Noah Gragson was in trouble Saturday when he got spun out in the tri-oval by teammate Justin Allgaier, causing the Big One. Luckily, he came out of it all but
unscathed and finished 10th. He minimized any losses, losing only three points to Chase Briscoe. Briscoe finished 18th, but won stage two and earned 18 stage points, more than anyone else. Austin Cindric is up one place to third after finishing fourth. Ross Chastain is up to fourth after finishing second.
Harrison Burton dropped two places to fifth after being eliminated in a crash with 18 laps to go. Justin Haley moved up to sixth after claiming his first career
Xfinity Series victory. Brandon Jones is down one place to seventh after crashing late and finishing 16th. Allgaier remains in eighth after causing the Big One and failing to finish.
Michael Annett is up one place to ninth after recovering from the Big One to finish 12th. Ryan Sieg had multiple tire issues Saturday and finished 30th,
dropping the No. 39 to 10th in points. Riley Herbst crashed out early and finished 37th, but kept the 11th spot in points. Brandon Brown is still the last driver in the playoffs, but moved up one place to 12th after finishing 11th.
The idle Daniel Hemric dropped one place to 13th, while Myatt Snider moved up a place to 14th, first driver out of the playoffs. He is 36 points behind Brown with races in Richard Childress Racing's No. 21 coming up. Josh Williams crashed out
with Burton and dropped to 15th, while Alex Labbe finished ninth and stays in 16th.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Noah Gragson 469, 2) Chase Briscoe -15, 3) Austin Cindric
-43, 4) Ross Chastain -47, 5) Harrison Burton -70, 6) Justin Haley -84, 7) Brandon Jones -94, 8) Justin Allgaier -132, 9) Michael Annett -173, 10) Ryan Sieg -196, 11) Riley Herbst -212, 12) Brandon Brown -219, 13) Daniel Hemric -232, 14) Myatt Snider -255, 15) Josh Williams -259, 16) Alex Labbe -267.
Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have locked into the playoffs.
Note No. 2: Drivers in italics in the point standing sections are currently outside of the playoffs.
Playoff Points: 1) Chase Briscoe 17, 2) Noah Gragson
-2, 3) Harrison Burton -7, 4) Brandon Jones -10, 5) Justin Haley -11, 6) AJ Allmendinger -12, 7) Justin Allgaier -13, t-8) Austin Cindric -15, t-8) Ryan Sieg -15, 10) Jeb Burton -16.
Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 133, 2) Noah Gragson -4, 3) Ross Chastain -8, 4)
Chase Briscoe -9, 5) Justin Allgaier -26, 6) Brandon Jones -44, 7) Justin Haley -52, t-8) Harrison Burton -71, t-8) Daniel Hemric -71, t-10) Michael Annett -77, t-10) Ryan Sieg -77, 12) Riley Herbst -105, 13) Jeb Burton -111, 14) Anthony Alfredo -119, 15) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -122, 16) Myatt Snider -124.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 12th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Noah Gragson 395, 2) Harrison Burton -12, 3) Chase
Briscoe -16, 4) Justin Haley -44, 5) Ross Chastain -46, 6) Austin Cindric -49, 7) Brandon Jones -61, 8) Brandon Brown -107, 9) Michael Annett -108, 10) Justin Allgaier -112, 11) Riley Herbst -126, 12) Ryan Sieg -130, 13) Josh Williams -140, 14) Myatt Snider -143, 15) Alex Labbe -156, 16) Jesse Little -169.
Note: If he were eligible for points, Brett Moffitt would be tied for 16th in old points.
Race Winners: Noah Gragson (Daytona, Bristol), Chase Briscoe (Las Vegas, Darlington, Homestead-2), Harrison
Burton (Fontana, Homestead-1), Brandon Jones (Phoenix), Kyle Busch (Charlotte), AJ Allmendinger (Atlanta), Justin Haley (Talladega)
Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. The photo of Gragson is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.