when NASCAR called the fifth caution of the race on Lap 102 for a multicar wreck in Turn 4.

With darkness preventing the resumption of the race, NASCAR showed the checkered flag to Brown under yellow on Lap 107 of a scheduled 113, with Jones credited with second and Allgaier third.

Brown's excitement hadn't abated one iota by the time he got to Victory Lane.

"You can ask my neighbors at Coastal Carolina, I did plenty of burnouts to practice for this moment," said Brown, who drives for his family-owned team, Brandonbilt Motorsports. "Oh, my god. It's a dream come true. A Talladega winner. Oh my god, Dad, we did it!

"This is everything we hoped and dreamed for. Everything I've ever wanted to do is take the trophy home to Mom and Dad. Oh, my god. Thank you so much Larry's Lemonaid…all of our partners. It's unbelievable."

Brown was a keen student of the action during the first two stages of the race, won by John Hunter Nemechek and Blaine Perkins. He noticed major changes in momentum between the top and bottom lanes at the 2.66-mile track.

"Everything shifted top to bottom so much, it was like, 'OK, let's just stay patient where we're at and hope for the best'," Brown said. "We saw our moment and we seized it. God, I'm just so proud of Brandonbilt Motorsports and so proud of our team, here and at home and everyone that worked on our team since the beginning.

"We did it. We did it. We did it."

Brown, Jones and Allgaier were trading the lead three-wide when the No. 20 Toyota of Harrison Burton broke loose in Turn 4 and ignited an eight-car crash that slowed the race for the final time.

Daniel Hemric finished fourth, followed by Jordan Anderson, Justin Haley, Jeb Burton and defending series champion Austin Cindric, who clinched a spot in the Round of 8 in the Xfinity Playoff with an insurmountable points edge over ninth-place Jeb Burton.

On the final lap of the first stage, the cars of Sam Mayer and regular-season champion AJ Allmendinger collided in Turn 3, demolishing both vehicles. The No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Mayer slammed the outside wall so heavily that NASCAR had to red-flag the race for repairs to the SAFER barrier.

Allmendinger took a heavy hit in the points, but he's still 33 above the cut line heading to next Saturday's Round of 12 elimination race at the Charlotte Roval, a track where he is expected to excel.v"That's why you work so hard during the regular season to build up bonus points," Allmendinger said after a trip to the infield care center. "We'll see where it puts us going into the Roval. It's a minor setback in a great year."

If Allmendinger's setback was minor, the hit Noah Gragson suffered in a Lap 88 wreck was a major one. Gragson was running at the front of the field in the inside lane when slight contact from Jeb Burton's Chevrolet to the left rear of Brett Moffitt's Camaro—after Moffitt's car had gotten loose—triggered the first major wreck of the event.

Moffitt's Chevy slid down the track into Gragson's No. 9 Camaro, which rocketed nose-first into the outside wall. As Gragson slipped back down the track, Myatt Snider—with nowhere to go—plowed into the rear of Gragson's car.

Like Allmendinger, Gragson suffered a significant blow in the standings but remained 18 points above the current cut line for the Round of 8.

"The 02 (Moffitt) just got turned by the 10 (Burton), and I got it head-on and got cleaned out by the 2 (Snider)," Gragson said. "So, just a bummer. We had a fast car."

Brown's victory was the nightcap—literally—of a Playoff doubleheader with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Earlier on Saturday, Tate Fogleman secured his first Truck Series win in the Chevrolet Silverado 250.

