Clements Survives Daytona

(DAYTONA BEACH, FL – AUG 27, 2022 – RIS) Jeremy Clements avoided multiple big crashes and benefitted from a push by Timmy Hill to prevent a pass in overtime by AJ Allmendinger to capture his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series win. Clements’ first victory was at Road America’s road course exactly five years to the date from his Daytona checkered flag: Aug 29, 2017. The 2022 win started late on Friday, Aug 26, when weather pushed the start time back.

AJ Allmendinger led from the 10:52 start after rain and lightning delayed the race until the track could be dried for the Xfinity race on the fast 2.5-mile oval. Noah Gragson and Sam Mayer swapped second place. Gragson got a run on ‘dinger on lap five and grabbed the lead with Allmendinger getting trapped in the middle and falling back to ninth.

Sammy Smith spun off of the Turn Four banking and hit the inside wall on lap 14 after reporting loose handling for the entire race. Smith reported that he ‘just made a mistake’ leading to the spin. Gragson was first out of the pits but Ty Gibbs had the lead over Riley Herbst but the yellow flag came back out for the tire carcass shed by Kyle Sieg’s car. Herbst took the lead after the caution briefly over Gibbs, with Allmendinger gaining on the lead pair, moving up to third before Sheldon Creed used the outside line to challenge for the stage win with Gibbs hanging on, Brandon Jones second, with Creed third, Allmendinger and Josh Berry the balance of the top five.

Anthony Alfredo got the lead after the stage, with Allgaier and Gragson following him. Allgaier took the lead over Ryan Sieg, then Sieg faded with Alfredo, Creed and Berry following Allgaier. At the end of the stage, Gragson led with Alfredo, second, and Sheldon Creed spinning on the back straight without a caution after slight contact with Justin Allgaier. 

Riley Herbst had his left rear tire fail, spinning out of fourth position and across the grass on the back straight without hitting the wall, to bring out the fifth caution with less than 30 laps left to run.

The sixth caution took out four cars when John Hunter Nemechek was pushed by Brandon Brown and lost control, taking Sheldon Creed onto the apron with him before Creed came back across the track and hit by Joe Graf Jr hard enough in the passenger door to buckle the roof on Creed’s car. All the drivers involved got out of their wrecked racers unaided and walked to the safety vehicles.The crash dropped Creed out of a transfer position in points.

Gragson, Allgaier, Allmendinger, Mayer and Haley led to the green flag. 

Just three laps later, Allmendinger and Allgaier spun in front of the field through the tri-oval with Josh Berry’s right front tire shredding the car as he drove back to the pits. Gragson held the lead, with Daniel Hemric moving into second place.

Austin Hill and Daniel Hemric led the pack on the restart, with Hill driving his damaged car to the lead, then Hemric got spun when he tried to block Noah Gragson at the same time Landon Cassill’s right front tire went down. The two incidents combined to result in a “Big One” that involved nearly ten cars. 

The restart had Austin Hill leading Noah Gragson with Ty Gibbs third and Brandon Brown fourth. Hill selected the top lane for the overtime restart, but another “big one” occurred exiting the second turn, starting when Brandon Brown got pushed by Riley Herbst, who got hit by Ricky Stenhouse Jr and the incident seemed to involve almost every car between third and about fifteenth in the field. Most of the cars involved were able to drive away. 

Austin Hill and Noah Gragson were followed by AJ Allmendinger, with Timmy Hill fourth, Jeremy Clements fifth, Landon Cassill, Sage Karam, Jesse Iwuji, Ryan Vargas and Matt Mills in the top ten positions on the track.

Hill held onto the lead with Gragson getting turned after a push from Allmendinger, who was getting pushed by Clements. Gragson’s car was hit by Landon Cassill and spun along the fence, losing the front and rear bodywork caps on the No. 9 car. He drove away from the scene but stopped short of getting to the pits. 

