Race 8 of 33: Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway
Track Specs: 1.366-mile oval / 147 laps
Race Winner: Brandon Jones
Allgaier’s finish: 3rd
Chastain’s finish: 4th
Kvapil’s finish: 5th
Zilisch’s finish: 6th
Smith’s finish: 9th
Justin Allgaier
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Heritage Chevrolet, scored a hard-fought third-place finish on Saturday afternoon in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway. Lining up from the third position, Allgaier ran up front throughout the 147-lap matinee, leading for a race-high 56 laps and claiming a Stage Two victory before taking the checkered flag in third. With today’s result, the veteran JR Motorsports driver has now placed third or better in four consecutive races and in five of the opening eight in the 2025 season. Additionally, Allgaier has now extended his lead in the NXS championship standings to 71 over the pack.
“This BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet was great today. Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and all the guys on this No. 7 team built an extremely fast car. It was great to get a stage win and extend our lead in the points. I just can’t thank everyone at JR Motorsports enough. To have all five cars in the top 10 is a testament to all the hard work by everyone both here and at the shop. Now we move on from today and get ready to get after it at one of my favorite track next week in Bristol.”
Ross Chastain
Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 9 Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet, came home with a strong fourth-place finish on Saturday afternoon in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway. Taking the green from 27th, Chastain quickly went to work, as he methodically climbed the leaderboard to end Stage One in ninth. The JR Motorsports driver continued his ascent from there, as he drove up to third position by the end of Stage Two on lap 90. In the final stage, Chastain powered his way to the race lead and maintained the top spot until a late-race caution brought the field back to pit road. Following a mad scramble on the restart, Chastain settled into fourth position and remained there until the checkered flag flew.
“We started the race with a lot of speed today in the Acceptance Insurance Chevy and the car took off, it was great. It was fun to race with the leaders and lead a few laps here at Darlington. I thought we had a shot at the win today for Acceptance Insurance and for JRM. They gave me a really good car today and it’s fun to drive for them.”
Carson Kvapil
Carson Kvapil, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies Chevrolet, posted his best qualifying effort to date at the “Track Too Tough to Tame” and took the initial green flag just outside the top five in sixth. Throughout the first 45 laps the rookie driver struggled with the balance of his Chevrolet and fought hard to maintain his position in the top 20. After an adjustment at the end of the stage, Kvapil found his rhythm and made quick work of the field, breaking back into the top 10 within the first half of Stage Two, completing the second 45-lap segment back in his original starting position. The 21-year-old Mooresville, N.C. native held strong in the top 10 for the final stage and avoided multiple on-track incidents. After coming down pit road for the final time, Kvapil’s crew had a lightning-quick stop, earning him two additional spots in the race off pit road. This would put Kvapil in position for his second top-five finish of the season. The result earned Kvapil one more spot in the playoff standings to eighth, three points out of seventh.
“We haven’t always done well at Darlington, so to come here today and qualify as well as we did felt really great. This No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies team always dives me really fast race cars and today our finish reflected that. I am glad we got this finish for Johnny Morris and everyone at Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies and hopefully we will take this momentum to Bristol next week.”
Connor Zilisch
Connor Zilisch rallied from deep in the field in the final stage to score a sixth-place finish Saturday afternoon at Darlington Raceway. Zilisch started 16th in the 200-mile event and wrestled a tight-handling WeatherTech Chevrolet during the first two stages of the race. He finished 21st when Stage 2 ended on lap 90 and on lap 94 pitted for four tires and a major chassis adjustment. The changes worked and from there, the rally to the front was on, thanks to a better-handling No. 88 Chevrolet. Zilisch climbed into the top 10 for the first time on lap 108 of the 147-lap event. He worked his way up to eighth when the final caution flag waved on lap 130. He made his final stop for four tires one lap later and restarted 10th thanks to a mix of different strategies among the leaders. With 12 laps remaining, Zilisch immediately went to work when the green flag waved, picking off four positions during the final run to claim a sixth-place finish at the checkered flag.
“It’s really cool to come here to Darlington and run top-10 with my WeatherTech Chevrolet and finish sixth today. I’m really happy with how it went. We struggled a good bit in the first two stages because we were really tight, but we were able to make the right adjustments and get it really close there at the end. I think we had a car to win if the race was a little bit longer. I needed a day without any chaos. We didn’t run all that great in the first two stages, but we made the right adjustments and got our WeatherTech Chevrolet fast there at the end. I think we were probably just as fast as the 20 (Brandon Jones) that last run but it just took us too long to get there.”
Sammy Smith
Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8 TMC Transportation Chevrolet, earned a hard-fought ninth-place finish in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway after qualifying 12th earlier in the day. After the 147-lap Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway, Smith gained two positions in the championship points standings to now sit 11th.
Smith took the green flag in 12th and the initial 45-lap Stage One saw just one caution flag. The No. 8 team decided to follow the majority of the field and not come to pit road. Smith told crew chief Phillip Bell that his Chevrolet did not fire off well and lacked grip. He fought with what he could against competition with fresher tires and finished 23rd in the opening stage. At the break, the TMC Transportation pit crew got their driver off pit road nine positions better than where he came in and Smith finished 12th in Stage Two, but was still lacking rear grip.
The No. 8 crew again had a speedy pit stop that gained them spots in the race off pit road and Smith would start the final stage inside the top 10. The final leg of the 147-lap event produced several cautions, which allowed the team to strategize the restarts when it came to lane choice. In the wild shuffle to the finish, Smith raced two- and three-wide for position before taking the checkered flag in ninth.
“I am proud of the speed this No. 8 TMC Transportation team brought to the track. They never stop fighting and it shows. I’m glad we could bring a home a solid finish today for TMC and the guys who were honored on the car with this throwback scheme to a Dale Jr.-owned, Tony Stewart-driven car. I’m looking forward to the upcoming races where we’ll keep digging to get Pilot, TMC and Allstate Peterbilt Group a victory.”