NASCAR Xfinity championship race results: Austin Cindric wins in Phoenix

Austin Cindric won the NASCAR Xfinity Series title in an overtime race that saw a late-lap caution and a call to pit for fresh tires for the No. 22 Ford.

Cindric was leading in the final stage, but Chase Briscoe spun out with fewer than 10 laps in the race, bringing out the yellow flag.

“I got loose,” Briscoe said. “It’s just embarrassing.”

Cindric gave up the lead to take new tires, but the decision paid off. He raced back to first in the final two laps of the race, staying ahead of non-championship driver Noah Gragson, who finished in second.

Briscoe finished in ninth. Justin Allgaier, running in second, made a call to stay out to inherit the lead, but lost speed in the final laps. He finished in fifth. The final playoff driver, Justin Haley, finished in eighth.

Results and live-race highlights are listed below. Check CharlotteObserver.com later tonight for a full analysis of the Xfinity championship race.

NASCAR Xfinity championship race at Phoenix results

Lap 206: Overtime championship win for Austin Cindric

7:32 p.m.: Austin Cindric wins the Xfinity Series championship with a fresh tire call. Allgaier held on as long as he could, but lost spots in the final lap. Cindric battled Gragson at the flag. The rest of the order is Jones, Annett, Allgaier, Burton, Chastain, Haley, Briscoe, Clements in the top-10.

Full results will be posted shortly.

Lap 194: Caution! Cindric pits!

7:30 p.m.: The caution comes out with six laps left in the race for Briscoe spinning and Cindric leading. “I’m going to kill him,” Cindric says. The decision: To pit or not to pit? Cindric pits, giving up the lead for a two-lap shootout when the race returns to green. Allgaier stays out. So does Chastain. Cindric comes out in third on new tires. Allgaier picks the top lane for the restart, followed by Cindric on top. Chastain leads the bottom lane, followed by Gragson.

Lap 190: Cindric leads

7:15 p.m.: Cindric chose outside lane for the restart and jumped out front to lead the race in the final 10 laps. Allgaier restarted in the second row and has newer tires. He’s in second. Chastain, Annett, Briscoe follow.

Lap 170: Green flag pit stops, then caution

7:05 p.m.: Graf Jr. gets into the Turn 2 wall and the yellow flag comes out during green flag pit stops. Haley is the first of the championship drivers to pit for fuel and tires. Briscoe and Cindric also pit. But when the caution comes out, Briscoe and Haley are trapped a lap down. Only six cars on the lead lap. The running order when the race goes green on Lap 176 is Cindric (stays out), Jones, Chastain, Annett, Allgaier (new tires), Briscoe (took the free pass, then pits for adjustment but no tires), Burton and Haley (wavearound).

Lap 155: Jones chases Cindric

6:55 p.m.: Jones reduces Cindric’s lead to less than a second. He’s chasing down the leader. Briscoe drives the outside lane to pass Allgaier, who reports earlier he might have a tire coming apart. Allgaier in in fourth. Haley is down to sixth.

Lap 130: Cindric makes his pass

6:45 p.m.: Cindric drives the low lane, going deep into Turn 3, to pass Allgaier with 70 laps left in the race. Jones stays in third, followed by Briscoe and Haley, who’s up to fifth. A few laps later, the Jones gets the second place spot as Allgaier drops back.

Lap 125: Allgaier holds lead, Cindric gains

6:40 p.m.: Cindric reduces Allgaier’s lead to 0.2 seconds, but he can’t get by the leader, who’s continued to defend his position. The running order is Allgaier, Cindric, Jones, Briscoe, Gragson and Haley.

Lap 105: Allgaier strategizes

6:30 p.m.: Jones is first off pit road, followed by Briscoe, Cindric and Allgaier. The first three take the top lane and Allgaier leads the inside lane, pulling ahead of Jones on the restart. At the halfway point, Allgaier leads Jones, Cindric and Briscoe in that order. Cindric passes Jones a few laps later. Cindric and Allgaier have emerged as the fastest cars tonight.

Lap 90: Cindric to first, wins Stage 2

6:20 p.m.: Allgaier gets the early lead off the restart, but Cindric is racing him closely. He finally makes his pass as the stage winds down to an end, passing Allgaier from the inside. Cindric holds first to win Stage 2 with a half-second lead over Allgaier in second. Briscoe is also close in third. Haley finishes the stage in seventh.

The rest of the order in P4-6 is Jones, Gragson, Annett, then P8-10 is Burton, Clements and Snider.

