Justin Allgaier, William Byron, Elliott Sadler and Daniel Hemric will race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Justin Allgaier, William Byron, Elliott Sadler and Daniel Hemric took the four spots next week in the Xfinity Series championship race.
All four berths in the championship were on the line Saturday at Phoenix Raceway, where Byron raced to his fourth victory of the season. The other three drivers made it into the Homestead-Miami finale on points.
It made for an enjoyable race for the final spot between Hemric and Cole Custer, as the two battled for position in the closing laps. Custer was fourth and Hemric fifth, and if they stayed that way, Hemric had the spot. But Christopher Bell chased Hemric, who couldn’t afford to give up a position between Custer.
Bell used a three-wide pass on the outside to get by both drivers, and Hemric eventually passed Custer and finished fifth.
The finale will be all Chevrolet drivers, and three from JR Motorsports. The team owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., his sister, Kelley, and Rick Hendrick, had a rollercoaster day when a mechanical issues forced a plane carrying its pit crews to make an emergency landed on its way from North Carolina.
Allgaier, Byron and Sadler had to use makeshift pit crews Saturday.
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TICKET GALAXY 200 RESULTS
Saturday from the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway (starting position in parentheses):
1. (2) William Byron, Chevrolet, 200 laps, 0 rating, 50 points.
2. (6) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 200,0,0.
3. (1) Erik Jones, Toyota, 200,0,0.
4. (8) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 200,0,0.
5. (7) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 200,0,47.
6. (9) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 200,0,34.
7. (3) Cole Custer, Ford, 200,0,38.
8. (5) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 200,0,0.
9. (16) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200,0,0.
10. (10) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200,0,40.
11. (4) Matt Tifft, Toyota, 200,0,26.
12. (18) Casey Mears, Ford, 200,0,25.
13. (21) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200,0,0.
14. (20) Ryan Reed, Ford, 200,0,23.
15. (15) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 200,0,22.
16. (12) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 200,0,21.
17. (19) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 200,0,20.
18. (13) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 200,0,19.
19. (22) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 200,0,18.
20. (23) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 200,0,17.
21. (26) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200,0,16.
22. (17) Corey Lajoie, Toyota, 199,0,0.
23. (24) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 199,0,14.
24. (25) Ray Black Jr, Chevrolet, 199,0,13.
25. (29) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 197,0,12.
26. (31) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 197,0,11.
27. (32) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet, 195,0,10.
28. (36) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 194,0,9.
29. (30) David Starr, Chevrolet, 190,0,8.
30. (37) Caesar Bacarella, Chevrolet, 190,0,7.
31. (38) John Graham, Chevrolet, 188,0,6.
32. (11) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, accident, 179,0,5.
33. (28) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 169,0,4.
34. (33) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, brakes, 47,0,3.
35. (27) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, brakes, 44,0,0.
36. (40) Carl Long, Toyota, electrical, 37,0,1.
37. (34) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, brakes, 30,0,1.
38. (14) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, accident, 24,0,1.
39. (39) Mike Harmon, Dodge, engine, 19,0,1.
40. (35) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, electrical, 6,0,0.
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Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 104.747 mph.
Time of Race: 1 hour, 54 minutes, 33 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.400 seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 27 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: E. Jones 1-33; R. Blaney 34; E. Jones 35-37; R. Blaney 38-183; W. Byron 184-200
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): R. Blaney, 2 times for 145 laps; E. Jones, 2 times for 34 laps; W. Byron, 1 time for 16 laps.
Wins: W. Byron, 4; E. Jones, 3; J. Allgaier, 2; R. Blaney, 2; C. Bell, 1; A. Bowman, 1; J. Clements, 1; R. Reed, 1.
Top 10 in Points: 1. J. Allgaier, 4000; 2. W. Byron, 4000; 3. D. Hemric, 4000; 4. E. Sadler, 4000; 5. C. Custer, 2223; 6. M. Tifft, 2187; 7. B. Poole, 2182; 8. R. Reed, 2144; 9. B. Gaughan, 2129; 10. M. Annett, 2127.
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