Briscoe holds off Chastain to win crash-filled Xfinity race
Chase Briscoe held off
Ross Chastain in overtime to win the crash-filled Xfinity Series at Pocono Raceway at Long Pond, Pennsylvania, the second of three NASCAR races at the track on Sunday.
Pocono became the first track to hold a Truck, Xfinity and Cup race on the same day.
Chastain, an eighthgeneration farmer and fourth-generation watermelon farmer, and Briscoe swapped the lead in a fantastic battle down the stretch until — yes, another caution, the ninth — bunched the field and sent the race into OT.
Briscoe pulled away from there and won his fourth race of the season, and second in three races.
“Me and Ross, it was pretty fun,” Briscoe said. “He’s always one of the hardest guys to race against.”
Chastain hit the jackpot with his runner-up finish. He won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize awarded to the highest finisher among four eligible drivers.
“It’s tough to be upset with second but I am,” Chastain said. “It’s the memories we take with us, not the money.”
Maybe, but the cash sure does help. “It’s more money to take home and splurge,” Chastain said.
Jeremy Clements was third, followed by Myatt Snider and Michael Annett.
Pocono turned in a wreck-fest for the second straight race, the trackrecord tying nine cautions in Trucks was given a run for the money early in
Xfinity.
There was a big one just inside 40 laps remaining that collected several checkered flag contenders and shook up a staid race. Stage winners Austin Cindric and Justin Allgaier were caught up in the crash. So were Noah Gragson, the pole sitter, Daniel Hemric and Ryan Sieg.
“I hate being out of the race early, but I also hate having a race-winning car and not being able to capitalize on it,” Cindric said.
Briscoe even regrouped after he spun with the lead because of a tire issue late in the race. The 25-yearold Briscoe is now halfway to his preseason goal of eight victories.
The crash course was set from about the moment the green flag dropped.
Brandon Jones, the Truck winner, slammed into the wall on the first lap and was knocked out of the race. More drivers followed and the race was redflagged for 21 minutes with only 16 laps completed.
Alex Labbe tagged the wall moments after the race went green.
TRUCK SERIES
Brandon Jones took home a trophy and sent a car to the scrap heap in about an hour at Pocono.
Jones won a two-lap sprint to the finish to win the wreck-filled Truck Series race, the first of three NASCAR races Sunday at Pocono Raceway.
It’s the first time three NASCAR National Series races will be held the same day at the same track. It will be the fifth time that three National Series races will run on the same day, but those were at different tracks.
Jones’ enjoyment was short-lived — he wrecked on the first lap of the Xfinity Series race.
“It doesn’t take much when you get three wide,” Jones said. “We won the Truck race and I had high hopes for this race, too.”
Bowyer might have had the longest run of the day.
Christian Eckes blew a right rear tire that spun him out of the lead with 12 laps left, ending his race. The green flag came out with eight laps remaining, only for the race to slow again three laps later when the whopping ninth caution of the 60-lap race bunched the field.
That left two laps for the traditional green-whitecheckered finish, and Jones made it a doozy when he sped away from Sheldon Creed to win his first
Truck race in 46 career starts and in his first start since last season. He had 13 top-five finishes in the Truck Series — just never the checkered.
“We finally did it,” Jones said. “We’ve been close in the past.”
LATE SATURDAY
Kevin Harvick snapped an 0-for-38 drought at Pocono Raceway, taking the checkered flag Saturday at one of two tracks where victory had eluded him.
The 44-year-old California driver has won at every active track except Kentucky Speedway (nine tries) and the 2014 series champion has three wins overall for Stewart-Haas Racing this season.
Harvick held off a hardcharging Denny Hamlin for his 52nd career Cup victory. He had 12 top-five finishes in his other 38 starts at Pocono.