Race 13 of 33: Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway
Track Specs: 1.967-mile road course / 75 laps                     
Race Winner: Cole Custer

Allgaier's Finish: 2nd

Mayer's Finish: 3rd

Berry's Finish: 4th

Jones' Finish: 13th

Justin Allgaier

Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, was in position to secure his second consecutive victory on Saturday afternoon, taking the green-white-checkered restart from the race lead in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Portland International Raceway. However, as the field charged toward the first corner, Allgaier sustained contact from the inside lane, shuffling the JR Motorsports driver back to the runner-up position. In a feverish challenge on the final lap, Allgaier did all he could to recapture the top spot, but came up just one corner shy, taking the checkered flag in the second position.

Race Rundown

• Allgaier took the green flag for the 75-lap event from the fifth position after advancing to the final round of knockout qualifying on Saturday morning.
• Once underway, the driver of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet methodically moved forward, joining the top three on lap 10 and remaining there throughout the final 15 laps of the opening stage. Keeping touch with the front two, Allgaier took the green-and-white checkered flag in third on lap 25 to earn eight stage points to begin the afternoon.
• While under the stage-ending caution, crew chief Jim Pohlman called Allgaier to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. Restarting in third on lap 27, the JRM driver maintained his pace inside the top three, advancing up to as high as second during the caution-free second stage before settling back into third on lap 49. Allgaier remained in third through the final lap of Stage Two to score an additional eight stage points, bringing the No. 7 team's total to 16 on the day.
• Prior to the start of the third and final stage, Pohlman called the driver of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet back to pit road for four more tires and fuel. Lining up in third for the 22-lap sprint to the finish, Allgaier quickly mounted a charge, powering into the race lead for the first time on lap 54. Once out front, the Illinois native set sail, racing out to over a four second lead before a caution with just seven laps remaining bunched the field back together.
• A strong restart on lap 70 saw Allgaier drive back out to a one second lead, but another caution with just three laps to go erased that advantage and set up NASCAR's version of overtime.
• Taking the green from the inside line in the top spot, the three-time most popular driver looked to hold the point, however, as the field entered Turn 1, Allgaier was forced into a three-wide situation and sustained contact that knocked the JRM driver off of the racing line. This unfortunately shuffled Allgaier back to the runner-up position.
• Despite the contact, Allgaier did all he could to regain the race lead on the final lap, getting to within half a car length of the eventual winner Cole Custer before running out of time.
• In the end, Allgaier came home with a second-place finish and his fourth consecutive result inside the top three.

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

"We had an extremely fast BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet today and I can't thank Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and everyone on this JR Motorsports team enough. We were in a great position there at the end to fight for the win, and it's just really unfortunate to come up one spot short in the end. However, it's great to keep this momentum going and hopefully we can be that one spot better next weekend in Sonoma."  

Sam Mayer

After an incident occurred in practice for Sam Mayer, driver of the No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet, the young driver battled from a 36^th-place start to a hard-fought third-place finish in Saturday afternoon's event at Portland International Raceway. Today's performance bumped Mayer up to 9^th in the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings, 169 markers behind the leader.

Race Rundown

• Early Saturday morning, Mayer had an off-track incident in practice which took away his chance to qualify for the Pacific Office Automation 147 and set him to start the event 36^th in line. Within the first seven laps of Stage One, Mayer was cruising through the field as he had already broken into the top 20. With the first caution of the day coming on lap 19, the young driver reported he was feeling a little free, but felt he could use that to his advantage.
• Mayer restarted in the 16^th position with three laps to go in the stage and ended up rallying to an 11^th-place Stage One finish. Crew chief Mardy Lindley called the No. 1 Chevrolet down pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. The driver of the No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet report that "the car is perfect, no need for changes."
• The Franklin, Wis. native had a quiet second stage as the laps continued to roll by as he held steady in the top 10. With 10 laps to go, he battled with competitors for track position and ended up racing to a seventh-place Stage Two finish tallying a total of four valuable stage points. Mayer came down pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires and some Sunoco fuel.
• As the green flag fell on the restart for the Final Stage, Mayer remained focused and wiggled through the top 10 to the seventh position until he made a move that pulled the No. 1 Chevrolet to fourth with 20 laps to go. The yellow flags started to fall and Mayer bounced between positions until taking the checkered flag to earn a third-place finish.

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

"What an amazing day for this team and the No. 1 Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet. With the unfortunate incident in practice this morning and starting in the back, every single one of these guys brought their A-game and gave me a phenomenal car. So proud of this team and all we have accomplished to get this finish and will continue to do so in Sonoma." 

Josh Berry

Josh Berry and the No. 8 Tire Pros Love the Drive Chevrolet overcame a spin at the start of Stage Two and rallied through the field to a fourth-place finish on Saturday at Portland International Raceway. The event was the first of two on West Coast road courses, as the series will race next week at Sonoma Raceway. The result was Berry's sixth top-five and 10^th top-10 finish in the season's first 12 races, and he and the No. 8 Tire Pros team rank fifth in series points.

Race Rundown

• After qualifying the Tire Pros Camaro in third position, crew chief Taylor Moyer and the team found flat spots on the right front tire. Changing the set would have meant a trip to the rear of the field for the start, but the problem was averted by switching the right rear tire to the front and the abused front tire to the rear.
• On the initial start, Berry lost third place on the charge down to Turn 1 and settled into fourth for the first five laps of the 75-lap event. Falling to fifth after five laps, thanks to a couple of lock-ups in Turns 5 and 6, Berry saved his tires for the end of the 25-lap Stage One.
• Regaining fourth at lap 17 with a pass of sports-car driver Jordan Taylor, Berry advanced to third on a restart with three laps remaining in the stage but fell victim to a wild scramble off Turn 12 to finish the initial stage in fifth. The result gained Berry and the team six valuable stage points.
• On the controlled pit stop at the end of the stage, crew chief Taylor Moyer changed four tires, added fuel and made some adjustments to help his handling in Stage Two. Berry told Moyer that he needed lateral grip at certain points on the track, but was otherwise good handling-wise.
• Lining up fifth for the start of Stage Two, Berry was hard on the gas into the right-hand Turn 1 but as he turned into the left-hand Turn 2,another car tapped him from behind and spun the Tire Pros Chevrolet into the runoff area. After negotiating the chicane to get back onto the track, Berry had fallen to 34^th position.
• Digging in for a long run back to the front, Berry wasted no time regaining his momentum. The next time across the line, Berry had gained back two positions and just kept going. Over the next 22 laps to the end of Stage Two, Berry gained 10 more spots to finish 19^th.
• On pit road again for another controlled stop, Berry took four more tires and more of the same adjustment from the first stop, telling Moyer that the pace held up and that his handling was solid.
• Restarting from 19^th, Berry began moving forward immediately at the waving of the green flag. The Tire Pros Chevrolet rode 15^th after seven laps and by the time lap 65 came around, Berry was 11^th, clicking off lap times faster than the leaders. Two laps later, on lap 67, Berry was back in the top 10 and still moving forward.
• On the same lap he rejoined the top 10, a full-course caution was called for a car on fire on the backstretch, slowing his run toward the top five. When the green flag came out again, Berry immediately swept to ninth position, gained another spot to eighth the next time by the flag stand and was seventh on lap 72 when another caution waved for debris on the backstretch.
• On the final restart, a green-white-checkered restart to end the race, Berry took the green flag in eighth and gained one position back to seventh for the final lap. Several cars came together during the final lap, and Berry was able to avoid the action to come home in fourth position.
• The result was Berry's second consecutive fourth-place finish at Portland and his third top-five result in nine road-course starts. The Tennessee native has logged top-10 finishes in seven of those races, and today's finish was one off his career best of third, posted last year at Road America.
• Despite the up-and-down nature of the day, Berry remains fifth in series points, 91 points behind the leader after 12 races.

Josh Berry, driver No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet team

"We had a great Tire Pros Chevrolet today. Everybody on this No. 8 team at JR Motorsports did a great job and it was really, really fast all day. One of those restarts didn't go our way, we got turned around and had to battle back. It was a lot of green-flag laps, we passed a lot of cars and got a top-five finish out of it. I was really proud of the car Taylor and team brought today. I feel like this is first one of these races I felt like I could win. They did a great job. Thanks to Tire Pros and all our partners on this car. We battled back there, dodged the mess and got fourth."

Brandon Jones

Brandon Jones, driver of the No. 9 Menards/Schultz Chevrolet, started from the rear in Saturday afternoon's NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Portland International Raceway after suffering front-end damage during practice earlier in the day. Despite the starting position, Jones raced his way inside of the top 15 and avoided carnage through a green-white-checkered restart to earn a 13^th-place result.

Race Rundown

• Jones started the 75-lap event from the 37^th position after missing qualifying on Saturday morning due to receiving damage during practice. The Atlanta, Ga. native raced his way inside of the top 20 by lap 13 and remained there through a lap-17 caution period. When the green-and-white checkered flag waved on lap 25 to end Stage One, Jones was in the 17^th position.
• Pitting for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment during the controlled caution stage-break, Jones restarted from the 17^th position and fell 19^th before racing into the 17^th position during the caution-free second stage and remained until the green-and-white checkered flag waved on lap 50.
• Pitting for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to help the center turn, Jones restarted from the 17^th position and raced into the top 15 on lap 56 and remained until a lap-67 caution period bunched the field together. Remaining on track, Jones restarted from the 14^th position and was up to 12^th before the final caution waved with three laps remaining. Lining up 12^th for the green-white-checkered finish, Jones lost one spot on the restart and crossed under the checkered flag in the 13^th position.

Brandon Jones, driver No. 9 Menards/Schultz Chevrolet team

"We had a really good Menards/Schultz Chevrolet today, it was just really hard to pass. We were able to come from the rear to finish 13^th, so we will take that and head to Sonoma. I can't thank this team enough for thrashing to get the car ready after a mishap in practice that set us back but they fought hard all day to get us that good run today."