Race 27 of 33: Andy's Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway
Track Specs: 1.5-mile quad-oval / 200 laps                     
Race Winner: Noah Gragson

Gragson's Finish: 1st

Berry's Finish: 6th

Mayer's Finish: 8th

Allgaier's Finish: 29th

Noah Gragson

Noah Gragson ascended into rarified air on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. With his fourth consecutive victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Gragson joined the legendary Sam Ard (1983) as the only drivers to win four consecutive NXS races. The triumph, which Gragson earned late in the race, was his record seventh of the season and the 13^th of the year for JR Motorsports, and it advanced Gragson and the No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee team into the Round of 8.

Race Rundown

• Starting from the second position after qualifying, Gragson took the lead on the opening lap and put his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Chevrolet at the front for the first 10 laps. Falling to second at that point, Gragson was keeping tabs on the leader when the caution waved at lap 19 for a multi-car crash in Turn 2. Under caution, Gragson told crew chief Luke Lambert that his car felt very edgy on the opening run.
• Gragson maintained second place until another caution waved with less than 10 laps remaining in the 45-lap Stage One. Lambert brought Gragson to pit road a lap later for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to help his handling. He rejoined the race in 12^th position.
• When the green flag waved with four laps remaining in the stage, Gragson took off. Over the remaining distance, the Nevada native passed eight cars to finish fourth, earning seven valuable stage points in the process. During that blast up the order, Gragson told Lambert he felt a persistent shake in the front end of his Camaro.
• On the stage break, Gragson came back down pit road to tighten lug nuts on the left front wheel, dropping back to 19^th for the start of Stage Two. On the ensuing restart, Gragson again started forward, passing 12 cars over the next eight laps to crest the top five at lap 60.
• As Stage Two wore on, Gragson made his way to third place before another caution waved at lap 79. Gragson followed the two cars ahead of him onto pit road eight laps before the end of the stage for four tires and fuel.
• Coming out in ninth place, Gragson made another huge gain on the restart. On the green flag, Gragson used the favored bottom line to gain five positions to fifth and picked up two more in the final four laps to finish second in the stage. That run added nine more stage points to his total for the day.
• Having already made his stop, Gragson inherited the top spot when leader AJ Allmendinger came down pit road for his service. He would hold the lead for the next 63 laps until he came to pit road at lap 156. On the service, Gragson took four tires and fuel, emerging a lap down in 16^th position.
• With fuel to the end, Gragson began his march up the order breaking back into the top 10 at lap 168. Still a lap down to the leader, Gragson kept stringing fast laps together while waiting for the lead-lap cars to come to pit road.
• Allmendinger came for fuel and tires at lap 184, which put Gragson into second place. Jeb Burton inherited the lead at that point and held on for four laps until Gragson swept past in Turn 4 to take the lead.
• Over the final 11 laps, Gragson built on his lead and crossed the line 1.238 seconds ahead of Austin Hill. On the day, Gragson led three times for 85 laps on the way to his seventh victory of the season and the 12^th NXS victory of his career.
• The victory, just the second for JR Motorsports at TMS, puts Gragson into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs and one step closer to the Championship 4. Gragson also earned his 20^th top-10 finish in 27 races this season.
• With the victory, Gragson maintained the top spot in the points heading to Talladega Superspeedway next week, 26 ahead of Allmendinger and 27 ahead of Ty Gibbs.

Noah Gragson, driver No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber®/Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet team

"We've just got a great No. 9 Bass Pro Shops team. This team is on fire, and all these fans here, I want to come back and win more races for them. Our pit crew has been awesome and was fast all day, and I'm so thankful to Johnny Morris and Bass Pro Shops, Rusty Sellers at TrueTimber and the folks at Black Rifle Coffee Company. It's really, really fun, and I'm very grateful to all the people back at JR Motorsports who work hard to make this happen. Our Hendrick Engines were really strong today, too. It was a really solid effort by all four of our cars here at Texas today."

Josh Berry

Josh Berry, driver of the No. 8 Open Joist / U.S. LUMBER Chevrolet, used a differing strategy from the race leaders towards the tail end of Saturday afternoon's NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Texas Motor Speedway to come home in the sixth position. The differing strategy saw Berry cycle out to the second position with less than 50 laps remaining before being forced to pit road under green flag conditions with 20 laps to go in the event before ultimately crossing the line on lap 200 in the sixth position. The result puts Berry fifth in the playoff standings, 24 points above the eighth and final position with two races remaining in the Round of 12.

