The official 2022 Pit Boss 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race lineup, determined by qualifying results, shows the starting positions of all drivers at Circuit of The Americas.
Saturday, March 26th, 2022
Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas
A.J. Allmendinger was fast and agile when he needed to be Saturday afternoon negotiating the famed Circuit of The Americas and reminding the field just why he's considered one of NASCAR's road course superstars.
Allmendinger's No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet took the checkered flag by 2.039-seconds over Austin Hill's No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in the first road course race of the year. It was the 40-year-old veteran's first NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the 2022 season and 11th of his career. He has seven road course wins on six different road course tracks (series-most).
He led early, and he led late, just when he needed to, holding off the field on two late, and dicey race restarts and controlling the race the final 14 laps en route to the checkered flag.
NASCAR Cup Series regular Cole Custer turned in an inspired comeback from a midrace pit road speeding penalty to finish third. JR Motorsports driver Noah Gragson was fourth - his sixth top-five finish in the seven-race season to date. Gragson's teammate Sam Mayer finished fifth.
With their work, Allmendinger, Hill, Gragson and Mayer are now eligible to win a $100,000 bonus next week in the Dash 4 Cash sweepstakes opener at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The top finishing driver among them in the ToyotaCare 250 will take the check, courtesy of sponsor Comcast.
"I told myself yesterday, I was not happy with where I put ourselves," said Allmendinger, who qualified fourth.
"Honestly, all these men and women here at Kaulig Racing between the Cup side of it and the Xfinity side of it, they don't' sleep during the week, they're busting their tales and that's why I'm so fricking hard on myself sometimes because they deserve to win more than anybody here. And I just want to do it for them. Thankfully, we got it done today."
And it was not easy. Pole-winner Ty Gibbs and fellow NASCAR Cup Series drivers Ross Chastain and Custer joined Allmendinger at the front of the field for most of the early-going. Gibbs and Chastain exchanged the lead with Allmendinger, but both ultimately suffered setbacks during the course of the 46-lap race around the 3.41-mile, 20-turn circuit.
Gibbs' Toyota suffered a flat time and put him well back in the field (36th place) after he was forced to pit during a green flag run, he recovered to finish 15th. Chastain ran among the front pack all the way until the end of the race when he was collected in an aggressive pack on the final race restart with seven laps remaining and finished 17th.
Myatt Snider finished sixth in a final lap duel with Mayer. Brett Moffitt finished seventh with Jade Buford, Miguel Paludo and Sheldon Creed - who won the pole position for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race earlier in the day rounded out the top 10.
The runner-up Hill was especially encouraged because he was able to keep Allmendinger honest in the closing laps.
"All in all, it was a solid effort for our Global Chevy Camaro," Hill said, adding, "I've always felt like I could get around road courses. I felt like I proved it last year in the trucks winning at Watkins Glen and its just kind of build the momentum and the confidence going forward into this year that when we come to road courses, we can get the job done.
"I guess A.J. was just a little bit better than us, because I felt we had a really good car, but this shows we can run with AJ."
With the showing at COTA, fourth-place finisher Gragson holds a single-point lead over Allmendinger in the Xfinity Series driver standings with Gibbs third, 31 points back.
