On a hot sunny afternoon at Phoenix International
Raceway, it was the site of the fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the year.
Two young guns set the front row in qualifying for today’s race. Rookie of The
Year contender William Byron won the pole, and 20-year old Erik Jones was on
the outside pole.
It also marked the return of the famous Dash 4 Cash
event. The award goes to the highest finishing Xfinity regular throughout the
four races this season, with the winner receiving $100,000. If the same driver
wins the four races, Xfinity then will pay an additional $600,000 that would
equal a million-dollar payout. The four races are Phoenix, Bristol, Dover, and
Richmond.
The race was broken into three stages with 60 laps in
the stage one, 60 laps in stage two, and 80 laps in the final stage which made
up the 200 laps overall.
Erik Jones took the lead on the initial start as Byron
slipped behind and lost several spots. Didn’t take long for contact as Daniel
Suarez and Jeremy Clements make contact on lap seven. On lap 11, Suarez’s right
rear tire went down and made hard contact with the wall. This brought out the
first caution of the day.
The green flag went back out on lap 18 with Justin
Allgaier taking the lead in turn three and four. However, (Erik) Jones battled
back to have a side-by-side battle with Allgaier for several laps. Jones
finally took the lead on lap 28. Allgaier began slipping back as Byron was
trying to pass him for third on lap 43. As Byron was able to get around
Allgaier, JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler came into the mix. Sadler
passed Allgaier for the Dash 4 Cash transfer spot on lap 58. Erik Jones ended
winning stage one.
Austin Dillon and Jones took the restart on lap 70.
Dillon maintained the lead, but Allgaier stayed close behind. Allgaier charged
hard 10 laps later and took the top spot before turn three. Stage two was clean
and green until lap 84, where Matt Tifft and Brendan Gaughan made contact off
turn four. Tifft got into Gaughan, which caused Gaughan’s car to stick to Tifft’s
splitter.
After a lap 90 restart, Allgaier continued to set the
pace until lap 105, where Ryan Blaney started to challenge for the lead on lap
105. Blaney then took the lead on 110. Blaney held on and won stage two with
Allgaier and Tyler Reddick getting the final Dash 4 Cash transfer spots.
The green came back out on lap 129 with Austin Dillon
and Ryan Blaney as the leaders. Dillon got in front and maintained the lead
until a caution came out on lap 132. David Starr and Mario Gosselin wrecked
going into turn three.
A restart came with 63 laps to go, Dillon and Allgaier
battled for the lead until lap 156 where Joey Gase’s right front tire went down
in turn three. This brought out another caution and slowed the field one more
time.
Matt Tifft stayed out and took the lead on a lap 162
restart. The lead didn’t last long for Tifft, however, as Jones passed him for
fist. Not long after that, Allgaier came charging hard and took the lead one
lap later. He would hang on until Drew Herring spun out on lap 169 to bring out
another caution.
The race went back green with 29 laps to go. Allgaier
and Jones were the class of the field for the moment. Jones took the lead with
a stronger car as Blaney and Allgaier battled hard for position. Allgaier
rallied back to the lead with 19 laps to go. With just 16 laps to go, Blake
Koch and Brandon Jones made contact in turn two to bring out the caution.
Allgaier and Jones led the field to a restart with 11
laps to go. The race went green for two laps until Cole Custer clipped Austin
Dillon and sent Dillon into the wall. Dillon retaliated by slowing down and
turning into Custer. NASCAR parked Dillon for the rest of the race and was called
to the hauler. The red flag came out with 9 laps to go for cleanup.
After a little cleanup, Allgaier came back to the line
with four laps remaining. He was able to hold on and win his fourth career
NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Allgaier also won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus.
This was Justin Allgaier’s fourth career win in the
NASCAR Xfinity Series.
There were 7 leaders among 15 lead changes.
There were 10 cautions for 55 laps.
The next scheduled NASCAR Xfinity Series race is next Saturday March 25th at Auto Club Speedway.
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