It’s a mostly cloudy day in Charlotte as the 40 drivers strap in for 67 laps on the Charlotte Roval. Austin Cindric (22) and Justin Allgaier (7) will lead the field to the green flag. The stages for the race are 20-20-27 laps.
Michael Annett (1) will start at the rear of the field due to a driver change. Josh Berry has been in the driver’s seat for Annett for the past few weeks as Michael recovers from leg surgery. Annett’s return was uncertain. Earlier this week Michael announced his retirement, so I imagine he couldn’t resist a final opportunity to race before the Charlotte crowd.
Caution on lap 2 of 67 as Sage Karam (31) spins in front of the field and collects Jade Buford (48) and Brett Moffitt (02). Tommy Joe Martins (44) went for a spin on the first lap, but did not impede the field which remained under the green flag. Moffitt is able to drive away from the incident. Buford stalls out.
Restarting on lap 4 of 67.
PRN is promoting that they will interview Daniel Craig, who will be in attendance tomorrow. His final James Bond movie is opening.
On lap 7 of 67 Justin Allgaier tags the wall will the back end of the car and does considerable damage, but continues on around the track.
He pits on lap 7 of 67.
Cindric who was leading by a lot missed the chicane and will have to serve a penalty.
Allgaier says on the radio it feels like the brakes are acting up. The team is clearing the tire rub before sending Allgaier back out.
Caution lap 10 of 67 for Gray Gaulding sitting stranded on track.
Restarting on lap 13 of 67 with Daniel Hemric (18) and Austin Cindric (22) up front
NBCSN seems bored earlier with lots of useless bumper-cam shots.
Josh Williams (92) spins on lap 14 of 67. The race remains green.
Green flag pit stops underway on lap 17 of 20.
Kris Wright (15) is smoking heavily on the final lap of the stage. His right rear tire is barely hanging on the car as he continues.
Caution on lap 19 of 67 for Kris Wright laying down fluid.
Daniel Hemric wins stage two under caution.
Daniel Hemric (18) and Noah Gragson (9) win the race off pit road.
Restarting on lap 22 of 67 with Cindric (22) and Sam Mayer (8), who stayed out up front.
Caution on lap 28 of 67 for Josh Bilicki (07) bouncing over the turtles and destroying the bottom side of his race car distributing parts and pieces of the turtles and the under-carriage of the car.
They’re having to saw down and cut (with a torch) the bolts that were left over after Bilicki’s car damaged the turtle with the impact so the red flag has been displayed at 1637 eastern. The caution is back out at 1643 eastern.
Restarting on lap 32 of 67 with Cindric and Mayer up front.
Caution on lap 35 of 67 for debris. The front brake duct fell off Brett Moffitt’s (02) car.
Restarting on lap 37 of 67 with Hemric (18) and Justin Haley (11) up front.
Why does Dale Earnhardt Jr, in the NBCSN booth, immediately start screaming when the green flag flies? There’s nothing particularly exciting going on on-track within camera-view, yet he’s caterwauling. He, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte all have relatively high pitched voices which become horribly screechy when they raise the volume. They’re tough on the ears. Unfortunately PRN isn’t playing for me at the moment and the camera-shots are so awful it’s impossible to simply watch and tell what’s going on with the race.
Daniel Hemric (18) wins stage two.
The guys in the booth are saying Ty Gibbs (54) should’ve given Harrison Burton (20) a break coming to the finish line for stage-end because Burton is in the play-offs. Burton should be a better races than Gibbs, who isn’t in the play-offs, and able to handle whatever a non-playoff racer can throw at him. If he can’t he shouldn’t be in the play-offs because he’s clearly not one of the top drivers in the field. NASCAR needs to lay off the protection of the play-off drivers. They should have to prove they’re better than the drivers who didn’t make the play-off cut and suffer the consequences if they can’t. The fans didn’t pay to watch an event where only certain drivers are allowed to race for certain positions.
Some pit; some stay out.
Restarting on lap 42 of 67 with Ty Gibbs (54) and Sam Mayer (8) up front.
Thankfully PRN is back. Only Rob Albright sounds like he’s busting a blood vessel every time he opens his mouth. Mark James sounds like an aneurysm is imminent less often, though the frequency is picking up as the laps wind down. A relief to my ears from the short time spent with NBCSN audio.
PRN reports Myatt Snider (2) has been posted for a restart violation an will have to serve a penalty.
NBCSN showed the back of Justin Allgaier’s (7) helmet which had a note from his daughter Harper written on it. The note read: ‘I love you Daddy. Use every chance you get. ♡Love Harper’
On lap 47 of 67 Ty Gibbs (54) misses the back-stretch chicane and loses the lead to AJ Allmendinger. Gibbs has to sit and serve a penalty. The skies have cleared considerably since the race began and most of the track seems to be under sunny skies at the moment .
PRN reports that Justin Allgaier (7) reported ‘sticky brakes’ saying when he pressed down the brake pedal it didn’t come back up which caused him to miss the chicane earlier in the race.
NBCSN will occasionally show a car facing the wrong direction or in the grass or stopped doing a chicane penalty. Overall the incidents don’t seem to affect the rest of the race.
On lap 57 of 67 Chris Rice, President of Kaulig Racing, is reported by PRN to have told AJ Allmendinger (16) that he can back off a bit because he has such a big lead. On lap 58 of 67 Allmendinger is 4.512 seconds ahead of second position.
Allmendinger is 8.872 seconds ahead of second place, so PRN is excitedly calling the three-car battle for second amongst Cindric, Mayer, and Haley.
On lap 63 of 67 Riley Herbst (98) heads to the garage.
PRN says Mayer and Haley are clearly faster than Cindric, but Cindric is holding them up. My guess is that they’re not as fast, but better driver
Caution on lap 63 of 67 for a crash by Tommy Joe Martins (44). The right side of his car has a lot of damage and a flat right front tire. Allmendinger was 9.992 seconds ahead of second position when the caution flag came out. Not much of a race.
Some pit, some stay out.
Restarting in overtime on lap 66 of 68 with Dinger and Cindric up front.
Michael Annett (1) is sitting smothking at Dinger takes the white flag.
Gibbs turns himself on the front of Sam Mayer on the final lap.
Mayer misses the chicane and loses second.
AJ Allmendinger wins the race 3.192 ahead of second place.
Brandon Brown (68) spun just before the finish line and backed across the line.
The following drivers will move on to the next round of the play-offs:
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- AJ Allmendinger (16)
- Austin Cindric (22)
- Justin Allgaier (7)
- Noah Gragson (9)
- Daniel Hemric (18)
- Justin Haley (11)
- Harrison Burton (20)
- Brandon Jones (19)
The following drivers will not advance to the next round of the play-offs:
-
- Jeb Burton (10)
- Riley Herbst (98)
- Jeremy Clements (51)
- Myatt Snider (1)
Congrats to Preston Pardus (90) on his seventh place finish.
Congratulations to Justin Allgaier (7) on his recovery from the brake issue and the damage for a ninth place finish.
That was a typically boring Roval race. Maybe the event is more interesting in the stands, but it blows on NBCSN. The only good thing about this race weekend for me is that I only have to sit through two of these races.
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