After dominating the first two stages, one thing was clear–JR Motorsports have seemingly closed the gap between themselves and Richard Childress Racing when it comes to drafting style tracks. They dominated the high line, running single file as the field approached 30 laps to go. There were a couple of brief cautions since then, one in which their JRM teammate, Jake Finch, got loose and into the outside SAFER barrier.
The race restarted inside 20 laps to go. Caruth led the field to the green flag with Austin Hill leading the inside line. The bottom got a better launch and Hill went out to the race lead. This was the first time an RCR Chevy led all race. They ran a couple of laps before Jake Finch again went around and made contact with the wall. The caution flew yet again, this time with Hill in control of the race.
They took the green again coming to 13 laps to go. This time, Justin Allgaier got a great launch and initially took the race lead. Behind him, his JRM teammates were three-wide, trapping Austin Hill behind them. After taking 12 to go and heading into Turn 1, Jordan Anderson forced the issue, going four wide behind them. This triggered the first Big One of the night, taking out heavy hitters such as Brent Crews and Jesse Love. This resulted in the third red flag of the evening.
The race restarted with 7 laps to go. Justin Allgaier opted to start on the bottom with Rajah Caruth behind him. On the outside, another JRM pair of Carson Kvapil and Sammy Smith lined up. The two lines remained pretty even heading into Turn 1. JRM were in the top 4 with Austin Hill running in 5th. As they came around to complete a lap, the bottom line fell apart as Justin Allgaier kissed the wall and plummeted through the field. As they took 5 to go, Brent Crews got off track with an issue. He made it back to pit road, no caution.
Kvapil led on the outside with Sammy Smith trying to mass on the bottom. Austin Hill dive bombed to the bottom to make it three wide after taking 4 to go. After briefly taking the lead, Austin Hill got loose, triggering a massive crash out front. Caught up in the wreck were Rajah Caruth and Sammy Smith. This triggered yet another red flag, the fourth of the evening, as we were looking at a NASCAR Overtime attempt.
There was another wreck involving Jeremy Clements triggering another caution. Double overtime. They restarted and a couple of cars ran out of fuel. No caution. Coming to the white flag, Brennan Poole took the lead. However, Poole blocked Sanchez, causing both drivers to get into the wall. This handed Justin Allgaier the race lead. Allgaier went on to score his 6th win of the season, the 34th of his career as Carson Kvapil edged out Parker Retzlaff for 2nd.
Starting on the pole was Sam Mayer with Carson Kvapil starting alongside. The green flag dropped and Mayer rocketed out front, defending the race lead over Kvapil. Before the field to gain too much momentum, the first caution of the race flew on Lap 3 as Joey Gase was shown slowed and emitting smoke. There was speculation that there was fluid put down on the track.
During the caution, Austin Hill pitted with concerns of a mechanical issue. He rejoined the field at the end of the pack. The issue was reportedly resolved.
The race restarted and the field found a rhythm, going green for a while. The leaders out front opted to play it conservatively as they formed a seven-car single file line around the top led by Mayer and Kvapil. There was almost a huge wreck on Lap 22 when Leland Honeyman Jr. spun from 19th. Fortunately, everyone around him was able to miss him and it was a single-car incident. The broadcast on the CW made note that there were a lot of ill-handling cars on the track as the sun was just starting to set.
At the time of caution, Austin Hill had managed to work his way up to 17th after restarting in the back of the field.
We went back green and Kvapil made a huge move on Mayer for the race lead. Shortly thereafter, Mayer got loose and made contact with the wall. He ultimately fell off the lead lap. Kvapil went on to win Carson Kvapil went on to win over his JRM teammate Sammy Smith and Jesse Love.
As the field took the green and white checkered flag, Brandon Jones had an issue and started plummeting through the field.
The following drivers earned points in stage 1: Carson Kvapil (10), Sammy Smith (9), Jesse Love (8), Rajah Caruth (7), Sheldon Creed (6), Jeremy Clements (5), Corey Day (4), Justin Allgaier (3), William Sawalich (2), and Dean Thompson (1).
The race restarted to kick off the second stage. Early in the stage, JR Motorsports flexed their strength as they formed a single-file line upfront with Sammy Smith leading followed by teammates Justin Allgaier, Rajah Caruth, Corey Day, and Carson Kvapil rounding out the top 5. On Lap 65, Kvapil dropped down to pick up the line led by Sheldon Creed and Jeremy Clements but he was struggling with the handling of his car. He got loose and chased it up the track, making light contact with the outside wall.
Inside 10 laps to go and the top three broke away from the remainder of the pack. Smith led Allgaier and Caruth over a second and a half of Kvapil in fourth. With two to go, Allgaier and Smith broke away from Caruth. Coming to the line to end the stage, Justin Allgaier got inside Smith for a drag race to end the stage. Justin Allgaier went on to score the stage victory in a photo finish. It marked his 7th stage win of the season and meant a clean sweep for JR Motorsports.
Earning points in Stage 2 were: Justin Allgaier (10), Sammy Smith (9), Rajah Caruth (8), Carson Kvapil (7), Corey Day (6), Jeremy Clements (5), Jesse Love (4), Parker Retzlaff (3), Sheldon Creed (2), and Austin Hill (1).
Brandon Jones clocks the Xfinity Fastest Lap, earning an additional bonus point to his total for the day.
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