During the caution Allmendinger reported that he was out of fuel, stopping for fuel, then Austin Hill reported that his engine and all electrical devices had stopped on the car with the car cutting out and slowing at the green flag with Jeremy Clements pulling into the lead, with Allmendinger pushing Sage Karam and Riley Herbst spinning as the white flag flew to give Clements his second career Xfinity win over Timmy Hill, Allmendinger, Brandon Brown and Sage Karam in the top five.

“I’m speechless man, I don’t even know what to say,” said Clements. “We survivied that wreck back yonder- that Days of Thunder wreck.”

Clements commented that his racing style has been “aggressively cautious – I guess it finally worked out.” Clements’ grandfather was AJ Foyt’s winning crew chief at Daytona in the 1964 ‘Firecracker 400’ race.

Unofficial Results: 21st Annual Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola, August 26, 2022 - Daytona International Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 9, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 One Stop/ASE Chevrolet, 118, , , 1, 3, 5, 40, Running
2) 37, Timmy Hill(i), No. 13 Coble Enterprises/VSI Racing Chevrolet, 118, , , , , , 0, Running
3) 1, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet, 118, 4, , 1, 4, , 41, Running
4) 25, Brandon Brown, No. 68 Larry's Lemonade Chevrolet, 118, , , 1, 1, , 33, Running
5) 24, Sage Karam, No. 44 Clermont Lakes/Alt-Tab Capital Chevrolet, 118, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 36, Ryan Vargas, No. 6 National Metering Services Chevrolet, 118, , , 1, 1, , 31, Running
7) 8, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 118, 1, 7, 2, 11, 1, 44, Running
8) 21, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Can-Am Chevrolet, 118, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 28, JJ Yeley, No. 66 IEC/My Electric Career Chevrolet, 118, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 32, Kyle Sieg #, No. 38 Trouble Spirits/Mafe Ford, 118, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 34, Jesse Iwuji #, No. 34 Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Chevrolet, 118, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 22, Myatt Snider, No. 31 TaxSlayer Chevrolet, 118, , 9, , , , 27, Running
13) 15, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 hellowater Chevrolet, 118, 7, 8, 2, 11, , 31, Running
14) 14, Austin Hill #, No. 21 United Rentals Chevrolet, 118, 2, , 1, 18, , 32, Running
15) 6, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 118, , 3, 2, 2, , 30, Running
16) 31, Joey Gase, No. 35 NCPC.ORG Ford, 116, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 18, Blaine Perkins(i), No. 02 Hometown Lenders Chevrolet, 116, , , , , , 0, Running
18) 5, Josh Berry, No. 8 Tire Pros Summer for Heroes Chevrolet, 115, 5, 5, 2, 6, , 31, Running
19) 16, Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Cirkul - Water Your Way Chevrolet, 114, , , 1, 1, , 18, DVP
20) 12, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Menards/Patriot Lighting Toyota, 114, 6, , , , , 22, Running
21) 29, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Alliance Aviation Chevrolet, 113, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 2, Noah Gragson, No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet, 110, , 1, 3, 52, 1, 25, Accident
23) 10, Landon Cassill, No. 10 Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet, 110, , , , , , 14, Accident
24) 33, Matt Mills(i), No. 78 J.F. Electric Toyota, 110, , , , , , 0, Accident
25) 38, Justin Haley(i), No. 14 DaaBIN Store Chevrolet, 103, 9, , , , , 0, Accident
26) 11, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 A-GAME Ford, 103, 10, 10, , , , 13, Accident
27) 17, Ricky Stenhouse Jr(i), No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet, 103, , , , , , 0, Accident
28) 30, Caesar Bacarella, No. 45 Clear Cryptos Chevrolet, 103, , , , , , 9, Accident
29) 35, Josh Williams, No. 5 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Ford, 103, , , , , , 8, Accident
30) 23, Bayley Currey, No. 4 Alka-Seltzer Chevrolet, 103, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 26, David Starr, No. 08 EVERFI/Special Report Ford, 98, , , , , , 6, Accident
32) 13, Anthony Alfredo, No. 23 Pit Boss Grills Chevrolet, 98, , 2, 3, 8, , 14, Accident
33) 27, Mason Massey, No. 91 BRUNT Workwear Chevrolet, 97, , , , , , 4, Engine
34) 4, Sam Mayer, No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet, 91, 8, 4, , , , 13, Accident
35) 19, John Hunter Nemechek(i), No. 26 Freedom 13 Toyota, 82, , 6, , , , 0, Accident
36) 7, Sheldon Creed #, No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, 82, 3, , , , , 9, Accident
37) 20, Joe Graf Jr, No. 07 GTECHNIQ Ford, 82, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 3, Sammy Smith, No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota, 14, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Length: 118 Laps, 295. Miles
Time: 2 Hrs, 36 Mins, 11 Secs.
Average Speed: 113.328 MPH
Margin of Victory: Under Caution

