Race Lineup

The official 2021 Andy's Frozen Custard 335 NASCAR XFINITY Series race lineup, determined by qualifying results, shows the starting positions of all drivers at Texas Motor Speedway.

Andy's Frozen Custard 335

Saturday, October 16th, 2021

Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, TX

  • 29 Chevrolet
  • 4 Ford
  • 7 Toyota

  • Texas Motor Speedway
  • Andy's Frozen Custard 335
  • Pole Winner: AJ Allmendinger
  • Age: 39
  • Team: No. 16 - Andy's Frozen Custard Chevrolet
  • Owner: Kaulig Racing
  • Crew Chief: Jason Trinchere
  • Start positions set by NASCAR's Performance Metrics Qualifying (PMQ).
  • AJ Allmendinger won the Pole Award for the Andy's Frozen Custard 335 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 16th, 2021
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
John Hunter Nemechek overcomes penalty for second Xfinity Series victory

John Hunter Nemechek overcame a late race pit penalty to rally through the field and take his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory Saturday in the Andy's Frozen Custard 335 at Texas Motor Speedway – the first of three Playoff events that will set the Championship 4 field for the season finale.

Nemechek, whose full-time job is contending for a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, is the third different driver to win an Xfinity Series race in the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota joining Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell – the group combining for 10 wins in 2021 in assorted part-time starts.

Nemechek's victory by 1.316-seconds over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Hemric marked the third win in four series Playoff races by a non-Playoff driver this season. It was the second Xfinity Series win in the 24-year old Nemechek's career – the other coming at Kansas Speedway in 2018.

A penalty during a pit stop – a crewman coming over the wall too soon – took Nemechek from the lead to 18th position for a restart with 51 laps remaining. Far from crushing his hopes, it motivated Nemechek and his team.vDuring a pit stop on the 10th and final caution period with 28 laps remaining, Nemechek's team called for a two-tire change while the rest of the contenders took four tires. The strategy put him on the front row for the re-start and he navigated his way forward and re-took the lead for good with 20 laps remaining.

"[Spotter] Stevie Reeves and [crew chief] Chris Gayle kept me calm," said Nemechek, who led a race best 92 laps on the afternoon. "I've grown a lot as a driver and been put in positions like that in the truck series as well.

"Man, I can't say enough about this whole team. The 54 has been fast every single week. My goal coming in was to win. I had to win to prove to myself I can do this."

It marked the third runner-up finish for Hemric this season and the 10th of his Xfinity Series career as he races for his first career victory. He was the top Playoff driver on Saturday.

"They just made a really good call to take two [tires] there, obviously," an understandably subdued Hemric said of Nemechek, adding, "Congratulations to those guys. We just weren't quite good enough [to catch him]."

Those two Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas were pretty much the story of the day. NASCAR Xfinity Series championship leader A.J. Allmendinger led the opening 13 laps and then his chief challenger, defending series champion Austin Cindric, took the lead, earning his 10th stage victory.

The JGR Toyotas pushed forward and started racking up the laps led. Nemechek won Stage 2 and primarily exchanged the lead with Hemric for the remainder of the race. The exception was a bold pit move – defending Texas winner Harrison Burton (also a JGR driver) opted not to pit on the last caution and led six laps before Nemechek overtook him and held the lead until the checkered flag.

JR Motorsports driver Noah Gragson finished third rallying from damage early in the race, followed by his teammate Justin Allgaier and Cindric.

Allmendinger was sixth, followed by Justin Haley, Burton, Michael Annett and Brandon Jones. All eight of the Playoff drivers were among the top 10 with Nemechek and Annett the exceptions.

The sixth-place finish for Allmendinger was good enough to keep him atop the championship standings by four points over Cindric. Allgaier is third, 26 points back and Gragson is fourth.

Despite his runner-up effort, Hemric is fifth, two points behind Gragson. Hailey is sixth (-6), Burton (-21) and Jones (-32) round out the Playoff standings.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway for the second race of this Playoff round next Saturday afternoon, the Kansas Lottery 300 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Current NASCAR Cup Series rookie Chase Briscoe is the defending race winner. However, Jones is a two-time Kansas winner, taking back-to-back wins in Fall, 2019, and Spring, 2020.

