AJ Allmendinger Remains King of the Roval

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returned to the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL for the Drive For The Cure 250. This race was also a cutoff race to make it to the Round of 12. Michael Annett, who announced earlier in the week that he will be retiring at the end of the season, will be starting the race in the No. 1 TMC Chevrolet. Josh Berry would still be on standby in case he was needed.

Austin Cindric led the race early on as Justin Allgaier started with him on the front row. Coming back around, Tommy Joe Martins went for a spin on lap 2. Martins had work done on his right front fender and kept going. Another pileup took place during Stage One when Jade Buford and Brett Moffitt ended up in an incident after a spin caused by Sage Karam. Then on lap 8, Justin Allgaier got loose off of a turn in the infield section of the track and smacked the wall. Allgaier had damage and had to get repairs done. Some leaders made pit stops before the end of the stage as Daniel Hemric went on to take stage one.

Stage One Results:

1. Daniel Hemric
2. AJ Allmendinger
3. Noah Gragson
4. Ty Gibbs
5. Justin Haley
6. Brandon Jones
7. Riley Herbst
8. Harrison Burton
9. Jeb Burton
10. Jeremy Clements

During Stage Two, a red flag came out after Josh Bilicki’s car had a brake failure, causing Bilicki to run through a rumble strip by the backstretch chicane. This destroyed the front of his car and took him out of contention. The short red flag was from the track crews removing the rumble strips. Daniel Hemric ended up with the lead again and would sweep both stages for the day.

Stage Two Results:

1. Daniel Hemric
2. Justin Haley
3. Myatt Snider
4. Noah Gragson
5. Jeremy Clements
6. Brandon Jones
7. Harrison Burton
8. Ty Gibbs
9. Jeb Burton
10. Sam Mayer

Ty Gibbs took the lead at the beginning of the final stage and with 20 laps to go, he locked up his tires going into the backstretch chicane and lost the lead to AJ Allmendinger. In terms of the final playoff spot, Harrison Burton was told to focus on beating his cousin Jeb Burton as they both battled to continue their championship hopes. With 15 to go, Noah Gragson then had issues going through the backstretch chicane and had to come to a stop. Then with under ten laps to go, Austin Cindric and Sam Mayer were fighting for second as AJ Allmendinger was driving away. Cindric got loose off of a turn but was able to save it. Mayer had the chance to take second, but Cindric hung on. Tommy Joe Martins had a hard wreck with four laps to go to set up a green-white-checkered finish.

AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric led the field to the green flag for NASCAR Overtime. Cindric spun the tires and this allowed Allmendinger to take off with it. Sam Mayer would jump up to second place but was unable to keep up. As Allmendinger took the white flag, Michael Annett went for a spin. Then Ty Gibbs got into Sam Mayer, causing the No. 54 to be turned by Mayer, but the spin would turn into a drift and Gibbs kept going after losing only a couple of spins. Mayer then locked up going into the backstretch chicane and missed the turn, having to come to a stop and lose out on a possible second-place finish. AJ Allmendinger would once again win at the Charlotte Roval, becoming the winningest road course winner in Xfinity Series History. Coming to the checkered flag, Josh Williams was turned by Ty Gibbs as Williams was looking at a top-five finish. Brandon Brown also went for a spin and made it across the line backwards. Jeremy Clements, Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider, and Riley Herbst were all eliminated from the playoffs.

2021 Drive For The Cure 250 Top 10:

1. AJ Allmendinger
2. Austin Cindric
3. Daniel Hemric
4. Justin Haley
5. Brandon Jones
6. Noah Gragson
7. Preston Pardus
8. Myatt Snider
9. Justin Allgaier
10. Sam Mayer