Darlington Raceway, a track known for punishing rookies and veterans, and earned the nickname “Too Tough To Tame.” It is the home for Throwback weekend with the NASCAR Xfinity Series kicking off the Labor Day weekend Saturday afternoon for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200. Justin Haley won the pole by a metric qualifying system along with Chase Briscoe starting next to him in the front row.
Trouble out of the gate at @TooToughToTame! 💥 Tune in to the #SportClips200 on NBC and https://t.co/593lUV9Jw2. pic.twitter.com/z47nyLX5qd — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 5, 2020
On the first lap of the race, Anthony Alfredo went up the racetrack, making contact with the outside wall off of turn two in front of Daniel Hemric, causing him to also hit the wall and slide down the track hitting Ryan Sieg before hitting the inside wall to bring out the first caution. Brandon Brown was also involved in the wreck trying to avoid Ryan Sieg.
With the “Choose Cone Rule” marker just past the start/finish line, Justin Haley chose the outside lane for the restart while Chase Briscoe, the inside lane improving his position from third to second. On the restart, Justin Haley spun his tires, allowing Chase Briscoe to take the lead. Four laps later, Ross Chastain passed Chase Briscoe for the lead, and four laps later, Briscoe would lose the second position to Austin Cindric. The competition caution would come out on lap 20. During the caution, most of the cars pitted, including Riley Herbst, Austin Hill, Jesse Little, along with seven others. Ross Chastain chose the outside lane while Justin Haley chose the inside, improving his position from fourth to second as the race got back underway on lap 26.
Denny Hamlin would take the lead away from Ross Chastain on lap 33 after starting at the tail end of the field. On lap 41, Justin Haley suffered front end damage after making contact with Justin Allgaier at turn four. Upfront, Denny Hamlin would win stage one with Brandon Brown getting the free pass.
Justin Haley has fallen out of the top 10 after taking on some damage via contact with Justin Allgaier pic.twitter.com/HHOIi45qQA — Matt Mayer (@MatthewMayerCBS) September 5, 2020
During the caution, Hamlin led the field down pit road with everyone taking four tires. Chase Briscoe won the race off of pit road. Hamlin would come out eleventh after a slow stop. Chase Briscoe chose the outside lane while Ross Chastain took the inside lane as the race resumed on lap 52 to start stage two.
On lap 75, Justin Allgaier would make an unscheduled pit stop for a flat right-front tire. On lap 81, Allgaier took his car to the garage with mechanical issues. A couple of laps later, Denny Hamlin would get by Chase Briscoe for the lead. With stage two nearing an end, Noah Gragson and Ross Chastain were battling for the fourth position until Gragson got loose and made contact with Chastain before spinning to bring out the caution that would end stage two going to Denny Hamlin. Ryan Vargas would get the free pass.
A loose moment for @NoahGragson!! 😳 He brings out the yellow as @dennyhamlin takes Stage 2 at @TooToughToTame. #SportClips200 pic.twitter.com/HH7LCzpCQC — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 5, 2020
During the caution, Hamlin would once again bring the field down pit road with everyone taking four tires. Chase Briscoe would win the race off of pit road, followed by Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin. Chase Briscoe would choose the outside lane, and Ross Chastain went to the inside lane as the final stage was underway on lap 96.
Six laps into the restart, Jeremey Clements’s car was coasting on the backstretch before coming to a complete stop bringing out the fifth caution of the day. Chase Briscoe, Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson, Riley Herbst along with four others, came to pit road while everyone else stayed out. Hamlin was the leader as the race got back underway on lap 107. Three laps into the restart, David Starr would get into the wall at turn four to bring out another caution for the sixth time. During the caution, the drivers that pitted on the last caution stayed out while everyone else came in for their stops.
Briscoe was the new leader as he chose the outside lane while Ryan Sieg went to the inside lane on the restart at lap 116. Two laps into the restart, the No. 02 car of Brett Moffitt was spilling fluid onto the racetrack, causing both Chase Briscoe and Anthony Alfredo to spin at turn one, bringing out the caution for the seventh time. Cars were brought to a stop with the red flag displayed while track crews were cleaning up the fluid. The red flag would last about nine minutes before racing could resume.
Fluid on the race track! 💦💦💦 The yellow is out after the No. 98 and No. 21 get spun due to this leak. Watch the sprint to the finish @TooToughToTame on NBC and https://t.co/593lUV9Jw2! pic.twitter.com/Z6R7uHP5Bq — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 5, 2020
Ryan Sieg was the new leader with 20 laps to go in the race. Ross Chastain lined up behind Sieg with Harrison Burton on the inside lane. Chastain would get the lead from Sieg on the same lap. With 12 laps to go, Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin were clashing for the lead. Both drivers would make contact with the outside wall allowing Brandon Jones to catch them. As both drivers were coming to the white flag, Hamlin and Chastain both hit the outside wall at turn four, allowing Brandon Jones to take the lead and the win by 3.363 seconds over the second-place finisher Ross Chastain. This is Jones’s third win of the season.
Racing at its finest at @TooToughToTame!! Here's how @BrandonJonesRac got the win after @dennyhamlin and @RossChastain banged doors for the final few laps! pic.twitter.com/cs2aXp4XYC — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 5, 2020
The rest of the top ten finishers were Ryan Sieg third, Riley Herbst fourth, Denny Hamlin fifth, Harrison Burton sixth, Noah Gragson seventh, Michael Annett eighth, Austin Hill ninth, and Myatt Snider tenth. There were seven cautions for 37 laps and 17 lead changes.
Updated playoff standings with three races remaining in the regular season are: Austin Cindric first (5 wins), Chase Briscoe second (6 wins), Noah Gragson third (2 wins), Brandon Jones fourth (3 wins), Justin Haley fifth (2 wins), Justin Allgaier sixth (1 win), Harrison Burton seventh (2 wins), Ross Chastain eighth, are locked in the playoffs. In the playoffs, for now, are Ryan Sieg ninth, Michael Annett tenth, Riley Herbst eleventh, and Brandon Brown twelfth. Outside looking in are Jeremy Clements thirteenth, Myatt Snider fourteenth, Josh Williams fifteenth, and Jesse Little sixteenth. The next race for the Xfinity Series will be on September 11th from Richmond Raceway for the Go Bowling 250 at 7 pm on NBCSN.
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