Race Rundown

• Berry and the No. 8 Open Joist / U.S. LUMBER Chevrolet qualified in the 16^th position after battling a loose condition during their one timed lap on Saturday morning. The driver of the No. 8 raced inside of the top 10 for the first time on lap 3 and up to the eighth position before a lap 18 yellow slowed the field.
• Staying on track during the caution, Berry restarted from inside the fourth row and drove to the sixth position. Remaining in sixth through a lap-36 caution period, Berry ultimately crossed under the green-and-white checkered on lap 45 in the sixth position to earn five valuable stage points.
• Pitting during the stage break for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment, Berry started the second stage from the 24^th position due to varying strategies. Using fresher tires than the drivers in front of the Open Joist / U.S. LUMBER Chevrolet, Berry battled back inside the top 10 on lap 70 and remained there until a lap-77 caution period allowed the team to play with a little strategy.
• Pitting during the caution for four tires, fuel and another chassis adjustment, Berry exited the pits in the 16^th position but was forced to the rear for an uncontrolled tire during their stop. Biding his time, Berry crossed under the green-and-white checkered flag on lap 90 in the 22^nd position.
• Remaining on track during the stage break, Berry restarted from the inside of row seven and raced back inside the top 10 on lap 98 and into the eighth position on lap 103. A slew of yellows flew beginning on lap 104, and then on laps 109 and 116, as Berry ran in the fourth position. Pitting under this yellow for a chance at a different strategy than the field, Berry restarted from the inside of row seven and raced into the 11^th position before a lap-126 caution period bunched the field.
• Staying on track, Berry restarted from the outside of row six and raced back inside the top 10 immediately following the drop of the green flag. With the different strategy in play, Berry raced as high as the runner-up position until he was called to pit road for fuel only on lap 180. Cycling out to fifth, Berry dropped one spot to Riley Herbst at the last second to finish in the sixth position.
• The top-10 finish is Berry's 17^th of the 2022 season and the fourth straight for the No. 8. He now sits fifth in the championship standings, 24 points above the eighth and final spot with two races remaining in the Round of 12.

Josh Berry, driver No. 8 Open Joist / U.S. LUMBER Chevrolet team

"Early on we struggled with the balance on the car as it was so much different than what we practiced and qualified on but this Open Joist / U.S. LUMBER team never gave up and we came out with another top 10. If we can keep up these finishes the wins will come and it'll help us transfer through these playoff stages. Hopefully we can head to Talladega next week and have a clean race all the way through."

Sam Mayer

It was an uphill battle from the outset for Sam Mayer and the No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions team in Saturday's Andy's Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, the first race in the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. Mayer and company overcame a host of issues on a long, hot day but rallied to take home an eighth-place finish with damage to boot. Additionally, the effort propels the team up two positions to seventh in the playoff standings. Mayer is a single marker ahead of the cutoff position with two races to go in the opening round.

Race Rundown

• Even with a fifth-place starting spot, Mayer's race was tested early when leader Brandon Jones, two cars ahead of Mayer, spun off the nose of Daniel Hemric. He was forced to jump hard on the brakes and give up all his momentum, and ultimately 10 positions, to avoid making contact.
• Despite falling back to 15^th, Mayer worked back to the top 10 by lap 12. Running some of the fastest lap times on the track, he kept the pressure on and found sixth by the race's first caution on lap 19.
• The ensuing restart had Mayer mixing it up with some aggressive competitors. As a result, Mayer slipped up out of the groove long enough to pick up debris on his tires. In the next pair of corners, the lack of grip resulted in the No. 1 pancaking the outside wall.
• The contact caused damage to the car's splitter bar and Mayer dropped to 20^th.
• Mayer held on with the damaged machine until the next caution flag on lap 37 allowed the team to pit for repairs along with four tires and fuel. In fact, after the initial stop crew chief Taylor Moyer called Mayer back to pit road a second time for additional repairs, all while keeping the Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet on the lead lap.
• Mayer would end Stage One in 27^th and utilize the stage-ending caution for more repairs on pit road.
• With a much better handling car after the pit stops, Mayer spent the bulk of Stage Two finding his rhythm. He restarted 32^nd but climbed to 21^st at the stage's halfway point. He kept after it, and by the conclusion of Stage Two, the team was 10^th.
• Lining up in seventh for the final stage, Mayer drifted to 12^th and fell into a gaggle of competitors racing nose to tail. Directly in front of the No. 1 car, Brandon Brown made contact with AJ Allmendinger and set off a multi-car on the backstretch. Mayer avoided the bulk of the incident but did receive left-front damage, which sent the team back to pit road for fresh tires and repairs.
• Once back to green-flag racing, Mayer again had to dodge a bullet when several of the leaders tangled, stirring up another crash involving nine cars. With help from his spotter Brandon McReynolds, Mayer snaked his way through and improved to 13^th.
• Mayer found the top 10 not long after with a car that seemed to get faster the longer the run went on. With green-flag pit stops beginning with 40 laps to go, Mayer cycled as high as third before coming to pit road himself. 
• He emerged from his stop in 14^th and spent the remaining of the race maneuvering his way to eighth. It stands as the No. 1 team's third consecutive top 10 finish.

