The NASCAR Xfinity Series will be heading to “The Last Great Coliseum” to run in Friday’s Food City 300 at 7:30 p.m. ET on the USA Network, the NBC Sports App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR radio.
Food City 300
Stewart-Haas Racing: Chase Briscoe NXS Race Report from Charlotte
Date: May 25, 2020
Event: Alsco 300 (Round 6 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Charlotte (N.C) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/45 laps/110 laps)
Start/Finish: 8th/20th(Running, completed 200 of 203 laps)
Point Standing: 1st (251 points, eight ahead of second place)
Note: Race extended three laps past its scheduled 200-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Overview:
Fresh off a victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ previous race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Chase Briscoe was poised for another strong result in his No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang Monday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway until oil on the racetrack sent him into the turn-three wall 47 laps short of the finish. Briscoe began the Alsco 300 from eighth in the 37-car field and climbed to as high as second. He finished eighth in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2. Shortly after, however, Briscoe’s race began to come undone. An uncontrolled tire penalty stemming from his pit stop after the second stage sent him to the back of the field for the lap-98 restart. Still, the 25-year-old from Mitchell, Indiana, made his way back inside the top-10, rising to sixth before making a green-flag pit stop on lap 148. Unfortunately, Briscoe was cited for speeding on pit road, and he had to serve a pass-through penalty on the following lap. Mired in the middle of the field, Briscoe became a victim of circumstance on lap 156 when his No. 98 Ford Mustang slipped up the banking and into the wall after the engine on Timmy Hill’s Toyota broke and spewed fluid onto the racetrack. While the No. 98 team was able to make repairs, Briscoe returned to the track in 18th, two laps down to the leaders. But on lap 172, a cut tire sent Briscoe back into the wall, deepening the damage to his HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang. Briscoe soldiered on to finish 20th, maintaining his position atop the championship standings.
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We had a pretty good HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang the first run of the race. We were a little off before that first pit stop, but we were able to get the car dialed in and had good track position off pit road. I felt like I was pretty equal to the 54 (Kyle Busch). He was probably a little better in the latter half of the run, but I felt like we were just as good as the leaders. When we started that final stage with the uncontrolled tire, that’s what kind of set everything in motion. We went from starting dead last to sixth and for a while there we were still the fastest car, and I thought were going to be OK if we could catch a caution, but I sped on pit road and from there it was one thing after another. I thought we were a top-three car, for sure, and probably could’ve battled for the win. It’s tough to have a race-winning car and run 20th, but it could’ve been worse. We were able to rally and end up with a top-20 finish. It’s a shame we didn’t run better, but I’m ready to go to Bristol where we should be really good.”
Notes:
● Briscoe finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points and third in Stage 2 to earn eight more bonus points.
● Briscoe remains the championship leader after Charlotte with an eight-point advantage over second-place Austin Cindric.
● Kyle Busch won the Alsco 300 to score his 97th career Xfinity Series victory, his first of the season and his ninth at Charlotte. His margin of victory over second-place Daniel Hemric was .178 of a second.
● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 53 laps.
● Only 11 of the 37 drivers in the Alsco 300 finished on the lead lap.
Next Up:
The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Cheddar’s 300 on Saturday, May 30 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report – Charlotte Motor Speedway
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race: Alsco 300
Date: May 25, 2020
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No. 22 Snap-on Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 6th
Stage 1: 6th
Stage 2: 4th
Finish: 3rd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 203/203
Laps Led: 30
Point Standings (behind first): 2nd (-8)
Notes:
- Austin Cindric nearly scored the win in the Alsco 300 Monday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway, leading 30 laps and scoring a third-place finish. The result was Cindric’s best at the 1.5-mile oval and his fifth-straight top-10 finish this season. The driver of the No. 22 Snap-on Ford Mustang moves from third to second-place in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings, only eight markers behind leader Chase Briscoe.
- Cindric started the 200-lap, 300-mile race in the sixth position after the lineup was set per random draw. Despite four cautions early, throughout the first 45-lap stage, Cindric’s Snap-on Ford fired off free. He ended the stage in sixth position. Crew chief Brian Wilson called Cindric to pit on lap 48 for four tires, fuel, and adjustments to aid the handling of his Mustang and restarted sixth when the race went back green on lap 52.
- Stage 2 was uneventful for the Mooresville, N.C. native. The 45-lap segment ran caution free and Cindric, who ran inside the top-five throughout the stage, was credited with a fourth-place finish at the end of the stage on lap 90.
- Cindric restarted the final stage from the third position and ran there until the green-flag pit cycle began. Shortly after completing his green flag stop on lap 148, the caution waived, cycling Cindric to the race lead with just 30 laps remaining. After a series of cautions resulting in overtime, Cindric lined up second, jumping to the race lead following a great restart. Cindric put on an impressive battle with NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Kyle Busch, but respectfully finished the 200-lap event in third coming to the checkered flag.
- The NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action May 30 at Bristol Motor Speedway at 3:30 p.m. with live coverage on FS1 and PRN.
Quote: “I am really proud of this team. I think we had a lot of opportunities to win the race tonight. If it goes green on a number of occasions I think the Snap-on Ford Mustang is the winner tonight. It just didn’t work out for us. I was on older tires and everyone else on older tires ended up crashing. It is hard to beat the best in the business on older tires. I got a great push from Daniel. I am shocked the restart zone went as well as it did. That was a big struggle for me all night. I knew I was going to have to defend in three and four and took the top in one and two. He just had way more grip than I did. The heat cycles were killer. I never lifted driving into three. I just gave up second but didn’t really care at that point. I just wanted to win the race. Overall it was a great night and I am really proud of my team. I came here with something that we have never come to the race track with. We had to work on it all night. It shows the strength of the team and I am really proud of the effort.”