ST | # | DRIVER | MAKE | SPD | TIME | BHND | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Toyota | 91.258 | 134.520 | 0.000 | Interstate Batteries | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gayle |
2 | 92 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 90.869 | 135.096 | 0.575 | Ticket Smarter | Dgm Racing | Nathan Kennedy |
3 | 07 | Cole Custer | Ford | 90.861 | 135.107 | 0.586 | Bucked Up Energy Drink | Ss-glr W/jeff Lefcourt | Joe Williams |
4 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 90.532 | 135.598 | 1.078 | Nutrien Ag Solutions | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
5 | 36 | Alex Labbe | Chevrolet | 90.362 | 135.853 | 1.333 | Can-Am | Dgm Racing | Mario Gosselin |
6 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Chevrolet | 90.330 | 135.901 | 1.381 | Whelen | Richard Childress Racing | Jeff Stankiewicz |
7 | 91 | Preston Pardus | Chevrolet | 90.077 | 136.284 | 1.764 | Chinchor Electric/Danus | Dgm Racing | Dan Pardus |
8 | 21 | Austin Hill | Chevrolet | 90.051 | 136.323 | 1.803 | Global Industrial | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
9 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 90.041 | 136.338 | 1.818 | BRANDT | Jr Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
10 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Chevrolet | 89.761 | 136.763 | 2.243 | Accelerate Pros Talent | Jr Motorsports | Taylor Moyer |
11 | 35 | Parker Kligerman | Toyota | 90.395 | 135.804 | 1.284 | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Rick Bourgeois |
12 | 9 | Noah Gragson | Chevrolet | 90.299 | 135.949 | 1.429 | Bass Pro Shops TrueTimber BRCC | Jr Motorsports | Luke Lambert |
13 | 02 | Brett Moffitt | Chevrolet | 90.178 | 136.131 | 1.611 | Hometown Lenders | Our Motorsports | Kris Bowen |
14 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 90.142 | 136.185 | 1.665 | USIO | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
15 | 18 | Bubba Wallace | Toyota | 90.046 | 136.330 | 1.810 | Dr. Pepper | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |
16 | 48 | Jade Buford | Chevrolet | 90.018 | 136.373 | 1.853 | Big Machine Spiked Coolers | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
17 | 88 | Miguel Paludo | Chevrolet | 89.889 | 136.569 | 2.049 | BRANDT | Jr Motorsports | Jason Stockert |
18 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Chevrolet | 89.743 | 136.791 | 2.271 | Pit Boss Grills | Our Motorsports | Pat Tryson |
19 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Chevrolet | 89.642 | 136.944 | 2.424 | AG1 - Athletic Greens | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
20 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Chevrolet | 89.633 | 136.958 | 2.438 | Jon Wayne Service Company | Our Motorsports | Chad Walter |
21 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Chevrolet | 89.606 | 136.999 | 2.479 | TaxSlayer | Jordan Anderson Racing | Shane Whitbeck |
22 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Ford | 89.603 | 137.005 | 2.485 | Monster Energy | Stewart-haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
23 | 26 | Parker Chase | Toyota | 89.588 | 137.027 | 2.507 | Bahnbrecker | Sam Hunt Racing | Allen Hart |
24 | 44 | Sage Karam | Chevrolet | 89.312 | 137.450 | 2.930 | Market Rebellion | Alpha Prime Racing | Dan Stillman |
25 | 8 | Josh Berry | Chevrolet | 89.266 | 137.521 | 3.001 | PUBG MOBILE | Jr Motorsports | Mike Bumgarner |
26 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | 89.167 | 137.675 | 3.155 | Straitline Nitro | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
27 | 45 | Josh Bilicki | Chevrolet | 89.132 | 137.728 | 3.208 | The Boss / Lemons of Love | Alpha Prime Racing | Paul Clapprood |
28 | 68 | Brandon Brown | Chevrolet | 88.816 | 138.218 | 3.698 | TradeTheChain.com | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Doug Randolph |
29 | 4 | Bayley Currey | Chevrolet | 88.690 | 138.415 | 3.895 | Chasco Constructors | Jd Motorsports | Wayne Carroll Jr |
30 | 28 | Patrick Gallagher | Ford | 88.599 | 138.557 | 4.037 | Belle Haven | Rss Racing | Steve Addington |
31 | 08 | Joe Graf Jr | Ford | 88.214 | 139.161 | 4.641 | G Coin | Ss-glr W/jeff Lefcourt | Jeff Kirkendall |
32 | 5 | Scott Heckert | Chevrolet | 88.102 | 139.338 | 4.818 | Malco | Bj Mcleod Motorsports | David Ingram |
33 | 99 | Stefan Parsons | Chevrolet | 87.638 | 140.077 | 5.557 | SOKAL | Bj Mcleod Motorsports | Mike Tyska |
34 | 6 | Ryan Vargas | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 94.520 | Twin Liquors | Jd Motorsports | Kase Kallenbach |
35 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Ford | 0.000 | 0.000 | 94.520 | CMRroofing.com\ A-game | Rss Racing | Kevin Starland |
36 | 66 | JJ Yeley | Ford | 0.000 | 0.000 | 94.520 | Remote Health Solutions | Motorsports Business Management | George Church |
37 | 38 | Will Rodgers | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 94.520 | Kelly Benefits | Rss Racing | Clifford Turner |
38 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Toyota | 0.000 | 0.000 | 94.520 | Menards\Oklahoma Joe's | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |