What’s Happening?

One of the best race weekends of the year is Throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway. Darlington is one of NASCAR’s oldest tracks and the home of the crown jewel the Southern 500. This week, though, NASCAR returned to the track Too Tough to Tame for the annual spring throwback weekend! Taking to The Lady in Black first was the NASCAR Xfinity Series. And we saw some great schemes today with the Burton boys both throwing it back to their famous fathers, Brennan Poole with an homage to his hero Jeff Gordon, and many, many more.

Typically, when it comes to races at Darlington, the cream always rises to the top. With how difficult this racetrack is plus the amount of tire wear, veterans of the sport typically reign supreme. That was no different today. So, with that in mind, here are the 3 biggest takeaways from the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway.

Prefatory Matters

• The Joe Gibbs Racing drivers impressed in qualifying, with three of the four all starting inside the top 4. Scoring the pole was NASCAR Cup Series driver, Christopher Bell in the number 19. He was throwing it back to dirt track legend Rick Ferkel. Brandon Jones started alongside with Taylor Gray behind him in the number 54. He was looking to keep up the momentum that almost saw him win his first race last week at Martinsville.
• Harrison Burton, driver of the number 25 sporting the throwback to Jeff Burton’s number 99 Citco car, won the opening stage with a set of fresh tires. There was no contest. This was Burton’s second stage win of the year as he previously won a stage at COTA. He held his own in the second stage as well, displaying that he does have the talent to be competitive in this sport.
• The big theme of the second stage was experience. Justin Allgaier ran away with the stage win here, his teammate Ross Chastain in the number 9 finishing second. Also fast was Brandon Jones in the JGR 20, who came in third. 2014 Xfinity Series Champion also ran in the top 10 in Hendrick’s number 17 ride.

Brandon Jones Returns to Victory Lane with JGR

Brandon Jone’s stint at JR Motorsports was a failed experiment. There’s no question about that. For whatever reason, he and his number 9 crew just didn’t gel. He didn’t win with the team and missed the Playoffs both years he drove for them. But for 2025, he returned to Joe Gibbs Racing and it all came together, fitting him like a glove. He instantly showed speed and today he finally returned to victory lane. This was his 6th career victory and a statement win that locked him into the Playoffs. Jones’ throwback today was to Matt Kenseth from his time in the 20 car. It’s clear that he will be a major threat for the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in 2025.

Xfinity Wins Throwback Weekend

I love throwback weekend and a lot of other fans do as well. It goes without saying that each year there are hits and complete misses (looking at you, Chase Elliott’s “throwback” scheme). But others have been awesome and the Xfinity Series designers have done a bang-up job this year. Carson Kvapil threw his number 1 JRM Chevy to Jamie McMurry’s 2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 victories. Justin Allgaier wasn’t throwing back to any particular scheme but Brandt put their old logo on the car. Christopher Bell threw it back to his mentor, Rick Ferkel. And Sammy Smith was driving Dale Jr.’s 3 Doors Down scheme from 2003.

But the best throwback of the weekend was undeniably Brennan Poole’s. I mean come on! They even Looney Tuned Brennan’s likeness on the car. That’s just awesome! Clark’s even changed their logo to resemble the old Dupont logo! They bent over backward to be as historically accurate as possible. The throwback is in honor of Jeff Gordon’s 2001 Looney Tunes throwback. Gordon was Brennan’s hero. Check out this slick ride in the pick below!

Allgaier is On a Roll!

In my opinion, Justin Allgaier doesn’t always get the appreciation nor the recognition he deserves. He is one of the greatest Xfinity Series regulars in the history of the series. In 2024, it finally all came together for him as he won his first Xfinity Series title. Thus far, he has picked up in 2025 right where he left off the year before. In true Justin Allgaier fashion, he dominated Phoenix but got screwed on a Green White Checkered finish. He also finished 2nd at Atlanta and 3rd last week at Martinsville. So far, he has earned two wins on the year, them being back-to-back victories at Las Vegas and Homestead respectively.

Allgaier was once again showing winning speed at the Lady in Black today. He won this race last year and managed to finish second in the first stage and he won the second stage in dominant fashion. It seems that Allgaier, a veteran of the series, is making a statement that he is the best in the garage. I know it’s early and the format is a little wonky but it certainly looks like the 2025 title is Allgaier’s to lose.

Harrison Burton is a Good Driver

Harrison Burton sometimes gets a bad rap with fans. I get it. When you look at the 180 the 21 team has done this year with driver Josh Berry, it looks like Burton is a bad driver, despite his win at Daytona last summer. But there’s a counterargument to be made. When he was an Xfinity Series regular before, driving the number 20 for Joe Gibbs Racing, he won 4 races in 2020 and finished 8th in the standings both that year and in 2021. I know, I know, it was just the car, right?

Well, let’s take a look how he’s done this year in the AM Racing number 25. To put it bluntly, that team was awful last year with Hailie Deegan behind the wheel. Even when the team dumped her in favor of Cup drivers like Josh Berry and Joey Logano, they still couldn’t crack the top 15. But with Harrison Burton, the team seems to have turned it around. No, they’ve not really shown winning speed this year but they do have 2 stage wins on the year. With Burton, the team scored top 10 finishes at Daytona, Atlanta, and Las Vegas and they put together a solid 11th place run at Homestead a couple of weeks back.

Today, Burton won the opening stage due to tire strategy but showed some speed as he remained in the top 5 to end stage 2. So, yes, maybe Harrison Burton’s stint at Wood Brothers Racing was a failed experiment. But he has showcased so far this year that he does have the talent to compete and he does belong in NASCAR. So what if he’s an Xfinity Series lifer? There’s no shame in that. Just look at Justin Allgaier.

Conclusion

That does it for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington. Tell us what’s on your mind, race fans! Are you glad for Brandon Jones with this victory? How’d your favorite driver do? What do you make of Ross Chastain’s driving today? Let us know your thoughts by commenting on all of our social media accounts! And be sure to tune back in here at DailyDownforce.com for our coverage of the Cup Race at Darlington as Throwback Weekend continues.