Josh Berry cruised across the line to win the Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, more than 18 seconds ahead of second place Ty Gibbs. JR Motorsports scored its first win at the track on Saturday, and its cars were the class of the field all day. Teammate Justin Allgaier was Berry’s only competitor, but he gave an intense battle before being forced to pit with fourteen laps to go after hitting the wall.
“That was a battle with Justin,” Berry said. “It always is with us. We always seem to run good at the same places and always have to race each other. He slipped up in (Turn) 1.”
“Man, it’s so amazing,” he added. “This car was so good. This whole group works so hard. We’ve been getting better every week. I think the sky is the limit as we continue to learn about each other and keep getting better. I think everybody knew that this was going to be a good benchmark for our organization, and I think I speak for everybody in saying that we exceeded expectations.”
The two had raced each other from the green flag, with Berry winning Stage 1 and Allgaier winning Stage 2. That extends the team’s run to ten consecutive stage wins, a record for the series. The team also finished third and fourth.
Ty Gibbs interrupted the JR Motorsports drivers, inheriting second place when Allgaier pitted.
“We were just a little slower than those guys,” said Gibbs. “Our guys worked really hard overnight to get this thing ready so I’m very thankful to my guys. We held onto a second-place finish. We’ll take that – solid day.”
Ryan Preece rounded out the top five after being disappointed with Friday’s truck race. He was followed by Daniel Hemric, Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Trevor Bayne and Myatt Snider, who all scored inside the top ten.
Allgaier managed to save seventh after his pit stop, but said he enjoyed racing with Berry. “We tried to put on a show for the fans,” he said. “I don’t know if you can drive any harder. At one point we were literally barreling off into Turn 1 harder than we did in qualifying.”
After a brush with the wall before the crash that forced him to pit, he said: “I thought we were going to be OK there and battle it out again, but unfortunately, my right rear started to go flat.”
The Xfinity Series returns on Saturday, June 4th at Portland International Raceway for a road course race.
Photos: NASCAR at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday May 28, 2022
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Results Alsco Uniforms 300
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Concord, North Carolina
Saturday, May 28, 2022
1. (4) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 200.
2. (36) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 200.
3. (1) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 200.
4. (7) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 200.
5. (3) Ryan Preece(i), Ford, 200.
6. (10) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 200.
7. (2) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 199.
8. (18) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, 199.
9. (6) Trevor Bayne, Toyota, 199.
10. (33) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 199.
11. (14) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 199.
12. (15) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 199.
13. (29) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 199.
14. (20) Austin Hill #, Chevrolet, 199.
15. (25) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 198.
16. (5) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 198.
17. (32) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 198.
18. (16) JJ Yeley, Ford, 198.
19. (8) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 198.
20. (27) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 198.
21. (34) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 197.
22. (23) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 197.
23. (35) CJ McLaughlin, Ford, 196.
24. (28) Shane Lee, Toyota, 196.
25. (37) Riley Herbst, Ford, 196.
26. (17) Ryan Vargas, Chevrolet, 187.
27. (26) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Suspension, 175.
28. (31) Nicholas Sanchez, Chevrolet, Ignition, 173.
29. (12) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 131.
30. (11) Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, Accident, 119.
31. (13) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 109.
32. (22) Ryan Sieg, Ford, Accident, 109.
33. (30) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, Accident, 109.
34. (24) Joe Graf Jr., Ford, Accident, 109.
35. (19) Brennan Poole(i), Chevrolet, Brakes, 71.
36. (21) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, Accident, 41.
37. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, Accident, 41.
38. (9) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, Accident, 25.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 117.557 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 33 Mins, 7 Secs. Margin of Victory: 18.039 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 44 laps.
Lead Changes: 12 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: S. Mayer 1-2;R. Preece(i) 3;N. Gragson 4-35;J. Berry 36-45;J. Allgaier 46-94;J. Berry 95-109;R. Preece(i) 110-118;J. Berry 119-158;N. Gragson 159-162;J. Allgaier 163-175;J. Berry 176;J. Allgaier 177;J. Berry 178-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Josh Berry 5 times for 89 laps; Justin Allgaier 3 times for 63 laps; Noah Gragson 2 times for 36 laps; Ryan Preece(i) 2 times for 10 laps; Sam Mayer 1 time for 2 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 8,7,9,16,11,1,5,54,19,02
Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,8,1,18,5,16,54,2,11,02
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