NASCAR Xfinity Series

Creed contact, Byron battle ends in another A.J. Allmendinger Austin achievement

2 Mins read
Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Sheldon Creed hoped to finally turn around his abysmal luck in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in Saturday’s Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of the Americas, and looked to be on the right track when he won a stage for the first time and led sixteen laps.

Unfortunately for him, the misfortune continued for another race as contact with A.J. Allmendinger sent him into a spin with fourteen laps remaining. As Creed was left trying to salvage position, Allmendinger faced off against fellow Cup Series driver William Byron and scored his eleventh series win on a road course and second in a row at COTA.

“Hate that I had contact with Sheldon, he got under me, I was trying to stay off him,” Allmendinger explained.

Creed, who eventually recovered to finish ninth, told FOX Sports shortly after, “I’d seen him and I thought I gave him enough room, but I don’t know. I feel like if I’m leading and I give him a little room that he can’t overdrive a corner, I need to watch it. I really don’t know. I could have came down on him.”

With Creed out of contention, Byron became Allmendinger’s biggest opponent but was too far back to close the gap. Allmendinger’s eleven road course victories are the most in Xfinity Series history and complements his two at the Cup level for a baker’s dozen total. Zane Smith‘s win in the Truck event earlier in the day meant both NASCAR support divisions saw their 2022 COTA winners repeat.

“I spent a lot of years not winning anything so I’m going to celebrate every one of them like it’s my last one,” Allmendinger continued. “You never know. As much pressure as I put on myself, I’m always going to try to live up to it.”

Elsewhere in the field, Alex Labbé finished fifteenth in replacement duty for the suspended Josh Williams. Preston Pardus suffered a broken suspension in the first race for family-run Pardus Racing.

Cameron Lawrence and Baltazar Leguizamón, who were hoping to make their Xfinity débuts, were among the four who failed to qualify.

Race results

FinishStartNumberDriverTeamManufacturerLapsStatus
1110A.J. Allmendinger*Kaulig RacingChevrolet46Running
2917William Byron*Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet46Running
3319Ty Gibbs*Joe Gibbs RacingToyota46Running
4218Sammy SmithJoe Gibbs RacingToyota46Running
587Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet46Running
61111Daniel HemricKaulig RacingChevrolet46Running
7141Sam MayerJR MotorsportsChevrolet46Running
8158Josh BerryJR MotorsportsChevrolet46Running
942Sheldon CreedRichard Childress RacingChevrolet46Running
10798Riley HerbstStewart-Haas RacingFord46Running
11269Brandon JonesJR MotorsportsChevrolet46Running
122716Chandler SmithKaulig RacingChevrolet46Running
131888Miguel PaludoJR MotorsportsChevrolet46Running
142551Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet46Running
152392Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet46Running
162978Anthony AlfredoB.J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet46Running
173431Parker RetzlaffJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet46Running
182026Kaz GralaSam Hunt RacingToyota46Running
192224Connor MosackSam Hunt RacingToyota46Running
203243Ryan EllisAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet46Running
212127Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet46Running
223302Kyle WeathermanOur MotorsportsChevrolet46Running
233139Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord46Running
241308Aric Almirola*SS-Green Light RacingFord46Running
253645Jeffrey EarnhardtAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet46Running
263828Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord46Running
27620John Hunter NemechekJoe Gibbs RacingToyota46Running
282491Josh BilickiDGM RacingChevrolet46Running
293053Brad PérezEmerling-Gase MotorsportsChevrolet46Running
303538Joe Graf Jr.RSS RacingFord46Running
31548Parker KligermanBig Machine Racing TeamChevrolet46Running
321000Cole CusterStewart-Haas RacingFord45Running
33376Brennan PooleJD MotorsportsChevrolet29Steering
342825Brett MoffittAM RacingFord27Engine
351644Sage KaramAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet23Engine
361950Preston PardusPardus RacingChevrolet16Suspension
371221Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet13Engine
381707Carson Hocevar*SS-Green Light RacingChevrolet7Transmission
DNQ66Cameron LawrenceMBM MotorsportsFord
DNQ74Baltazar LeguizamónCHK RacingChevrolet
DNQ4Garrett SmithleyJD MotorsportsChevrolet
DNQ35Parker ChaseEmerling-Gase MotorsportsToyota
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points
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Justin is not an off-road racer, but he writes about it for The Checkered Flag.
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