Stage 1 Top 10: 54, 21, 2, 16, 8, 19, 7, 1, 14, 39
Stage 2 Top 10: 9, 23, 98, 1, 8, 26, 54, 7, 31, 39

Comments: Jeremy Clements won the WaWa 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway, his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

Prior to the start the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: No. 11, No. 14, No. 34 (unapproved adjustments), No. 5 (driver change).

Failed to Qualify: (5) 92 Josh Williams, 47 Tim Viens(i), 28 CJ McLaughlin, 24 Joe Nemechek, 77 Ronnie Bassett Jr.

Cautions: 10 for 41 laps;
Laps: 16-19 (No. 18 Incident Turn 4 [None]);
22-24 (Debris [None]);
32-34 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]);
62-64 (Stage 2 Conclusion [11]);
73-76 (No. 98 Spin Backstretch [2]);
84-87 (No. 2, 07, 26, 68 Incident Backstretch [98]);
93-96 (No. 1, 7, 8, 16, 31, 39, 44 Incident Turn 1 [35]);
99-103 (No. 19, 7, 11, 44, 08, 23, 98, 27 Incident Frontstretch [16]);
105-110 (No. 14, 68, 36, 39, 4, 54, 45, 5, 98, 27, 38, 6, 48 Incident Backstretch [7]);
112-116 (No. 9, 02, 11, 16, 10, 31, 54, 78 Incident Backstretch [36]).

Lead Changes: 19 among 12 drivers;
A. Allmendinger 1-4;
N. Gragson 5-16;
J. Berry 17-18;
R. Herbst 19;
T. Gibbs 20-24;
R. Herbst 25;
T. Gibbs 26-31;
J. Berry 32-35;
B. Brown 36;
A. Alfredo 37-40;
J. Allgaier 41-49;
A. Alfredo 50-51;
J. Allgaier 52-53;
A. Alfredo 54-55;
N. Gragson 56-62;
R. Vargas 63;
N. Gragson 64-96;
D. Hemric 97;
A. Hill # 98-115;
J. Clements 116-118.

