NASCAR at Charlotte Roval Xfinity results: AJ Allmendinger wins fifth race of season

Live updates for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway are complete. See below for results and post-race coverage of AJ Allmendinger’s win at the Drive for the Cure 250.

Follow NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev on Twitter at @AndrejevAlex.

NASCAR Xfinity race at the Roval results

(P) = playoff driver, # = rookie

Post-race

AJ Allmendinger won his eighth road course race in a NASCAR national series. He has six road course wins in Xfinity and two in Cup. Post-race inspection is complete, so Allmendinger is officially the winner. Justin Haley’s car had one lug nut not safe and secure, which is a monetary fine.

What Allmendinger said post-race about winning the Drive for the Cure 250: “It’s special for sure to win this race three years in a row and for it to be the Drive for the Cure 250. All the women when they were in Victory Lane, the inspiration of surviving breast cancer, it makes it that much more special.”

What he said about why he’s had so much success at the Roval: “I really enjoy the racetrack. The infield kind of takes me back to a Champ car day, a street course that we’ve run on, so I always love the inside of this racetrack just because it does take me back to my open-wheel days and ripping through the streets of Long Beach and Australia, Toronto, and places like that. So part of it is when you enjoy a racetrack, it makes it fun to show up. Kaulig Racing, Chris Rice, all the men and women, we work hard on the setup here.”

On the backstretch curbing that destroyed so many cars today: “You make a mistake, you should pay the price. You know how big some of these curbs are, and you can’t constantly run over them and certain ones you can’t even hit, so yeah, that’s on us. They’re not moving when we get out there. The chicane’s still there every lap so it’s on us to either on us to just deal with it and drive over the top of it and know that there’s the chance of wrecking the race car or you find a way around it.”

NASCAR Xfinity race at Charlotte live updates

Stage 3

5:49 p.m., Lap 68 FINAL: AJ Allmendinger wins his third straight Roval race after chaos ensues on the final overtime lap. Allmendinger had a big push off the restart by Sam Mayer on his bumper. Austin Cindric, who was chasing Allmendinger down earlier, lost spots.

As the leaders wound through the course, Allmendinger pulled away and Ty Gibbs drove up to second, but not for long. Gibbs went for a half-spin over the curbing after contact with Mayer. He dropped to 22nd, while Mayer finished 10th.

Cindric, meanwhile, maneuvered back through the traffic to finish three seconds behind Allmendinger as multiple cars spun coming to the flag on the frontstretch. Daniel Hemric, who won the first two stages of the race, finished third.

Allmendinger earned his fifth win in the 2021 Xfinity Series season.

“That was a fight today. We had to be kind of on defense early,” Allmendinger said on NBC. “Worried about the points. This place is tough to pass.”

He shook off the late-race caution that threatened his lead as inevitable. But with a strong final restart, Allmendinger never gave up the first place position as those behind him dueled for the second and third place spots. He earned his third straight Roval race win and is still in championship contention in the next playoff round.

Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements were eliminated from the postseason after Saturday’s race. The next race to start the Round of 8 is Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway at 3 p.m. on NBC. The Cup Series race at the Charlotte Roval is Sunday at 2 p.m. on NBC.

5:40 p.m., Lap 64: The caution is out for Tommy Joe Martins hitting the wall and suddenly, AJ Allmendinger is in trouble. “Shocker,” he says. This race will go into overtime and the field will bunch up again. Allmendinger stays out. Daniel Hemric pits for new tires for the shootout.

5:35 p.m., Lap 62: Sam Mayer and Justin Haley are lurking behind Austin Cindric in the final laps while AJ Allmendinger is running away with it. This looks like a battle for second. But on the next lap, Haley and Mayer race side-by-side

5:25 p.m., Lap 58: Austin Cindric goes wide and nearly loses his spot to Sam Mayer. AJ Allmendinger continues to lead, now with a 6-second lead. The running order is Allmendinger, Cindric, Mayer. Justin Haley is lurking further back followed by Daniel Hemric as the race finish nears.

5:16 p.m., Lap 49: Trouble for Ty Gibbs! He misses the backstretch chicane, goes over the curbing, and loses the top spot to AJ Allmendinger. Then, he drops down to seventh with break issues. Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, Sam Mayer and Justin Haley are in the front of the pack.

5:12 p.m., Lap 46: Ty Gibbs takes the lead, but says that his “brakes feel sticky to me.” He’s told they just need to cool off. AJ Allmendinger is running in second followed by Austin Cindric in third. Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier and Daniel Hemric have clinched a spot in the Round of 8 through the first two stages.

5:07 p.m., Lap 43: Myatt Snider gets a penalty on pit road for changing lane. Snider is a playoff driver who was having a strong run today, but the penalty will send him back. He changed lanes before the start-finish line coming to the restart.

Stage 2

4:57 p.m., Lap 38: Daniel Hemric wins another stage at Charlotte. He clinches a spot in the next round along with Justin Allgaier based on points. Austin Cindric was already through to the next round. Hemric holds off Justin Haley by 0.153 seconds. Myatt Snider, Noah Gragson, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, Ty Gibbs, Jeb Burton and Sam Mayer finish the stage in the top 10. Gibbs got into Harrison Burton

4:52 p.m. Lap 35: The caution is out for debris on the frontstretch from Brett Moffit’s car. Leader Austin Cindric pits, along with Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger to lose track position at the end of this stage. Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson stay out for the final three laps.

4:45 p.m., Lap 32: The race goes green and Sam Mayer spins his tires, dropping to fourth. Austin Cindric stays in first as Daniel Hemric moves up to second, followed by Justin Haley in third. “All good,” Mayer is told on the radio after losing a spot. Jeb Burton gets into the wall on the outside in the infield. “Gotta race the race track,” Burton is told.

4:42 p.m., Lap 30: Leaders Austin Cindric, Sam Mayer, Daniel Hemric and AJ Allmendinger stay out. Mid-pack cars pit under caution as the race goes back to yellow. Joe Graf Jr. gets a penalty for speeding on pit road.

4:34 p.m., Lap 30: The yellow flag is out for what will be a lengthy pause after Josh Bilicki goes over the curbing in the backstretch, totaling the underside of his car...Then, the red flag comes out shortly after track repairs are underway. Bilicki’s car has gone to the garage.

4:23 p.m., Lap 24: Noah Gragson is told that he’s in a good spot in fourth and reminded to steady there. The Burton cousins are racing side-by-side midpack, and have been running around each other all day. They were slated to start in the same row.

4:19 p.m., Lap 21: The race restarts and the cars are clear through the infield with Austin Cindric leading. He lined up in first, and is followed by Sam Mayer, Daniel Hemric, Noah Gragson and AJ Allmendinger. Justin Allgaier is stuck in the back after a long pit stop. The team was putting tape on the rear bumper during the stage break.

Stage 1

4:14 p.m., Lap 20: Daniel Hemric wins the stage under caution after Austin Cindric pitted before the break. AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs, Justin Haley finish in the top five for the stage points. The leaders pit after flag.

4:07 p.m., Lap 18: The running order is Daniel Hemric, Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson and Ty Gibbs are running the top five. Austin Cindric pits from second place before the end of the stage. Kris Wright says he has tire rub, and comes to pit road saying, “Something broke.” His team says that it, “Looks like the trackbar mount is probably broke.” There’s oil on the track and the caution comes out again.

4:04 p.m., Lap 15: Josh Williams goes around and is stopped on track as the races stays green. Daniel Hemric still maintains the lead followed by Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger has cracked the third place spot. Ryan Sieg owes a passthrough for cutting the backstretch chicane.

3:59 p.m., Lap 12: Justin Allgaier pits again while the caution is out. Daniel Hemric is in the first place spot. Austin Cindric is in second and lines up on the outside. Brett Moffitt’s car was smoking and he has gone to the garage.

3:53 p.m., Lap 10: Daniel Hemric leads, followed by Austin Cindric. The No. 7 of Justin Allgaier is still in last after the long pit stop. Gray Gaulding brings out the next caution. He’s stopped on the backstretch chicane, and will get pushed back to the garage by NASCAR’s tow truck. Gaulding says his car was already smoking before running through the backstretch. There’s piece of debris reportedly in the middle of the backstretch chicane.

3:45 p.m., Lap 4: Austin Cindric again keeps the advantage and leads through the infield after the restart, and Justin Allgaier has multiple brake lock incidents that force him to pit on Lap 8. Austin Cindric has to serve a penalty after missing the backstretch chicane. Daniel Hemric takes the lead.

3:36 p.m., Lap 1: Austin Cindric leads the first lap as the caution comes out early. Tommy Joe Martins has right front fender damage after earlier contact, but the team doesn’t seem too worried. That’s not why the caution is out either. It’s for Jade Buford, who hits the wall after Sage Karam goes for a big spin.

3:26 p.m.: Engines are fired at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The invocation, anthem and flyover are complete. The command has been given as the track celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness month. Breast cancer survivors and those impacted by breast cancer were introduced by drivers, interspersed with driver introductions at the track. Austin Cindric is rolling off first and is using pink window netting as part of an initiative introduced by Kurt Busch. Read the full story here.

Pre-race

No issues in Xfinity garage

NASCAR announces that pre-race inspection is complete in the Xfinity Series garage. There were no multiple failures. Austin Cindric is on the pole for the race with Justin Allgaier starting in the front row. We’re a few hours out from the green flag and the sky is overcast, but there’s no rain. The green flag is scheduled for 3:37 p.m.

Michael Annett is expected to drop to the rear for a driver change with Josh Berry in the No. 1 Chevrolet. Berry (now Annett) was slated to start fourth. Daniel Hemric will line up third.

RCR announces new Xfinity sponsor

NASCAR team owner Richard Childress and driver Sheldon Creed announced Saturday a new sponsor for Creed’s No. 2 Chevrolet team in the Xfinity Series next season. Whelen, an engineering company, will sponsor Creed’s car as he makes the jump from the Truck Series to Xfinity full-time in 2022.

“I’ve never had anything like this,” said Creed, whose truck went without a sponsor for multiple races during the 2021 season.

Creed won the 2020 Truck Series championship. Childress said that the team is aiming to finalize a deal to run a second Xfinity car next year. Details for Myatt Snider’s plans next season have not yet been announced.

Next Gen sets up path for international driver move to in Cup

Former NASCAR Whelen Euro Series champion Loris Hezemans will race in the Cup Series part-time next season driving the No. 27 Ford. The announcement was made at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday. Hezemans’ father, Toine Hezemans, is starting the team in partnership with Trucks team Reaume Brothers Racing.

Reaume Brothers owner Josh Reaume said that his team will build the cars and manage operations from its shop in Mooresville, N.C.

Hezemans plans to run six road course races next year while aiming for approval to eventually tackle a full-time schedule, and said that the plans were laid due to NASCAR’s switch to Next Gen next year. Hezemans will participate in a Next Gen test scheduled at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Monday and Tuesday with former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve.

How to watch NASCAR at Charlotte Roval Xfinity race

• Race: Drive for the Cure 250 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina

• Distance: 155.44 miles, 67 laps with stage breaks on laps 20, 40 and 67

• Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway road course

• When: 3 p.m. EST

• TV: NBC

• Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

This story was originally published October 9, 2021 at 1:49 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