Justin Allgaier wins Daytona Xfinity Wawa 250
Justin Allgaier Phoenix Spring 2023 Photo: Evan McNelia
Justin Allgaier won the Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway capturing his second victory of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season. The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was forced to pass through pit road on the first lap of the race after the car failed inspection too many times, but he managed to fight back and survive several cautions to earn the race win.
JRM made a gamble at the end of Stage 2 and elected to not take any tires on their three cars left in the race, Driver of the No. 1 Sam Mayer gained eight spots and won the race off of pit road. Allgaier gained nine spots coming out in 3rd and driver of the No. 8 Josh Berry gained ten and came off 7th. They had an early disadvantage on restarts but that difference evened out as other teams cars got deeper into their runs.
Richard Childress Racing had the two fastest cars in qualifying and both were strong throughout the race. Driver of the No. 21 and pole-winner Austin Hill led for a solid portion of the race, winning the first stage and placing 2nd in Stage 2. However, he finished in 23rd, one lap down after being involved in a late wreck. He led 36 laps, the most of any driver.
His teammate Sheldon Creed, driver of the No. 2, placed 2nd in Stage 1 and won Stage 2. Creed finished runner-up in the 4th closest finish in Xfinity Series history, .005 seconds behind Allgaier after battling off of Turn 4 on the final lap in the 2nd overtime. Creed had led for 21 laps.
“I think the gas pedal went through the floorboard there,” Allgaier said during his post-race press conference when asked about the closing moments against Creed.
Since his last win at Charlotte earlier in the season, Allgaier has led 133 total laps over six races. but he had struggled to finish as consistently as his car was performing. Now, a winner at Daytona for the first time in his career, Allgaier has a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders as the regular season winds down.
Cup and Xfinity Series veteran Trevor Bayne made his first start of 2023 in the Wawa 250 and had an impressive run in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota. Bayne led the second-most laps in the race with 26. Unfortunately, he was involved in the incident with Austin Hill that sent the race into overtime. His car was then wrecked in the crash during the first overtime and he was credited with a 29th-place finish.
Jordan Anderson made his return to racing following his scary accident in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway last season. He ran his team, Jordan Anderson Racing, No. 27 which is usually driven by Jeb Burton. Burton had the opportunity to run a throwback No. 22 scheme in honor of his father Ward’s 2002 Daytona 500 win. Anderson placed 15th, and even after spinning out late Burton managed to hang onto 12th.
Stewart-Haas Racing No. 98 driver Riley Herbst entered the race 12th in the playoff standings with a 3-point lead on the cutline above Big Machine Racing No. 48 driver Parker Kligerman. Herbst did not finish at Watkins Glen International last week due to a mechanical issue. This week another mechanical error caused problems early for him and he ended up having to race with heavy damage after his left front tire blew, tearing up his fender at the end of the first stage.
“We didn’t have a night,” Herbst said in his post-race interview when asked to run through his night. “It was just despicable what happened tonight. Last week we had a malfunction with the race car, this week we have a malfunction with the race car.”
Herbst finished the race in 24th, 2 laps down. He now sits 20 points behind Kligerman for the final playoff spot as Kligerman scored three Stage Points and finished in 4th. Herbst said that he feels confident in their ability to dig out of the hole as they are fast at each of the next two tracks, but ultimately his disappointment showed through.
JRM No. 9 driver Brandon Jones was collected in a Stage 2 wreck. He went from 61 points out of the playoffs to 89 points out. Now, he’ll likely need to find a win in one of the two remaining Xfinity regular-season races if he wants to race for a championship this year.
The wreck was one of the few early incidents in the race until things started to get tight as the race winded down.
Next week the Xfinity Series races at Darlington Raceway in the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 12:30 p.m. ET on USA. Its regular season wraps the following week at Kansas Speedway