What’s Happening?

It’s that time of the year again: Throwback Weekend for the three nationally touring series of NASCAR. Today (Saturday, May 11, 2024) it was the Xfinity drivers’ turn to take to the Lady in Black, Darlington Raceway. Starting from the pole was Cole Custer who dominated the first 20 laps of the opening stage. However, an issue on pit road had him restart outside the top 30 after the competition caution. He was never able to fully recover as he ran much of the race just inside the top 15.

Following the competition caution, Justin Allgaier rocketed out front and never really looked back. With a clean second half of the first stage as well as a fully green second stage, Justin Allgaier went on to sweep the stages of today’s throwback race.

Despite Cole Custer rebounding to finish inside the top 3 and William Byron earning his laps back, Justin Allgaier was able to hold off Austin Hill to win for the third time at Darlington Raceway!

You Need To Know:

• Due to a downpour on Friday, both practice and qualifying for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Race at Darlington were washed out. This meant that the field was to be set by a predetermined formula. On the pole was Cole Custer with points leader Chandler Smith starting second. Highlights in the running order were Aric Almirola making his fourth start of the season in the JGR No. 20 as well as Carson Kvapil in the JRM No. 88 and William Byron in the HMS No. 17.
• With Allgaier’s win, this is the third time he has won at Darlington, his previous two wins coming in the spring of 2021 and 2022. This is the No. 7 team’s first win of the season and it was a dominant showing as he led a large majority of the laps and earned maximum points on the day. This performance was a statement win for Allgaier as he looks forward to the playoffs later this year.
• Of all the JR Motorsports drivers, Justin Allgaier is consistently one of the fan favorites. Though the race was a quickly paced, long green-flag run race, many fans were happy to see the No. 7 pull into victory lane.

With this win, Justin Allgaier ties his boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr. for 10th on the all-time Xfinity Series winners list at 24 wins. It was an absolute Smack-Down performance for Justin Allgaier and his No. 7 team. On behalf of us here at The Daily Downforce, we would like to extend our congratulations on then winning their first race of 2024.

The Main Character

Justin Allgaier is clearly the headliner and showstopper for this event. He led 119 of the 147 laps in a dominant outing at the track Too Tough To Tame. With this win, he earned the maximum amount of points on the day and punched his ticket to the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs. That has to feel great after the heartbreaker out in Phoenix earlier this season.

As reported by Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Allgaier swept all the stages in today’s race.

Breaking out the brooms for Allgaier!

A sheer dominant performance for Allgaier and that whole No. 7 JRM crew!

Allgaier won stage 1 in convincing fashion!

Around The Garage

The only major incident in the first half of the race came when former Xfinity Series champion and Cup Series regular William Byron got into the wall. The contact reportedly came following a slow leak in the No. 17’s right front tire. He hit the wall in turns 3 and 4 and missed pit road. This led to him limping around for an additional lap. Following his pit stop, he went 3-laps down.

The first caution for incident came within the first five laps of the final stage. The single-car incident involved Hailie Deegan and her No. 15 throwback to Dale Earnhardt’s Bud Moore Engineering Ford. It was a left rear tire failure that completely shredded the rear of the car, ending Deegan’s day at Darlington.

Conclusion

Race number 2 of the 2024 edition of NASCAR’s annual Throwback Weekend is officially in the books! It was a great and dominant race for Allgaier and his No. 7 bunch. What did you think of the racing, Daily Downforce readers? Are you happy with today’s winner? Are you disappointed by the performances of William Byron, Cole Custer, and Aric Almirola? What do you make of Allgaier tying his boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the all-time Xfinity Series wins list? Let us know your thoughts and concerns by commenting on all our social media platforms including Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok.

We have one race left this weekend, tomorrow’s Goodyear 400. Be sure to tune back in here tomorrow at 3 PM EST for our coverage of the Cup race at the Lady in Black. And on behalf of all my Daily Downforce teammates, I’d like to wish a very Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there.