Justin Allgaier and the BRANDT Professional Agriculture team earned their second consecutive top-five finish Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, placing second in the Food City 300. The runner-up finished helped Allgaier move up to third in the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings.
Allgaier qualified eighth for the 300-lap race, but had to start at the tail end of the field due to repairs that needed to be made to the track bar mount. By lap 50, the 30-year-old had worked his way to 15th. When the first caution came out on lap 77, he was running in 13th, one lap down. The team made a pit stop for four tires and fuel. On the restart, he was 13th and in position for the free pass as he was the first car one lap down. As the race went on however, more cars were lapped and when the next caution flag waved on lap 153, Allgaier was no longer the first car one lap down. Allgaier had relayed during the run that he was losing all grip, so the team made a pit stop for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to improve the handling.
When the fourth yellow flag appeared on lap 194, Allgaier was running in 13th and finally in position to earn the free pass. Crew Chief Jason Burdett used the opportunity to make a pit stop for four tires and fuel, their final one of the night. Restarting on the lead lap on lap 201, Allgaier started working his way through the field. He was in 12th when another caution waved on lap 234. The team opted to stay out, putting him in fifth position for the restart. With cars behind him on fresher tires, Allgaier slipped to eighth, but had moved back up to seventh with less than 50 to go.
With four laps remaining, a collision involving cars at the front of the field brought out the final caution of the night, sending the race into overtime. Allgaier restarted in third, beside teammate Elliott Sadler for the green-white-checkered finish. He was able to hold off Sadler and surpass Kyle Larson to finish second.
Austin Dillon won the race and was followed by Allgaier, Larson, Sadler and Brendan Gaughan.
Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture team
“I’m not quite sure how the race played out the way that it did and how we finished second. We started the race at the back in our BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevy after we had to make some adjustments to the car after qualifying. Then we had to race our way through, get the lucky dog, and come all the way back. Jason Burdett, my crew chief, made a great call to come down pit road and come get tires a little bit early. I thought that when the leaders came down a little bit later and put tires on that we were going to be in trouble, but it ultimately came down to the green-white-checkered there. We got a gift. Cars just kept dropping off and it just seemed like the seas parted and we were able to get right where we needed to be, and ultimately that put us in position. It was just a crazy race. To come out of here second is just great. I always say this is my favorite race track. They keep changing it on me, but they can keep it like it was tonight, because this was fun. I had a good time.”
Elliott Sadler
Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 1 OneMain Chevrolet, finished fourth in Friday’s Food City 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sadler picked up his seventh top-five finish of 2016 and currently holds a 51-point lead over second place Daniel Suarez.
The Emporia, Va. native started from the 15th position and fought hard early to advance the OneMain Camaro to the 10th position by lap 17. Handling became a slight issue for Sadler as he reported to the No. 1 team that he was lacking front grip. By lap 77, Sadler was battling hard in the 11th position and was close to being put a lap down by the leader when the caution flag flew over the speedway. The OneMain team opted for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to help Sadler’s handling.
A caution at lap 153 allowed the OneMain team to make some changes to the car and get the handling where Sadler wanted it to be. A short run followed when the leaders took the green flag at lap 160. Cautions tend to follow each other at Bristol and the caution would fly again at lap 194. Strategy came in to play as the No. 1 team elected to pit for fuel, minor adjustments, and their last fresh set of Goodyear tires.
100 laps remained at Bristol when the green flag flew over the speedway once again. Sadler drove aggressively and avoided a few close calls with cars wrecking in front of him. Needless to say, the last 50 laps of the race were nothing less than thrilling in true Bristol Motor Speedway style. Wrecks at laps 245, 282, and 297 benefited the OneMain Camaro as Sadler would restart the race from the fourth position on the green-white-checkered finish.
Knowing that he had to push hard for the win, Sadler got a little loose on the last lap while trying to block. The OneMain Camaro ended up crossing the finish line fourth and Sadler secured his seventh top-five finish of the season while increasing his NXS point standings lead.
Austin Dillon took home the checkered flag at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile”. He was followed by Justin Allgaier, Kyle Larson, Sadler, and Brendan Gaughan rounding out the top-five.
Elliott Sadler, driver No. 1 OneMain Chevrolet
“I tried to maybe block too much on the last laps and got loose, but I am so proud of everyone on this OneMain Financial team. We had a lot of people here supporting us. we have a great race team, a great sponsor and to get out of here with a top-five finish, we will take that.”
Regan Smith
Regan Smith and the No. 88 Dale’s Pale Ale team battled adversity Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway to bring home an 11th-place finish. With this finish, the No. 88 JR Motorsports team remains fourth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series owner standings, 57 markers behind first.
The No. 88 Dale’s Pale Ale Chevrolet rolled off ninth Friday night for the Food City 300. Smith worked his way up to seventh by lap 17 and was quiet on the radio. On lap 25, Smith reported that his Chevrolet was tight rolling and getting worse on the long run.
The New York native was running in the 11th position when he reported that his machine was loose into the corner and on lap 73 Smith radioed in that there was a bad chatter and it was very loose. Four laps later, the No. 88 Chevy was involved in an on track incident in Turn 1. Smith brought his Chevrolet to pit road for the No. 88 crew to assess the damage to the right front. While on pit road, the team put on four fresh tires and added fuel to the No. 88 machine.
By lap 105, Smith was gaining spots and was scored in the 19th position. The No. 16 of Ryan Reed spun on lap 153, which collected the No. 88 causing more damage to the right side of the car. The No. 88 came down pit road two times to repair damage to the right side of the car and the splitter, which put Smith laps down.
Smith brought his Dale’s Pale Ale Chevrolet to pit road on lap 196 for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to help with the handling. By lap 220, Smith was scored in the 16th position and when the sixth caution flag of the day fell on lap 245 the No. 88 team elected to stay out on track to maintain track position.
The caution flag waved once again on lap 282 for an accident involving Smith. While under caution, the team chose to come to pit road for four fresh tires, fuel and a small adjustment. Smith was scored in the 14th position with four laps to go when the caution flag waved for the final time of the evening. The No. 88 Dale’s Pale Ale Chevrolet advanced three positions to finish 11th.
Austin Dillon claimed the victory and was followed by Justin Allgaier, Kyle Larson, Elliott Sadler and fifth-place Brendan Gaughan.
Regan Smith, driver No. 88 Dale’s Pale Ale Chevrolet team
“We didn’t have a good night tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway. Our No. 88 Dale’s Pale Chevrolet was good, we were just in places we didn’t need to be and were involved in accidents. These JR Motorsports guys worked hard all race to get our car back where we needed to be, but we were too many laps down to gain positions.”
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