Noah Gragson earns first career Xfinity Series victory in season opener
- 21-year-old Noah Gragson won Saturday’s NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona International Speedway, the series’ season-opener
- The win was Gragson’s first career victory in the series
- Gragson was battling Chase Briscoe for the win on the last lap when the yellow flag flew for a crash on the backstretch; since Gragson was in front at the time of the yellow, he was declared the winner
- This was JR Motorsports seventh victory with as many drivers at Daytona
- Harrison Burton finished second, followed by Timmy Hill, Brandon Jones, and Briscoe
- The caution flag flew for a total of seven times, including the final yellow that gave Gragson the victory
- Five of those cautions were for multi-car incidents, the largest of which came on lap 115, involved 13 cars, and brought out a nearly eight-minute red flag
- Jeb Burton won Stage 1 and finished 23rd after being involved in the lap 115 crash; Justin Allgaier won Stage 2 and finished 30th after being involved in a multi-car crash on lap 109
- There were 12 lead changes amongst eight drivers: Myatt Snider, Harrison Burton, Allgaier, Hill, Alex Labbe, Gragson, Briscoe, and Jeb Burton
- Up next for the Xfinity Series is the Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, February 22 at 3:30PM ET (FS1)
Noah Gragson is the seventh driver to get his first Xfinity Series win at Daytona. pic.twitter.com/YL3kH2lwQJ
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 16, 2020
More info: Full race recap … Full results … Race highlights
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Grant Enfinger wins Truck Series season-opener in photo finish
- In the smallest margin of victory in series’ history, ThorSport Racing driver Grant Enfinger barely edged out a charging Jordan Anderson by .010 seconds to earn his third career NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway
- Codie Rohrbaugh finished third, followed by Derek Kraus and Natalie Decker
- The drivers who finished second through fourth all earned their best career finish at the “World Center of Racing”, and Decker’s finish was the highest for a female in series history
- The race was delayed slightly due to rain and saw a total of five cautions for 26 laps once the race went green
- Three of the five cautions were for multi-track incidents, with the smallest crash involving nine trucks, including Ty Majeski, who landed on his roof in a shower of sparks, but was able to walk away under his own power once his vehicle had been righted; his crash brought out an eight-minute red flag
- The largest wreck of the day saw no less than 14 drivers involved
- There were a total of 15 lead changes amongst seven drivers: Enfinger (41 laps led); Riley Herbst (21); Ben Rhodes (17); Stewart Friesen (13); Austin Hill (11); Sheldon Creed (2); and Tyler Ankrum (1)
- Pole-sitter Riley Herbst was leading at the end of Stage 1; Enfinger was also able to win Stage 2 before claiming the victory
- Up next for the series is the Strat 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, February 21 at 9:00PM ET (FS1)
“This is what @NASCAR’s about, man!”@j66anderson after finishing second to @GrantEnfinger in the @NASCAR_Trucks season opener. What a finish! pic.twitter.com/cPCEYUkZFh
— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) February 15, 2020
More info: Race recap … Full race results … Story on Jordan Anderson from Tim Packman
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Timmy Hill’s No. 66 team assessed pre-qualifying penalty
- 26-year-old Timmy Hill finished third in Saturday NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway, despite his crew chief getting suspended prior to qualifying
- The No. 66 MBM Motorsports Team was assessed an L-2 level penalty after NASCAR found that the bodywork on the nose of the car had been manipulated
- Crew chief Sebastian Laforge was ejected from the garage and suspended from the next six races
- The team has been fined $50,000 and docked 75 points
- Hill was not issued a loss of any driver points as he declared points in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series for the 2020 season
NASCAR found improper body modifications with body filler on the nose on the MBM Racing No. 66 Xfinity car (front photo). Timmy Hill will be allowed to qualify. Crew chief Sebastion Laforge suspended 6 weeks starting today, fined $50K and team docked 75 points. #nascar pic.twitter.com/GIoG8FNEiY
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 15, 2020
More info: Full report … MBM Motorsports’ website … Timmy Hill driver page
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More motorsports news …
- Joey Logano leads final practice for the 62nd running of the Daytona 500
- Two of Kaulig Racing’s three cars DNQ from Xfinity race
- Thunderbirds Flyover at Daytona 500: F-16 Falcons fly 500 MPH for ‘Delta’ formation
- Live From Daytona 500: SMT Digitizes 62-Year-Old Race With Broadcast, Team Data-Tracking
- DAYTONA ANNOUNCES SOCCER FEST COMING JULY 4TH WEEKEND 2021
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