Unofficial Points: 21st Annual Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola, Daytona International Speedway
Rank, Driver, Car, Starts, GL, Points, Ldr, Nxt, Race Wins, Stage Wins, Playoff Pts
1) AJ Allmendinger, 16, 23, 0, 928, 0, 0, 3, 2, 17
2) Ty Gibbs, 54, 23, 0, 870, -58, 58, 5, 4, 29
3) Justin Allgaier, 7, 23, 0, 848, -80, 22, 3, 6, 21
4) Noah Gragson, 9, 23, 0, 813, -115, 35, 3, 11, 26
5) Josh Berry, 8, 23, 0, 800, -128, 13, 2, 6, 16
6) Austin Hill #, 21, 23, 0, 703, -225, 97, 2, 1, 11
7) Brandon Jones, 19, 23, 0, 669, -259, 34, 1, 1, 6
8) Riley Herbst, 98, 23, 0, 643, -285, 26, 0, 0, 0
9) Sam Mayer, 1, 23, 0, 622, -306, 21, 0, 2, 2
10) Daniel Hemric, 11, 23, 0, 569, -359, 53, 0, 2, 2
11) Landon Cassill, 10, 23, 0, 548, -380, 21, 0, 0, 0
12) Ryan Sieg, 39, 23, 0, 536, -392, 12, 0, 1, 1
13) Sheldon Creed #, 2, 23, 0, 493, -435, 43, 0, 0, 0
14) Anthony Alfredo, 23, 23, 0, 457, -471, 36, 0, 0, 0
15) Brandon Brown, 68, 23, 0, 450, -478, 7, 0, 0, 0
16) Jeremy Clements, 51, 23, 1, 403, -525, 47, 1, 0, 5
17) Brett Moffitt, , 20, -1, 383, -545, 20, 0, 0, 0
18) Myatt Snider, 31, 23, 0, 374, -554, 9, 0, 1, 1
19) Jeb Burton, 27, 23, 0, 361, -567, 13, 0, 0, 0
20) Alex Labbe, 36, 21, 0, 356, -572, 5, 0, 0, 0
21) Bayley Currey, 4, 23, 0, 286, -642, 70, 0, 0, 0
22) JJ Yeley, 66, 20, 1, 269, -659, 17, 0, 0, 0
23) Ryan Vargas, 6, 20, 2, 252, -676, 17, 0, 0, 0
24) Trevor Bayne, , 6, -2, 241, -687, 11, 0, 2, 0
25) Kyle Weatherman, , 16, -1, 238, -690, 3, 0, 0, 0
26) Joe Graf Jr, 07, 20, 0, 198, -730, 40, 0, 0, 0
27) Mason Massey, 91, 15, 0, 197, -731, 1, 0, 0, 0
28) Josh Williams, , 18, 0, 197, -731, 0, 0, 0, 0
29) Kyle Sieg #, 38, 13, 1, 190, -738, 7, 0, 0, 0
30) Jeffrey Earnhardt, , 9, -1, 163, -765, 27, 0, 0, 0
31) Ryan Truex, , 6, 0, 162, -766, 1, 0, 0, 0
32) David Starr, 08, 12, 1, 131, -797, 31, 0, 0, 0
33) Jade Buford, , 9, -1, 127, -801, 4, 0, 0, 0
34) Sage Karam, 44, 7, 4, 125, -803, 2, 0, 0, 0
35) Ryan Ellis, , 9, -1, 122, -806, 3, 0, 0, 0
36) Sammy Smith, 18, 5, -1, 105, -823, 17, 0, 1, 0
37) Parker Retzlaff, , 5, -1, 103, -825, 2, 0, 0, 0
38) Joey Gase, 35, 7, 3, 99, -829, 4, 0, 0, 0
39) Patrick Emerling, , 8, -2, 96, -832, 3, 0, 0, 0
40) Preston Pardus, , 4, -1, 84, -844, 12, 0, 0, 0
41) Jesse Iwuji #, 34, 9, 4, 84, -844, 0, 0, 0, 0
42) Andy Lally, , 4, -2, 83, -845, 1, 0, 0, 0
43) Shane Lee, , 5, -1, 71, -857, 12, 0, 0, 0
44) Cj Mclaughlin, , 6, -1, 66, -862, 5, 0, 0, 0
45) Tommy Joe Martins, , 4, -1, 63, -865, 3, 0, 0, 0
46) Miguel Paludo, , 3, 0, 52, -876, 11, 0, 0, 0
47) Scott Heckert, , 4, 0, 50, -878, 2, 0, 0, 0
48) Derek Griffith, , 3, 0, 46, -882, 4, 0, 0, 0
49) Patrick Gallagher, , 4, 0, 44, -884, 2, 0, 0, 0
50) Parker Chase, , 2, 0, 31, -897, 13, 0, 0, 0
51) Caesar Bacarella, 45, 4, 3, 31, -897, 0, 0, 0, 0
52) Drew Dollar, , 2, -1, 30, -898, 1, 0, 0, 0
53) Dale Earnhardt, , 1, -1, 26, -902, 4, 0, 0, 0
54) Santino Ferrucci, , 2, -1, 22, -906, 4, 0, 0, 0
55) Howie Disavino, , 2, 0, 21, -907, 1, 0, 0, 0
56) Nicholas Sanchez, , 2, 0, 20, -908, 1, 0, 0, 0
57) Gray Gaulding, , 2, 0, 17, -911, 3, 0, 0, 0
58) Natalie Decker, , 3, 0, 17, -911, 0, 0, 0, 0
59) Garrett Smithley, , 1, 0, 16, -912, 1, 0, 0, 0
60) Dillon Bassett, , 2, 0, 10, -918, 6, 0, 0, 0
61) Bj Mcleod, , 1, 0, 9, -919, 1, 0, 0, 0
62) Chris Dyson, , 1, 0, 9, -919, 0, 0, 0, 0
63) Spencer Pumpelly, , 1, 0, 8, -920, 1, 0, 0, 0
64) Chad Finchum, , 1, 0, 5, -923, 3, 0, 0, 0
65) Will Rodgers, , 2, 0, 2, -926, 3, 0, 0, 0
