Saturday, May 28th, 2022
Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
When Josh Berry crossed the finish line at Charlotte Motor Speedway—giving JR Motorsports its first NASCAR Xfinity Series win at its home track—second-place Ty Gibbs was just reaching the 200-foot-long Speedway TV screen television on the backstretch.
After JRM teammate Justin Allgaier scraped the outside wall for the second time and had to pit during the final 81-lap green-flag run, Berry won Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 300 by an astonishing 18.039 seconds over Gibbs.
But the race wasn’t that lopsided before Allgaier had to bring his No. 7 Chevrolet to pit road on Lap 186 of 200.
True, Berry and Allgaier were racing in a different zip code from the rest of the field, but their battle was intense until Allgaier nicked the wall on Lap 178 and hit the Turn 2 barrier even harder eight laps later.
With Allgaier out of the picture, Berry enjoyed a pleasure cruise for the remaining 14 laps and finished three-quarters of a mile ahead of Gibbs.
“Man, it’s so amazing,” Berry said. “This car was so good. (Crew chief) Mike (Bumgarner) and this whole group works so hard. We’ve been getting better every week. I think the sky is the limit as we continue to learn about each other and keep getting better.
“That was a battle with Justin. It always is with us. We always seem to run good at the same places and always have to race each other. He slipped up in (Turn) 1—and I got loose, too, and it all worked out.”
In fact, JR Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., enjoyed another banner day from green flag to checkered flag. Sam Mayer started from the pole position and finished third. Berry won the first stage and Allgaier the second, giving JRM its 10th consecutive stage victory—extending the series record established last week at Kansas Speedway.
Five drivers led laps on Saturday—four of them from JRM. Berry led a race-high 89 circuits, followed by 63 for Allgaier, 36 for Noah Gragson and two for Mayer. Gragson dropped off the lead lap with a cylinder down, but, with power seemingly restored, he recovered to finish fourth.
Berry won for the second time this season and the fourth time in his career. JRM has won four of the last five Xfinity Series races.
“I think everybody knew that this was going to be a good benchmark for our organization, and I think I speak for everybody in saying that we exceeded expectations,” Berry said.
Ryan Preece came home fifth in the top Ford, with Daniel Hemric, Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Trevor Bayne and Myatt Snider completing the top 10.
Allgaier had the lead on Lap 163 after a full cycle of green-flag pit stops, and he held it until Berry beat him to the stripe by .022 seconds on Lap 176. Allgaier regained the top spot on Lap 177 but scraped the wall for the first time a lap later.
“We tried to put on a show for the fans,” Allgaier said. “I don’t know if you can drive any harder. At one point we were literally barreling off into Turn 1 harder than we did in qualifying.
“I thought we were going to be OK there and battle it out again (after the first contact with the wall), but unfortunately, my right rear started to go flat.”
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Los Gatos, CA | Dec 16, 1981 | 42 | Chevrolet | Action Industries | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
2 | 66 | JJ Yeley | Phoenix, AZ | Oct 5, 1976 | 48 | Ford | Remote Health Solutions | Motorsports Business Management | George Church |
3 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Cedar Rapids, IA | Jul 7, 1989 | 35 | Chevrolet | Voyager: Crypto for All | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
4 | 18 | Trevor Bayne | Knoxville, TN | Feb 19, 1991 | 33 | Toyota | Devotion Nutrition | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |
5 | 48 | Austin Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Apr 27, 1990 | 34 | Chevrolet | Critical Components / SCW | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
6 | 08 | David Starr | Houston, TX | Nov 11, 1967 | 56 | Ford | EVERFI / Special Report | SS-GLR w/Jeff Lefcourt | Jason Miller |
7 | 13 | Timmy Hill | Port Tobacco, MD | Feb 25, 1993 | 31 | Toyota | Prime Hydration | Motorsports Business Management | Carl Long |
8 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Riverton, IL | Jun 6, 1986 | 38 | Chevrolet | Unilever Adopt-A-Soldier | JR Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
9 | 02 | Brett Moffitt | Grimes, IA | Aug 7, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Half Off Wholesale | Our Motorsports | Kris Bowen |
10 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Halifax, VA | Aug 6, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Puryear Tank Lines | Our Motorsports | Chad Walter |
11 | 26 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Mooresville, NC | Jun 22, 1989 | 35 | Toyota | ForeverLawn | Sam Hunt Racing | Allen Hart |
