The doubleheader concluded Friday night for the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Kentucky Speedway in the Alsco 300. After the race last night, Justin Allgaier was taken to the hospital and kept overnight. He was released Friday morning for a non-racing related medical purpose and was cleared to race Friday night. Based on the finishes from last night, positions were inverted as Myatt Snider was the pole sitter, and next to him was Jesse Little. Austin Cindric, the winner of last night’s race, started 15th.
NASCAR put in a competition caution for lap 20. Before the race began, nine cars were sent to the rear of the field, including Garrett Smithley, Colby Howard, Brandon Jones, Kody Vanderwal, Timmy Hill, Brandon Brown, Ronnie Bassett Jr. all going to backup cars. Daniel Hemric (driver change), and Tommy Joe Martins (adjustments) also headed to the rear of the field.
GREEN GREEN GREEN@MyattSnider steps on the loud pedal to get the #Alsco300 underway at @KySpeedway! pic.twitter.com/J9XuMN0bTU — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 11, 2020
Myatt Snider led the field to the green flag to get the race underway. Kyle Weatherman got into some trouble coming off of turn two, hitting the outside wall hard. No caution came out, and Weatherman would hit the wall again before slowing down to enter pit road and taking his car to the garage ending his day. Meanwhile, Myatt Snider got loose coming off of turn four and lost the lead to Jeremy Clements. On the third lap, Ryan Sieg got loose exiting turn two almost hitting Snider but would spin and hit the inside wall to bring out the first caution of the night.
Not how you want to start. A slick track gets the best of @RyanSiegRacing early at @KySpeedway. pic.twitter.com/uheVOg67qo — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 11, 2020
No one came to pit road under caution. Clements led the field back to green on the seventh lap. Both Clements and Gragson were fighting for the lead when Gragson slid up the track. Clements went inside before the outside lane came into play and helped Gragson get the lead on lap 12. Gragson remained in the lead when the competition caution came out at lap 21. Most of the leaders stayed out with Brandon Brown pitting from the 17th position along with five other cars. Gragson led the field back to green with twenty to go in stage one. Gragson, Burton, and Cindric were battling for the lead; however, all three drivers had to overcome lapped down cars. For the second night in a row, Noah Gragson would win stage one. Timmy Hill got the free pass.
Two drivers wheelin' for the lead!@JClements51 | @NoahGragson pic.twitter.com/LM0z3WBXNs — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 11, 2020
Just like Thursday, Noah Gragson wins opening stage Friday at Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/vCBdZrYalZ — Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 11, 2020
Under caution, all of the lead lap cars pitted for four tires and fuel with Noah Gragson winning the race off of pit road; however, he was caught speeding and went to the rear of the field, leaving Harrison Burton as the leader. Burton led the field back to green on lap 53 to start stage two. Cindric was on Burton’s tail from the restart, and he would eventually get the lead from him on lap 63 with an inside pass at the front stretch.
22 looking for number 2 on back-2-back nights.@AustinCindric is your leader at @KySpeedway! pic.twitter.com/6sANa7fxle — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 11, 2020
Noah Gragson worked his way up to tenth after restarting in the rear. Burton would drop two positions after both Anthony Alfredo and Chase Briscoe got by him. Cindric was pulling away and lapping more cars, and he easily took the stage two win. Brandon Brown got the free pass, and now there were thirteen cars on the lead lap.
Austin Cindric wins the second stage at Kentucky as he looks to win back-to-back races. pic.twitter.com/xOQxemOWby — Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 11, 2020
Under the caution, all of the leaders pitted with Cindric winning the race off of pit road. Riley Herbst came out second, Anthony Alfredo came out fifth after entering second, and Ross Chastain was caught speeding and was sent to the rear of the field. Cindric led the field back to green on lap 98 to start the final stage.
Cindric and Herbst. Look familiar? The two top finishers from yesterday lead us to the final stage at @KySpeedway!@AustinCindric | @rileyherbst pic.twitter.com/niAWNPSwyY — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 11, 2020
During the green flag run, Cindric was able to get in front of Herbst to keep the lead and started to pull away from the rest of the field. On lap 126, Jesse Little slid at turn two but managed to save his car from hitting the wall while running in the 17th position. Daniel Hemric took the second position from Riley Herbst; however, Hemric was trailing by almost seven seconds to Cindric. Noah Gragson was the first car to make his scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 143. Hemric would pit four laps later, trailing Cindric by 6.76 seconds. Two laps later, Austin Cindric pitted, and the new leader was now Chase Briscoe. Ross Chastain was the last car to pit, and Cindric resumed the lead. Cindric had a 10.122 second lead on Daniel Hemric.
Cindric’s lead was now 12 seconds with 22 laps to go, Brandon Jones got loose battling for the third position when his car got loose, and his rear hit the outside wall off of turn two to bring out the fifth caution of the night. Daniel Hemric also got into the wall but did not suffer significant damage.
Fortunes can turn in a second.@BrandonJonesRac snaps around and hits the outside wall at @KySpeedway. pic.twitter.com/dclg43g1Ai — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 11, 2020
Under the caution, all of the lead lap cars pitted for four tires and fuel with Austin Cindric winning the race off of pit road and Daniel Hemric coming out second. Anthony Alfredo got sideways entering pit road; however, a too many men over the wall penalty sent Alfredo to the rear of the field. Cindric led the field back to green with 13 laps to go.
Several cars were bumping and banging as the final laps ticked down involving the JR Motorsports cars. Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe checked out from the rest of the field. Unfortunately for Briscoe, he could not catch the 22 car of Austin Cindric as he would complete the sweep at Kentucky Speedway, winning the Alsco 300 by 2.262 seconds over the second-place finisher Chase Briscoe. This last time a driver won on consecutive nights was Richard Petty in 1971. After the race, a fight broke out between Noah Gragson and Harrison Burton.
Time is running and so is grip. @NoahGragson gets into @HBurtonRacing 😬. pic.twitter.com/n1olAtsfbU — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 11, 2020
Two nights in a row. Retweet to congratulate @AustinCindric on his Kentucky Speedway sweep! pic.twitter.com/bsWebJdY2g — FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) July 11, 2020
A fight breaks out on pit road between @HBurtonRacing and @NoahGragson! pic.twitter.com/3Xvvw1u9rk — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 11, 2020
The rest of the top ten finishers had Chevrolet’s finishing third through ninth. They were Justin Haley third, Ross Chastain fourth, Justin Allgaier fifth, Anthony Alfredo sixth, Noah Gragson seventh, Michael Annett eighth, Daniel Hemric ninth, and Riley Herbst tenth. There were seven lead changes by six drivers and five cautions.
The Xfinity Series will now head to Texas Motor Speedway next Saturday for the My Bariatric Solutions 300 at 3 pm on NBCSN.
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