66) Julia Landauer, , 1, 0, 1, -927, 1, 0, 0, 0
67) Ronnie Bassett, , 1, 0, 1, -927, 0, 0, 0, 0
68) Darren Dilley, , 1, 0, 1, -927, 0, 0, 0, 0
69) Kyle Larson(i), , 2, 0, 0, -928, 1, 1, 2, 0
70) Cole Custer(i), , 5, 0, 0, -928, 0, 1, 1, 0
71) Tyler Reddick(i), , 5, 0, 0, -928, 0, 1, 0, 0
72) John Hunter Nemechek(i), 26, 8, 0, 0, -928, 0, 0, 1, 0
73) Timmy Hill(i), 13, 6, 10, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
74) William Byron(i), , 3, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 2, 0
75) Alex Bowman(i), , 1, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
76) Ross Chastain(i), , 3, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
77) Ryan Preece(i), , 3, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
78) Kaz Grala(i), , 8, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
79) Chase Briscoe(i), , 1, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
80) Ty Dillon(i), , 3, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
81) Josh Bilicki(i), , 6, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
82) Stefan Parsons(i), , 15, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
83) Parker Kligerman(i), , 2, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
84) Connor Mosack(i), , 2, 0, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
85) Blaine Perkins(i), 02, 3, 9, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
86) Matt Mills(i), 78, 14, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
87) Matt Jaskol(i), , 1, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
88) Brad Perez(i), , 1, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
89) Chandler Smith(i), , 2, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
90) Rajah Caruth(i), , 3, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
91) Mason Filippi, , 1, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
92) Akinori Ogata(i), , 1, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
93) Justin Haley(i), 14, 1, 0, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
94) Austin Dillon(i), , 2, -2, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
95) Ricky Stenhouse Jr(i), 48, 2, 1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
96) Bubba Wallace(i), , 2, -3, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
97) Brennan Poole(i), , 5, -2, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
98) Kris Wright, , 1, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
99) Loris Hezemans(i), , 1, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
100) Harrison Rhodes, , 0, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
101) Jesse Little(i), , 0, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
102) Chase Elliott(i), , 0, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
103) Bobby Mccarty, , 0, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
104) Austin Wayne Self(i), , 0, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
105) Stan Mullis, , 0, -1, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
106) Tim Viens(i), , 0, 3, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
107) Gar Robinson, , 0, -2, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
108) Dexter Bean, , 0, -2, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
109) Jordan Anderson(i), , 0, -2, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
110) Stanton Barrett, , 0, -2, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0
111) Joe Nemechek, , 0, 3, 0, -928, 0, 0, 0, 0