TALLADEGA, Ala.: Sophomore NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Joe Graf Jr. may have started shotgun on the field in Saturday afternoon’s Sparks 300 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, but his patience was rewarded with a career-best NASCAR Xfinity series finish.
Aboard his No. 07 G-Coin Chevrolet Camaro for Bobby Dotter’s SS GreenLight Racing, Graf methodically inched his way forward through the first two stages of the race.
During Stage 3, Graf and spotter Joe White put their race execution into play with Graf quickly slicing and dicing his way through the strong field and finding himself comfortably inside the top-20 in the opening laps of the final stage.
On Lap 89, a major multicar accident brought trigged between Brett Moffitt and Jeb Burton saw Graf carefully migrate through the carnage and escape untouched.
13 laps later, another crash occurred around the 2.66-mile superspeedway in Turn 4 with evasive action by Graf landed him in the 10th position under the yellow flag.
With darkness quickly approaching, NASCAR ultimately called the race six laps short of its distance with Graf bettering his previous best finish of 11th in February at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
“I am so proud of everyone on this No. 07 G-Coin team. Joe (Williams) really brought me a fast No. 07 G-Coin Chevrolet Camaro,” said Graf after the race
“We were patient for most of the race but when we knew that the race might get cut short because of darkness, we really played our strategy and with the help of a good car in the draft, we were able to put ourselves in the top-10.”
Graf has certainly been apart of his fair share of tough luck in his second Xfinity season, but over the last six races, he along with new crew chief Joe Williams has stepped up to the plate and delivered a slew of strong performances, including Darlington Raceway, Bristol Motor Speedway and now Talladega.
“This finish is huge for us, our partners and everyone on the SS GreenLight Racing team. Hopefully, we can utilize this finish to propel us forward for the rest of the year.”
With their final superspeedway race in the books for the 2021 season, the Xfinity Series will embrace their final road course race of the season with Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250
Presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday, Oct 9 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
