Race 11 of 33: Shriners Children's 200 at Darlington Raceway
Track Specs: 1.366-mile oval / 147 laps                     
Race Winner: Kyle Larson

Allgaier's Finish: 2nd

Berry's Finish: 7th

Mayer's Finish: 8th

Jones' Finish: 34th

Justin Allgaier

Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture 70^th Anniversary Heritage Chevrolet, charged through the field following a pit-road speeding penalty in Stage One to earn a hard-fought second-place finish in Saturday afternoon's NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway. The runner-up result is the second consecutive inside the top three for Allgaier and moves the JR Motorsports driver up to third in the championship standings. 

Race Rundown

• Allgaier lined up for the 147-lap event from the 17^th position following Friday ‘s qualifying session.
• Although starting in the middle of the pack, Allgaier methodically worked his way forward as the driver of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture 70^th Anniversary Heritage Chevrolet raced into the top 10 for the first time on lap 24, before climbing up to seventh prior to a lap-38 caution period. While under caution, crew chief Jim Pohlman called Allgaier to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel, however, a penalty for speeding on entry forced the JRM driver to fall to the tail-end of the field for the lap-43 restart.
• Despite restarting in the back of the pack, Allgaier patiently moved forward over the final laps of the opening stage, improving seven positions to take the green-and-white checkered flag in 25^th on lap 45.
• Staying out during the stage-ending caution, Allgaier took the lap-52 restart from the 22^nd position. With the help of a flurry of cautions, the Illinois native was able to steadily work his way back toward the front, including a near-miss and strong evasive maneuver during a 15-car pileup on lap 66 to rejoin the top 10 and move up to seventh.
• Now back inside the top 10, Allgaier continued his ascent up the leaderboard, as the driver of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture 70^th Anniversary Heritage Chevrolet powered into the top five on lap 75 before racing up to third on lap 87 and remaining there through the conclusion of Stage Two on lap 90. With the top-three stage-ending result, Allgaier earned eight stage points on the afternoon.
• Prior to the start of the third and final stage of the day, Pohlman called the three-time Most Popular Driver winner to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. Returning to the track in third, Allgaier quickly worked his way into second following the lap-98 restart and remained there until the field was slowed once again on lap 124.
• While under caution, Pohlman made the call to bring the JRM driver back to pit road for what turned out to be the final stop of the day for four tires and another air-pressure adjustment. Holding serve following the stop, Allgaier lined up for the lap-131 restart in second and remained there through a lap-135 caution period.
• Choosing the outside of the front row for the seven-lap sprint to the finish, Allgaier battled hard with Kyle Larson and John Hunter Nemechek for position before taking the checkered flag in second and securing his second consecutive top-three finish.
• With the result, Allgaier moved up to third in the championship standings, just 53 markers behind the series lead.

Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture 70^th Anniversary Heritage Chevrolet team

"We had a really fast BRANDT Professional Agriculture 70^th Anniversary Heritage Chevrolet today. Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and everyone on this JR Motorsports team gave me a great car that let us make a lot of moves out there. I hate that we had to rally back from that penalty in Stage One, but this group never gives up and it's great to come away with a second-place finish. Hopefully we can keep this positive momentum going into Charlotte and be just one spot better."

Josh Berry

Josh Berry drove the No. 8 Tire Pros Throwback Chevrolet to a seventh-place finish on Saturday in the Shriners Children's 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway, overcoming some handling issues to earn his ninth top-10 finish in 11 races so far this season. The JR Motorsports driver held fourth place in series points with the result, just 57 off the lead.

Race Rundown

• In spring-race tradition at Darlington, Berry's No. 8 Tire Pros Throwback Chevrolet wore a paint scheme honoring the 1996 machine driven by Hut Stricklin. With Stricklin on hand for the event, Berry started the 147-lap contest from 13^th place, hoping to run JRM's winning streak at the "Track Too Tough to Tame" to five in a row.
• In the opening laps, Berry slid down the order from 13^th to 18^th, dealing with a handling condition that would plague him all day long. Five laps later, he started his way back up the order, getting to 14^th at lap 35, but a lack of front turn hindered that effort. He would finish the 45-lap Stage One in 19^th position.
• On pit road, crew chief Taylor Moyer came up with a flurry of adjustments for his driver, including several chassis tweaks, while adding four tires and fuel. The Tire Pros pit crew held serve on the stop, and Berry reported for Stage Two in 19^th position.
• Stage Two would feature several caution flags, including one that involved Berry on lap 55. Coming off Turn 4, Berry and another car made contact, which bounced the Tire Pros Throwback Chevrolet off the outside wall and did some damage to the left front of the No. 8. Moyer kept Berry on the track after a check of the left front tire revealed it was undamaged.
• Another caution flag would fly soon after, at lap 68, and Berry was forced to take evasive action through a 15-car pileup in Turn 4 and on the front straightaway. Berry avoided it, but did make some contact.
• The chaos allowed Berry to gain positions on the track, moving from 14^th to eighth at the restart. Over the remaining laps of Stage Two, Berry was able to remain in the eighth position at the waving of the green-and-white checkered flag, adding three points to his total for the day.
• Back on pit road, Moyer again attacked the car's handling issues while adding tires and fuel, sending his driver back out in 14^th position. Several cars had short-pitted the stage, and Berry fell in behind those who stayed out.
• On the green flag to begin the 57-lap final segment, Berry launched well and was back inside the top 10 just two laps into it. Despite still having handling issues, particularly with the front turn on the Tire Pros Throwback Chevrolet, the Tennessee native was able to post top-five lap times.
• The day's ninth caution waved on lap 126, and Moyer called Berry down pit road again for fresh tires and a splash of fuel as well as more adjustments. Berry would restart the race from eighth position with 16 laps remaining.
• Berry stayed in eighth until lap 137, when the final caution flag of the day came out. One of the cars ahead of him pitted, putting Berry into seventh. He would hold that position for the remainder of the race, notching his ninth top-10 result in 11 races so far this season.

