Practice #1 : Bristol Motor Speedway

• Bristol Motor Speedway
• 41st Annual Food City 300
• Pole Winner: Ty Gibbs
• Age: 19
• Team : No. 54 - Monster Energy Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
• Crew Chief: Chris Gayle
• Ty Gibbs won the Pole Award for the 41st Annual Food City 300 with a lap of 15.653 seconds, 122.584 mph.
• This is his fifth pole in 44 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
• This is his fourth pole and 21st top-10 start in 2022.
• This is his first pole in two races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Josh Berry (second) posted his 18th top-10 start of 2022 and his first in two races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Justin Allgaier (third) posted his 20th top-10 start at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his 18th in 26 races this season.
• Austin Hill (15th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

• Friday, September 16th, 2022
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Noah Gragson claims third straight Xfinity victory in Bristol shootout

Make it three in a row for Noah Gragson, who has built enormous momentum as the NASCAR Xfinity Series moves into its seven-race Playoff.

On 90-lap older tires, Gragson held off Brandon Jones, the driver who will take his seat in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet next year, in a 20-lap green-flag run to the finish of Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The victory was Gragson’s third straight in the series, his sixth of the season and the 11th of his career.

The race also settled the series Playoff picture. Despite power-steering issues, Daniel Hemric clinched one of the two available spots in the 12-driver Playoff field with a 20th-place finish. Ryan Sieg claimed the final berth, finishing 10th—his first top-10 run in 16 Bristol starts—after brake issues sent Landon Cassill to the garage for 112 laps and relegated him to 35th.

AJ Allmendinger clinched his second straight Regular Season Championship with a sixth-place result.

When J.J. Yeley slammed the inside wall after slight contact from race leader Justin Allgaier, on Lap 271, Gragson and crew chief Luke Lambert opted to stay on the track while all the other lead-lap cars pitted for fresh tires. 

After the restart on Lap 281, Gragson pulled out to a one-second lead before Jones began to close the gap on new rubber. Jones got to Gragson’s bumper but couldn’t find a way past the No. 9 Chevrolet. Gragson crossed the finish line .145 seconds ahead of Jones’ No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

“That last caution came out, and I knew if I could ring the top, it was going to be hard for them to get there,” said Gragson, who will graduate to a full-time NASCAR Cup Series ride with Petty GMS in 2023. “I appreciate Brandon Jones racing us clean. He gave us the bumper with two (laps) to go, and I was hanging on, scrubbing the fence.

“We won here in Bristol in 2020 and there were no fans here (because of the coronavirus pandemic)… What a great opportunity to race here in front of fans and have the opportunity to win the race. Our car was fast all day. We got to the top and we were rolling. I had a blast.”

A rueful Jones provided a post-mortem of the event on pit road.

“This one hurt the most because this was our race to lose, I thought,” Jones said. “Fresher tires certainly paid off there at the end. I just caught him (Gragson) at the wrong time every time.”

Gragson’s stiffest competition—his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier—wasn’t at the front of the field for the ending. Allgaier led the procession of lead-lap cars to pit road when Gragson stayed out, but a speeding penalty sent him to the rear of the field for the final restart.

“I know what happened; I didn’t really think I was speeding, but obviously I was,” said Allgaier, who has led 791 laps in his last seven Bristol races without winning. “I just hate it for everybody. It was cool for (Noah) to get the win. I cannot believe that they were able to stay out there and still run the speed they were.

“I love to hate this place. I’m close to 1,000 career laps led here (actually 1,004) and only one win, and that was over 10 years ago (2010). So, I’ve just got to do a better job next time.”

Allgaier led a race-high 148 laps on Friday, to 89 for Ty Gibbs, 34 for Sheldon Creed and 25 for Gragson.

Gragson also was instrumental in changing the complexion of the race in the middle of Stage 2. Pole winner Gibbs had won the first stage wire-to-wire, but on Lap 129, while Gibbs and Creed were battling for the lead, contact from Gragson’s Chevrolet sent Gibbs’ Toyota into Creed’s Camaro.

Both Gibbs and Creed crashed hard into the outside wall and were eliminated from the race.

Austin Hill finished third, followed by Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst. Allmendinger, Josh Berry, Stefan Parsons, Allgaier and Sieg completed the top 10.

• Drivers Entered: 41 (3 drivers will not make the race)
• Laps Scheduled: 300
• Margin of Victory: 0.145 Seconds
• Time of Race: 1 Hours 58 Minutes 27 Seconds
• Average Speed: 80.996
• Cautions: 8 for 58 laps
• Lead Changes: 6
• Green Flag Passes: 1,276 (5.3 passes per green flag lap)

• Bristol Motor Speedway
• 41st Annual Food City 300
• Race Winner: Noah Gragson
• Age: 24
• Team : No. 9 - Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet
• Owner: JR Motorsports
• Crew Chief: Lucas Lambert
• Noah Gragson won the 41st Annual Food City 300, his 11th victory in 128 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
• This is his career-high sixth victory and 19th top-10 finish in 2022.
• This is his second victory and fourth top-10 finish in six races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Brandon Jones (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 13 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his 10th top-10 finish in 2022.
• Austin Hill (third) posted his first top-10 finish in his series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Austin Hill (third) was the highest finishing rookie.
• AJ Allmendinger wins the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship.
• Daniel Hemric and Ryan Sieg clinch the final two spots in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.