TALLADEGA, Ala. - As he crossed the finish line under caution on a dark race track, Brandon Brown surrendered to the emotion of his first victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
“Thank God,” Brown exulted. “We did it. We did it. We won!”
On a day of unexpected victories at Talladega Superspeedway — a track where the unexpected sometimes seems commonplace — Brown had a narrow lead three-wide with Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones at the previous scoring loop when NASCAR called the fifth caution of the race on lap 102 for a multicar wreck in turn 4.
With darkness preventing the resumption of the race, NASCAR showed the checkered flag to Brown under yellow on lap 107 of a scheduled 113, with Jones credited with second and Allgaier third.
Brown’s excitement hadn’t abated one iota by the time he got to Victory Lane.
“You can ask my neighbors at Coastal Carolina, I did plenty of burnouts to practice for this moment,” said Brown, who drives for his family-owned team, Brandonbilt Motorsports. “Oh, my God. It’s a dream come true. A Talladega winner. Oh my God, Dad, we did it!
“This is everything we hoped and dreamed for. Everything I’ve ever wanted to do is take the trophy home to Mom and Dad. Oh, my god. Thank you so much Larry’s Lemonaid…all of our partners. It’s unbelievable.”
Brown was a keen student of the action during the first two stages of the race, won by John Hunter Nemechek and Blaine Perkins. He noticed major changes in momentum between the top and bottom lanes at the 2.66-mile track.
“Everything shifted top to bottom so much, it was like, ‘OK, let’s just stay patient where we’re at and hope for the best,” Brown said. “We saw our moment and we seized it. God, I’m just so proud of Brandonbilt Motorsports and so proud of our team, here and at home and everyone that worked on our team since the beginning.
“We did it. We did it. We did it.”
Brown, Jones and Allgaier were trading the lead three-wide when the No. 20 Toyota of Harrison Burton broke loose in turn 4 and ignited an eight-car crash that slowed the race for the final time.
Daniel Hemric finished fourth, followed by Jordan Anderson, Justin Haley, Jeb Burton and defending series champion Austin Cindric, who clinched a spot in the Round of 8 in the Xfinity Playoff with an insurmountable points edge over ninth-place Jeb Burton.
On the final lap of the first stage, the cars of Sam Mayer and regular-season champion A.J. Allmendinger collided in turn 3, demolishing both vehicles. The No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Mayer slammed the outside wall so heavily that NASCAR had to red-flag the race for repairs to the SAFER barrier.
Allmendinger took a heavy hit in the points, but he’s still 33 above the cut line heading to next Saturday’s Round of 12 elimination race at the Charlotte infield road course, a track where he is expected to excel.
“That’s why you work so hard during the regular season to build up bonus points,” Allmendinger said after a trip to the infield care center. “We’ll see where it puts us going into the Roval… It’s a minor setback in a great year.”
If Allmendinger’s setback was minor, the hit Noah Gragson suffered in a lap 88 wreck was a major one. Gragson was running at the front of the field in the inside lane when slight contact from Jeb Burton’s Chevrolet to the left rear of Brett Moffitt’s Camaro — after Moffitt’s car had gotten loose — triggered the first major wreck of the event.
Moffitt’s Chevy slid down the track into Gragson’s No. 9 Camaro, which rocketed nose-first into the outside wall. As Gragson slipped back down the track, Myatt Snider — with nowhere to go — plowed into the rear of Gragson’s car.
Like Allmendinger, Gragson suffered a significant blow in the standings but remained 18 points above the current cut line for the Round of 8.
“The 02 (Moffitt) just got turned by the 10 (Burton), and I got it head-on and got cleaned out by the 2 (Snider),” Gragson said. “So, just a bummer. We had a fast car.”
Brown’s victory was the nightcap — literally — of a Playoff doubleheader with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Earlier on Saturday, Tate Fogleman secured his first Truck Series win in the Chevrolet Silverado 250.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL
Sparks 300 – October 2, 2021
1. (19) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 107.
2. (7) Brandon Jones (P), Toyota, 107.
3. (1) Justin Allgaier (P), Chevrolet, 107.
4. (6) Daniel Hemric (P), Toyota, 107.
5. (29) Jordan Anderson(i), Chevrolet, 107.
6. (8) Justin Haley (P), Chevrolet, 107.
7. (14) Jeb Burton (P), Chevrolet, 107.
8. (2) Austin Cindric (P), Ford, 107.
9. (3) Josh Berry #, Chevrolet, 107.
10. (40) Joe Graf, Jr., Chevrolet, 107.
11. (17) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 107.
12. (26) Jade Buford #, Chevrolet, 107.
13. (23) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 107.
14. (24) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 107.
15. (39) Joey Gase, Ford, 107.
16. (38) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 107.
17. (33) Santino Ferrucci, Toyota, 107.
18. (18) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 107.
19. (35) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 107.
20. (25) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 107.
21. (32) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 107.
22. (11) John Hunter Nemechek(i), Toyota, 107.
23. (30) Matt Mills, Toyota, 106.
24. (15) Jeremy Clements (P), Chevrolet, 104.
25. (9) Harrison Burton (P), Toyota, Accident, 101.
26. (16) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, Accident, 101.
27. (13) Riley Herbst (P), Ford, Accident, 101.
28. (34) Jason White, Ford, Accident, 101.
29. (31) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, Accident, 93.
30. (4) Noah Gragson (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 88.
31. (10) Myatt Snider (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 88.
32. (37) Caesar Bacarella, Chevrolet, Accident, 88.
33. (22) Ryan Vargas #, Chevrolet, Accident, 88.
34. (36) C.J. McLaughlin, Chevrolet, Accident, 88.
35. (27) Mason Massey, Toyota, Accident, 88.
36. (20) Bayley Currey(i), Chevrolet, Driveshaft, 73.
37. (21) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Engine, 50.
38. (12) Sam Mayer #, Chevrolet, Accident, 24.
39. (5) A.J. Allmendinger (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 24.
40. (28) David Starr, Toyota, Engine, 20.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 128.486 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 4 Mins, 55 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 21 laps.
Lead Changes: 33 among 17 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Cindric (P) 1-2;J. Berry # 3;A. Cindric (P) 4-6;J. Berry # 7-8;A. Cindric (P) 9;A. Allmendinger (P) 10-12;B. Jones (P) 13-16;H. Burton (P) 17-18;B. Jones (P) 19;J. Nemechek(i) 20-26;B. Currey(i) 27;R. Herbst (P) 28-31;J. Nemechek(i) 32;R. Herbst (P) 33-49;B. Perkins 50-51;J. Graf Jr. 52;R. Herbst (P) 53-54;J. Allgaier (P) 55;A. Cindric (P) 56-57;J. Allgaier (P) 58-63;B. Moffitt 64;J. Burton (P) 65;A. Cindric (P) 66-67;J. Burton (P) 68-70;A. Labbe 71;B. Currey(i) 72;M. Massey 73-76;R. Herbst (P) 77-79;N. Gragson (P) 80-87;B. Moffitt 88-89;J. Burton (P) 90-92;B. Jones (P) 93-99;B. Brown 100-107.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Riley Herbst (P) 4 times for 26 laps; Brandon Jones (P) 3 times for 12 laps; Austin Cindric (P) 5 times for 10 laps; Noah Gragson (P) 1 time for 8 laps; John Hunter Nemechek(i) 2 times for 8 laps; Brandon Brown 1 time for 8 laps; Justin Allgaier (P) 2 times for 7 laps; Jeb Burton (P) 3 times for 7 laps; Mason Massey 1 time for 4 laps; Brett Moffitt 2 times for 3 laps; Josh Berry # 2 times for 3 laps; AJ Allmendinger (P) 1 time for 3 laps; Harrison Burton (P) 1 time for 2 laps; Bayley Currey(i) 2 times for 2 laps; Blaine Perkins 1 time for 2 laps; Alex Labbe 1 time for 1 lap; Joe Graf Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 54,10,98,22,20,2,7,19,23,18
Stage #2 Top Ten: 23,02,54,98,7,10,20,11,22,9
Playoff Standings: 1. Austin Cindric* – 2131 (5 Wins); 2. Justin Allgaier – 2109 (2 Wins); 3. Daniel Hemric – 2095; 4. A.J. Allmendinger – 2087 (4 Wins); 5. Justin Haley – 2078 (1 Win); 6. Brandon Jones – 2075; 7. Noah Gragson – 2072 (2 Wins); 8. Harrison Burton – 2062; 9. Jeb Burton – 2054 (1 Win); 10. Myatt Snider – 2038 (1 Win); 11. Riley Herbst – 2030; 12. Jeremy Clements – 2014.
*Locked Into The Round of 8
