• Friday’s FOOD CITY 300 Bristol Motor Speedway
Make it three in a row for Noah Gragson, who has built enormous momentum as the Xfinity Series moves into its seven-race Playoff.
On 90-lap older tires, Gragson held off Brandon Jones, the driver who will take his seat in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet next year, in a 20-lap greenflag run to the finish of Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol.
The victory was Gragson’s third straight in the series, his sixth of the season and the 11th of his career.
The race also settled the series Playoff picture. Daniel Hemric clinched one of the two available spots in the 12-driver Playoff field with a 20th-place finish. Ryan Sieg claimed the final berth, finishing 10th after brake issues sent Landon Cassill to the garage for 112 laps and relegated him to 35th.
After the restart on Lap 281, Gragson pulled out to a one-second lead before Jones began to close the gap on new rubber. Jones got to Gragson’s bumper but couldn’t find a way past the No. 9 Chevrolet. Gragson crossed the finish line .145 seconds ahead of Jones’ No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Austin Hill finished third, followed by Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst. Allmendinger, Josh Berry, Stefan Parsons, Allgaier and Sieg completed the top 10.