Race Lineup
Wawa 250
Friday, August 23rd, 2024
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
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25
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5
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8
- Thursday, August 22nd, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Lots can happen with five to go until NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs
With five races remaining to set the 12-driver NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff field, Friday night’s Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) could produce a surprise winner and new Playoff entrant on the historic high-banks.
There are only three former Xfinity Series race winners in this weekend’s field led by three-time Daytona race winner, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, Jeremy Clements Racing owner-driver Jeremy Clements and last week’s Michigan race winner, JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier – who is the defending winner of this Daytona summer 250-miler.
While those closer to the top of the standings have either solidified their positions with victories or good points days, drivers near the cutoff line arrive in Daytona racing for their Playoff lives.
Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman is ranked 11th with a 36-point margin to the Playoff good, but 12th place JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith holds only a single point lead on RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg for that last Playoff position.
Eight drivers have already earned Playoff bids with victories, led by popular New Zealand driver Shane van Gisbergen, who has three race wins in his first fulltime NASCAR season. Allgaier, Hill, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith and Allgaier’s teammate at JR Motorsports, Sam Mayer all have won twice.
Defending series champion Cole Custer, his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Riley Herbst and RCR’s Jesse Love all have earned Playoff berths with a win. Veteran Kaulig Racing driver A.J. Allmendinger currently holds a 102-point advantage on the cutoff line while JGR’s Sheldon Creed is a healthy 70-points up. Kligerman and Sammy Smith round out the current dozen safe in the Playoff standings.
Hill, who won the first two races of the season, is competing for a rare Daytona double. A win Friday would give him the track season sweep meaning he would join NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the only two competitors to sweep a season’s two NASCAR Xfinity Series events at the Daytona track. Hill’s three consecutive wins in the February Daytona season-opener gives him the most Daytona trophies among the fulltime Xfinity Series drivers.
Creed, who just set a record for most runner-up finishes (11) in the series before a win, has finished runner-up in the last two Daytona races.
Asked what it would take to finally hoist that first trophy this weekend, Creed said, “A good push and even better luck. It’s been feast or famine at Daytona for me so far and that’s helped me realize the importance of making it to the end. If things go our way, I feel good about our ability to put ourselves in contention. From there we just have to hope that the cards fall in a way that give me a chance to execute in the final laps. If that happens, I like our chances.”
Allmendinger’s average finish of 10.7 in seven starts is the second best average finish to three-time Daytona race starter, Jordan Anderson Racing’s Parker Retzlaff (4.7) among active drivers.
- Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola
- Pole Winner: Chandler Smith
- Age: 22
- Team : No 81 - QuickTie Toyota
- Owner: Joe Gibbs
- Crew Chief: Jeff Meendering
- Chandler Smith won the Pole Award for the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola with a lap of 49672 seconds, 181189 mph
- This is his fourth pole in 58 NASCAR Xfinity Series races
- This is his first pole and 16th top-10 start in 2024
- This is his first pole in four races at Daytona International Speedway
- Austin Hill (second) posted his 12th top-10 start of 2024 and his fifth in seven races at Daytona International Speedway
- AJ Allmendinger (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Daytona International Speedway It is his 15th in 22 races this season
- Jesse Love (fifth) was the fastest qualifying rookie
- Saturday, August 24th, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Ryan Truex wins big at Daytona International Speedway
Ryan Truex claimed his second NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season – the second of his career – leading the field to the yellow and checkered flags on the final lap of overtime in Saturday night’s Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway.
With very limited green flag runs and the pace interrupted all night with incidents, ultimately it was an accident among the front-running cars that ended the overtime period with Truex out front as he was so frequently through the night.
Running among that front group of cars, Parker Kligerman’s No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet hit the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet driven by A.J. Allmendinger from behind, sending Allmendinger’s Chevy hard into the wall bringing out the final caution and ending the night.
Truex, 32, the younger brother of NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., crossed the line just ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chandler Smith in the No. 81 JGR Toyota. Kligerman finished in third place. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst and RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg rounded out the top five.
“Oh my gosh, thanks to these fans, it’s so amazing to race here,’’ said Truex, who is racing part-time this season but now has two wins in eight starts this season.
“Just thanks to these guys,’’ Truex, driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota, said of his team. “I don’t get to race that often and I don’t know what I’m going to do next year. It’s all a work in progress. Just a great car [tonight].”
The veteran Allmendinger, who was running second at the time of his last lap accident, finished 24th. A frustrated Kligerman insisted he did not mean to wreck Allmendinger especially because the pair had worked well together throughout the race.
“I just had a run and I had to go, I felt it was the run I had to take to put myself on the bottom if I was going to win this race,’’ Kligerman added. “I love him like a brother, he and I have been in this a long time together.
In many ways, the ending was indicative of the whole evening – hard racing followed by the kind of contact so common at the famous 2.5-mile Daytona high banks.
Driver-owner Jordan Anderson, who competes part-time in the series and was making only his fourth start of year – finished sixth answering a fourth-place effort in the Daytona season-opener.
Justin Allgaier, who led a race best 35 laps, was seventh, followed by Sheldon Creed, Leland Honeyman and Kyle Weatherman.
The points standings were majorly affected with season-long leader, the defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer losing the points lead to JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier, who won both stages.
Custer had a rough night, colliding with his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Herbst on pit road on the first pit stop – his No. 00 SHR Ford suffering damage that required attention the rest of the race and relegated him to a 32nd place finish. Custer, who held a 50-point advantage over Allgaier in the championship just two races ago, now trails Allgaier by 33 points with five races remaining to decide the regular season champion.
The other end of the current 12-driver Playoff field also featured a lot of important action. JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith dropped out of the last Playoff position after being collected in a seven-car accident on Lap 26. Meanwhile, Sieg’s fifth place finish vaulted him inside the Playoff standings and he sits in that all-important 12th place position now – 15 points up on Smith.
Another championship favorite, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill also took a big hit in the standings – his night tough even before the green flag flew to start the race. His No. 21 RCR Chevrolet had to pit for attention as cars were making pace laps and instead of starting on the outside of the front row where he qualified, he started from the rear of the field.
The precarious position ended up costing Hill immediately as he was collected in a multi-car accident on the very first lap of racing. After pitting throughout the night for repairs – and more repairs – he ultimately parked the car, finishing 34th. Now Hill, who won the opening two races of the season, is ranked fourth – more than 100 points behind Allgaier – heading into the final summer stretch before the Playoffs start.
- Drivers Entered: 38
- Laps Scheduled: 100
- Laps Actual: 102 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
- Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds
- Time of Race: 2 Hours 10 Minutes 34 Seconds
- Average Speed: 117.182
- Cautions: 7 for 34 laps
- Lead Changes: 19
- Green Flag Passes: 4,205 (61.8 passes per green flag lap)
- Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola
- Race Winner: Ryan Truex
- Age: 32
- Team : No 20 - Certified Collision Center Toyota
- Owner: Joe Gibbs
- Crew Chief: Tyler Allen
- Ryan Truex won the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola, his third victory in 98 Xfinity Series races
- This is his second victory and fourth top-10 finish in 2024
- This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in six races at Daytona International Speedway
- Chandler Smith (second) posted his second top-10 finish in four races at Daytona International Speedway It is his 12th top-10 finish in 2024
- Parker Kligerman (third) posted his third top-10 finish in seven races at Daytona International Speedway
- Leland Honeyman (ninth) was the highest finishing rookie
- Justin Allgaier leads the point standings by 33 points over Cole Custer
