NOAH GRAGSON

Justin Allgaier put JR Motorsports in victory lane for the third consecutive week in the Xfinity Series by winning at Darlington Raceway.

William Byron has managed to hold off the freight train behind him, taking the checkered flag for his third NASCAR Cup victory at Atlnta Motor Speedway.

William Byron had a freight train in his rearview mirror. While Byron cruised to the checkered flag for the third victory of his NASCAR Cup career, one last crash unfolded behind him Sunday in an appropriate finish to a chaotic, thrilling race at remodeled Atlanta Motor Speedway. “Pretty wild,” the 24-year-old Byron said.

Brad Keselowski has won his first race as owner of his team.

His Ford had needed three tries to pass NASCAR inspection and just hours before Wednesday night's time trials, Villeneuve had written off his chances in the first round of qualifying. But everyone knew the Hendrick cars were going to lock down the front row in time trials; Hendrick had the three fastest cars and four of the fastest five. Villeneuve was in one of the six cars vying for those one of the spots and locked himself into his first Daytona 500 by beating the other five open teams. Villeneuve just last week explained why a 50-year-old world champion would show up at Daytona with a brand new team. But after earning a spot in the Daytona 500 — Villeneuve missed the race 14 years ago in his only other attempt to run “The Great American Race” — he didn't particularly think he'd done anything special.

Jacques Villeneuve has qualified for the Daytona 500.

Matt Kaulig used the success of his LeafFilter company to branch into sports team ownership, a fitting natural progression for the former Akron quarterback.

NASCAR Darlington Xfinity Auto Racing Carson Ware gets sideways as he comes out of Turn 4 in a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/John Amis) (John Amis)DARLINGTON, S.C. — (AP) — Noah Gragson held off Harrison Burton in a two-lap overtime shootout at at Darlington Raceway on Saturday for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season. It looked like no one, including Gragson, would be able to outrun Cup Series star Denny Hamlin late in the race. Gragson had a final challenge after a caution came out on the 144th of 147 laps because of debris on the track. Justin Haley finished fourth followed by Jeb Burton, Justin Allgaier, Cup Series regular Tyler Reddick, Jeremy Clements, Myatt Snider and Alex Labbe making up the top 10. After a burnout, Gragson and some of his team members climbed the fence at Darlington to celebrate with fans.

Noah Gragson held off Harrison Burton in a two-lap overtime shootout at at Darlington Raceway on Saturday for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season.

Kyle Busch completed a 5-for-5 sweep of what might be his final season in the Xfinity Series with a late recovery at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kyle Larson went to victory lane for the fourth consecutive week after a dominating run in the first Cup race at Nashville Superspeedway.

NASCAR Darlington Xfinity Auto Racing Justin Allgaier celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Saturday, May 8, 2021, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Terry Renna) (Terry Renna)DARLINGTON, S.C. — (AP) — Justin Allgaier held off JR Motorsports teammate Josh Berry in overtime to win the Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway on Saturday. Allgaier didn't move in front until the final 10 laps, when he passed Berry for the lead. Berry was second, followed by defending Darlington race winner Brandon Jones. Earnhardt Jr., who retired from full-time racing, last competed at Darlington in 2019 with a fifth-place finish in an Xfinity race. He plans on getting behind the wheel at Richmond for the Xfinity race on Sept. 11, honoring victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Justin Allgaier held off JR Motorsports teammate Josh Berry in overtime to win the Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway.

Alex Bowman and William Byron swept the front row Wednesday night in qualifying for the Daytona 500, giving Hendrick its 14th pole and sixth in the last seven years. “Here it really just comes down to who built the fastest race car. It’s the fourth consecutive year Bowman will start from the front row, but he's got a completely new look this time. Only the front row was set Wednesday, the first time Daytona 500 qualifying has been held at night under a condensed Speedweeks schedule. “My motto is, ‘No more excuses.’”Hamlin, who is trying to become the first driver to win three consecutive Daytona 500s, was 12th.

Kyle Busch heads for the front stretch during the NASCAR Xfinity auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday, July 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Ray Carlin)FORT WORTH, Texas Kyle Busch got his 98th victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, winning at Texas for the 10th time when he was never challenged on a final two-lap sprint to the checkered flag. There is only one more Xfinity race this season for Busch, who wants to reach 100 wins in the series. Busch has 212 wins combined in NASCAR's top three series, with 56 Cup Series wins and 58 in the Truck Series race. There were no spectators allowed for the Xfinity race, or the Truck Series race on Saturday night, but thousands of fan will be in the stands for the Cup race Sunday.

SPARTA, Ky. Austin Cindric dominated Friday night to sweep the NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader at Kentucky Speedway. A night after racing to his first career oval victory in an overtime finish, the Team Penske driver was even stronger in the No. Cindric was third in the first stage, won the second and stretched it out in the final segment. The 21-year-old Cindric, son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric, won twice last year on road courses at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio. Gragson again showed early strength in taking the 45-lap first stage, his third segment win in two nights on the 1.5-mile oval.

SPARTA, Ky. Austin Cindric won the first of two NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Kentucky Speedway, charging past Chase Briscoe on an overtime restart Thursday night for his first victory of the season and first on an oval. Cindric spent most of the first two stages chasing Noah Gragson, the pole-sitter who seemed poised to dominate all three segments. The 21-year-old Cindric had eight top-10s on ovals before breaking through on the 1.5-mile Kentucky layout. His only other series victories came last year on road courses at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio. Briscoe entered the race red hot with consecutive victories at Pocono and Indianapolis and three in his past four starts.

I have dreamed of coming to this race track and just getting to race here, Briscoe said. It's Briscoe's second straight win, his third in the last four races and fifth of the season. I am a lucky guy that gets to drive it and it is truly a blessing.Briscoe won the second stage and was in control for most of the final stage. The leaders pitted with eight laps to go, and Briscoe passed three cars on the restart to take the lead. Allmendinger finally caught Briscoe with two laps to go, but Briscoe retook the lead before the end of the lap and he eventually pulled away.

Chase Briscoe smokes his tires in celebration after winning a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at Pocono Raceway, Sunday, June 28, 2020, in Long Pond, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)LONG POND, Pa. Chase Briscoe held off Ross Chastain in overtime to win the crash-filled Xfinity Series at Pocono Raceway, the second of three NASCAR races at the track on Sunday. Pocono became the first track to hold a Truck, Xfinity and Cup race on the same day. 98 Ford and won his fourth race of the season, and second in three races. Hes always one of the hardest guys to race against.Chastain hit the jackpot with his runner-up finish. Pocono turned in a wreck-fest for the second straight race, the track-record tying nine cautions in Trucks was given a run for the money early in Xfinity.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. Chase Briscoe lost much of his team and got a win for them. Its just a testament to our team, Briscoe said. With 15 laps to go, it was basically down to a two-car race: Gragson was leading, about 2 1/2 seconds ahead of Briscoe. Gragson never had control of the race again, and Briscoe wound up in victory lane. That was a team win, for sure, Briscoe said.

Burton, Gragson and Austin Cindric were three-wide going into that last lap, and it was Burton the 19-year-old son of former Cup star Jeff Burton, who wound up in front in a wild finish. I love you.Cindric was second and Gragson third, two spots ahead of Earnhardt part of his cars JR Motorsports ownership. It was Earnhardts third Xfinity Series appearance since retiring as a full-time Cup Series driver in 2017. Hed also raced there five times in the Xfinity Series, placing second in 1999 for his best finish. The Xfinity cars are back on the track Sunday before the Cup Series race at Homestead.

AJ Allmendinger celebrates after he won a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Saturday, June 6, 2020, in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)HAMPTON, Ga. HAMPTON, Ga.A.J. Allmendinger won a NASCAR oval race for the first time in his long career. All I ever wanted to do was win on an oval, said Allmendinger, who has only a part-time ride in the Xfinity Series after losing his Cup ride after the 2018 season. He was closing the gap on Allmendinger in the closing laps, but got hoodwinked by the more experienced driver. Allmendinger gave the impression that his tires were fading, duping Gragson into making a furious run for the front.

BRISTOL, Tenn. Noah Gragson squeezed past JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier with four laps remaining, a move that caused Allgaier to crash, and Gragson held on at Bristol Motor Speedway for his second win of the season. His victory Monday night was set up by a caution with 13 laps remaining that wiped away Allgaier's lead. The Chevrolet teammates lined up side-by-side for the restart with seven laps remaining but Allgaier cleared him on the restart. I really apologize to Justin and the (number) 7 team, thats not how I want to race, Gragson said. I was terrible here in trucks and Xfinity, Gragson said.

(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)DARLINGTON, S.C. Noah Gragson couldn't wait to get back to Xfinity Series racing at Darlington. It started Sunday with the NASCAR Cup Series' return to racing and will continue when those racers are back on the track for a rare midweek event Wednesday night. We saw some guys in the Cup race who were pretty tame at the start and other guys who were pretty aggressive. Cup drivers are scheduled to run again at Darlington on Wednesday night, although forecasts have called for additional rain. Thursday's Xfinity race will be the first in the series since March 7 at Phoenix.