NASCAR Xfinity Series

Jeremy Clements survives wild Wawa 250

3 Mins read
Credit: James Gilbert/Getty Images

It is often said that superspeedway racing is like a lottery as its propensity for crashes and drafting strategy lead to a mixed bag of nuts for the final results. In the case of Friday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway, only two of the top-ten finishers were locked into the playoffs prior to the green flag, with Jeremy Clements winning in triple overtime to become a third.

Clements assumed the lead as the third overtime, which occurred after the first two ended with multi-car wrecks, began. Despite pressure from A.J. Allmendinger, Brandon Brown, and Timmy Hill, Clements held the position as he took the white flag. Riley Herbst spun prior to the leaders starting the final lap, but NASCAR elected to wait until Clements crossed the start/finish line to wave the yellow flag and end the race under caution, mercifully ending an event that had been rain delayed, plagued by multiple crashes, and ended at 1 AM local time.

Due to the rain delay pushing the race’s conclusion into 27 August, the win comes exactly five years after Clements’ only other career win at Road America in 2017.

“We survived that big wreck back there, it was like a Days of Thunder wreck,” Clements recalled of the crash in the first overtime. “Then I was like, ‘If we can just keep up with these guys, it’ll be a good day, top five and bring this car home in one piece.’ But this is incredible.”

Hill had momentum on Clements until the caution ended a chance at a last-lap run, but he still scored his best career finish of second. With J.J. Yeley scoring a ninth, perennial underdog MBM Motorsports was the only team with multiple cars in the top ten.

The attrition also led to strong days for many fellow small operations. Sage Karam of Alpha Prime Racing and JD MotorsportsRyan Vargas respectively placed fifth and sixth for their highest finishes to date, while part-timer Kyle Sieg notched his maiden top ten. Alex Labbé‘s eighth marked his second top ten of 2022, while Jesse Iwuji‘s strategy of dropping to the rear for late restarts to avoid damaging his car paid off as he still came home a strong eleventh for the first top-twenty finish of his Xfinity career.

While the above were in celebratory moods, heartbreak was evident for fourth-placed Brown, whose 2022 season has been derailed by a lack of funding and told on-site media that he needed to win to ensure sponsorship. Brown lost his full-time ride with family team Brandonbilt Motorsports but was able to return with longtime sponsor Larry’s Hard Lemonade, who had severed ties with him following a preseason sponsorship fiasco.

Chevrolets swept the top five for the first time at Daytona since 2011 when they held the first six spots.

Race results

FinishStartNumberDriverTeamManufacturerLapsStatus
1951Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet118Running
23713Timmy Hill*MBM MotorsportsChevrolet118Running
3116A.J. AllmendingerKaulig RacingChevrolet118Running
42568Brandon BrownBrandonbilt MotorsportsChevrolet118Running
52444Sage KaramAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet118Running
6366Ryan VargasJD MotorsportsChevrolet118Running
7854Ty GibbsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota118Running
82136Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet118Running
92866J.J. YeleyMBM MotorsportsChevrolet118Running
103238Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord118Running
113434Jesse IwujiJesse Iwuji MotorsportsChevrolet118Running
122231Myatt SniderJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet118Running
13157Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet118Running
141421Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet118Running
15698Riley HerbstStewart-Haas RacngFord118Running
163135Joey GaseEmerling-Gase MotorsportsFord116Running
171802Blaine Perkins*Our MotorsportsChevrolet116Running
1858Josh BerryJR MotorsportsChevrolet115Running
191611Daniel HemricKaulig RacingChevrolet114DVP
201219Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota114Running
212927Jeb BurtonOur MotorsportsChevrolet113Running
2229Noah GragsonJR MotorsportsChevrolet110Accident
231010Landon CassillKaulig RacingChevrolet110Accident
243378Matt Mills*B.J. McLeod MotorsportsToyota110Accident
253814Justin Haley*Kaulig RacingChevrolet103Accident
261139Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord103Accident
271748Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*Big Machine Racing TeamChevrolet103Accident
283045Caesar BacarellaAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet103Accident
29355Josh Williams†B.J. McLeod MotorsportsFord103Accident
30234Bayley CurreyJD MotorsportsChevrolet103Accident
312608David StarrSS-Green Light RacingFord98Accident
321323Anthony AlfredoOur MotorsportsChevrolet98Accident
332791Mason MasseyDGM RacingChevrolet97Engine
3441Sam MayerJR MotorsportsChevrolet91Accident
351926John Hunter Nemechek*Sam Hunt RacingToyota82Accident
3672Sheldon Creed #Richard Childress RacingChevrolet82Accident
372007Joe Graf Jr.SS-Green Light RacingFord82Accident
38318Sammy SmithJoe Gibbs RacingToyota14Accident
DNQ92Josh WilliamsDGM RacingChevrolet
DNQ47Tim ViensMike Harmon RacingChevrolet
DNQ28C.J. McLaughlinRSS RacingFord
DNQ24Joe NemechekSam Hunt RacingToyota
DNQ77Ronnie Bassett Jr.Bassett RacingChevrolet
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points
† – Replaced Patrick Emerling
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Justin is not an off-road racer, but he writes about it for The Checkered Flag.
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