Race Results

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Sparks 300

Talladega Superspeedway

October 1st, 2022

Race #28 of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season

Laps Scheduled: 113
Miles Raced : 300.6
Time of Race : 01 Hours 53 minutes 33 seconds
Average Speed: 158.827 mph
Margin of Victory : 00.015 seconds
Cautions: 3
Caution Laps: 11
Lead Changes: 20
Cars in Race : 38
Finished On Lead Lap: 23 (61%)

AJ Allmendinger celebrates in victory lane — Alabama, Alabama - October 1st, 2022: AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #16 Action Industries Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. Photo by Sean Gardner | Getty Images

FIN	ST	Car #	Driver	Make	TOT PTS	F PTS	B PTS	PO PTS	Laps	Led	x Led	S1	S2	STUS
1	8	16	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	53	40	13	5	113	3	3	6	3	Running
2	13	1	Sam Mayer	Chevrolet	41	35	6	0	113	3	2	10	6	Running
3	18	10	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	34	34	0	0	113	0	0	0	0	Running
4	14	39	Ryan Sieg	Ford	35	33	2	0	113	11	2	0	9	Running
5	7	8	Josh Berry	Chevrolet	33	32	1	0	113	0	0	0	10	Running
6	9	48	Parker Kligerman	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	113	0	0	0	0	Running
7	2	54	Ty Gibbs	Toyota	33	30	3	0	113	0	0	8	0	Running
8	12	11	Daniel Hemric	Chevrolet	37	29	8	0	113	0	0	3	0	Running
9	5	19	Brandon Jones	Toyota	38	28	10	0	113	1	1	4	8	Running
10	6	9	Noah Gragson	Chevrolet	27	27	0	0	113	1	1	0	0	Running
11	23	98	Riley Herbst	Ford	26	26	0	0	113	0	0	0	0	Running
12	3	2	Sheldon Creed	Chevrolet	34	25	9	0	113	2	1	2	0	Running
13	11	18	Trevor Bayne	Toyota	37	24	13	0	113	13	2	5	4	Running
14	1	21	Austin Hill	Chevrolet	43	23	20	2	113	60	5	1	1	Running
15	4	7	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	35	22	13	0	113	6	1	7	2	Running
16	20	23	Anthony Alfredo	Chevrolet	21	21	0	0	113	0	0	0	0	Running
17	16	27	Jeb Burton	Chevrolet	26	20	6	0	113	0	0	0	5	Running
18	35	66	JJ Yeley	Ford	19	19	0	0	113	0	0	0	0	Running
19	30	36	Josh Williams	Chevrolet	18	18	0	0	113	0	0	0	0	Running
20	37	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	17	17	0	0	113	0	0	0	0	Running
21	25	5	Joey Gase	Chevrolet	16	16	0	0	113	0	0	0	0	Running
22	19	7	Joe Graf Jr	Ford	15	15	0	0	113	0	0	0	0	Running
23	26	26	Derek Griffith	Toyota	14	14	0	0	113	0	0	0	0	Running
24	24	4	Bayley Currey	Chevrolet	13	13	0	0	112	12	2	0	0	Running
25	33	8	David Starr	Ford	12	12	0	0	112	0	0	0	0	Running
26	32	78	BJ McLeod	Chevrolet	11	11	0	0	112	0	0	0	0	Running
27	36	13	Timmy Hill	Toyota	0	0	0	0	112	1	1	0	0	Running
28	22	34	Jesse Iwuji	Chevrolet	9	9	0	0	112	0	0	0	0	Running
29	28	38	CJ McLaughlin	Ford	8	8	0	0	112	0	0	0	0	Running
30	10	6	Ryan Vargas	Chevrolet	7	7	0	0	112	0	0	0	0	Running
31	31	45	Caesar Bacarella	Chevrolet	6	6	0	0	112	0	0	0	0	Running
32	34	44	Howie Disavino III	Chevrolet	5	5	0	0	112	0	0	0	0	Running
33	17	68	Brandon Brown	Chevrolet	10	4	6	0	112	0	0	9	7	Running
34	38	47	Mike Harmon		3	3	0	0	111	0	0	0	0	Running
35	21	31	Myatt Snider	Chevrolet	2	2	0	0	111	0	0	0	0	Running
36	15	2	Blaine Perkins	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	110	0	0	0	0	Running
37	27	35	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Toyota	1	1	0	0	109	0	0	0	0	Running
38	29	91	Mason Massey	Chevrolet	1	1	0	0	95	0	0	0	0	Running

Race Infractions

Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway

Driver	Infraction	Penalty	Lap	Lap Assessed	Flag
Timmy Hill	Pre-Race to the Rear Missing Driver Introductions	Tail End	0	0	White
Joey Gase	Pre-Race to the Rear Engine Change	Tail End	0	0	White
BJ McLeod	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Bayley Currey	Pre-Race to the Rear Missing Driver Introductions	Tail End	0	0	White
Caesar Bacarella	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Jeremy Clements	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Noah Gragson	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Mason Massey	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Jesse Iwuji	Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved Adjustments	Tail End	0	0	White
Howie Disavino III	Pre-Race to the Rear Missing Driver Introductions	Tail End	0	0	White
Ty Gibbs	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	2	6	Yellow
Bayley Currey	Going above the blend line exiting the pits	Tail End	28	30	Yellow
Sheldon Creed	Going above the blend line exiting the pits	Tail End	28	30	Yellow
Howie Disavino III	Going above the blend line exiting the pits	Tail End	28	30	Yellow
Sam Mayer	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	51	55	Yellow
CJ McLaughlin	Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area	Tail End	53	55	Yellow
Mason Massey	Speeding on pit road	Pass Thru	70	72	Green
Howie Disavino III	Speeding on pit road	Pass Thru	73	76	Green
Bayley Currey	Speeding on pit road	Pass Thru	80	82	Green
Ryan Vargas	Speeding on pit road	Pass Thru	80	81	Green
Sheldon Creed	Speeding on pit road	Pass Thru	95	97	Green

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Race Fast Facts

Talladega Superspeedway
3rd Annual Sparks 300
Race Winner: AJ Allmendinger
Age: 40
Team : No. 16 - Action Industries Chevrolet
Owner: Matthew Kaulig
Crew Chief: Bruce Schlicker
AJ Allmendinger won the 3rd Annual Sparks 300, his 14th victory in 88 Xfinity Series races.
This is his fourth victory and 25th top-10 finish in 2022.
This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in six races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Sam Mayer (second) posted his first top-10 finish in three races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his 16th top-10 finish in 2022.
Landon Cassill (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in eight races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Sheldon Creed (12th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Noah Gragson leads the point standings by 0 points over AJ Allmendinger.

Race Recap

AJ Allmendinger Makes Last Lap Pass to Win Xfinity Race at Talladega

October 1st, 2022

By Holly Cain - NASCAR Wire Service

Three times A.J. Allmendinger has led the white flag lap on a superspeedway track and not been able to lead that next lap to earn the big trophy.

On Saturday, the veteran waited and pulled ahead of the field in the final feet coming to the Sparks 300 checkered flag at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and edged 19-year old Sam Mayer by .015-second - about three feet - in a photo finish to earn his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win at NASCAR's biggest track.

It marked the regular season champ Allmendinger's fourth victory in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet this season and first ever at a superspeedway venue. Most importantly, the win - coming in the second race of the opening round of the Playoffs - is an automatic ticket through to the next round of Xfinity Series Playoff competition.

"Let's gooooooo," an absolutely elated Allmendinger screamed into the grandstands after climbing out of his car and accepting the checkered flag at the iconic track.

"Gosh, we've been so close to winning one (superspeedway race) and I feel like I keep giving them away. Thought I might have given it away. I'm still learning, trying to know what too big of a lead is. But honestly, all credit to (Kaulig teammate) Landon Cassill.

"He kept shoving me. He stuck with me. That's what is great about Kaulig Racing, when you have teammates like Landon and Daniel (Hemric) that you know wherever you go, they'll go with you. So thank you Landon.

"Man, I just wanted to win a superspeedway and finally got it," added a grinning Allmendinger, who now claims 14 career Xfinity Series victories.

Cassill finished third, followed by Ryan Sieg and JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry - all Playoff contenders. Parker Kligerman was sixth, followed by Playoff drivers Ty Gibbs, Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones and Noah Gragson.

It marked quite the comeback for Gibbs, who qualified on the front row, but was involved in the only on-track yellow flag for an incident on the afternoon. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver's No. 54 Toyota was tagged from behind by Justin Allgaier while racing in a tight pack up front only three laps into the 113-lap race. Gibbs spun out but was remarkably untouched by any other car.

A quick pit stop and impressive pit strategy later, Gibbs was running around the Top-10 in the closing laps of the race and managed to recover to that seventh place final effort.

Gragson, driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, was looking to become the first driver in NASCAR Xfinity Series history to win five consecutive races and was running among the Top-3 with 10 laps to go.

His ultimate move forward for the win in the closing laps was blocked and he instead finished 10th. Although just short of that historic victory nod, he had already earned his automatic ticket to the Playoffs second round by virtue of his victory last week at Texas (his seventh on the season and fourth in a row).

"We're going to keep it going," Gragson said after the race. "I have a super motivated team… you want to win them all, but you can't do that sometimes."

Polesitter and series rookie Austin Hill, who swept the two stage wins and for the second straight race led the most laps - 60 on Saturday - also dropped out of the lead group in the waning laps to the checkered flag. He finished 14th.

With Allmendinger and Gragson having earned automatic bids in ton the next round of the Playoffs, Gibbs (-21) and Hill (-27) are ranked third and fourth in the standings, followed by Berry, Allgaier - who finished 15th Saturday - Mayer and Sieg in that eighth and final transfer position.

Defending series champion Hemric (-6), Brandon Jones (-10), Riley Herbst (-10) and Jeremy Clements (-47) are ranked ninth through 12th heading into the final race of this Playoff round.

Up next is the Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina on Saturday (3 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). A.J. Allmendinger has won the last three races.