  • Drivers Entered: 41 (3 drivers will not make the race)
  • Laps Scheduled: 200
  • Margin of Victory: 01.316 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 35 Minutes 48 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 115.533
  • Cautions: 10 for 54 laps
  • Lead Changes: 8
  • Green Flag Passes: 1,359 (9.3 passes per green flag lap)

  • Texas Motor Speedway
  • 17th Annual Andy's Frozen Custard 335
  • Race Winner: John Hunter Nemechek
  • Age: 24
  • Team : No. 54 - Romco Equipment Toyota
  • Owner: Coy Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Chris Gayle
  • John Hunter Nemechek won the 17th Annual Andy's Frozen Custard 335, his second victory in 56 Xfinity Series races.
  • This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in 2021.
  • This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in five races at Texas Motor Speedway.
  • Daniel Hemric (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in seven races at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his 19th top-10 finish in 2021.
  • Noah Gragson (third) posted his third top-10 finish in seven races at Texas Motor Speedway.
  • Sam Mayer (13th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • AJ Allmendinger leads the point standings by 4 points over Austin Cindric.
AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric lead the field to the green
Fort Worth, Texas - October 16, 2021 : AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #16 Andy's Frozen Custard Chevrolet, and Austin Cindric, driver of the #22 Snap On Ford, lead the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy's Frozen Custard 335 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Sean GardnerGetty Images
Race lineup for the Andy's Frozen Custard 335 at Texas Motor Speedway
ST # DRIVER MAKE SPD TIME BHND SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
23 0 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 ForeverLawn Jd Motorsports Paul Clapprood
9 1 Michael Annett Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Allstate Peterbilt Group Jr Motorsports Mike Bumgarner
12 2 Myatt Snider Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Crosley Furniture Richard Childress Racing Andy Street
26 02 Brett Moffitt Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Home Town Lenders Our Motorsports Pat Tryson
6 7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Hellmann's / Sam's Club Jr Motorsports Jason Burdett
38 07 Joe Graf Jr Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Market Ss Green Light Racing Joe Williams
11 8 Sam Mayer Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 QPS Employment Group Jr Motorsports Taylor Moyer
5 9 Noah Gragson Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Bass Pro Shops / TrueTimber / BRCC Jr Motorsports Dave Elenz
13 10 Jeb Burton Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Ferguson Kaulig Racing Bruce Schlicker
4 11 Justin Haley Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Kaulig Racing Alex Yontz
39 15 Bayley Currey Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Fort Worth Screen Printing Jd Motorsports Wayne Carroll Jr
1 16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Andy's Frozen Custard Kaulig Racing Jason Trinchere
33 17 JJ Yeley Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 DFW Security Ss Green Light Racing Jason Miller
3 18 Daniel Hemric Toyota 0.000 0.000 0.000 Craftsman Joe Gibbs Racing Dave Rogers
7 19 Brandon Jones Toyota 0.000 0.000 0.000 Century AC Supply Joe Gibbs Racing Jeff Meendering
8 20 Harrison Burton Toyota 0.000 0.000 0.000 DEX Imaging Joe Gibbs Racing Jason Ratcliff
2 22 Austin Cindric Ford 0.000 0.000 0.000 Snap On Team Penske Brian Wilson
27 23 Tanner Berryhill Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Eclipse Claims Consulting Our Motorsports Kenneth Roettger
29 26 Dylan Lupton Toyota 0.000 0.000 0.000 Toyota Racing Sam Hunt Racing Andrew Abbott
32 31 Kaz Grala Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Bommarito Automotive Group Jordan Anderson Racing Arthur Haire
16 36 Alex Labbe Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Can-Am Dgm Racing Mario Gosselin
22 39 Ryan Sieg Ford 0.000 0.000 0.000 CMR Construction and Roofing / A-Ga… Rss Racing Kevin Starland
24 44 Tommy Joe Martins Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Market Rebellion Martins Motorsports Dan Stillman
25 47 Kyle Weatherman Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 RAGE Mike Harmon Racing Mike Tyska
17 48 Jade Buford Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Big Machine Racing Patrick Donahue
14 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Straitline Jeremy Clements Racing Mark Setzer
37 52 Joey Gase Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Donate Life Texas Means Motorsports Tim Brown
10 54 John Hunter Nemechek Toyota 0.000 0.000 0.000 Romco Equipment Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gayle
21 61 Austin Hill Toyota 0.000 0.000 0.000 Toyota Tsusho Hattori Racing Enterprises David McCarty
36 66 David Starr Ford 0.000 0.000 0.000 Whataburger Motorsports Business Management Johnny Roten
18 68 Brandon Brown Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 DFKitCar.com Brandonbilt Motorsports Doug Randolph
40 74 CJ McLaughlin Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 SciAps Mike Harmon Racing Ryan Bell
28 90 Spencer Boyd Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 MiniDoge Dgm Racing Alex Timmerman
15 92 Josh Williams Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 WorkPro Tools Dgm Racing Nathan Kennedy
20 98 Riley Herbst Ford 0.000 0.000 0.000 Monster Energy Stewart-haas Racing Richard Boswell
19 104 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Voyager Jd Motorsports Tommy Machek
35 105 Mason Massey Toyota 0.000 0.000 0.000 Gerber Collision & Glass Bj Mcleod Motorsports David Ingram
30 106 Ryan Vargas Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Swann Communications Jd Motorsports Kase Kallenbach
34 178 Jesse Little Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 Apex Wireless Bj Mcleod Motorsports Keith Wolfe
31 199 Matt Mills Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 0.000 JF Electric Bj Mcleod Motorsports Adam Brooks