Xfinity Series Results | Xfinity Series Points
Race 21 of 33: Drydene 200 at Dover International Speedway
Track Specs: 1-mile oval / 200 laps
Weather: Partly cloudy; 86 degrees
Race Winner: Chase Briscoe
Hemric's Finish: 5th
Gragson's Finish: 6th
Allgaier's Finish: 7th
Annett's Finish: 8th
Daniel Hemric
Daniel Hemric, driver of the No. 8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet, scored a strong top-five result in Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Dover International Speedway, taking the checkered flag in the fifth position. The top-five finish also gives Hemric his eighth top-10 in only 14 starts this season and helps improve the No. 8 team to 19 points ahead of the 12th and final playoff position in the owner standings with five races remaining in the regular season.
Stage One Finish: 9th
Getting in the driver’s seat for the second NXS event of the weekend at the Monster Mile, Hemric looked to duplicate the top-10 result that teammate Jeb Burton had on Saturday. However, due to the driver change between the two races, Hemric was forced to forgo his ninth-place starting position and take the green flag from the rear of the field. Although he had to start in the back, the driver of the Poppy Bank Chevrolet wasted little time moving forward, charging up to the 16th position by the time the scheduled competition caution was displayed on lap 20. Hemric continued to methodically move forward on the ensuing restart, needing just six laps to race up to the ninth position. The JR Motorsports driver would go on to maintain a top-10 position for the final 14 laps of the opening stage, taking the green-and-white checkered flag on lap 45 in the ninth position and earn two valuable stage points.
Stage Two Finish: 6th
While under the stage-ending caution, the Kannapolis, N.C. native relayed to crew chief Taylor Moyer that the Poppy Bank Chevrolet was building toward the tight-side over the course of a long run. Based off of this feedback, Moyer made the decision to bring Hemric to pit road for four tires and a chassis adjustment, sending the driver of the No. 8 back out for the beginning of Stage Two in the seventh position. After initially sliding back to eighth once back under way, Hemric took advantage of a lap-69 restart following the fourth caution period of the day to march back up to the sixth position. The 2019 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year held steady in sixth for the remainder of the second stage, ultimately earning an additional five valuable stage points when the green-and-white checkered was displayed on lap 90.
Final Stage:
Despite the strong top-10 result to end Stage Two, Hemric reported to Moyer that the Poppy Bank Chevrolet was still fighting a tight-handling condition on the exit of the corners. As a result, Moyer brought Hemric back to pit road for four tires and a chassis adjustment during the stage break. A fast stop by the Poppy Bank crew saw Hemric gain two positions on pit road, moving him up to fourth for the beginning of the final stage on lap 97. The JRM driver would solidly maintain his fourth-place track position throughout the long green flag run that ensued, telling Moyer that the handling was the best it had been to that point in the event. Then, opting to play with some strategy, Moyer decided to bring the driver of the Poppy Bank Chevrolet to pit road at the very beginning of green-flag pit stops in the hopes of gaining some track position on the race leaders.
Following a stop for four tires and a chassis adjustment, Hemric battled hard for position as the pit stop cycle continued. The driver of the Poppy Bank Chevrolet ultimately cycled out at the completion of the green-flag pit stops in the fifth position as a variety of pit strategies played out in front of him.
In the closing laps, Hemric did all he could to close in on fourth, but ran out of time, taking the checkered flag in the fifth position and earning his third top-five finish of the season.
The result also kept the No. 8 team 11th in the owner standings, 19 points ahead of the 12th and final playoff position.
Daniel Hemric, driver No. 8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet team
“A big thank-you to Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) and all of the guys on this Poppy Bank team for their hard work today and really this whole weekend. To get this car turned around from yesterday’s race with Jeb (Burton) to today is just a testament to how hard these guys work. I feel like we had some really good execution today and had a lot of good speed with our JR Motorsports Camaro. For this group to come away with a top-10 yesterday and then have us back that up with a top-five today definitely has us heading in the right direction at the right time. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going into next week in Daytona and fight for the win there.”
Noah Gragson
Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Chevrolet, finished sixth in Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Drydene 200 at Dover International Speedway. Gragson started the race from 12th-place after the top-15 was inverted from the opening race of the weekend doubleheader on Saturday. Gragson led 11 laps and captured points in both stages en route to his 15th top-10 finish of the 2020 season.
