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Myatt Snider won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.
Noah Gragson had another heartache at Homestead.
With a perfect inside lane execution on his second chance to restart overtime, Snider delayed loading Tyler Reddick to win Saturday’s Contender Boats 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
For his third straight race on the 1.5-mile track, Gragson was close enough to taste victory, but it was his unfortunate accident with just over two laps to go in regulation that set overtime. and Snider’s victory.
However, Reddick’s second place was not maintained. His No. 23 Chevrolet was disqualified after the post-race inspection because the ride height was too low at the rear.
On the first attempt at extra laps, Snider spun his tires and Reddick took the lead before AJ Allmendinger made his way to the inside grass on Turn 1 to cause the eighth and final warning.
In the second overtime, Reddick returned the favor and Snider cleared in the bottom lane. With a determined load on the last lap, Reddick gained some ground, but was 0.085 seconds behind when Snider crossed the finish line in the No.2 Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing.
“Yeah, I guess I learned my lesson on that first reboot, because I spun the wheels,” said Snider, who won his 36th start in the series. “Then I saw Tyler spin the wheels on the next one, and I knew I might have a chance.
“Just a thumbs up to all those RCR guys, (sponsor) Taxslayer, all those people who have supported me over the years. It’s been a tough trip, but we’re here with a win, and I can’t complain. . “
Reddick, a full-time RCR driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, was in the moonlight with RSS Racing on Saturday, making his first Xfinity start since his second straight series victory at Homestead in 2019. But his effort paid off. Not applicable with disqualification, which lifted Brandon Jones to second place.
Gragson was just over two laps away from a redemptive victory when David Starr’s # 13 Ford – the last driver in the lead lap – blew a right front tire and propelled the track into the wall outside and directly on Gragson Road.
Gragson, who led 83 and 81 laps in last year’s two Homestead races but also failed to win, couldn’t avoid the collision that destroyed his No. 9 Chevrolet JR Motorsports. At the time, Gragson was leading second-placed Reddick by more than eight seconds.
“What are you going to do?” Gragson said after a visit to the field care center. “We dominated the last three races here, including this one, and stuff like that (happens). We were saving fuel. I was at half-throttle in the last 30 laps, and we were still going. move us away. “
The first leg of the race was eventful – but not primarily for Stefan Parsons’ spin on turn 4 on lap 26 or for Daniel Hemric who missed his pit under the resulting caution and knocked his carrier down – tire on the sidewalk.
What Stage 1 demonstrated with disconcerting clarity was the enormous value of new tires on the abrasive surface of the asphalt. Allmendinger started 25th on new tires with 10 laps to go on the stage and took the lead from Kaulig Racing teammate Justin Haley eight laps later.
Allmendinger won the stage with Haley second after restarting 20th and taking the lead on lap 33 before relinquishing first place to his teammate. Defending Series champion Cindric, meanwhile, stayed on the sidelines during the warning, restarted in the lead on old tires and fell to 14th at the end of the 10-lap race.
Stage 2 was the mirror image of Stage 1. When Parsons’ car fluid necessitated the third race warning on lap 68, the drivers who had remained under the lap 26 warning to save a set of tires came to the pits – Cindric among them.
Allmendinger led the field on the restart with six laps to go in the second stage. Cindric restarted 22nd, and in less than three laps took the lead on his way to a stage win and a playoff point.
There were pit stops at the end of the stage, on lap 83, leaving almost all the drivers on the same footing for the last round, with two sets of self-adhesive tires left in the pits. But in terms of track position, the exchange favored those who had opposed at the end of stage 2 and charged in front.
First out of the pits on the fourth warning, Cindric led the field to the green on lap 89. But neither Cindric nor Allmendinger were a major player in overtime. Hemric was third, followed by Jeb Burton. Cindric, Haley, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Sieg, Jeremy Clements and Josh Berry completed the top 10.
Xfinity mainstays Harrison Burton and Justin Allgaier were the first two drivers to come out of the race, Burton with an engine failure and Allgaier after contact with Riley Herbst’s Ford on lap 98.
Reid Spencer writes for the NASCAR Wire Service.
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