Race report

NASCAR O'Reilly Bristol II

Reddick starts last and a lap down, but wins Bristol Xfinity race

Tyler Reddick got to Victory Lane the hard way Friday night – he started last and a lap down.

Jim Utter

Edited: Aug 17, 2019, 2:37 AM

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Race Winner Tyler Reddick, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro

Reddick, who was forced to start from the rear of the field and had to serve a pass-through penalty down pit road because his No. 2 Chevrolet failed pre-qualifying inspection four times, had been running down then-leader Justin Allgaier but got an unexpected gift.

With nine of 300 laps remaining, Allgaier had a tire go down and had to pull off the track, which allowed Reddick to inherit the lead. He then held off a wild charge from Chase Briscoe to win the Food City 300 – his fourth Xfinity Series win of the season.

“I don’t know (how we made this happen). I thought I made the wrong adjustment on the last (pit) stop but we had a really fast Chevrolet,” Reddick said. “We had fresher tires than Justin Allgaier there. We came down pit road and we were just too tight and I thought we were done.

“I don’t know what happened. Everything just happened at the right spot. I fell back to fourth and Jones hit the fence and then (Allgaier) had some sort of issue. As you can I’m speechless, I couldn’t believe what was happening.

“I dedicate this win to my car chief Cam Strader. Obviously, he got sent home but we just had some issues in tech – nothing crazy. I hate he couldn’t be here for it. I know he’s at home celebrating and this one’s for him.”

John Hunter Nemechek ended up third, Jeremy Clements was fourth and Austin Cindric claimed the fifth position. Allgaier, after leading 131 laps, ended up eighth.

On Lap 221, Michael Annett spun off the exit for Turn 2 to bring out a caution. Several lead-lap cars elected to pit for new tires but Allgaier remained on the track and in the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 227.

With 50 laps remaining, Reddick moved up to the second position, about 2 seconds behind Allgaier as Ryan Sieg ran third.

After 270 laps, Reddick had moved to within a half-second of Allgaier as Brandon Jones ran third. They were followed by Briscoe and Cindric.

On Lap 280, NASCAR threw a caution for suspected fluid on track, which bunched the field. Most of the lead-lap cars elected to remain on the track. Allgaier remained in the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 287, followed by Reddick, Jones, Briscoe and Cindric.

On Lap 290, Allgaier had a tire go down and fell off the pace, handing the lead over to Reddick.

Stage 2

With smoke coming from his No. 18 Toyota, Kyle Busch still managed to hold off Reddick to take the Stage 2 win.

However, Busch immediately took his car to the garage as smoke continued to pour out and he believed he had lost the engine.

“I’m done,” he said over the radio. “I’m taking my victory lap now.”

Allgaier finished third, Cindric was fourth and Nemechek ended up fifth.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, several lead-lap cars elected to pit but Noah Gragson stayed out and took over the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 93. Busch was second and Cindric third.

Busch got around Gragson on Lap 95 to retake the lead as Gragson dropped to second.

With 65 laps remaining in Stage 2, Busch had built up a more than 1.5-second lead over Cindric while Gragson ran in third.

On Lap 121, Ronnie Bassett Jr. wrecked off Turn 2 as it appeared an axle ripped out of his No. 90 car, which all took place in of the leader, Busch, to bring out a caution. One of Bassett’s tires also came off the car and bounced across the track.

NASCAR then red-flagged the race to clean the track of debris.

The race returned to green on Lap 126 with Busch in the lead, followed by Cindric and Gragson.

With 30 laps to go in the stage, Busch held nearly a 1-second lead over Allgaier with Reddick moving back up to third.

With seven laps remaining, Reddick got round Allgaier to claim the second position, running 1.7-seconds behind Busch.

Stage 1

Jones emerged with the Stage 1 win when Allgaier and Reddick tangled in a battle for the lead with two of 85 laps remaining.