  • Drivers Entered: 40 (2 drivers will not make the race)
  • Laps Scheduled: 113
  • Laps Actual: 107 - Race Shortened
  • Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 4 Minutes 55 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 128.486
  • Cautions: 5 for 21 laps
  • Lead Changes: 33
  • Green Flag Passes: 5,834 (67.8 passes per green flag lap)

  • Talladega Superspeedway
  • 2nd Annual Sparks 300 at Talladega
  • Race Winner: Brandon Brown
  • Age: 28
  • Team : No. 68 - Original Larry's Hard Lemonade Chevrolet
  • Owner: Jerry Brown
  • Crew Chief: Doug Randolph
  • Brandon Brown won the 2nd Annual Sparks 300 at Talladega, his first victory in 115 Xfinity Series races.
  • This is his first victory and ninth top-10 finish in 2021.
  • This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in six races at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • Brandon Jones (second) posted his third top-10 finish in nine races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his 15th top-10 finish in 2021.
  • Justin Allgaier (third) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 14 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • Josh Berry (ninth) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Austin Cindric leads the point standings by 22 points over Justin Allgaier.
Brandon Brown celebrates in winning at Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Alabama - October 2, 2021 : Brandon Brown, driver of the #68 The Original Larry's Hard Lemonade Chevrolet, celebrates in the Ruoff Mortgage victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Chris GraythenGetty Images

Race weekend links appear as data becomes available.

Add 'value' metric based on historical points earned at that salary compared to drivers performance in this race. Finish Salary and Points trend for the data access again.

Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway Draftkings results
FINISH & PLACE DIFFERENTIAL POINTS FAST LAP POINTS LAPS LED POINTS TOTAL POINTS
RNK SLRY DRIVER TEAM # MAKE LAPS DR ST FIN FIN PTS PD PTS FST % FST FST PTS LED % LED LED PTS TOT PTS
2 6,600 Brandon Brown Brandonbilt Motorsports 68 Chevrolet 107 94.30 19 1 45 18 0 0 0.00 8 7.5 2.00 65.00
5 8,200 Brandon Jones Joe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 107 91.00 7 2 42 5 2 2.53 0.90 12 11.2 3.00 50.90
14 9,100 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports 7 Chevrolet 107 99.30 1 3 41 -2 1 1.27 0.45 7 6.5 1.75 41.20
10 9,400 Daniel Hemric Joe Gibbs Racing 18 Toyota 107 101.20 6 4 40 2 1 1.27 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 42.45
3 7,000 Jordan Anderson Jordan Anderson Racing 31 Chevrolet 107 79.50 29 5 39 24 1 1.27 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 63.45
11 10,200 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing 11 Chevrolet 107 74.40 8 6 38 2 5 6.33 2.25 0 0.0 0.00 42.25
7 10,600 Jeb Burton Kaulig Racing 10 Chevrolet 107 100.50 14 7 37 7 4 5.06 1.80 7 6.5 1.75 47.55
18 9,300 Austin Cindric Team Penske 22 Ford 107 108.50 2 8 36 -6 3 3.8 1.35 10 9.4 2.50 33.85
19 8,700 Josh Berry JR Motorsports 1 Chevrolet 107 89.90 3 9 35 -6 7 8.86 3.15 3 2.8 0.75 32.90
1 6,300 Joe Graf Jr N/A 07 Chevrolet 107 71.90 40 10 34 30 2 2.53 0.90 1 0.9 0.25 65.15
16 6,900 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing 39 Ford 107 69.60 17 11 32 6 2 2.53 0.90 0 0.0 0.00 38.90
8 5,700 Jade Buford Big Machine Racing 48 Chevrolet 107 79.50 26 12 31 14 4 5.06 1.80 0 0.0 0.00 46.80
12 5,800 Blaine Perkins Our Motorsports 23 Chevrolet 107 81.90 23 13 30 10 2 2.53 0.90 2 1.9 0.50 41.40
13 6,500 Josh Williams DGM Racing 92 Chevrolet 107 67.70 24 14 29 10 5 6.33 2.25 0 0.0 0.00 41.25
4 6,100 Joey Gase N/A 52 Toyota 107 53.70 39 15 28 24 1 1.27 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 52.45
6 8,100 JJ Yeley BJ McLeod Motorsports 199 Chevrolet 107 59.80 38 16 27 22 0 0 0.00 0 0.0 0.00 49.00
9 7,700 Santino Ferrucci Sam Hunt Racing 26 Toyota 107 66.10 33 17 26 16 2 2.53 0.90 0 0.0 0.00 42.90
21 5,500 Tommy Joe Martins Martins Motorsports 44 Chevrolet 107 65.10 18 18 25 0 6 7.59 2.70 0 0.0 0.00 27.70
15 7,300 Garrett Smithley N/A 17 Chevrolet 107 56.00 35 19 24 16 1 1.27 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 40.45
20 4,600 Kyle Weatherman Mike Harmon Racing 47 Chevrolet 107 43.00 25 20 23 5 0 0 0.00 0 0.0 0.00 28.00
17 7,500 Alex Labbe DGM Racing 36 Chevrolet 107 66.80 32 21 21 11 6 7.59 2.70 1 0.9 0.25 34.95
26 10,000 John Hunter Nemechek Joe Gibbs Racing 54 Toyota 107 79.30 11 22 20 -11 3 3.8 1.35 8 7.5 2.00 12.35
22 5,000 Matt Mills BJ McLeod Motorsports 105 Chevrolet 106 35.50 30 23 19 7 0 0 0.00 0 0.0 0.00 26.00
28 6,800 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing 51 Chevrolet 104 69.90 15 24 18 -9 1 1.27 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 9.45
31 9,600 Harrison Burton Joe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 101 75.20 9 25 17 -16 2 2.53 0.90 2 2.0 0.50 2.40
30 8,400 Brett Moffitt Our Motorsports 02 Chevrolet 101 82.60 16 26 16 -10 2 2.53 0.90 3 3.0 0.75 7.65
29 8,900 Riley Herbst Stewart Haas Racing 98 Ford 101 88.60 13 27 15 -14 3 3.8 1.35 26 25.7 6.50 8.85
23 7,200 Jason A White Motorsports Business Management 66 Toyota 101 35.40 34 28 14 6 1 1.27 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 20.45
24 5,900 Jeffrey Earnhardt JD Motorsports 0 Chevrolet 93 59.30 31 29 13 2 4 5.06 1.80 0 0.0 0.00 16.80
37 9,800 Noah Gragson JR Motorsports 9 Chevrolet 88 94.60 4 30 12 -26 2 2.53 0.90 8 9.1 2.00 -11.10
35 7,900 Myatt Snider Richard Childress Racing 2 Chevrolet 88 81.70 10 31 10 -21 1 1.27 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 -10.55
25 6,400 Caesar Bacarella DGM Racing 90 Chevrolet 88 47.20 37 32 9 5 0 0 0.00 0 0.0 0.00 14.00
33 4,500 Ryan Vargas JD Motorsports 106 Chevrolet 88 57.80 22 33 8 -11 0 0 0.00 0 0.0 0.00 -3.00
27 5,300 CJ McLaughlin Mike Harmon Racing 74 Chevrolet 88 46.60 36 34 7 2 2 2.53 0.90 0 0.0 0.00 9.90
32 6,200 Mason Massey BJ McLeod Motorsports 178 Toyota 88 53.10 27 35 6 -8 0 0 0.00 4 4.6 1.00 -1.00
34 4,900 Bayley Currey JD Motorsports 15 Chevrolet 73 59.90 20 36 5 -16 1 1.27 0.45 2 2.7 0.50 -10.05
38 5,400 Landon Cassill JD Motorsports 104 Chevrolet 50 42.30 21 37 4 -16 0 0 0.00 0 0.0 0.00 -12.00
39 8,600 Sam Mayer JR Motorsports 8 Chevrolet 24 51.80 12 38 3 -26 2 2.53 0.90 0 0.0 0.00 -22.10
40 10,400 AJ Allmendinger Kaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 24 69.30 5 39 2 -34 0 0 0.00 3 12.5 0.75 -31.25
36 4,700 David Starr Hattori Racing Enterprises 61 Toyota 20 23.20 28 40 1 -12 0 0 0.00 0 0.0 0.00 -11.00