Stage One Finish: 5th
Gragson fired off from the 12th position after the starting lineup was set by inverting the top-15 finishing order from Saturday afternoon’s Drydene 200. The 22-year-old needed just one lap to work his way into the top five, ultimately moving up to fourth as the first caution of the day came out on lap 10. Staying out on track, Gragson decided to restart from the outside which put him starting on the top of the third row. The scheduled competition caution waved on lap 20 as Gragson had fallen to sixth. Choosing the top on the ensuing restart, Gragson was able to move back into the top five and maintain his track position until the green-and-white checkered waved to end Stage One on lap 45, earning the JR Motorsports driver six stage points to begin the day.
Stage Two Finish: 5th
The driver of the No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Camaro decided to pit for four tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment to help a loose-handling Camaro following Stage One. Gragson was the sixth car off pit road and decided to restart from the top once again which lined him up outside of the third row. The caution flag slowed the field on lap 64 as Gragson ran sixth and he chose the outside restarting spot when it came time for the choose cone. Restarting in the third row yet again, Gragson utilized the outside to drive back into the top five before crossing under the green-and-white checkered flag on lap 90. The fifth-place stage-ending result again earned Gragson an additional six stage points, bringing his race total to 12.
Final Stage:
Crew chief Dave Elenz called Gragson to pit road during the final stage break for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to help the front turn through the high banks. Varying strategies saw Gragson restart from the seventh position, but the Las Vegas native pressed forward despite the loss of track position from the stage-ending pit stop, driving back up to sixth where he ran for the majority of the green flag run that followed. Green flag stops began and Gragson remained on the track as long as possible hoping for a late yellow flag. Not catching the break they had hoped, Gragson came to pit road on lap 182 from the lead and cycled out to sixth following the end of green flag stops.
Maintaining his sixth place running position for the remaining 18 laps of the race, Gragson crossed the finish line sixth and captured his 15th top-10 finish of the 2020 season
Noah Gragson, driver No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Camaro SS
“Dover was a tough track to get ahold of this weekend but I felt like we had top five car all day again today although we finished sixth. We were consistent again today and grabbed another top 10 finish for the year. It’s what we need to keep doing as we head into the playoffs in a couple of weekends. I know each week that this JR Motorsports team is going to bring me a fast car and I can’t thank the road and shop crews for working as hard as they can during this time to make sure our cars are right when we unload. Let’s go back to Daytona and put this Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Camaro back in victory lane like we did in February.”
Justin Allgaier
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 FFA Chevrolet, overcame a mid-race pit-road penalty to rebound for a seventh-place finish in Sunday’s second event of the Dover International Speedway doubleheader weekend. The 34-year-old driver led for 19 laps en route to his 12th top-10 finish of the season and remains fifth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series standings.
Stage One Finish: 2nd
After winning Saturday’s race, Allgaier lined up 15th for Sunday’s event due to a top-15 invert of the field. The Illinois native was undeterred by starting deep in the field and raced his way to fifth before the first caution of the race on lap 11. After using the choose cone to take the outside line, Allgaier restarted inside the top 10 and again battled up to fifth prior to the lap 20 competition caution.
This time the JR Motorsports driver chose the inside line to restart in the third spot on lap 25 and advanced his position to second before the green-and-white checkered flag waved to end Stage One on lap 45. The team called Allgaier in during the stage break for four tires and fuel to prepare the No. 7 FFA Camaro for the start of Stage Two.
Stage Two Finish: 2nd
Allgaier lined up second to start Stage Two on lap 52 and took the lead for the first time of the day in a hurry. The driver of the No. 7 Chevy continued to pace the field until a caution came out on lap 65. Under the yellow, Allgaier relayed to crew chief Jason Burdett that the FFA Camaro fired off a lot tighter on entry but started freeing up as he ran.
Opting to stay out, Allgaier restarted from the top spot on lap 70, but a quick battle ensued for the lead with Allgaier dropping to second on lap 71. As the run went on, the handling of the No. 7 Camaro improved and Allgaier started to reel in the leader but ran out of time, ending Stage Two in the runner-up position on lap 90.
Final Stage:
Prior to the final stage, Allgaier joined the rest of field on pit road for fresh tires and fuel. However, a tire got away from a member of the No. 7 pit crew and the team was issued a penalty resulting in Allgaier having to restart at the tail end of the longest line.
From the drop of the green flag for the final stage on lap 97, the veteran driver methodically worked his way forward, finding himself back inside the top 10 at lap 136. A long green-flag run ensued and Allgaier was up to eighth when green-flag pit stops commenced. The No. 7 team waited as long as they could in the hopes for a caution, but finally brought Allgaier to pit road on lap 180 for the last set of tires and fuel.
Allgaier got back out on the track in 10th and battled hard in the closing laps to bring the No. 7 FFA Camaro home in the seventh position.
Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 FFA Chevrolet
“Today didn’t exactly go our way but I’m still proud of all these guys for the way we battled back after that pit road penalty. If there had been a caution in the final stage and we had a chance to get some of the track position we lost back, I really think we could have been up there battling for another win with our FFA Camaro. Overall though, this was a great weekend for our team and it feels good to be heading back home with a victory.”
Michael Annett
For the second straight day, Michael Annett put together a solid run in the Drydene 200 at Dover International Speedway, pairing an eighth-place finish on Sunday with Saturday’s ninth-place result in the Pilot Flying J Chevrolet. The Iowa driver led five laps near the end of the race as green-flag pit stops were made, and emerged with another solid finish. Annett has nine top-10s in the last 10 races, and Sunday’s result put him 204 points ahead of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff cutline with just five races remaining before they start.
Stage One Finish: 11th
Starting seventh in the field based on his finish in Saturday’s race, Annett focused on sorting out the setup changes made overnight by Travis Mack and his No 1 team. An early caution flag gave him the chance to report to Mack that his Pilot Flying J Camaro was tight later in the corners but the front end was much more positive than it had been the day before. Over the 45-lap Stage One, Annett ran as high as seventh and as low as 11th, experimenting to see what his car would do for later on. On a restart at lap 24, Annett got away ninth, but lost two positions over the next 20 laps to finish Stage One in 11th place. On pit road, Annett took four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to help his tight condition, and went back out in 12th position.
Stage Two Finish: 11th
Stage Two began the same as Stage One, with Annett taking his time to figure out what his car wanted. Annett ran between 12th and 13th for much of the stage, picking up the 11th position on lap 90 as the green-checkered flag waved over the field. Under caution, Annett told Mack that he needed a little more front turn to be able finish off passes, especially running multiple lines around the concrete oval. Mack responded with four tires, fuel and another chassis change to help the front end and an air-pressure change to help his tight condition on exit. He exited the pits in 14th, but used the choose cone to advance up the order on the inside line.
Final Stage:
Firing off from eighth position, Annett immediately hooked up in a battle with Brandon Jones for seventh, taking that position just five laps into the run. He would stay in seventh until lap 133, when the lapped car of Jeremy Clements balked his entry into Turn 3 and Jones pounced for the position. Continuing on in eighth place, Annett would hold his position there until green-flag stops began at lap 160. The first car to dive to pit road was JRM teammate Daniel Hemric, and Annett would soldier on in sixth position, just outside the top five. As more and more cars hit pit road for their final stops, Annett marched up the order, finally assuming the lead at lap 183 when JRM’s Noah Gragson surrendered the top spot. Annett finally dived to pit lane at lap 188 for two tires and fuel to the end, cycling back onto the track in seventh position. Over the final 11 laps, Annett held position until the leader got past on lap 195, putting him the first car one lap down. He would finish eighth.
Chase Briscoe won the race over Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Jones and Hemric. Gragson and Saturday winner Justin Allgaier came sixth and seventh, with Annett eighth, Riley Herbst ninth and Brett Moffitt 10th.
Michael Annett, driver No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet team
“We made some changes overnight to the setup and it worked pretty well all day. For 400 laps in two days, to come out with a couple of top-10 finishes and no damage, that’s a good weekend’s work. We had a good solid run today and had the strategy worked a little different it could have been even better. Now we get to go to Daytona, and that’s always good for this Pilot Flying J team.