12 | 5 | Ryan Preece | Berlin, CT | Oct 25, 1990 | 33 | Chevrolet | Hunt Brother's Pizza | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Keith Wolfe |
13 | 44 | Ryan Ellis | Torrence, CA | Nov 29, 1989 | 34 | Chevrolet | KeenParts.com | Alpha Prime Racing | Michael Brandt |
14 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Tucker, GA | Jun 20, 1987 | 37 | Ford | A-Game | RSS Racing | Kevin Starland |
15 | 34 | Kyle Weatherman | Wentzville, MO | Aug 28, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Equity Prime Mortgage | Jesse Iwuji Motorsports | Dan Stillman |
16 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kannapolis, NC | Jan 27, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Cirkul - Water Your Way | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
17 | 47 | Brennan Poole | Sacramento, CA | Apr 11, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | American Scroll | Mike Harmon Racing | Ryan Bell |
18 | 36 | Garrett Smithley | Ligonier, PA | Apr 27, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Rich Mar Florist | DGM Racing | Nathan Kennedy |
19 | 4 | Bayley Currey | Driftwood, TX | Oct 29, 1996 | 27 | Chevrolet | Azalea Gynecology | JD Motorsports | Wayne Carroll Jr |
20 | 21 | Austin Hill | Winston, GA | Apr 21, 1994 | 30 | Chevrolet | Alsco Uniforms | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
21 | 68 | Brandon Brown | Woodbridge, VA | Sep 14, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Trade The Chain | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Doug Randolph |
22 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Atlanta, GA | Feb 18, 1997 | 27 | Toyota | Menards\Bali | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |
23 | 38 | CJ McLaughlin | Framingham, MA | Jul 1, 1992 | 32 | Ford | SciAps | RSS Racing | Steve Addington |
24 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Spartanburg, SC | Jan 16, 1985 | 39 | Chevrolet | Fire Wall Signs / Absolute Wall and Ceiling | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
25 | 07 | Joe Graf Jr | Mahwah, NJ | Jul 12, 1998 | 26 | Ford | BuckedUp Energy Drink | SS-GLR w/Jeff Lefcourt | Joe Williams |
26 | 78 | Josh Williams | Port Charlotte, FL | Aug 3, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Alloy Employer Services | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Mike Tyska |
27 | 55 | Matt Mills | Lynchburg, VA | Nov 14, 1996 | 27 | Chevrolet | J.F. Electric | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Adam Brooks |
28 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Charlotte, NC | Dec 30, 1994 | 29 | Chevrolet | Bommarito.com | Jordan Anderson Racing | Shane Whitbeck |
29 | 9 | Noah Gragson | Las Vegas, NV | Jul 15, 1998 | 26 | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops TrueTimber BRCC | JR Motorsports | Luke Lambert |
30 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Las Vegas, NV | Feb 24, 1999 | 25 | Ford | Monster Energy | Stewart-Haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
31 | 91 | Mason Massey | Douglasville, GA | Jan 24, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Anderson Power Services | DGM Racing | Mario Gosselin |
32 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Ridgefield, CT | Mar 1, 1999 | 25 | Chevrolet | Dude Wipes | Our Motorsports | Pat Tryson |
33 | 77 | Ronnie Bassett Jr | Winston-Salem, NC | Dec 21, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | Honest Amish | Bassett Racing | Dillon Bassett |
34 | 6 | Ryan Vargas | La Miranda, CA | Sep 23, 2000 | 24 | Chevrolet | RecruitMilitary.com | JD Motorsports | Kase Kallenbach |
35 | 45 | Stefan Parsons | Cornelius, NC | Jun 15, 1998 | 26 | Chevrolet | Keffer Jeep | Alpha Prime Racing | Frank Kerr |
36 | 35 | Shane Lee | Newton, NC | Jul 4, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Kitty Kat Coin | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Rick Bourgeois |
37 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Alpine, CA | Sep 30, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Whelen | Richard Childress Racing | Jeff Stankiewicz |
38 | 8 | Josh Berry | Hendersonville, TN | Oct 22, 1990 | 33 | Chevrolet | Harrison's USA | JR Motorsports | Mike Bumgarner |
39 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Charlotte, NC | Oct 4, 2002 | 22 | Toyota | Reser's Fine Foods | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gayle |
40 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Tucker, GA | Apr 16, 2001 | 23 | Ford | Night Owl | RSS Racing | Andrew May |
41 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Franklin, WI | Jun 26, 2003 | 21 | Chevrolet | Accelerate Pros Talent | JR Motorsports | Andrew Overstreet |
42 | 99 | Nicholas Sanchez | Miami, FL | Jun 10, 2001 | 23 | Chevrolet | BJ McLeod Motorsports | BJ McLeod Motorsports | David Ingram |