XFINITY Series Darlington Raceway

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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
Cole Custer celebrates in victory lane
Avondale, Arizona - November 4, 2023 : Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway.
Jared C TiltonGetty Images

Race weekend links appear as data becomes available.

Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway Practice results
# DRIVER MAKE RNK SPD TME BHND LAP LAPS 5- 10- 15- 20- 25- 30- 10-LAP FRM TO
16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 22 160.120 30.712 0.699 2 20 30.979 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
15 Joey Logano Ford 9 162.420 30.277 0.264 3 27 30.641 30.957 31.279 31.573 31.883 0 158.876 1 10
David Starr 36 156.397 31.443 1.430 2 11 32.192 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 10 162.035 30.349 0.336 2 25 30.754 31.020 31.333 31.619 31.877 0 158.546 1 10
48 Parker Kligerman Chevrolet 16 160.921 30.559 0.546 2 25 30.981 31.496 31.719 31.917 32.095 0 156.234 1 10
17 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 7 162.975 30.174 0.161 2 17 30.527 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
27 Jeb Burton Chevrolet 26 159.104 30.908 0.895 5 19 31.090 31.487 0 0 0 0 156.211 4 13
38 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 31 158.331 31.059 1.046 2 20 31.268 32.466 0 0 0 0 151.482 9 18
43 Ryan Ellis Chevrolet 25 159.336 30.863 0.850 3 18 31.303 32.692 0 0 0 0 150.436 8 17
39 Ryan Sieg Ford 23 159.953 30.744 0.731 3 22 31.005 31.414 0 0 0 0 156.576 1 10
92 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 20 160.397 30.659 0.646 2 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 155.549 1 10
91 Kyle Weatherman Chevrolet 29 158.740 30.979 0.966 2 16 31.277 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
44 Brennan Poole Chevrolet 27 159.063 30.916 0.903 2 16 32.296 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
00 Cole Custer Ford 13 161.376 30.473 0.460 2 17 31.025 31.346 31.623 0 0 0 156.907 1 10
14 Chad Finchum Ford 39 154.166 31.898 1.885 7 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
45 Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 37 155.951 31.533 1.520 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
20 Christopher Bell Toyota 14 161.143 30.517 0.504 2 27 30.897 31.281 31.589 31.840 32.057 0 157.242 1 10
21 Austin Hill Chevrolet 1 163.849 30.013 0.000 2 25 30.304 30.719 31.025 31.254 31.509 0 160.121 2 11
9 Brandon Jones Chevrolet 4 163.408 30.094 0.081 2 25 30.561 30.987 31.344 31.711 31.937 0 158.740 1 10
51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 21 160.391 30.660 0.647 2 15 32.453 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
19 Joe Graf Jr Toyota 18 160.475 30.644 0.631 3 27 31.103 31.565 31.904 32.127 32.418 0 155.837 2 11
11 Josh Williams Chevrolet 24 159.404 30.850 0.837 3 25 31.079 31.484 31.804 32.113 32.333 0 156.224 1 10
30 Noah Gragson Ford 2 163.604 30.058 0.045 2 27 30.406 30.764 31.114 31.480 31.744 0 159.881 1 10
98 Riley Herbst Ford 15 161.048 30.535 0.522 2 23 31.064 31.346 31.583 31.800 0 0 156.905 1 10
5 Anthony Alfredo Chevrolet 11 162.030 30.350 0.337 3 18 30.617 31.005 31.323 0 0 0 158.639 2 11
18 Sheldon Creed Toyota 19 160.459 30.647 0.634 2 27 30.881 31.210 31.546 31.852 32.113 0 157.588 1 10
29 Blaine Perkins Ford 32 157.762 31.171 1.158 3 21 31.974 32.251 32.500 0 0 0 152.496 5 14
28 Kyle Sieg Ford 33 157.722 31.179 1.166 2 24 31.359 31.703 32.101 32.371 0 0 155.140 2 11
1 Sam Mayer Chevrolet 30 158.648 30.997 0.984 4 23 31.224 31.448 31.707 31.911 0 0 156.383 2 11
Dawson Cram 28 158.894 30.949 0.936 3 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
81 Chandler Smith Toyota 17 160.864 30.570 0.557 2 26 30.926 31.269 31.577 31.893 32.128 0 157.292 1 10
26 Corey Heim Toyota 5 163.262 30.121 0.108 2 19 31.485 31.736 0 0 0 0 154.963 5 14
31 Parker Retzlaff Chevrolet 3 163.522 30.073 0.060 3 15 30.406 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
8 Sammy Smith Chevrolet 12 161.529 30.444 0.431 3 26 30.878 31.087 31.417 31.660 31.893 0 158.209 1 10
42 Leland Honeyman Jr Chevrolet 38 155.291 31.667 1.654 2 20 31.893 32.259 32.576 32.893 0 0 152.472 1 10
2 Jesse Love Chevrolet 8 162.959 30.177 0.164 2 22 30.554 30.996 0 0 0 0 158.697 1 10
97 Shane van Gisbergen Chevrolet 35 157.177 31.287 1.274 3 22 31.705 32.630 0 0 0 0 150.719 10 19
07 Greg Van Alst Chevrolet 34 157.424 31.238 1.225 2 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
88 Carson Kvapil Chevrolet 6 163.045 30.161 0.148 2 24 30.813 31.166 31.506 31.788 0 0 157.825 2 11