Amidst high hopes for Justin Allgaier’s third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Phoenix International Speedway, his race took an unexpected turn as he collided heavily with the wall while exiting the dogleg in turn 1.
Following Allgaier’s crash, Chandler Smith surged into the lead during overtime restart, surpassing Sheldon Creed and Jesse Love. This marked Smith’s second Xfinity win, following his initial triumph last year at Richmond Raceway.
Love managed to surpass Creed on the final lap, securing second place, while Creed settled for third. Despite his consistent runner-up finishes at Phoenix, Creed is still awaiting his maiden victory.
The pivotal crash stemmed from a flat left rear tire, as Allgaier attributed it to general tire wear or potentially running over debris.
“I definitely had to have run something over,” Allgaier told NASCAR on FOX. “Wear-wise there was no way we were wearing the left rear far enough to do that. Going through the dogleg I felt it wiggle a little bit and I knew what it meant. At that point, there’s three laps to go or two laps to go and you have to hope that it holds on and unfortunately, it blew out and that was the end of it.”
Acknowledging Allgaier’s missed opportunity, Smith expressed his regret during the celebration, acknowledging Allgaier’s strong performance throughout the final green flag cycle.
“I hate that that happened to him,” Smith said after emerging from his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 81, “He definitely had that in the bag. I hate it for his guys.”
The race outcome saw Allgaier finishing in 29th place with a DNF, dropping to eighth in the Xfinity Series championship standings. Smith’s victory secured his playoff berth, placing him one point ahead of Austin Hill, who leads the championship race with two wins.
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