March 9, 2024 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Chandler Smith surges to Xfinity Series win at Phoenix

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Chandler Smith had a message for his Joe Gibbs Racing team after taking the checkered flag in overtime in Saturday’s Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway.

It was good fortune — combined with Justin Allgaier’s disastrous bad luck — that put Smith in Victory Lane after 205 laps at the 1-mile track in the Sonoran Desert.

Allgaier held a lead of nearly three seconds after crossing the stripe on Lap 195 of a scheduled 200. But as the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet approached Turn 1, his left-rear tire went flat.

Allgaier’s car turned sideways and smashed into the outside wall, ending the race for the veteran driver from Illinois.

On the subsequent overtime restart, Smith pulled away from teammate Sheldon Creed and reached the finish line 0.365 seconds ahead of Sunoco rookie Jesse Love, who edged Creed for the runner-up spot by 0.019 seconds.

“Going through the dogleg (on the front stretch), I felt (the tire) come apart, like I ran something over, and at that point you’re just a passenger,” Allgaier said. “I just hate it that we tore up a race car. We didn’t go to Victory Lane. I hate it for all the guys and gals at JR Motorsports.”

Allgaier’s ill fortune was determinative, but it wasn’t that Smith didn’t deserve the victory. He won the first 45-lap stage wire-to-wire and led a race-high 88 laps to Allgaier’s 52.

“We just lacked a little bit on the 7 (Allgaier),” Smith said. “I hate that happened to him — he had that in the bag. I’m so proud of everybody back at Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s good finally to get this first win off our back for these guys.

“So let’s go keep racking ’em up.”

Stage 2 winner Cole Custer led 61 laps, but his car suffered from a loose handling condition during the final run.

With Custer fading badly, Smith was in the lead, more than 2.5 seconds ahead of Allgaier, when Hailie Deegan brushed the Turn 2 wall on Lap 137. To that point, Smith and Custer had combined to lead all the laps.

The relatively innocent-looking fourth caution, however, set the stage for the chaos that followed. Smith lost three spots on pit road as John Hunter Nemechek took the lead.

On the subsequent restart on Lap 144, Smith and Nemechek were racing in close quarters when contact from the right-front of Smith’s Toyota turned Nemechek’s Supra in front of the field.

All told, 11 cars sustained damage, with Nemechek, hard-luck Sam Mayer (third DNF in four races), Hailie Deegan, Parker Retzlaff and Jeb Burton unable to continue.

Smith’s No. 81 Toyota was none the worse for wear and restarted next to Allgaier, the race leader, on Lap 152. On the longest green-flag run of the day, Allgaier pulled away and was cruising toward a comfortable victory when disaster struck, opening the door for Smith to secure his first victory since last April’s win at Richmond for owner Matt Kaulig.

Austin Hill came home fourth, with Custer, the defending series champion, claiming the fifth spot. Sunoco rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Anthony Alfredo completed the top 10.

The Xfinity Series will take a week off and return to action March 23 at the Circuit of The Americas (5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).


NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 4
Race Results for the Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 - Saturday, March 9, 2024
Phoenix Raceway - Avondale, AZ - 1. - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 205 Laps - 205. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 3/9/2024 @ 07:19 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 81 Chandler Smith QuickTie Toyota 205 1 4 57 Running 3 88 6
2 7 2 Jesse Love # Whelen Chevrolet 205 10 8 39 Running  
3 6 18 Sheldon Creed Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota 205   34 Running  
4 15 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 205  10 34 Running  
5 1 00 Cole Custer Haas Automation Ford 205 2 1 51 Running 2 61 1
6 23 97 Shane Van Gisbergen # Safety Culture Chevrolet 205   31 Running  
7 11 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Little Giant Chevrolet 205 6 9 37 Running  
8 12 48 Parker Kligerman Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet 205   29 Running  
9 16 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Flying J/Marten Chevrolet 205   28 Running  
10 20 5 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 205   27 Running  
11 24 42 Leland Honeyman # RANDCO Chevrolet 205   26 Running  
12 13 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 205   25 Running  
13 31 29 Blaine Perkins AutoParkit.com Ford 205   24 Running  
14 29 78 BJ McLeod BJ McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet 205   23 Running  
15 25 51 Jeremy Clements Wings Etc Grill & Pub Chevrolet 205   22 Running  
16 14 91 Kyle Weatherman Silverton/DriveSmartWarranty Chevrolet 205   21 Running  
17 34 92 Nick Leitz Precision Measurements Inc. Chevrolet 205   20 Running  
18 10 16 AJ Allmendinger Action Industries Chevrolet 204   19 Running  
19 32 14 JJ Yeley SWAMPFOX Tactical Chevrolet 204   18 Running  
20 22 44 Brennan Poole Finance Pro Plus Chevrolet 204   17 Running  
21 30 43 Ryan Ellis Rolling Plains Construction Chevrolet 204   16 Running  
22 3 26 Corey Heim(i) GearWrench Toyota 203 8  0 Running  
23 28 17 William Byron(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 202   0 Running  
24 4 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 202 5 5 25 Running  
25 26 28 Kyle Sieg TopPool.com Ford 201   12 Running  
26 38 6 Garrett Smithley TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet 200   11 Running  
27 27 11 Josh Williams Call811.com Chevrolet 200   10 Running  
28 33 4 Dawson Cram # TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet 198   9 Running  
29 5 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 195 3 2 25 Accident 1 52
30 35 35 Frankie Muniz The Hot Chick Ford 156   7 Vibration  
31 8 19 Aric Almirola Go Bowling Toyota 154 4 3 21 Accident  
32 9 20 John Hunter Nemechek(i) Safeway/Albertsons Toyota 146 9 6 0 Accident 1 4
33 19 15 Hailie Deegan # AirBox Ford 146   4 Accident  
34 21 1 Sam Mayer Tire Pros Chevrolet 143 7 7 11 Accident  
35 18 31 Parker Retzlaff FunkAway Chevrolet 143   2 Accident  
36 17 27 Jeb Burton NORMA Ammunition Chevrolet 143   1 Accident  
37 37 32 Ryan Vargas Lerner & Rowe Chevrolet 17   1 Suspension  
38 36 07 Patrick Emerling MMI Services Chevrolet 5   1 Accident  

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 12 Mins, 57 Secs. Average Speed: 92.516 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.365 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 81, 00, 7, 19, 98, 9, 1, 26, 20, 2
Stage 2 Top 10: 00, 7, 19, 81, 98, 20, 1, 2, 9, 21

Caution Flags: 6 for 43 laps; Laps: 6-11 (#11, 4, 51, 07 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 47-54 (Stage 1 Conclusion [14]); 92-100 (Stage 2 Conclusion [42]); 138-143 (#15 Incident Turn 2 [29]); 145-151 (#31, 15, 27, 20, 98, 1, 44, 21, 81, 17, 43 Incident Backstretch [Red Flag 11:05] [78]); 197-203 (#7 Incident Turn 1 [92]).

Lead Changes: 7 among 4 drivers; C. Smith 1-48; C. Custer 49-108; C. Smith 109-138; C. Custer 139; J. Nemechek(i) 140-143; J. Allgaier 144-195; C. Smith 196-205.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: March 23, 2024 - Circuit of The Americas

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