XFINITY Series Darlington Raceway

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Pit Stops

The 2024 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series pit stop performance data highlights the fastest pit stops, team efficiency, and crew performance from Darlington Raceway.

Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200

Saturday, August 31st, 2024

Darlington Raceway, Darlington, SC

Previous race at Darlington Raceway
  • 23 Chevrolet
  • 9 Ford
  • 5 Toyota

  • Thursday, August 29th, 2024
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
There’s plenty of uncertainty in race for NASCAR Xfinity Playoff spots

The cutoff race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs won’t take place until Friday, Sept. 20 at Bristol Motor Speedway, leaving plenty of time for drivers to jockey for position on the Playoff grid.

That said, for practical purposes, the race to qualify for the Playoffs on points features a small field. Ryan Sieg leads Sammy Smith by 15 points for the final Playoff-eligible position entering Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Among winless drivers in the series, Parker Kligerman leads Smith by 44 points, Sheldon Creed holds a 93-point edge, and AJ Allmendinger enjoys a 113-point cushion with four races left in the regular season.

Drivers below Smith in the standings are almost certainly in a win-or-bust position. Brandon Jones in 14th place trails Sieg for the last spot in the 12-driver Playoff field by 108 points.

Xfinity drivers hoping to advance to the Playoffs by winning a race, however, will face several substantial obstacles at Darlington. Full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson are running both races this weekend.

At the top of the Xfinity standings, Justin Allgaier has seized control of the Regular Season Championship race on the strength of seven straight top-10 finishes, including an Aug. 17 win at Michigan.

Allgaier holds a 33-point lead over reigning series champion Cole Custer, who finished 30th at Michigan and 32nd last Friday at Daytona. Custer, however, has finished in the top-four in five of his six Xfinity starts at Darlington, including a win in 2019.

“Honestly, we just need to leave the bad luck behind us,” Custer said. “Michigan and Daytona were just miserable. In such a good season, we were forced to park our car early in incidents outside of our own doing. Those days are tough as a driver. You replay what you could’ve done differently in your head, but you can’t dwell on it too long.

“This stretch here is so weird, with so many superspeedway races in a month-and-a-half. We’ve got one of my best tracks with Darlington, though, and I’m planning to use that to my advantage.

“We lost the points lead last weekend, which is hard. We still have a shot to fight for it, though. We just need to get back to where we were. Luckily, we’re locked into the Playoffs, but I’m hoping to find our way back to the top of the leaderboard again.”

Technically, Custer isn’t locked into the Playoffs quite yet. With one victory to his credit this season, he will clinch a Playoff berth if he wins on Saturday or if another driver who already has a victory wins again.

The same scenario also applies to single-race winners Riley Herbst and Jesse Love.

  • Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200
  • Pole Winner: Christopher Bell
  • Age: 29
  • Team : No 20 - Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Tyler Allen
  • Christopher Bell won the Pole Award for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 with a lap of 29828 seconds, 164865 mph
  • This is his 13th pole in 79 NASCAR Xfinity Series races
  • This is his first pole and first top-10 start in 2024
  • This is his first pole in four races at Darlington Raceway
  • Sheldon Creed (second) posted his 17th top-10 start of 2024 and his fifth in six races at Darlington Raceway
  • Sam Mayer (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Darlington Raceway It is his 12th in 23 races this season
  • Jesse Love (23rd) was the fastest qualifying rookie

  • Saturday, August 31st, 2024
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Christopher Bell wins NASCAR Xfinity race at Darlington in overtime dash

Christopher Bell survived a near-disaster with Cole Custer on the first lap of overtime and held on to win Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 over Custer and snakebit Sheldon Creed.

During a green-flag run that started on lap 97 of 150, Creed caught and passed Bell for the lead on Lap 139 and was poised to claim his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory after a record 11 runner-up finishes in the series.

But Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger slapped the outside wall on Lap 143, causing the sixth caution of the afternoon, and Creed lost the top spot with a slow 15-second stop on pit road, thanks to issues with the right rear tire.

Creed restarted third behind Bell in the outside lane. Contact between the cars of Bell and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer on the backstretch got both cars out of shape below the normal racing line, but the drivers recovered and held their positions.

“That was wild, for sure,” said Bell, who started from the pole and led 108 laps. “I thought I was headed nose-first into the inside wall… It’s a tough race track, and off of (Turn) 2, whether you’re on the bottom of the top, it flushes you to the wall, and then you kind of get a little bit of a wiggle coming down.

“Once again, I feel terrible for Sheldon, to essentially win the race on the long run there and then lose it on pit road. It’s a big bummer… It seemed like our car was really good on the short runs. Obviously, the 18, Sheldon, was really good on the long runs.

“Unfortunately for him, the race played out differently, and fortunately for us, we got another shot at it.”

The victory was Bell’s second of the season in as many starts, with the first victory having come at New Hampshire in June. But Bell’s triumph came at the expense of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.

As expected, Creed was disconsolate as he reflected on the race that got away.

“I lost one the same way a few years ago here,” lamented Creed, who led 30 laps and was pulling away from Bell before the final caution. “This has been a really good place for me. I’ve always loved racing here. Man, I don’t know if we could be any better than that.

“I felt like I put in one of my best performances today… Man, it’s a bummer. I’m so proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on this 18 team. I took a chance on myself and brought all the money we could. I’m literally not even making a dollar this year.”

Creed will leave Joe Gibbs Racing to drive a Ford for the Haas Factory Team next year.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott finished fourth, followed by Sammy Smith, who leap-frogged Ryan Sieg into the final Playoff-eligible position on points. Smith leads Sieg by 10 points with three races left in the Xfinity regular season.

Jesse Love, Shane van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier completed the top 10.

Creed did pick up his first stage win of the season, beating Bell to the finish line in Stage 2. Bell won the opening 45-lap stage over Hill.

  • Drivers Entered: 38
  • Laps Scheduled: 147
  • Laps Actual: 150 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
  • Margin of Victory: 0.351 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 1 Hours 50 Minutes 49 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 110.940
  • Cautions: 6 for 29 laps
  • Lead Changes: 12
  • Green Flag Passes: 947 (7.8 passes per green flag lap)

  • Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200
  • Race Winner: Christopher Bell
  • Age: 29
  • Team : No 20 - Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Tyler Allen
  • Christopher Bell won the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200, his 19th victory in 79 Xfinity Series races
  • This is his second victory and second top-10 finish in 2024
  • This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in four races at Darlington Raceway
  • Cole Custer (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in seven races at Darlington Raceway It is his 17th top-10 finish in 2024
  • Sheldon Creed (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in six races at Darlington Raceway
  • Jesse Love (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie
  • Justin Allgaier leads the point standings by 28 points over Cole Custer
Xfinity Series pit stops at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, Nevada - September 25, 2020 : Xfinity Series pit stops at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Brian LawdermilkGetty Images
Entry List
Qualifying
Lineup
Results
Loop Data
Accupredict
Draftkings Pts
Practice 1
Practice-Qualifying
Pit Stall Selections

Pit Stop Summary Report

Summary of each driver's pit stop during the race. Detailed Report is below the Summary Report.

Average Driver and Crew Pit Stop Time
Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway Pit Stop Summary
DRIVER ST FIN STATUS PIT STOPS AVG DRVR TIME DRVR RANK AVG CREW TIME CREW RANK AVG TTL TIME TTL RANK FST STOP SLW STOP
Christopher Bell 1 1 Running 3 33.723 1 14.334 2 48.057 1 47.747 48.562
Sheldon Creed 2 3 Running 3 34.287 7 14.080 1 48.367 2 47.789 49.280
Cole Custer 21 2 Running 3 34.209 5 14.648 4 48.857 3 47.894 49.416
Chandler Smith 5 8 Running 3 34.048 2 14.848 6 48.896 4 47.865 50.610
Austin Hill 6 9 Running 3 34.129 3 14.882 7 49.011 5 47.595 50.443
Jesse Love 23 6 Running 3 34.683 16 14.381 3 49.064 6 47.870 49.764
Chase Elliott 16 4 Running 3 34.416 12 14.748 5 49.164 7 48.076 50.969
AJ Allmendinger 4 27 Running 2 34.536 13 14.882 8 49.418 8 49.040 49.795
Sammy Smith 11 5 Running 3 34.717 18 15.226 9 49.943 9 48.581 51.768
Parker Kligerman 10 13 Running 3 34.595 15 15.593 11 50.188 10 49.651 50.854
Shane van Gisbergen 26 7 Running 3 34.366 10 15.927 13 50.293 11 49.184 51.579
Josh Williams 30 16 Running 3 34.398 11 16.194 14 50.592 12 49.875 51.067
Sam Mayer 3 28 Running 1 35.040 25 15.577 10 50.617 13 50.617 50.617
Justin Allgaier 20 10 Running 3 34.273 6 16.394 15 50.667 14 49.787 52.056
Jeb Burton 17 17 Running 3 35.003 23 15.849 12 50.853 15 49.519 51.973
Carson Kvapil 27 14 Running 3 34.840 20 16.472 16 51.312 16 50.021 52.493
Brennan Poole 28 20 Running 3 35.140 27 17.331 17 52.471 17 51.555 53.825
Ross Chastain 24 12 Running 3 34.697 17 17.862 18 52.559 18 50.721 55.916
Ryan Sieg 13 18 Running 3 34.361 9 18.307 19 52.668 19 51.811 54.377
Noah Gragson 29 15 Running 3 34.326 8 18.752 21 53.078 20 51.503 54.763
Jeremy Clements 25 31 Running 1 34.537 14 18.715 20 53.252 21 53.252 53.252
Corey Heim 12 25 Running 3 34.152 4 19.174 23 53.326 22 52.045 55.144
Joe Graf Jr 15 11 Running 3 35.034 24 18.785 22 53.819 23 49.700 59.195
Ryan Ellis 34 21 Running 3 35.812 30 19.366 24 55.178 24 53.810 57.727
Matt DiBenedetto 22 19 Running 3 34.855 21 21.610 28 56.465 25 55.353 57.986
Kyle Sieg 31 22 Running 3 34.827 19 22.281 30 57.108 26 53.622 62.568
Chad Finchum 37 33 Running 3 35.805 29 21.353 27 57.158 27 54.059 61.552
Leland Honeyman Jr 33 23 Running 3 36.422 32 20.920 25 57.342 28 54.032 62.615
Anthony Alfredo 14 26 Running 2 35.050 26 22.606 31 57.656 29 57.428 57.883
Garrett Smithley 36 30 Running 2 35.209 28 22.672 32 57.881 30 57.784 57.978
Parker Retzlaff 9 36 Running 2 36.992 33 21.872 29 58.863 31 53.549 64.177
Kyle Weatherman 19 37 Accident 1 34.950 22 24.123 35 59.073 32 59.073 59.073
Greg Van Alst 38 29 Running 2 38.014 34 21.254 26 59.267 33 58.445 60.089
Brandon Jones 7 32 Running 3 36.360 31 23.410 34 59.770 34 52.579 65.418
David Starr 35 24 Running 2 39.068 36 22.674 33 61.742 35 58.354 65.130
Riley Herbst 8 35 Running 1 39.003 35 26.159 36 65.162 36 65.162 65.162