Reddick spun, made contact with then-leader Allgaier, allowing Jones to pass both just before the caution was displayed, which ended the stage.

Sieg finished third, Michael Annett was fourth and Gragson fifth.

Cindric started on the pole but Busch quickly moved into the lead on the restart.

On Lap 7, Mason Diaz blew a tire and wrecked on the backstretch to bring out a caution. When the race returned to green on Lap 15, Busch continued to lead the way.

With 55 laps remaining in the first stage, Busch held a small but steady lead over Allgaier. Cole Custer ran third, Christopher Bell fourth and Cindric fifth.

On Lap 37, a multi-car wreck erupted in Turn 3 which caught up race contenders Erik Jones, Bell, Custer and Joey Logano.

The race returned to green on Lap 48 with Busch in the lead, followed by Allgaier and Cindric.

Nemechek tried to pit with a flat tire with couldn’t get to pit road, tagging a lapped car and eventually spun out in Turn 2 on Lap 50 to bring out a caution. The race returned to green on Lap 56.

On Lap 60, Allgaier got under Busch in Turn 1 and came away in Turn 2 with the lead for the first time in the race.

After 65 laps, Allgaier maintained a small lead over Busch as Haley moved up to third.

A caution for debris in Turn 2 was displayed on Lap 72. A handful of lead-lap cars elected to pit but Allgaier remained on the track and continued to lead when the race went green again on Lap 78.

As Reddick attempted a pass for the lead on Lap 83, he made contact with Allgaier and spun off Turn 4 to bring out a caution, which ended the stage.

Reddick had to start the race from the rear of the field and had to make a pass-through penalty on pit road after the start of the race after his No. 2 Chevrolet failed pre-qualifying inspection four times.

Reddick’s team has also been penalized 10 driver and owner points and had his car chief ejected from the race.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Laps Led 1 2 United States Tyler Reddick Chevrolet 300 19 2 98 Chase Briscoe Ford 300 0.655 3 23 John Hunter Nemechek Chevrolet 300 1.368 4 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 300 1.765 5 22 Austin Cindric Ford 300 1.923 1 6 08 Gray Gaulding Chevrolet 300 7.216 7 61 Timmy Hill Toyota 299 1 lap 8 7 United States Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 298 2 laps 131 9 1 Michael Annett Chevrolet 298 2 laps 1 10 4 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 298 2 laps 11 19 Brandon Jones Toyota 298 2 laps 6 12 86 Brandon Brown Chevrolet 297 3 laps 13 28 Shane Lee Toyota 297 3 laps 14 20 Christopher Bell Toyota 297 3 laps 15 07 United States Ray Black Jr. Chevrolet 297 3 laps 16 93 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 297 3 laps 17 9 Noah Gragson Chevrolet 296 4 laps 5 18 5 Matt Mills Toyota 296 4 laps 19 01 Stephen Leicht Chevrolet 292 8 laps 20 35 Joey Gase Toyota 292 8 laps 21 78 Vinnie Miller Toyota 292 8 laps 22 00 United States Cole Custer Ford 291 9 laps 23 99 CJ Mclaughlin Toyota 275 25 laps 24 52 David Starr Chevrolet 273 27 laps 25 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 263 37 laps 26 15 B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 244 56 laps 27 74 Tyler Matthews Chevrolet 210 90 laps 28 0 Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 186 114 laps 29 18 United States Kyle Busch Toyota 171 129 laps 137 30 36 Josh Williams Chevrolet 154 146 laps 31 13 Tommy Joe Martins Toyota 131 169 laps 32 8 Jeb Burton Chevrolet 125 175 laps 33 90 Ronnie Bassett Jr. Chevrolet 118 182 laps 34 11 Justin Haley Chevrolet 79 221 laps 35 17 United States Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 43 257 laps 36 12 Joey Logano Ford 37 263 laps 37 81 Erik Jones Toyota 36 264 laps 38 68 Mason Diaz Chevrolet 3 297 laps

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