Race Results

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200

Darlington Raceway

September 4th, 2021

Race #24 of the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season

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Laps Scheduled: 147
- Extended to 152 laps
Miles Raced : 207.6
Time of Race : 02 Hours 01 minutes 38 seconds
Average Speed: 102.422 mph
Margin of Victory : 00.219 seconds
Cautions: 8
Caution Laps: 41
Lead Changes: 19
Cars in Race : 40
Finished On Lead Lap: 27 (68%)

Noah Gragson celebrates in victory lane — Darlington, South Carolina - September 4th, 2021: Noah Gragson, driver of the #9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet, celebrates in the Ruoff Mortgage victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway. Photo by Jared C Tilton | Getty Images

FIN	ST	Car #	Driver	Make	TOT PTS	F PTS	B PTS	PO PTS	Laps	Led	x Led	S1	S2	STUS
1	8	9	Noah Gragson	Chevrolet	59	40	19	6	152	40	5	2	1	Running
2	6	20	Harrison Burton	Toyota	44	35	9	0	152	0	0	6	7	Running
3	24	22	Austin Cindric	Ford	46	34	12	0	152	1	1	7	3	Running
4	3	11	Justin Haley	Chevrolet	42	33	9	0	152	4	1	4	9	Running
5	5	10	Jeb Burton	Chevrolet	32	32	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
6	4	7	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	39	31	8	0	152	19	2	10	4	Running
7	28	23	Tyler Reddick	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
8	15	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	29	29	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
9	9	2	Myatt Snider	Chevrolet	31	28	3	0	152	0	0	9	10	Running
10	22	36	Alex Labbe	Chevrolet	27	27	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
11	12	39	Ryan Sieg	Ford	26	26	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
12	14	54	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	0	0	0	0	152	43	3	5	2	Running
13	10	2	Ty Dillon		24	24	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
14	19	1	Michael Annett	Chevrolet	23	23	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
15	16	92	Josh Williams	Chevrolet	22	22	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
16	17	4	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	21	21	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
17	31	26	Colin Garrett	Toyota	20	20	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
18	26	17	Mason Massey	Chevrolet	19	19	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
19	32	7	Joe Graf Jr	Chevrolet	18	18	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
20	2	16	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	30	17	13	0	152	24	4	3	6	Running
21	20	48	Jade Buford	Chevrolet	16	16	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
22	39	90	BJ McLeod	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
23	33	5	Matt Mills	Toyota	14	14	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
24	1	18	Daniel Hemric	Toyota	29	13	16	1	152	18	3	1	5	Running
25	27	6	Ryan Vargas	Chevrolet	12	12	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
26	21	0	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	11	11	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
27	30	15	Colby Howard	Chevrolet	10	10	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
28	23	68	Brandon Brown	Chevrolet	9	9	0	0	151	0	0	0	0	Running
29	35	31	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	151	0	0	0	8	Running
30	18	61	David Starr	Toyota	7	7	0	0	151	0	0	0	0	Running
31	38	74	Carson Ware	Chevrolet	6	6	0	0	151	0	0	0	0	Running
32	34	78	Jesse Little	Toyota	5	5	0	0	150	0	0	0	0	Running
33	25	19	Brandon Jones	Toyota	7	4	3	0	146	0	0	8	0	Running
34	37	47	Kyle Weatherman	Chevrolet	3	3	0	0	134	0	0	0	0	Running
35	36	99	Ryan Ellis	Ford	2	2	0	0	133	0	0	0	0	Running
36	29	66	Timmy Hill	Ford	0	0	0	0	116	3	1	0	0	Accident
37	13	44	Tommy Joe Martins	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	108	0	0	0	0	Accident
38	7	98	Riley Herbst	Ford	1	1	0	0	107	0	0	0	0	Accident
39	11	8	Sam Mayer	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	45	0	0	0	0	Brakes
40	40	52	Gray Gaulding	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	Electrical

Race Infractions

Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway

Driver	Infraction	Penalty	Lap	Lap Assessed	Flag
Gray Gaulding	Pre-Race to the Rear Missed driver intros	Tail End	0	0	White
Myatt Snider	Pre-Race to the Rear Driver change	Tail End	0	0	White
Justin Allgaier	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	14	15	Yellow
David Starr	Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon	Tail End	22	25	Yellow
Colin Garrett	Commitment Line Violation	Pass Thru	29	30	Green
Sam Mayer	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	43	0	Yellow
Kyle Weatherman	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	48	0	Yellow
Mason Massey	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	52	53	Yellow
Brandon Jones	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	59	64	Yellow
Ryan Ellis	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	63	64	Yellow
Brandon Jones	Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area	Tail End	94	97	Yellow
Riley Herbst	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	109	0	Yellow
Tommy Joe Martins	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	109	0	Yellow
Denny Hamlin	Unspecified Equipment over the wall too soon	Tail End	138	142	Yellow
Carson Ware	Commitment Line Violation	Tail End	138	142	Yellow

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Race Fast Facts

Darlington Raceway
39th Annual Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200
Race Winner: Noah Gragson
Age: 23
Team: No. 9 - Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet
Owner: Rick Hendrick
Crew Chief: David Elenz
Noah Gragson won the 39th Annual Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200, his third victory in 93 Xfinity Series races.
This is his first victory and 15th top-10 finish in 2021.
This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in five races at Darlington Raceway.
Harrison Burton (second) posted his third top-10 finish in four races at Darlington Raceway. It is his 17th top-10 finish in 2021.
Austin Cindric (third) posted his third top-10 finish in six races at Darlington Raceway.
Jade Buford (21st) was the highest finishing rookie.

Race Recap

Noah Gragson snags first 2021 victory with strong run at Darlington

September 4th, 2021

By Reid Spencer - NASCAR Wire Service

Fresh from the announcement of his return to JR Motorsports next year, Noah Gragson sped to victory at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, clinching a spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.

After pre-race favorite Denny Hamlin was sent to the rear under penalty for an equipment violation during a pit stop under caution on Lap 139, Gragson grabbed the lead from Daniel Hemric on Lap 143 and held it the rest of the way.

Gragson's victory in the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at the 1.366-mile speedway was his first of the season, his first at Darlington and the third of his career.

After debris from a Hemric spin on Lap 144 caused the eighth caution of the afternoon and sent the race to overtime, Gragson surged ahead on the final restart and finished .218 seconds ahead of runner-up Harrison Burton.

Reigning series champion Austin Cindric ran third, closing to a single point his deficit to current series leader AJ Allmendinger, who finished 20th after pitting under the final caution because of a loose wheel.

"It's been way too long," said Gragson, who celebrated by climbing the frontstretch catchfence with his team after climbing from his car. "I hate that the 54 (Hamlin) ...something happened to him on pit road. It was pretty fun racing there.

"We made good adjustments on the pit stops ... And like you said, it's been way too long. A lot of frustration this year, and things haven't gone our way, but we're getting some momentum when we need to, and I just can't thank everybody enough on this No. 9 team."

Hamlin appeared headed for his sixth Xfinity Series victory at Darlington when Brandon Jones spun off Turn 4 on Lap 138 of a scheduled 147. On the ensuing pit stop for new tires, Hamlin's crew was penalized for bringing equipment over the wall too soon, ending the driver's chances for a win.

Gragson took the checkered flag on Lap 152 at the end of the only overtime attempt. The victory marked his fifth straight finish of seventh or better.

Cindric took advantage of Allmendinger's late issue to set up a tight battle for the regular-season championship with two races left before the 12-driver Playoff field is set.

"We did a solid job all day trying to execute but we weren't perfect," Cindric said. "I'm proud of what we gained today with the Snap-On Ford Mustang. It's definitely the best race I feel like I've had at Darlington, just having the strength and not having too many weaknesses.

"As a team, that takes a lot of conversations throughout the week to try to get that right, so we righted a lot of wrongs for me at this race track today. I feel good about that."

Justin Haley, last weekend's Daytona winner, finished fourth, followed by Kaulig racing teammate Jeb Burton. Justin Allgaier, Tyler Reddick, Jeremy Clements, Myatt Snider and Alex Labbe completed the top 10.

There were eight cautions for a total of 41 laps and 19 lead changes among eight drivers. Hamlin, who finished 12th, led a race-high 43 laps. Gragson was out front for 40 circuits.

According to Cindric, the fresh strip of pavement in Turn 2 seemed to gain grip throughout the race but did not play a significant role in the outcome.

"Today when we showed up it was a construction site, and now it's a race track," Cindric said. "That's the way I see it. It's dirty. It's new asphalt. We're the first cars to run on it. It gained grip throughout the day. It got cleaned throughout the day. It got more raceable throughout the day. I don't think it will be much of a story line tomorrow (in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race)."