Sam Mayer, driver No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet team

"I think given everything that happened today, we'll take our top eight and move on. It was tough but this Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions team was up for the challenge. We had so much speed, but we just kept getting caught up in things. We had to fight all day to salvage what we could. I got marbles on my tires going into Turns 3 and 4 after some guys were racing really aggressively. I trusted the traction compound more than I probably should have, got loose and overcorrected into the wall. At least we hit it flat so it didn't hurt us too bad.  All things considered, I'm happy for the team. They've done a good job. I just have to make sure I do my part the next two races."

Justin Allgaier

Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, looked poised to kick the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs off on a strong note on Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway, earning stage points at the conclusion of both Stage One and Two and running inside the top three early in Stage Three. Then, during a lap-116 restart, the JR Motorsports driver was left nowhere to go when the race leader broke loose on the exit of Turn 2, sending Allgaier hard into the outside retaining wall. The subsequent damage to the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet proved too severe for Allgaier to continue, ending his day shy of the finish. In the end, Allgaier was scored with a 29^th-place finish.  Despite the result, Allgaier remains 20 points above the playoff cutline with two races remaining in the Round of 8.

Race Rundown

• Allgaier lined up for the 200-lap event from the sixth position following Saturday morning's qualifying session.
• In the opening laps, the driver of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet pressed forward, as Allgaier charged into the third position and remained there until the first caution of the day was displayed on lap 18.
• Opting for the outside line for the lap-24 restart, Allgaier held steady inside the top five until a caution with just nine laps remaining in Stage One allowed the No. 7 team to play with some strategy.
• Choosing to stay out during this caution, Allgaier took the green for the three-lap shootout to end Stage One in second and remained in the runner-up position until the green-and-white checkered flag was displayed on lap 45. With the stage result, Allgaier earned nine stage points to begin the afternoon.
• While under the stage-ending caution, crew chief Jason Burdett called the driver of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet to pit road for four tires and adjustments after Allgaier reported that he was tight through the center of the corner. However, due to a wide variety of pit strategies playing out, Allgaier returned to the track for the start of Stage Two in the 19^th position.
• Undaunted by the loss of track position, Allgaier methodically worked his way forward throughout the 45-lap second stage, improving 12 positions to take the green-and-white checkered flag in seventh on lap 90. The Stage Two result earned the No. 7 team an additional four stage points on the day.
• Prior to the start of the third and final stage, Burdett called Allgaier back to pit road for four tires and another round of adjustments, sending the Illinois native back out for the lap-96 restart in fifth.
• Allgaier continued to fight inside the top five until a lap-109 caution period bunched the field back together.
• Opting to restart as the second car on the outside line on lap 116, Allgaier entered Turns 1 and 2 wheel-to-wheel with JRM teammate Noah Gragson in a four-wide battle for the race lead. Then, as the quartet hit the exit of Turn 2, the No. 18 broke sideways, leaving Allgaier with nowhere to go and sending the veteran driver hard into the outside retaining wall.
• The subsequent damage to the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet was deemed too severe for Allgaier to continue.
• In the end, Allgaier was relegated to a 29^th-place finish.
• With two races remaining in the Round of 12, Allgaier currently sits 20 points above the playoff cutline.

Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet team

"It's really unfortunate that we had nowhere to go there on the exit of Turn 2 with our BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet. We were in a good position to battle for the race lead, but unfortunately it just didn't work out in our favor. This is definitely not how we were hoping these playoffs would kickoff, but this No. 7 group never gives up and I know we will come back next week in Talladega ready to get after it and fight for the win. Big congrats to my teammate Noah (Gragson) and everyone at JRM on getting the win today. Hopefully we can keep that roll going next week."