A Day of Underdogs, Brandon Brown gets first Xfinity win at Talladega

Right after Tate Fogleman took home his first career Truck Series win, it was time for the NASCAR Xfinity Series to begin the second race of the first round of the 2021 Xfinity Series Playoffs. Josh Berry, who won last week at Las Vegas, filled in for Michael Annett once again. Justin Haley had to start from the rear and serve a pass-thru penalty at the start of the race after his No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet was found to have improperly applied decals in pre-race inspection.

Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric led the field to the green flag to begin the Sparks Energy 300. Cindric would take an early lead to begin the race. Coming to the end of stage one, John Hunter Nemechek had the lead with Jeb Burton running in second when there was a tangle between Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger when Mayer got into Brett Moffitt after going almost four-wide. Mayer then went into Allmendinger, sending them both into the wall. Nemechek took the stage win.

Stage One Results:

1. John Hunter Nemechek
2. Jeb Burton
3. Riley Herbst
4. Austin Cindric
5. Myatt Snider
6. Harrison Burton
7. Justin Allgaier
8. Blaine Perkins
9. Brandon Jones
10. Daniel Hemric

Everything went calm for stage two and in a day full of surprises, it was a new face taking the top for Stage Two. That being Blaine Perkins for Our Motorsports driving the No. 23 Plan B Chevrolet, holding off Riley Herbst and Brett Moffitt in what looked like a photo finish for the win.

Stage Two Results:

1. Blaine Perkins
2. Brett Moffitt
3. John Hunter Nemechek
4. Riley Herbst
5. Justin Allgaier
6. Jeb Burton
7. Harrison Burton
8. Justin Haley
9. Austin Cindric
10. Noah Gragson

The final pit window came on lap 73, then shortly after the caution would come out after Bayley Currey came to a stop in the middle of pit road. Then with 25 to go, the big one struck when Brett Moffitt got bumped by Jeb Burton going into turn three, turning him into Noah Gragson. Gragson came up and slammed head-on into the wall, collecting Myatt Snider, Cesar Bacarella, CJ McLaughlin, Ryan Vargas, among others. Thanks to a couple of red flags, they were all now racing against the darkness as the sun was setting. With 12 laps to go, Harrison Burton got tagged by Brett Moffitt and ran into Jordan Anderson, then came back up on Riley Herbst, collecting John Hunter Nemechek, Alex Labbe, Josh Williams, and Jason White. When the caution happened, it was three-wide for the lead between Brandon Brown, Brandon Jones, and Justin Allgaier. The track cleanup was taking longer than expected and during the NBC broadcast, Riley Herbst had said the race was over and the 68 of Brown had won. While Brandon Jones’ team was protesting that they were out in front before Brown, the scoring loops indicated that Brandon Brown was in front by a nose over Jones. NASCAR called the race with seven laps to go due to darkness, giving the win to Brandon Brown. Brown captures his first career Xfinity Series win for his family team, Brandonbilt Motorsports.

2021 Sparks Energy 300 Top 10:

1. Brandon Brown
2. Brandon Jones
3. Justin Allgaier
4. Daniel Hemric
5. Jordan Anderson
6. Justin Haley
7. Jeb Burton
8. Austin Cindric
9. Josh Berry
10. Joe Graf Jr.