Pit Stop Detailed Report

Each 2- and 4-wheel pit stop during the race.

Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway Pit Stop Detail
DRIVER LDR LAP DRV LAP DRV TIME CREW TIME TOT TIME TYPE
AJ Allmendinger 47 47 34.459 14.581 49.040 4-wheel change
AJ Allmendinger 92 92 34.612 15.183 49.795 4-wheel change
David Starr 146 145 38.931 19.423 58.354 4-wheel change
David Starr 93 93 39.205 25.925 65.130 4-wheel change
Justin Allgaier 92 92 34.403 15.384 49.787 4-wheel change
Justin Allgaier 47 47 34.409 15.748 50.157 4-wheel change
Justin Allgaier 144 144 34.006 18.050 52.056 4-wheel change
Parker Kligerman 47 47 34.370 15.281 49.651 4-wheel change
Parker Kligerman 92 92 34.510 15.550 50.060 4-wheel change
Parker Kligerman 144 144 34.905 15.949 50.854 4-wheel change
Chase Elliott 92 92 34.162 13.914 48.076 4-wheel change
Chase Elliott 144 144 34.200 14.247 48.447 4-wheel change
Chase Elliott 47 47 34.887 16.082 50.969 4-wheel change
Jeb Burton 144 144 35.372 14.147 49.519 4-wheel change
Jeb Burton 47 47 34.884 16.182 51.066 4-wheel change
Jeb Burton 92 92 34.754 17.219 51.973 4-wheel change
Matt DiBenedetto 47 47 35.134 20.219 55.353 4-wheel change
Matt DiBenedetto 144 144 34.302 21.754 56.056 4-wheel change
Matt DiBenedetto 92 92 35.129 22.857 57.986 4-wheel change
Ryan Ellis 144 144 35.826 17.984 53.810 4-wheel change
Ryan Ellis 47 47 35.946 18.051 53.997 4-wheel change
Ryan Ellis 92 92 35.663 22.064 57.727 4-wheel change
Ryan Sieg 144 144 34.461 17.350 51.811 4-wheel change
Ryan Sieg 92 92 34.164 17.653 51.817 4-wheel change
Ryan Sieg 47 47 34.459 19.918 54.377 4-wheel change
Ross Chastain 144 144 34.205 16.516 50.721 4-wheel change
Ross Chastain 92 92 34.789 16.251 51.040 4-wheel change
Ross Chastain 47 47 35.096 20.820 55.916 4-wheel change
Kyle Weatherman 47 47 34.950 24.123 59.073 4-wheel change
Brennan Poole 92 92 35.005 16.550 51.555 4-wheel change
Brennan Poole 144 144 35.083 16.950 52.033 4-wheel change
Brennan Poole 47 47 35.331 18.494 53.825 4-wheel change
Cole Custer 144 144 34.080 13.814 47.894 4-wheel change
Cole Custer 92 92 34.078 15.182 49.260 4-wheel change
Cole Custer 47 47 34.469 14.947 49.416 4-wheel change
Chad Finchum 47 47 35.207 18.852 54.059 4-wheel change
Chad Finchum 93 85 36.444 19.418 55.862 4-wheel change
Chad Finchum 31 31 35.764 25.788 61.552 4-wheel change
Garrett Smithley 93 92 35.663 22.121 57.784 4-wheel change
Garrett Smithley 48 48 34.755 23.223 57.978 4-wheel change
Christopher Bell 47 47 33.517 14.230 47.747 4-wheel change
Christopher Bell 144 144 34.148 13.714 47.862 4-wheel change
Christopher Bell 92 92 33.505 15.057 48.562 4-wheel change
Austin Hill 92 92 34.081 13.514 47.595 4-wheel change
Austin Hill 144 144 34.347 14.648 48.995 4-wheel change
Austin Hill 47 47 33.960 16.483 50.443 4-wheel change
Brandon Jones 129 125 35.637 16.942 52.579 4-wheel change
Brandon Jones 45 44 37.589 23.724 61.313 4-wheel change
Brandon Jones 68 67 35.854 29.564 65.418 4-wheel change
Jeremy Clements 129 125 34.537 18.715 53.252 4-wheel change
Joe Graf Jr 144 144 34.419 15.281 49.700 4-wheel change
Joe Graf Jr 92 92 34.845 17.718 52.563 4-wheel change
Joe Graf Jr 47 47 35.839 23.356 59.195 4-wheel change
Josh Williams 144 144 34.094 15.781 49.875 4-wheel change
Josh Williams 92 92 34.483 16.351 50.834 4-wheel change
Josh Williams 47 47 34.618 16.449 51.067 4-wheel change
Noah Gragson 144 144 34.454 17.049 51.503 4-wheel change
Noah Gragson 92 92 34.348 18.620 52.968 4-wheel change
Noah Gragson 47 47 34.177 20.586 54.763 4-wheel change
Riley Herbst 108 90 39.003 26.159 65.162 4-wheel change
Anthony Alfredo 93 92 35.040 22.388 57.428 4-wheel change
Anthony Alfredo 15 14 35.060 22.823 57.883 4-wheel change
Sheldon Creed 47 47 34.444 13.345 47.789 4-wheel change
Sheldon Creed 92 92 34.186 13.847 48.033 4-wheel change
Sheldon Creed 144 144 34.232 15.048 49.280 4-wheel change
Kyle Sieg 47 47 34.871 18.751 53.622 4-wheel change
Kyle Sieg 92 92 34.778 20.355 55.133 4-wheel change
Kyle Sieg 144 144 34.832 27.736 62.568 4-wheel change
Sam Mayer 112 110 35.040 15.577 50.617 4-wheel change
Chandler Smith 144 144 33.817 14.048 47.865 4-wheel change
Chandler Smith 92 92 33.865 14.348 48.213 4-wheel change
Chandler Smith 47 47 34.461 16.149 50.610 4-wheel change
Corey Heim 47 47 34.095 17.950 52.045 4-wheel change
Corey Heim 110 109 33.838 18.951 52.789 4-wheel change
Corey Heim 92 92 34.523 20.621 55.144 4-wheel change
Parker Retzlaff 48 23 36.599 16.950 53.549 4-wheel change
Parker Retzlaff 93 68 37.384 26.793 64.177 4-wheel change
Sammy Smith 144 144 34.800 13.781 48.581 4-wheel change
Sammy Smith 47 47 34.768 14.713 49.481 4-wheel change
Sammy Smith 92 92 34.584 17.184 51.768 4-wheel change
Leland Honeyman Jr 144 144 35.448 18.584 54.032 4-wheel change
Leland Honeyman Jr 47 47 35.561 19.819 55.380 4-wheel change
Leland Honeyman Jr 92 92 38.257 24.358 62.615 4-wheel change
Jesse Love 144 144 34.357 13.513 47.870 4-wheel change
Jesse Love 47 47 34.977 14.581 49.558 4-wheel change
Jesse Love 92 92 34.715 15.049 49.764 4-wheel change
Shane van Gisbergen 144 144 34.170 15.014 49.184 4-wheel change
Shane van Gisbergen 92 92 34.400 15.717 50.117 4-wheel change
Shane van Gisbergen 47 47 34.529 17.050 51.579 4-wheel change
Greg Van Alst 48 48 37.658 20.787 58.445 4-wheel change
Greg Van Alst 93 92 38.369 21.720 60.089 4-wheel change
Carson Kvapil 92 92 34.605 15.416 50.021 4-wheel change
Carson Kvapil 144 144 34.538 16.883 51.421 4-wheel change
Carson Kvapil 47 47 35.376 17.117 52.493 4-wheel change