Saturday afternoon’s Alsco 300 produced one of the better NASCAR Xfinity Series races in recent memory. The first race without a presence of Cup-declaring drivers allowed the prime opportunity for the Xfinity Series regulars to roar into the spotlight in the first race of this year’s Dash4Cash gala and they didn’t disappoint.
Christopher Bell with a loose No. 20 Rheem Toyota Supra wrestled his race car to his second win of the season ahead of Tyler Reddick who took his partnership with icon Dolly Parton to the next level with a blonde wig during pre-race events – symbolizing one of her fashionable traits.
The energy was crisp as the spring day at the 0.533-mile oval. From Christopher Bell to Reddick to the disappointment of Justin Allgaier and the agony performance of Alex Labbe in a part-time gig with DGM Racing – the 300-lap race provided storylines from first to 37th and here are a few nuggets in this week’s Bristol observations:
• Christopher Bell: With a $100,00 paycheck on the line, the humbling Joe Gibbs Racing superstar would not be denied. Fighting back from the trenches of a few wall scraps and some mind-blowing passes on the race track, Bell was able to pass teammate Brandon Jones within the final 20 laps of the race to earn his first victory since Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in February.
Bell will have a chance to cash in a second Dash4Cash payday next weekend at Richmond. A track that Bell doesn’t classify as one of his favorites – but hopes to warm up to the track’s dynamic 0.75-mile oval on April 12.
• Cole Custer: Winning his first Xfinity Series pole of the season, it wasn’t hard to pick Custer a pre-race favorite for his second win of the season. However, once the rag dropped, the driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang found himself being chased from Lap 1.
Custer found some trouble during the early stages of the event which perhaps prevented the Stewart-Haas Racing driver from capitalizing on the opportunity of no Cup drivers to earn his fourth career victory. Still, his third-place finish isn’t bad and outside of Bell – Custer is hands down one of the current favorites for Homestead’s Championship 4 in November.
• Chase Briscoe: Briscoe has been hounding at the dogs lately that he wanted more out of his Stewart-Haas Racing team. The former ARCA Menards Series champion knows the opportunity of a lifetime has been put front and center in front of him – but he needs to deliver. After a somewhat slow start, Briscoe has etched three consecutive top-five finishes matching a fourth-place result for the second race in a row.
No, Briscoe didn’t get to hold the $100,000 cardboard check on Saturday afternoon, but the Stewart-Haas Racing’s surge in consistency has earned them another opportunity next Friday night at Richmond and perhaps the second checkered flag of Briscoe’s Xfinity Series career.
• Austin Cindric: The face of Team Penske in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year, Austin Cindric has been steady and solid this year. While he didn’t earn a top-five finish on Saturday at Bristol, Cindric earned a career-best at the historic short track and capturing some crucial stage points along the way.
Some don’t think Cindric will win, he’s determined to prove others otherwise. That time will come and when it does, the cards will change, and the No. 22 team will be in full Playoff mode and who can blame them. Cindric’s been there before and likely will be there again in 2019.
• Justin Haley: Smooth and solid continues to pay off in the name of top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Justin Haley. Earning a career-best finish of seventh for Kaulig Racing on Saturday, Haley is finding his footing behind the No. 11 LeafFilter Chevrolet Camaro – but at some point, Haley and crew chief Nick Harrison want to exchange those top-10s for top-fives and perhaps even a win.
Kaulig Racing is still winless in Xfinity Series competition, a statistic that is still hard to fathom – but they’re getting closer and taking two cars to Richmond next weekend with the return of Elliott Sadler. The last time the Welcome, N.C.-based team fielded two cars, they earned a top-five finish with Austin Dillon at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway in March.
• Harrison Burton: Burton faced some criticism for jumping into the NASCAR Xfinity Series scene without winning in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series – but the NASCAR Next player let his results speak for himself on Saturday.
Flirting inside the top-five for much of the race, a spat with the wall late in the race had the potential to rip away a strong performance – but with resilience and the leadership of crew chief Ben Bayshore – Burton earned a top-10 finish and is believed to be the first rookie driver to earn a top-10 finish in his series’ debut in Thunder Valley since Bobby Dragon did so in 1986, 14 years before Burton was born.
• Zane Smith: The Huntington Beach, Calif. native experienced a plethora of setbacks in his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series race. The team experienced engine failure in practice on Friday which forced them to swap motors before qualifying on Saturday. Despite a solid starting position, NASCAR rules sent Smith to the rear of the field for the race.
Methodically, Smith’s No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro moved through the field and stayed on the lead lap for a majority of the race – but just missed a top-10 with a 12th place finish. Sure, it’s not the type of finishes that Smith—an ARCA superstar in 2018 was expecting – but a solid finish nonetheless and some momentum to carry to his next race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway on Friday night.
• Ryan Sieg: With the addition of crew chief Shane Wilson, Sieg has become one of the most consistent drivers in 2019. Sieg earned his worst finish of the year on Saturday with a twelfth. That’s right 12th.
After seven races, Sieg averages a finish of 9.1 and sits 11th in the Xfinity Series point standings. The solid finishes have been a blessing for the family-owned and somewhat underfunded RSS Racing – but moving forward, stage points have to become a priority and Richmond is a great place to launch that quest.
• Gray Gaulding: Carrying new sponsorship at Bristol from partner Panini Trading Cards, Gaulding has been able to do more with less so far in 2019. A mechanical gremlin ripped the team’s strong start to the season at Daytona in February, but since then the Bobby Dotter-owned team has worked tirelessly to get back on track.
A top-15 finish is a continued step in the right direction for the Virginia native. Yes, top-10 are crucial from a performance standpoint but after a rough season for the Mooresville, N.C.-based team, the performances from Gaulding and teammate Ray Black II has given the team a boost and an opportunity to work harder to get closer towards that top-10 status.
• Josh Williams: Likely one of the most underrated drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Williams’ short-track skills played nicely for his DGM Racing team at Bristol with a top-20 finish in the Alsco 300. While it wasn’t the same performance of the team’s most recent race at Texas Motor Speedway – which brought a top-15 result, still Williams if finishing races and given team owner Mario Gosselin the opportunity to progress his team forward with 26 races remaining.
• Vinnie Miller: One of his better runs in 2019, Vinnie Miller is showing signs of improvement and that’s been a part of the plan since joining B.J. McLeod Motorsports at the end of the 2018 season.
The key to Miller adapting to his learning curve is finishing races and he’s done that the last four races and gives the Metamora, Mich. native the opportunity to look out the windshield heading to Richmond (Va.) Raceway next weekend.
• Kyle Weatherman: Making his Xfinity Series debut on Saturday afternoon for Rick Ware Racing, Kyle Weatherman’s 28th place finish is nothing to boast about – but for the former ARCA winner, the opportunity to race at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” was a challenge Weatherman embraced.
Needing to pick up some crucial owner points moving forward, Weatherman was a solid choice for RWR to represent new partner East Carolina University, just needed the circumstances in the race to be a little better.
• Alex Labbe: The Canadian that everyone loves. The lack of sponsorship has kept the popular driver from North of the Border on the sidelines for much of the 2019 – but with the speed from his DGM Racing team during practice and qualifying on Saturday – many expected big things from the No. 90 Chevrolet Camaro Saturday.
Unfortunately, the team ran into mechanical gremlins 10 laps into the race and never having the opportunity to strut their stuff. Labbe doesn’t know when he’s back in the car and he’s continuing to work on sponsorship himself to prove he’s a worthy asset to the Xfinity Series.
But then again, we already knew that.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
