Race report
NASCAR O'Reilly Daytona
Michael Annett cruises to first Xfinity win at Daytona
Michael Annett, who missed the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs, began the new season earning his first career victory.
Jim Utter
Published: Feb 16, 2019, 10:19 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Annett deftly held off his JR Motorsports teammate. Justin Allgaier, in a final lap duel to the checkered flag and won Saturday’s NASCAR Racing Experience 300, his first career win in 230 starts.
So far in Speedweeks, the Trucks and Xfinity Series openers have both featured first-time winner.
“This is amazing. My first words were ‘Eight years’ – it’s been eight years in this series,” Annett said in Victory Lane. “I can’t do it without these guys. They stuck with me when everybody would count us out. Some people wonder why I get to drive this car and I think we showed it today.
“Our slogan this year is ‘One team, one dream, one goal’ and this was one of them. So, we’re starting off good.”
Annett said his spotter, Jason Jarrett, helped guide him through the difficult final lap with Allgaier closing in.
“I was waiting for a second line to get formed. I know they tried but it just wasn’t there,” he said. “When it hadn’t formed with about three (laps) to go, I knew they weren’t going to have enough steam to get us.
“I was just worried about my teammate. I knew he was going to push hard and I knew he was going to go for it. I just had to keep him in my mirror and keep the gap right.”
Brandon Jones finished third, Ryan Sieg was fourth and Austin Cindric completed the top-five.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Christopher Bell, Jeff Green, John Hunter Nemechek, Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott.
On Lap 71 of 120, NASCAR was forced to throw a caution when one of the roof flaps from Brad Keselowski’s No. 12 Ford came off his car and ended up in the infield. Brad Keselowski took his car to the garage.
“I felt like I was back in the ‘50’s running a convertible here on the beach. That was interesting,” Keselowski said. “The roof, escape hatch, whatever it is called looks like there was a defect from the factory on the body and just nothing we could do.
“The guys tried to fix it but it is in a spot where you can’t get to it and work on it. It is made the way it is made. We are stuck.”
The race returned to green on Lap 76 with Annett taking over the race lead.
On Lap 80, Ray Black Jr. wrecked on the backstretch to bring out the caution. The race returned to green on Lap 83.
With 30 laps left, Annett continued to lead the way followed by Allgaier, Jones, Sieg and Cindric.
With 10 to go, Annett still held the top spot with Allgaier in tow.
Stage 2
Ross Chastain easily held off Jones to claim the Stage 2 victory as Kaulig Racing drivers swept the first two stages.
Cindric was third, Chase Elliott was fourth and Jeffrey Earnhardt rounded out the top-five.
Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, Bell was the first off pit road followed by Earnhardt and Jones.
Noah Gragson was penalized for speeding on pit road during his pit stop. Tyler Reddick was penalized for having crew members over the wall too soon and Michael Annett and Max Tullman were both penalized for uncontrolled tires.
The second stage finally went green on Lap 38. Earnhardt quickly retook the lead exiting off Turn 2.
Cindric moved into the top spot at the start of Lap 39.
With 20 laps left in the stage, Jones got around Cindric to take the lead for the first time.
On Lap 43, Chastain made his way into the lead for the first time followed by Elliott and Jones.
With 10 to go in the stage, Chastain continued to lead the way followed by Jones and Cindric.
Stage 1
Justin Haley went low around Earnhardt in Turn 3 on the final lap to claim the Stage 1 win.
Chastain ended up third, Nemechek was third, Earnhardt ended up fourth and Jones completed the top-five. Until the pass, Earnhardt had led the first 29 laps.
Earnhardt jumped to the lead on the first lap and remained out front the first 10 laps. He had previously led nine laps in his entire NASCAR career up to this point.
Halfway through the first stage, Earnhardt remained in command, followed by Haley and Chastain.
NASCAR informed Keselowski’s team that during its next pit stop under caution it must work to secure his roof flap, which appeared to have come loose.
With 10 laps left in the first stage, Earnhardt continued to lead the way.
The following drivers had to start the race from the rear of the field – Cole Custer (engine change), Reddick and Tullman (tire change) and Jeremy Clements (unapproved adjustments).
Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Laps Led 1 1 
Michael Annett Chevrolet 120 45 2 7 
Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 120 0.116 3 19 
Brandon Jones Toyota 120 0.215 8 4 39 
Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 120 0.300 5 22 
Austin Cindric Ford 120 0.445 2 6 20 Christopher Bell Toyota 120 0.508 4 7 93 Jeff Green Chevrolet 120 0.521 8 23 John Hunter Nemechek Chevrolet 120 0.757 9 2 
Tyler Reddick Chevrolet 120 0.762 5 10 8 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 120 0.796 11 9 
Noah Gragson Chevrolet 120 0.925 12 98 Chase Briscoe Ford 120 1.097 13 10 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 120 1.140 23 14 00 Cole Custer Ford 120 1.290 15 18 Jeffrey Earnhardt Toyota 120 1.415 29 16 35 
Joey Gase Toyota 120 22.411 17 11 Justin Haley Chevrolet 120 22.538 3 18 86 Brandon Brown Chevrolet 120 22.646 2 19 66 Timmy Hill Toyota 120 22.755 20 52 David Starr Chevrolet 120 22.999 21 4 Harrison Rhodes Chevrolet 120 23.125 22 36 Josh Williams Chevrolet 120 23.189 23 38 Josh Bilicki Chevrolet 120 23.233 24 Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 120 23.467 25 78 Vinnie Miller Toyota 120 23.668 26 5 Matt Mills Toyota 120 45.668 27 15 
B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 120 45.935 28 13 Max Tullman Toyota 120 46.052 29 90 Caesar Bacarella Chevrolet 119 44.330 30 07 Ray Black Jr. Chevrolet 119 1 lap 31 17 Chris Cockrum Chevrolet 118 2 laps 32 42 John Jackson Toyota 118 2 laps 33 99 
D.J. Kennington Toyota 113 7 laps 34 08 Gray Gaulding Chevrolet 110 10 laps 35 74 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 108 12 laps 36 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 90 29 laps 37 12 Brad Keselowski Ford 71 48 laps 38 01 Stephen Leicht Chevrolet 24 95 laps
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Bell predicts Truck-style Xfinity Series opener at Daytona
Next article NASCAR Roundtable: Was successful 500 a sign of things to come?
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jim Utter
Erik Jones agrees to multi-year contract extension with Legacy Motor Club
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Erik Jones agrees to multi-year contract extension with Legacy Motor Club
Goodyear's option tires at Richmond "were like Mario Kart with a star"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Goodyear's option tires at Richmond "were like Mario Kart with a star"
NASCAR: Austin Dillon move was "really close to crossing the line"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
NASCAR: Austin Dillon move was "really close to crossing the line"
Latest news
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
2 h
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Phoenix
2 h
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
General
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
Yamaha boss on MotoGP changes under Liberty: 'We must be careful not to lose our fans'
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Japanese GP
5 h
Yamaha boss on MotoGP changes under Liberty: 'We must be careful not to lose our fans'
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe