The official 2021 Ambetter Get Vaccinated 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series race lineup, determined by qualifying results, shows the starting positions of all drivers at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Saturday, July 17th, 2021
New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, NH
Kyle Busch had used up his eligibility for this year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Ty Gibbs had the week off.
But the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota they have driven to a combined seven victories this season was still around—much to the chagrin of the series regulars.
Competing in the Xfinity Series for the first time since he finished third in the final standings in 2019, Christopher Bell led 151 of 200 laps, swept the first two stages and won Saturday's Ambetter Get Vaccinated 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The victory was Bell's third straight at the 1.058-mile track and the 17th of his career. It was the sixth straight win for Joe Gibbs Racing at New Hampshire, which did not host an Xfinity Series race last year because of schedule changes necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Bell was the only former New Hampshire winner in the field for Saturday's race. He finished a comfortable 6.241 seconds ahead of runner-up Justin Allgaier, who held off third-place Daniel Hemric during the final 45-lap green-flag run.
From Bell's standpoint, the secret to success was easy to define.
"What I've got figured out is I've got really, really fast race cars to drive," said Bell, who started 14th and took the lead for the first time on Lap 44—one circuit before the end of the first stage. "I just love being here with Joe Gibbs Racing. All these Supras I've for the last three times I've been here have been amazing.
"Hopefully, the Camry is just a good tomorrow (in the NASCAR Cup Series race), but it just feels good to win."
A flat right front tire shot Patrick Emerling's Chevrolet into the outside wall in Turn 4 to cause the fifth and last caution of the race on Lap 149. After an adjustment to his No. 7 Chevrolet designed to create short-run speed, Allgaier battled Bell side-by side after the final restart on Lap 156.
But the strength and turning ability of Bell's car, set up by crew chief Chris Gayle, soon prevailed, and Bell pulled away as Allgaier and Hemric fought for the second position.
"Obviously, it was a good short-track battle there," Allgaier said. "This place is difficult, but it's fun. You're out there and you're sliding around a lot. We didn't start off the race like we wanted to, and (crew chief) Jason (Burdett) and the boys did a great job of making adjustments and getting us where we needed to be at.
"I wish I knew what we needed there. The Gibbs cars definitely had something we didn't have today. We'll go back home, we'll keep working on it and hopefully get our Brandt Camaro into Victory Lane sooner than later."
Series leader Austin Cindric ran fourth, followed by Harrison Burton, announced this week as the driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers NASCAR Cup Series Ford for 2022. Justin Haley, Myatt Snider, Josh Berry, Brett Moffitt and Riley Herbst completed the top 10.
Herbst made a remarkable recovery from an early accident on a Lap 26 restart and now trails Michael Annett by 32 points for the final Playoff position. Annett missed Saturday's race—with Berry as his substitute—after undergoing surgery for a stress fracture in his right femur.
NASCAR opted not to apply traction compound to the third lane of the racing surface, though the PJ1 had been used for recent races at New Hampshire.
Accordingly, Bell believes racing on Saturday without the compound will give him an advantage in Sunday's Cup race.
"Especially coming here, the Xfinity rules package is really similar to the Cup rules package," Bell said. "I hope we have a really fast Camry tomorrow."
ST | # | DRIVER | MAKE | SPD | TIME | BHND | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | Jeb Burton | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | LS Tractors | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
2 | 11 | Justin Haley | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | LeafFilter Gutter Protection | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
3 | 9 | Noah Gragson | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Bass Pro Shops / TrueTimber / BRCC | Jr Motorsports | Dave Elenz |
4 | 22 | Austin Cindric | Ford | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Car Shop | Team Penske | Brian Wilson |
5 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Brandt | Jr Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
6 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Hyperice | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
7 | 02 | Brett Moffitt | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Robert B Our Co Inc | Our Motorsports | Tucker Scanlon |
8 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | First Pacific Funding | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
9 | 8 | Sam Mayer | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Unsponsored | Jr Motorsports | Taylor Moyer |
10 | 20 | Harrison Burton | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | DEX Imaging | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |
11 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Ford | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | CMR Construction and Roofing / A-Ga… | Rss Racing | Shane Wilson |
12 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Ford | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Monster Energy | Stewart-haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
13 | 18 | Daniel Hemric | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Poppy Bank | Joe Gibbs Racing | Dave Rogers |
14 | 54 | Christopher Bell | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | DeWalt | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gayle |
15 | 36 | Alex Labbe | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Prolon / rousseau / Silver Wax | Dgm Racing | Mario Gosselin |
16 | 2 | Myatt Snider | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Crosley Furniture | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
17 | 44 | Tommy Joe Martins | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | AAN Adjusters | Martins Motorsports | Dan Stillman |
18 | 48 | Jade Buford | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Big Machine Spiked Coolers | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
19 | 6 | Ryan Vargas | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | TeamJDMotorsports.com | Jd Motorsports | Kase Kallenbach |
20 | 92 | Josh Williams | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Sleep Well / ANE Electric | Dgm Racing | Eddie Troconis |
21 | 1 | Josh Berry | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | PFJ Spicy Chicken Sandwhich | Jr Motorsports | Mike Bumgarner |
22 | 68 | Brandon Brown | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Jabs Construction | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Doug Randolph |
23 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Menards / Jeld-Wen | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |
24 | 23 | Patrick Emerling | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Spirit Snorkeling | Our Motorsports | Kenneth Roettger |
25 | 15 | Colby Howard | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Project Hope Foundation | Jd Motorsports | Wayne Carroll Jr |
26 | 0 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | TeamJDMotorsports.com | Jd Motorsports | Paul Clapprood |
27 | 5 | Matt Mills | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | JF Electric | Bj Mcleod Motorsports | David Ingram |
28 | 78 | Jesse Little | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Unsponsored | Bj Mcleod Motorsports | Adam Brooks |
29 | 99 | Mason Massey | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Brunt Workwear | Bj Mcleod Motorsports | Keith Wolfe |
30 | 07 | Joe Graf Jr | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Bucked Up Energy | Ss Green Light Racing | Joe Williams |
31 | 4 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Voyager | Jd Motorsports | Tommy Machek |
32 | 126 | Brandon Gdovic | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | SnapMobile.Shop | Sam Hunt Racing | Andrew Abbott |
33 | 31 | Jordan Anderson | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Bommarito.com | Jordan Anderson Racing | Arthur Haire |
34 | 47 | Kyle Weatherman | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Axe Crossbows | Mike Harmon Racing | Mike Harmon |
35 | Bayley Currey | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |||||
36 | 17 | JJ Yeley | Ford | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Nurtec | Rick Ware Racing | Jason Miller |
37 | 90 | Dexter Bean | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | DGM Racing | Dgm Racing | Nathan Kennedy |
38 | 66 | David Starr | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Carson Towing & Repair | Motorsports Business Management | Johnny Roten |
39 | 61 | CJ McLaughlin | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Sci Aps | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Doug Richert |
40 | 52 | Spencer Boyd | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Freedom Warranty | Means Motorsports | Tim Brown |