Photo Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
In a race that seemed to feature everything and anything, Erik Jones was able to pass and hold off Ryan Blaney to gain his second victory of the season and second consecutive victory in the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300.
The race started earlier than expected with the threat of rain looming over the area and the excitement and action really made things a little edgy in the first stage of the race. The first caution fell at lap 81 when Ryan Reed made hard contact with the outside wall after losing a tire. That would end stage one under caution and would send Cole Custer, who finished sixth and Justin Allgaier, who finished eighth, to the Dash4Cash.
From the drop of the green flag in Stage 2 everyone seemed to be ready to rumble and try to secure those final two Dash4Cash spots. The first caution of the stage came at Lap 121 when Ray Black, Jr. lost a tire and went into the wall.
Rain began to fall from the sky at Lap 161 which forced officials to put the red flag out, pausing the race for one hour and 38 minutes, with just a few laps away from the end of stage two and a few laps away from calling the race official should it continue raining. During the red flag, there was a confrontation on pit road involving Ross Chastain and Jeremy Clements following an on-track incident. Clements would leave the infield care center with a black eye after being apparently punched by Chastain.
The field went back to green with a few laps left. Some drivers chose to pit while Blake Koch and Daniel Hemric stayed out. As the green flag flew, Hemric rocketed to the front while Koch fell like a bag of wet cement. Hemric would cross the finish line winning Stage 2, Brendan Gaughan would be the fourth and final driver to qualify for the Dash4Cash.
Making it further in the race than originally anticipated, the third and final stage started with a bang. At Lap 221, the first caution of the stage came when Black lost control of his car on the exit of turn four. He had minimal damage until David Starr came through and creamed the front of his car, ultimately ending both drivers day. A crucial mistake on pit road was made by Erik Jones when he was caught speeding, forcing him to make up a lot of ground to get back up front.
The second caution of the stage would have huge Dash4Cash implications when Gaughan got tagged and ran into the wall by Darrell Wallace, Jr. Just three laps later another big crash would take place when Wallace went around after avoiding a brewing accident in front of them involving Brandon Jones and Cole Custer. Wallace would go around and was left as a sitting duck as the No. 0 of Garrett Smithley nailed the passenger side of the No. 6. This would ultimately put out the red flag for five minutes.
The race would go back green with 34 laps to go. At Lap 271, Chastain’s day went from bad to worse as a tire blew and he nailed the outside wall, ending his day.
With only 20 laps to go, Erik Jones would pass Ryan Blaney for the lead at Lap 280, and would begin to extend his lead over Blaney while getting closer and closer to the end of a long race. With seven laps remaining, William Byron and teammate Justin Allgaier wrecked at the entrance of turn four, both would drive away but with disappointing finishes.
Jones would rocket away from Blaney on the final restart, and never look back. Jones would cross the finish line to secure his eighth career victory in the XFINITY Series. Blaney would finish second, Daniel Suarez third, Elliott Sadler fourth, and Daniel Hemric finished fifth. With his fifth-place finish, Hemric would gain the $100,000 dollar bonus and his first Dash4Cash victory of his career.
Race Results from Bristol
