Race Results | Xfinity Series Points
Race 16 of 33: Pocono Green 225 at Pocono Raceway
Track Specs: 2.5-mile triangular oval / 90 laps
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 84 degrees
Race Winner: Austin Cindric
Allgaier's Finish: 3rd
Gragson's Finish: 4th
Annett's Finish: 12th
Mayer's Finish: 18th
Justin Allgaier
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 Hellmann's Make Taste, Not Waste Chevrolet, ran inside the top three throughout Sunday afternoon's NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Pocono Raceway, leading for more than 10 laps for the third consecutive race before bringing home a hard-fought third-place finish. With the result, Allgaier has now finished inside the top three in six of his last eight starts, dating back to Texas Motor Speedway earlier this month. Additionally, the JR Motorsports driver improves to fourth in the championship standings with 10 races remaining in the regular season.
Stage One Finish: 3rd
Allgaier took the green flag for the 90-lap event from the second position after the field was set via NASCAR's mathematical formula earlier in the week. After initially holding on to the runner-up position, Allgaier slid back to third after reporting to crew chief Jason Burdett that the Hellmann's Make Taste, Not Waste Chevrolet was loose both on the entry and the exit of the corner. Despite not handling to his liking, Allgaier held steady in third through a four-lap shootout to end Stage One to take the green-and-white checkered flag on lap 20 and earn eight valuable stage points to start the day.
Stage Two Finish: 10th
While under the stage-ending caution, Burdett made the strategy call to keep Allgaier out on the track while the race leaders opted to come to pit road after the JRM driver reported that he had built tighter over the last run. By virtue of staying out, Allgaier inherited the race lead for the start of Stage Two. The driver of the Hellmann’s Make Taste, Not Waste Chevrolet held on to the top spot for the 10 laps that followed before relinquishing the lead just prior to a lap-34 caution period. During this caution, Burdett made the call to bring Allgaier to pit road for the first time on the afternoon for four tires and a chassis adjustment. Due to a variety of strategies among the front runners, Allgaier returned to the track in 12th for the two-lap dash to end Stage Two. Taking advantage of the fresh tires, Allgaier re-emerged inside the top 10 to take the green-and-white checkered on lap 40 in the 10th position and earn one additional stage point to bring the total to nine on the day.
Final Stage:
Opting to remain on track again following Stage Two, Allgaier lined up for the start of the third and final stage on lap 44 in the fifth position. Now back inside the top five, the driver of the Hellmann's Make Taste, Not Waste Chevrolet set his sights forward, moving into fourth on lap 52 and remaining there until the lone round of green-flag pit stops got under way on lap 55. Coming in for four fresh tires and a chassis adjustment, Allgaier was the first among the race leaders to hit pit road under green. Once back on track following the stop, the Illinois native patiently worked his way back forward as more of the leaders came to pit road. When the green-flag cycle was finally completed on lap 75, Allgaier found himself scored in the third position.
Over the final 15 laps, the driver of the Hellmann's Make Taste, Not Waste Chevrolet did all he could to gain ground on the top two, but unfortunately ran out of time.
In the end, Allgaier took the checkered flag in the third position to earn his third consecutive top-three finish and his sixth top-three in the last eight races dating back to his victory at Darlington Raceway in May.
Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 Hellmann's Make Taste, Not Waste Chevrolet team
"Today was a good, solid day for our Hellmann's Make Taste, Not Waste Chevrolet. It feels good to come away with another top-three finish and I can't thank Jason (Burdett, crew chief) and all the guys on this JR Motorsports team enough for all of their hard work. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going and have another strong run next week at Road America. I can't wait."
Noah Gragson
Noah Gragson and the No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee team ran toward the front all day on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, earning a fourth-place finish in the Pocono Green 225 for NASCAR Xfinity Series machines and continuing a mid-season push to playoff form. It was the fifth top-five and eighth top-10 finish for the young Nevada native in 16 races this season.
Stage One Finish: 7th
Firing off from seventh position following the application of NASCAR's mathematical formula earlier in the week, Gragson wasted little time in moving up the order. He was sixth under the flag stand on the first lap and stayed there for the opening seven laps. By the time the first caution waved at lap 10, Gragson was still seventh and fighting a loose condition as well as a potential brake issue. On the ensuing restart, Gragson chose the bottom line and moved up three positions to start on the inside of the second row, but fell back to seventh at the end of the first lap of green. He would finish there at lap 20 when the green-and-white checkered flag was displayed to end Stage One, gaining four valuable stage points in the process. Under caution, crew chief Dave Elenz called Gragson to pit road for four tires and fuel with no adjustments, as Gragson wanted to see how his Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Camaro reacted to the new rubber. He would exit in 16th position for Stage Two.
Stage Two Finish: 2nd
On the Stage Two restart, Gragson again moved forward up to 14th over the first lap of green-flag racing before another caution flag slowed the action. Extended cleanup efforts turned the yellow into a red flag for more than five minutes. Elenz told his young charge to save as much tire as he could because of the number of caution periods that could be in the offing. Once the race got back under way, so did Gragson, who swept up to seventh position in the first lap of green-flag racing. Several laps later, Gragson reported that his voltage meter was jumping around. A caution flag waved with just four laps remaining in Stage Two and Elenz elected to keep Gragson on the track. That pushed the young driver to third for the restart, which came with just two laps remaining in the stage. Gragson again chose the bottom line and jumped to the front row, using the clean air to sweep to second at the green-and-white-checkered flag, picking up nine more stage points for the day. Despite a developing brake issue, Gragson stayed on track in second place during the stage break.
Final Stage:
Giving up the front row to start on the preferred top line, Gragson was looking toward the end of the race in terms of strategy. A quick caution for a crash in Turn 2 saw Gragson holding station in third place, and at the restart on lap 49, Gragson again chose the bottom line to get to the front row and clean air. Over the next seven laps, Gragson stayed in the top three before Elenz called him down pit road under green at lap 57 for four tires and fuel to the end. The electrical issue still lurked, causing Gragson to switch batteries later on, but the stop went off well and Gragson rejoined the race in 29th place, behind the leader and JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier. At lap 65, Gragson had risen to 20th place as green-flag pit stops cycled through and he cracked the top 15 four laps later. At lap 71, Gragson was back in the top 10 despite contact with AJ Allmendinger on the right front. In the space of five laps he was fifth. One lap later, Gragson cycled out in fourth place, where he would run the rest of the way to the checkered flag. The finish bolstered Gragson's hold on ninth place in season points and he's a comfortable distance ahead of the playoff cut line with 10 races remaining in the regular season.
Austin Cindric won the race, with Ty Gibbs, Allgaier, Gragson and Allmendinger the top five.
Noah Gragson, driver No. 9 Bass Pros Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet team
"We dealt with a lot today on our Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Chevrolet, but we got a good solid fourth-place finish out of it. The electrical issue was concerning, and we had a spell there where the brakes felt a little soft, but we were able to persevere and come out with another top-five result."
Michael Annett
Michael Annett drove his No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet to a 12th-place finish on Sunday afternoon in the NASCAR Xfinity Series' Pocono Green 225 at Pocono Raceway, overcoming a handling condition that plagued him from the wave of the green flag. The solid finish was enough to increase his lead over the playoff cut line by three points to 56 as the battle to set the field for the postseason continues.
Stage One Finish: 19th
Lining up in eighth position for the start of the 90-lap odyssey around Pocono's 2.5-mile triangular layout by virtue of NASCAR's mathematical formula earlier in the week, Annett immediately diagnosed a strange feeling in his Pilot Flying J Camaro. After the first lap of green-flag racing, Annett had fallen from eighth to 14th and told crew chief Mike Bumgarner that he had no security in the rear end of his Chevrolet and that the rear tires felt out of the track. After losing two more positions to 16th on lap 2, Annett stabilized there and continued to work the problem. The first caution flag waved at lap 10 for a two-car crash, and Bumgarner used the slowdown to call Annett to pit road for a couple of chassis adjustments as well as fuel. Returning to the track in 23rd position, Annett rallied to 19th by the time the 20-lap Stage One ended. Back on pit road at stage end, Annett took four tires, fuel and another round of adjustments. He would start Stage Two from 22nd position.
Stage Two Finish: 19th
As Stage Two got under way, Annett moved up three positions on the initial lap of green-flag racing, only to have the caution wave one lap later for a hard crash at the exit of Turn 1. The cleanup required a red-flag period, where the Iowa native told Bumgarner that his handling was improving as the run went on, with more security in the rear tires. When the green flag waved again at lap 29, Annett was 19th and on the move. He was 16th four laps later and had cracked the top 15 when the caution waved again for a single-car spin. Under caution, Annett told Bumgarner the security in the rear tires was building, but he needed more of it. Bumgarner called his driver back to pit road at lap 36, four laps from the end of Stage Two, for four tires, fuel and a pair of chassis adjustments. Taking the green flag with just two laps remaining in the stage, Annett was 14th under the flag, but finished 19th when the green-and-white checkered flag waved at lap 40. Annett radioed to Bumgarner following the stage that the car was tighter over the short run, but much of that had to do with no air on the nose, as he was racing in a tight pack for most of those two laps. Having pitted before the stage break, Annett stayed on track to begin the final segment.
