Race 27 of 33: Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Track Specs: .533-mile oval / 300 laps
Race Winner: Aric Almirola
Kvapil’s finish: 4th
Zilisch’s finish: 5th
Allgaier’s finish: 6th
Smith’s finish: 37th
Carson Kvapil
Carson Kvapil, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies Chevrolet, qualified in the 11th position to kick off his first career appearance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs on Friday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway. Within the first 20 laps, Kvapil made his way into the top 10 and throughout the remaining laps of the first two stages maintained that position, finishing eighth and fifth, respectively, at the end of 170 laps. Unfortunately, an incident on pit road at the end of Stage Two forced Kvapil to make an additional trip to pit lane before lining up for the final stage. This unscheduled stop saw the rookie rejoin the field in 21st for the third and final stage. When the green flag waved, the JR Motorsports driver patiently picked his way through the field. Knocking on the door to make his way back into the top 10. The No. 1 team would continue with this strategy after another incident on lap 252, setting up their driver to restart on the front row. He would soon settle into fourth where he would take the final checkered flag. After a solid points day, Kvapil is no fourth in the NXS Playoff grid, 16 points above the cutline.
“While we weren’t able to come away with the win tonight, we still had a solid points day. Even after our issue on pit road, this No. 1 team didn’t give up and gave me a fast piece capable of coming back through the field to secure another top-five finish. It feels great to be able to come home with a strong finish for Johnny Morris and everyone at Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies, but we still have a lot of races to go and we’re going to work on keeping this momentum going in Kansas.”
Connor Zilisch
Connor Zilisch scored a fifth-place finish on Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, tying the all-time NASCAR Xfinity Series record in the process. Zilisch started fourth in the 300-lap event and ran just behind teammate Justin Allgaier throughout Stage One, scoring a second-place finish when the segment ended on lap 85. He restarted third when the race went green on lap 98 and quickly powered into the race lead, holding on to win his 10th stage of the season at the conclusion of Stage Two. He pitted for fuel and tires under caution at lap 178. Excellent work on pit road by the WeatherTech crew kept Zilisch in the lead. Zilisch was leading the race when the sixth caution at lap 264 set up a crucial decision by the Mardy Lindley-led team. Lindley made the call to pit for four tires when pit road opened on lap 266, putting Zilisch seventh in line for the restart on lap 270. Zilisch made a couple of aggressive moves through traffic over the final 30 laps and climbed up to fifth place when the checkered flag waves. Zilisch heads to the second race in the Round of 12 for the NXS Playoffs a solid 82 points above the cutline.
“We had a good day with our WeatherTech Chevrolet and got further above the cutline. Our pit crew did a great job and thanks to everyone over at Hendrick Engines. Overall, it was a good, solid day and we got a lot of points. Those decisions at the end of the race when you’re the leader to pit or not are just so hard. Whatever you do, everyone else is going to do the opposite. I know my team did their best to make the right decision. In the end, tonight was a really solid ninth and go us in a great position for when we get to Kansas.”
Justin Allgaier
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture/Precision Build Chevrolet, came home with a solid sixth-place finish on Friday evening in the opening race of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs at Bristol Motor Speedway. Allgaier, who qualified on the pole on Friday afternoon, won the opening stage and led 95 laps before settling in for the strong top-10 result. With tonight’s finish, Allgaier now heads to the second race in the Round of 12 for the NASCAR Xfinity Seroes Playoffs at Kandas Speedway 53 points above the cutline.
“We had a really fast BRANDT Professional Agriculture/Precision Build Chevrolet today. Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and all the guys on this JR Motorsports team gave me a great car. We just couldn’t quite get the balance right there at the end, but tonight was absolutely a positive step and a great start to the Playoffs. We just need to keep executing like this, moving forward and I know we will move on to the next round.”
Sammy Smith
Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet, entered Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday for the first NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff race as the sixth seed in the Round of 12. Smith qualified 14th for the Food City 300 but the team felt it had a strong, competitive Chevrolet that would allow them to climb through the field. Smith quickly moved forward at the start before a caution waved at lap 10, and he reported that the handling was good and lined up on the bottom row for the restart. However, not long after the restart, the JRM driver reported that something felt wrong under the hood. As the problem persisted, crew chief Phillip Bell called Smith down pit road to see of repairs could be made. It was quickly deemed repairs would not be possible and that brought an abrupt and early halt to Smith’s evening. In the end, he was scored with a 37th-place finish.
“Our race ending early is a tough way to start the Playoffs. It’s just an unfortunate, fluke deal. It’s disappointing, as this Pilot team works so hard. We’ll just have to do our best the next two weeks in the Playoffs and try to keep the Pilot Chevrolet up front. I know that this group is up to the task.”