Josh Berry, driver No. 8 Tire Pros Throwback Chevrolet team

"We battled all day long in this Tire Pros Throwback Chevrolet. I had a lot of trouble with front turn, and I was loose a lot of the time. It's just one of those races that didn't go the way we planned. Darlington races are always tough, and this one was tougher than most. It was good to have Hut Stricklin here with us today in the pits, and our throwback to his 1996 car was voted the best throwback scheme among NXS teams. We'll file this one away and go on to Charlotte in a couple weeks."

Sam Mayer

Sam Mayer, driver of the No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Throwback Chevrolet, took the lead early on in Stage One, setting him up for a confident run at Darlington Raceway that resulted in another top-10 finish, with the JR Motorsports driver coming home in the eighth position. Mayer's effort at the 1.366-mile oval bumps him up to 10^th in the NASCAR Xfinity series point standings, 115 points behind the leader.

Race Rundown

• After a stellar qualifying session on Friday evening, Mayer set the No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevy up to start his day in the fourth position for the green flag. The young driver raced to the lead early on and led the majority of the stage, being out front for 35 laps. With 10 laps to go in the stage, the yellow flag fell for a spin in Turn 2. Crew chief Mardy Lindley called the No. 1 Chevrolet down pit road for four tires and fuel. After restarting in seventh, Mayer raced up to fifth for a top-five Stage One finish, earning six stage points to begin the afternoon.
• The Franklin, Wis. native took the green flag for Stage Two in the sixth position and held steady in the top-five as multiple cautions arose. Lindley made the call to stay out as the laps rolled by through the yellow flags. Mayer reported he was feeling a bit snug but did not want to make any adjustments until he had a good enough run to really feel it out. The young driver raced the No. 1 Chevrolet to a fourth-place Stage Two finish at the green-white-checkered and came down pit road under the stage break for four tires, fuel and a slight track bar adjustment.
• Mayer took the green flag for the final stage in the sixth position and with 31 laps to go in the race, Mayer suffered a flat right front tire that forced him to make an unscheduled trip to pit road for a quick stop to change four fresh Goodyear tires and some Sunoco fuel.
• A lap-126 caution came out and bunched Mayer back up with the field. Another yellow flag fell shortly after and the No. 1 Chevrolet was called down pit road for the last set of four tires, fuel and another track bar adjustment. With 10 to go, Mayer restarted in the 19^th position and set in to strategy-mode. The young driver flew through the field gaining multiple spots each lap as he weaved in and out of the competition. Mayer broke the top 10 with just three laps to go and rallied up to an eighth-place finish.

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

"What an unbelievable day for this No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet. I could not be more proud of the car this team put together and how the No. 1 crew kept us on track for a great finish all day long. Super cool to have our Kurt Busch '01 throwback scheme do so well here today and to have Kurt here to watch just makes it more special. I look forward to keeping this momentum and heading into Charlotte!"

Brandon Jones

Brandon Jones, driver of the No. 9 Menards/Cheez-It Chevrolet, raced inside of the top 10 throughout the majority of the first two stages during Saturday afternoon's NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway, before being involved in a multi-car incident on lap 67, bringing an end to a solid afternoon and relegating the JR Motorsports driver to a 34^th-place finish.

Race Rundown

• Jones started the 147-lap event from the 11^th position after qualifying on Friday evening set the lineup for Saturday's race.
• Jones slipped to the 15^th position in the opening laps, as the high line had prevailed on the initial start, before racing back to the 14^th position prior to the caution waving on lap 3. Restarting from the bottom of row seven, Jones climbed into 13^th on lap 14 and was inside of the top 10 on lap 28.
• Pitting for four tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment during the lap-38 caution, Jones restarted from the outside of row five. Utilizing the outside lane, Jones was able to gain two positions before the green-and-white checkered flag waved on lap 45 to earn three stage points to begin the afternoon.
• Remaining on track during the stage break, Jones restarted from the outside of row five and raced his way into eighth before the caution waved once again on lap 53. Utilizing the outside lane for the ensuing restart once again, Jones slipped to the ninth position before a lap-60 caution period bunched the field back together.
• Restarting from the inside of row four, Jones exited Turn 4 with the wheel hard left as a multi-car incident broke out in front of him. Unable to avoid one spinning car, Jones received damage to the right front of his Menards/Cheez-It Chevrolet, which proved to be too severe to continue and relegated the No. 9 to a 34^th-place finish.

Brandon Jones, driver No. 9 Menards/Cheez-It Chevrolet team

"We had a really strong Menards/Cheez-It Chevrolet today and I thought we definitely had a top five car with the speed we had. I wish we could have avoided that wreck because we definitely had a chance to be up towards the front. We will take the off week and get ready for Charlotte in two weeks."