Final Stage:
When the green flag waved for the final 50 laps of the day, Annett cracked the top 10 and was up to ninth before the caution flag waved after just two laps. On the ensuing restart, Annett dropped to 11th and settled there for the next six laps until cars ahead of him began hitting pit road. He was third at lap 59 and came to pit road the next time by for fuel to the end of the race. That dropped him to 29th in the order, and the long chase up through the standings began. Over the remaining laps, Annett kept moving forward, cracking the top 20 at lap 71 and hitting the top 15 five laps later. At one point during that period, Annett called to Bumgarner that he might have a tire going down, but the problem resolved itself without the need for a pit stop. Over the remaining laps, Annett moved up to 12th with eight circuits remaining and finished there.
Annett’s 12th-place finish saw him stay 10th in series points with 10 races remaining in the regular season, solidly in the playoff field.
Michael Annett, driver No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet team
"I just couldn't get the car to feel like I needed it to all day. There was a feeling that it didn’t have the security that I needed to drive it the way you have to here at Pocono. This No. 1 Pilot Flying J team never gives up, and we didn't at all today. We'll put this one behind us and go on. We're finishing races and building points for the playoffs, and that's what we'll continue to keep doing."
Sam Mayer
Making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut, Sam Mayer, driver of the No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet, drove from his 20th-place starting position to inside of the top 10 in the early stages of Sunday afternoon's Pocono Green 225 NXS event at Pocono Raceway before a pit road mishap during green flag pit stops knocked the 18-year-old rookie outside of the top 30 midway through the final stage. Undeterred by the loss of track position, Mayer powered back over the final laps to race into the top 20 and take the checkered flag in the 18th position.
Stage One Finish: 13th
Mayer lined up for the first race of his NXS career in the 20th position after the field was set through NASCAR’s mathematical formula. From the drop of the green flag Mayer charged forward, needing just six laps to race into the top 10 for the first time on the day. The first yellow flew on lap 10 as Mayer ran in the 10th position. Pitting for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment, the driver of the Tire Pros Chevrolet exited the pits in 26th due to varying pit strategies. Restarting from the bottom of row 11 the rookie driver for JR Motorsports started his ascent forward, improving 13 positions to cross under the green-and-white checkered flag on lap 20 in the 13th position.
Stage Two Finish: 17th
During the stage-ending caution, Moyer made the call to keep the driver of the Tire Pros Chevrolet on the track as they had just pit three laps prior to the end of Stage One, moving the 18-year-old up to the third position for the start of Stage Two. Once back under way, Mayer jumped to the high side of Turn 1 before contact with another driver forced another yellow that eventually turned into a red flag. Suffering minimal damage as a result of the contact, Mayer lined back up for the following restart in the fifth position. Choosing to restart on the bottom of the 2.5-mile triangle shaped track, Mayer fell to the ninth position and remained there until a lap-34 yellow brought the Tire Pros Chevrolet to pit road. Pitting for four tires, fuel and to fix a little damage on the right front, the JRM driver restarted from the inside of row 13. Mayer charged forward for the Green-White-Checkered finish, taking the green-and-white checkered to end Stage Two in the 17th position
Final Stage:
Prior to the start of the third and final stage, Moyer made the call to keep the Tire Pros Chevrolet on track as they had pit shortly before the end of Stage Two. Choosing to restart from the outside of row seven, Mayer raced into the 10th position before a lap-45 yellow bunched the field back together. Restarting from the bottom of row four, Mayer gained two positions immediately following the restart, putting him in eighth. The lone round of green flag pit stops saw Mayer bring the Tire Pros Chevrolet to pit road on lap 60 from the third position. An issue while entering his pit stall forced Mayer to put the No. 8 Camaro in to reverse, affecting the Tire Pros team overall time on pit road. Exiting the pits in the 33rd position, Mayer looked to again march forward as the Franklin, Wisconsin native gained 15 positions over the final 20 laps to cross the finish line in the 18th position.
Sam Mayer, driver No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet
"We had a really good run going until I slid through the box on our green flag stop, so the finish doesn't show how strong of a Tire Pros Chevrolet we had today. Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) made the right calls throughout the race and I thought we had a car capable of running in the top three. I'll learn from my mistake and come back stronger next week when we go to my home track of Road America."