Chandler Smith ended up in the right place at the right time in Phoenix. After trailing Justin Allgaier throughout the closing laps, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver inherited the lead of the Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 300 when Allgaier blew a tire with five laps to go and never looked back through an Overtime restart.
“Hate that we got it like that, but we’ll take ’em when we can get ’em,” Smith said to his team over the radio after crossing the line.
Getting out of the car, it was a mix of emotions as he considered Allgaier’s crash and his involvement in an earlier pileup.
“What a day,” he said. “Went from dominating, to wasn’t-great, to we were dominating again, to wasn’t-great again.”
He did acknowledge that he wouldn’t have passed the 7 of Allgaier if not for the unfortunate tire failure.
“We just lacked a little bit on the 7,” Smith admitted. “I truly hate it for them, honestly. They had it in the bag. For something like that to happen, it’s mentally tough. I’ve been in that position myself.”
It’s his second career Xfinity Series win and his first with Joe Gibbs Racing after moving to the team this season.
“I’m so proud of everybody back at Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s good finally to get this first one off my back with these guys so let’s go keep racking them up.”
The left rear failure was certainly a disappointing end to the day for Allgaier, who led 52 laps on the day and had a big lead en route to what would’ve been his 24th Xfinity Series win.
“This 7 team called an absolutely perfect race,” a dejected Allgaier said after being released from the infield care center. “To have as fast a Brandt Professional Agriculture Camaro as we did all day – it was definitely as fast as Xfinity internet, we just aren’t doing the burnout in Victory Lane.”
There were no signs of the impending disaster inside the car either, Allgaier confirmed.
“Just, going through the dogleg, I felt it come apart, you know, like I ran something over,” he explained. “And then at that point you’re just a passenger. I just hate it that we tore up a racecar.”
Richard Childress Racing teammates Jesse Love and Austin Hill finished second and fourth respectively, with Sheldon Creed in third. Cole Custer rounded out the top five.
Custer earned the pole and won Stage 2, but fell back later in the race and couldn’t keep pace with the rest of the front runners.
“We started out pretty good but the track lost some grip and then we struggled a little bit,” Custer explained. “Our guys did a great job staying with it all day. Our pit crew did an amazing job.
“It is frustrating. Obviously we want to win but it was a really good points day. We just have to keep working on it. I think we are missing something, just a little bit. We just need to keep trying to work on it and get a little bit more of that potential out of it.”
Shane van Gisbergen finished sixth, an impressive run for the New Zealander. It’s his first Xfinity Series start on a non-superspeedway track.
Brandon Jones, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith, and Anthony Alfredo rounded out the top ten.
Allgaier’s late crash was far from the biggest incident of the race. A major crash on a restart on lap 145 brought out an 11-minute red flag.
With the rest of the pack bunched up tight behind them, Chandler Smith battled teammate John Hunter Nemechek – the full-time Cup Series driver for Legacy Motor Club making a part-time start – for second in a three-wide fight for second as Justin Allgaier ran away with the lead.
“I don’t know,” said a resigned Nemechek. “There was a little bit of contact. Next thing I know, I was sideways. Part of it.”
Smith and Nemechek got together coming out of turn 2, sending Nemechek spinning in front of the field. In all, the wreck collected Nemechek and Smith, as well as Parker Retzlaff, Hailie Deegan, Jeb Burton, Riley Herbst, Sam Mayer, Brennan Poole, Austin Hill, Ryan Ellis, and William Byron.
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