For the second straight year, in front of his home crowd, Ryan Truex is standing in NASCAR Xfinity Series Victory Lane at Dover Motor Speedway.
The victory comes on an afternoon where the second half of the 200-lap contest strayed so far from the usual week-to-week combat displayed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, with people intently watching weather radars, campaigning to re-choose, and all-around chaos in the closing stages.
Unlike his victory last season, Truex wasn’t the dominant car around the one-mile oval on Saturday, fighting for positions outside the top five for much of the event. However, a series of late-race restarts brought his No. 20 Toyota GR Supra closer to the front of the pack.
Hungry to score his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, Truex then pounced on the second NASCAR Overtime restart — which ended up being the final restart of the afternoon – moving Carson Kvapil up the racetrack to clear the young phenom for the lead coming to the white flag.
Moments after crossing the start-finish line, the caution was displayed for an accident on the frontstretch involving Justin Allgaier and Brennan Poole, thus ending the race, and leaving Truex as the winner of the BetRivers 200.
“I can’t believe it,” Truex said after climbing from his car. “Our car was just good at the end when it mattered. I was just so loose all day. I have to apologize for running into [Jesse Love], I ran out of talent, to be frank. I feel bad about that. Shoutout to Carson [Kvapil], what an amazing run for his second race – I felt a little bad running him up the hill, but you gotta take these things when you can.”
Carson Kvapil, making his second NASCAR Xfinity Series start for JR Motorsports, finished second place to Truex, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro. The CARS Late Model Tour champion looked to be in position for the victory until the final restart, leading 14 laps around Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday.
Sam Mayer ended up in third place, while Sheldon Creed and Cole Custer were both credited with top-five results. Custer, the defending champion, led a race-high 95 laps but was bitten by the decision to stay on track when the rain came, forcing him to pit later for fuel and tires and relegating him back to the field.
AJ Allmendinger came home with a sixth-place finish, with a two-time winner this season Chandler Smith in seventh place. Kyle Weatherman matched a career-best eighth-place result for DGM Racing, after a stellar qualifying effort on Friday.
In ninth place, Anthony Alfredo scored his third consecutive top-10 finish with Our Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but more importantly, claimed the $100,000 prize for the Dash4Cash program, a big boost for the No. 5 Chevrolet team.
Despite battling near the front for the entire race, Austin Hill ended up coming home in 15th place, after getting loose and spinning underneath Carson Kvapil while battling for the lead on a late-race restart, triggering another yellow.
Justin Allgaier looked to be a force early in the event, leading 39 laps, but his race unraveled when the team elected to stay on the racetrack when it began raining, causing him to pit later and have to drive through the field. Allgaier looked poised to earn a top-10 until getting involved in two separate wrecks late in the going, coming home 17th.
Exiting Dover, Chandler Smith holds a one-point advantage over Cole Custer in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings, with Austin Hill third, Jesse Love fourth, and Justin Allgaier rounding out the top five.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will have a weekend off, while the Cup and Truck Series head to Kansas, and the will travel to Darlington, South Carolina for NASCAR’s Annual Throwback Weekend.