Lap 73: Caution out as stage nears end

6:10 p.m.: A yellow flag comes out with around 15 laps left in the stage for Martins, who’s engine is smoking. He goes to the garage. The running order at the yellow is Allgaier, Cindric, Briscoe, Gragson and Burton in the top-five. Haley is in eighth.

Lap 60: Allgaier gains spots

6 p.m.: Allgaier is the first off pit road, but Martins stays out for the restart. Allgaier leads when the race goes green. Briscoe is reporting problems with his speedometer, so he struggles to monitor his pit road speed and is slow. Gragson races up to second, but Cindric passes him a few laps later, then Briscoe follows, passing Gragson to get to third.

Lap 45: Briscoe wins stage 1, but late push from Cindric

5:50 p.m.: Cindric passes Allgaier rounding Turns 1 and 2 a few laps before the stage closes. He gets the outside lane, which appears to be the preferred lane, to challenge Briscoe coming to the green-and-white checkered flag for first. Haley finishes in the stage in seventh. After third, the stage finish is Gragson, Chastain, Annett in P4-6, then Burton, Herbst and Jones in P8-10.

Lap 38: Allgaier to second

5:42 p.m.: Briscoe takes the outside, Allgaier leads the inside lane on the restart and gets a solid launch when the race goes green. He moves up into second. Cindric follows closely in third. Haley is in sixth.

Lap 28: Caution for crash at the back

5:36 p.m.: The outside lane pays off again for Briscoe, who’s able to hold onto first before another caution comes out for Yeley and Mullis. McLaughlin, Mills and Theetge are also reportedly involved. Get ready for another restart.

Lap 20: Briscoe and Cindric battle

5:30 Briscoe leads following the restart through the competition caution. He says his car is loose and his wiggles at one point to get into the Turn 1 wall while racing side-by-side with Cindric in second place. Cindric is driving the low line early, but he isn’t able to make the pass before the competition yellow. Allgaier, in third, says his car balance is good and thinks he’ll be fast in the long run.

Lap 2: Race starts, early caution

5:15 p.m.: Allgaier gets out to an early lead on the start, but a caution comes out for Jeffrey Earnhardt hitting the wall. The first yellow flag is thrown and the field gets ready for a restart. When the race goes green again on Lap 6, Briscoe drops low to pass Cindric and Allgaier for first place. The order is Briscoe, Cindric, Allgaier. Haley is in seventh.

Pre-race ceremonies

5 p.m.: Teams line up on the grid for the invocation and national anthem and ten minutes later, engines are fired. Avondale, Ariz. mayor Kenn Weise gives the command. Cars begin rolling off the grid for a 5:16 p.m. start.

How to watch NASCAR’s Xfinity Series championship

4:45 p.m.: The race broadcast starts at 4:30 on NBCSN. Pre-race ceremonies start at 5 p.m. with the green flag scheduled for 5:16 p.m. You can listen to the race on MRN, SiriusXM and NASCAR Radio. NASCAR announces that no cars are starting at the rear for the start. Justin Allgaier is starting on the pole.

Jesse Love wins ARCA West championship

3:30 p.m.: ARCA completes a championship ahead of NASCAR’s Xfinity race. Jesse Love wins the ARCA Menards Series West championship with a 14th place finish at Phoenix. David Gilliland wins the race.

The championship marks the fourth ARCA West title for a Toyota driver in the past five seasons. Love, 15, drives the No. 19 Camry for Bill McAnally Racing (BMR).

New pit crew for Haley for positive COVID-19 test

2:30 p.m.: NBC Sports reports that a member of Justin Haley’s pit crew has tested positive for COVID-19 this week, and Haley will be using an alternate pit crew for the championship race.

The pit team that services Bubba Wallace’s car in the NASCAR Cup Series will step in for Haley’s crew as four members quarantine. That crew also typically pits for Haley’s Kaulig Racing teammate, AJ Allmendinger, who is not racing in Phoenix. The same crew also pitted for the winning car for Sheldon Creed in Friday’s Truck Series championship race.

Those quarantining also pit for Matt Kenseth in the Cup Series. Kenseth’s pit team for Sunday’s Cup race will be a Chip Ganassi developmental unit that services Quin Houff’s car, according to NBC Sports.

STARTING LINEUP NASCAR XFINITY CHAMPIONSHIP AT PHOENIX

*Championship 4 driver

This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 4:33 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription