The NASCAR Xfinity Series kicked off the Round of 12 playoffs Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Alsco 300. A pair of Fords led the field with Chase Briscoe winning the pole by a metric qualifying system and Austin Cindric qualified second. The “Choose Cone Rule” was in effect for this race.
The Round of 12 starts now at @LVMotorSpeedway! We're green in the #Alsco300 on NBCSN! pic.twitter.com/PVrc3gcUFR — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 26, 2020
Eight laps into the race, Kyle Weatherman got into the inside wall at the front stretch with a steering issue to bring out the first caution. Chase Briscoe chose the outside lane while Cindric went inside for the restart in lap 14. Austin Cindric got the lead from Briscoe on the same lap. Briscoe would lose one more spot to Ross Chastain to sit in third place. Briscoe got loose and would lose two more positions to fifth four laps later. A spin by Austin Hill at turn two brought out the second caution.
Concerning? Probably. @ChaseBriscoe5 | #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/kaQ0mjV6YZ — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 27, 2020
During the caution, nine cars that were at the back of the field went to pit road. Cindric chose the inside lane, and Chastain went outside for the restart on lap 24. Chastain was able to get the lead from Cindric from the outside. Five laps later, Ryan Sieg was next to challenge Chastain for the lead but was unsuccessful. Ten laps later, Briscoe made his back to the lead after restarting sixth. Briscoe led the last seven laps to win stage one.
NEW LEADER: @RossChastain completes the pass of @AustinCindric on the outside to take over the top spot! #Alsco300 pic.twitter.com/rjajGE98Mf — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 27, 2020
.@ChaseBriscoe5 … coming through! He takes over the lead late in Stage 1 at @LVMotorSpeedway 📺: NBCSN | 🖥: https://t.co/593lUVrknA pic.twitter.com/Njz0yob5aN — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 27, 2020
During the caution, all of the leaders came to pit road for service with Briscoe coming out first, followed by Ryan Sieg. Briscoe chose the outside lane while Ryan Sieg went inside to start stage two on lap 52. Twenty-one laps into stage two, Noah Gragson, passed Ryan Sieg for second. He was catching Briscoe in the closing stages of stage two. Briscoe was able to hold off Gragson to win stage two. This is the first time in Briscoe’s Xfinity Series career to sweep the first two stages. During the caution, all leaders went to pit road for four tires with Briscoe and Gragson holding on to the top two positions. Briscoe chose the outside lane while Gragson went inside to start the final stage on lap 97.
.@ChaseBriscoe5 leads, but the early story is @RyanSiegRacing! The No. 39 is P3 midway through Stage 2. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/PYwbZrMK7j — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 27, 2020
On lap 107, Daniel Hemric and Anthony Alfredo made contact, battling for the ninth position. On lap 140, playoff contender Brandon Brown went a lap down to Chase Briscoe. Scheduled green flag pit stops began on lap 144 with Harrison Burton going to pit road. Gragson pitted on lap 147, five seconds behind Briscoe. Briscoe came in a lap later as Ryan Sieg took over the lead. Sieg came in a lap later but overshot his pit box and had to back up. Michael Annett was now the new leader and the last car to not pit. Five laps later, a tire was sitting on the front stretch grass to bring out the caution for the fifth time.
Not wrong. https://t.co/KKzQe35rZl — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 27, 2020
During the caution, Annett, along with seven others, went to pit road. Chase Briscoe chose the outside lane while Austin Cindric went inside for the restart on lap 161. On lap 185, Briscoe had a 6.5-second lead but was wiped out when Alex Labbe’s car slowed at the backstretch and came to a stop at the beginning of pit road for the sixth caution.
An issue for the No. 98?@ChaseBriscoe5, despite being the leader, might have a problem! pic.twitter.com/jaxI5nSz3x — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 27, 2020
During the caution, all of the leaders went to pit road with Briscoe coming out first, followed by Gragson, Annett, and Burton. Briscoe chose the outside lane while Gragson went inside. Brandon Brown ran over the cone and restarted at the back of the field for the restart on lap 192. Briscoe would lead the last eight laps to score his eighth win of the season by 1.370 seconds over Noah Gragson. Briscoe tied both Jack Ingram and Sam Ard for the most wins in Xfinity Series history. Both drivers won eight races each in 1984.
See you in the Round of 8! Retweet to congratulate @ChaseBriscoe5 on a dominating performance in Las Vegas! pic.twitter.com/eoCzEBYG2b — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 27, 2020
The rest of the top ten finishers were Daniel Hemric third, Justin Allgaier fourth, Ryan Sieg fifth, Austin Cindric sixth, Michael Annett seventh, Anthony Alfredo eighth, Harrison Burton ninth, and Justin Haley tenth. There were six cautions for 28 laps and eight lead changes.
With the win, Chase Briscoe moves on to the next round of the playoffs. The rest of the playoff standings are Austin Cindric second (+53), Noah Gragson third (+36), Justin Allgaier fourth (+28), Justin Haley fifth (+14), Brandon Jones sixth (+13), Ryan Sieg seventh (+9), and Harrison Burton eighth (+2). Outside looking in the Round of 8 are Ross Chastain ninth (-2), Michael Annett tenth (-10), Riley Herbst eleventh (-14), and Brandon Brown twelfth (-20).
The Round of 12 continues next Saturday from Talladega Superspeedway in the Ag-Pro 300 at 4:30 pm on NBCSN.
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