Ryan Truex Takes Toyota to Wawa 250 Daytona Victory Lane

Ryan Truex celebrates his Daytona win

(DAYTONA BEACH, FL – AUG 23, 2024 – RIS) In a race interrupted by seven cautions, including a red flag for cleanup leading to an overtime finish, Ryan Truex scored his second victory of the 2024 season and third career win. Truex’ win came under caution when a spin in overtime by AJ Allmendinger brought out the caution after the white flag flew.

Austin Hill dropped to the back of the pack at the start after a radio problem on the No. 21 Camaro and the position put him in the middle of a crash on the first lap of the Wawa 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Hill got T-boned by the No. 35 car in the incident but could continue. The crash started when the middle of the pack slowed, leading to Jeremy Clements spinning after a tap from Jeffrey Earnhardt, setting off a nine-car melee. Only Akinori Ogata was eliminated in the crash, but Ryan Ellis crossed the Start/Finish line in the pits to get credited with one lap and Gus Dean ran four laps before parking. 

Justin Allgaier took the stage after starting in eleventh place, ahead of pole winning Chandler Smith, AJ Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman.

Sam Mayer led the pack to the restart, flanked by Sheldon Creed with Allgaier moving ito second place after a couple of laps but Ryan Truex took the lead just after the halfway point, then Allgaier tried to return the favor with help from Riley Herbst and went on to lead Truex, Allmendinger and Kligerman as the second stage ran to the finish.

Sam Mayer’s spin ended the second stage under caution, when Anthony Alfredo and Jesse Love got together, giving Allgaier both stage wins in the race as Herbst, Truex, Allmendinger and Burton followed him across the line.

Truex, Herbst and Creed led to the restart and a caution came out on lap 68 when Brandon Jones spun on the back straight, sliding across the track in traffic but without any contact with other cars or a barrier. Jones reported that he had a tire going flat before the incident.

A big wreck started with 24 laps left in the race with Jeb Burton’s contact with Sammy Smith but Matt DiBenedetto and Cole Custer, along with a total of nine cars reported involved: the No. 2, 00, 27, 31, 8, 9, 38, 45, and 28.

Allmendinger led to the restart, immediately moving in front of Kligerman then Ryan Truex moved low to take the lead briefly before losing his drafting partner of Ryan Sieg and falling back before Sieg moved back into drafting range to shove Truex back into the lead with Anthony Alfredo third. Just a ten laps remained and Allmendinger once again held the lead with Kligerman as a drafting partner. Truex ran the outside lane next to llmendinger with the pair swappingt the lead several times a lap before Allmendinger got aslightand and then Anthony Alfredo appeared to slow, reporting a flat rear tire later, with Jeffrey Earnhardt getting clipped by Caesar Bacarella to trigger the multi-car crash that also involved Jeremy Clements, Shane Van Gisbergen and Josh Bilicki.

Rather than run under caution for the extended cleanup, the red flag was shown, halting the pack so that cleanup could be done without rushing, sending the race into overtime. In a TV interview, Ryan Truex said he was “just steering where [his spotter] told me to.”

Cleanup completed, the pack restarted with the leaders opting to stay on the track instead of stopping in the pits. Truex led Allmendinger, with Herbst, Lligerman, Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Creed, Ryan Sieg, Kyle Weatherman and Jordan Anderson the top ten as the field restarted.

Truex chose the inside line, tailed by Herbst, while Allmendinger and Kligerman are the two leaders in the outside line. Truex moved to the outside lane into the lead ahead of Allmendinger, with Allmendinger spinning in the first turn, ending the race under caution with Truex leading as the yellow came out for his second win in the season. I don’t get to race that often, I don’t know what I’m going to do next year, it’s all a work in progress” quipped the winner. He credited his spotter Tyler Green for the win, saying that “he drove this car, I just turned the steering wheel.”

Pole winner Chandler Smith finished second, with Parker Kligerman third, Riley Herbst fourth in the first Ford, followed by Ryan Sieg.

Unofficial Results: Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola, August 23, 2024 - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL - 2.5 - Mile Paved
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, LapsnLed, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
 1) 6, Ryan Truex, No. 20 Certified Collision Center Toyota, 102, 6, 3, 6, 28, 5, 53, Running
 2) 1, Chandler Smith, No. 81 QuickTie Toyota, 102, 2, 8, 3, 15, , 47, Running
 3) 12, Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet, 102, 5, 6, , , , 45, Running
 4) 8, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 102, , 2, 1, 1, , 42, Running
 5) 26, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Sci Aps Ford, 102, , , , , , 32, Running
 6) 25, Jordan Anderson, No. 32 Volpi Foods Chevrolet, 102, , , , , , 31, Running
 7) 11, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Hellmann's/Sam's Club Chevrolet, 102, 1, 1, 2, 16, 2, 50, Running
 8) 7, Sheldon Creed, No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota, 102, 4, 7, , , , 40, Running
 9) 20, Leland Honeyman #, No. 42 Cornerstone Produce Chevrolet, 102, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 18, Kyle Weatherman, No. 91 Wawa Chevrolet, 102, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 10, Josh Williams, No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet, 102, , 10, , , , 27, Running
12) 4, Joe Graf Jr, No. 19 REAGAN The Movie Toyota, 102, 8, , , , , 28, Running
13) 38, Sam Mayer, No. 1 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, 102, , , 1, 7, , 24, Running
14) 29, Blaine Perkins, No. 29 Crocodile Cloth Ford, 102, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 34, Kyle Sieg, No. 28 North Country Ford Ford, 102, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 31, Brennan Poole, No. 44 CW & Sons/Clark's Chevrolet, 102, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 21, Jeb Burton, No. 27 State Water Heaters Chevrolet, 102, , 5, , , , 26, Running
18) 23, Patrick Emerling, No. 07 Flood Brothers Chevrolet, 102, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 30, CJ McLaughlin, No. 14 Main Street Auto Chevrolet, 102, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 35, Joey Gase, No. 53  Ford, 102, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 5, Jesse Love #, No. 2 Whelen/NFFF Chevrolet, 102, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 16, Brandon Jones, No. 9 Menards/Turtle Wax Chevrolet, 102, , 9, , , , 17, Running
23) 24, Sammy Smith, No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 102, 9, , , , , 16, Running
24) 3, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet, 102, 3, 4, 7, 35, , 28, Running
25) 19, Shane Van Gisbergen #, No. 97 Safety Culture Chevrolet, 101, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 9, Anthony Alfredo, No. 5 Dude Wipes Chevrolet, 101, 7, , , , , 15, Running
27) 13, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 One Stop/All South Electric Chevrolet, 101, 10, , , , , 11, Running
28) 22, Jeffrey Earnhardt(i), No. 26 ForeverLawn/Big Studios Toyota, 99, , , , , , 0, Running
29) 17, Caesar Bacarella, No. 45 Prime Bites Brownie Chevrolet, 94, , , , , , 8, Accident
30) 33, Josh Bilicki, No. 92 Wawa Chevrolet, 94, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 2, Austin Hill, No. 21 Bennett/Global Industrial Chevrolet, 79, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 14, Cole Custer, No. 00 Fanttik Ford, 77, , , , , , 5, DVP
33) 28, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 38 ReMA Ford, 76, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 15, Parker Retzlaff, No. 31 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet, 76, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 37, Tim Viens, No. 74 AWS Roofing/Brand X Marine Chevrolet, 15, , , , , , 2, Engine
36) 27, Gus Dean, No. 15 Airbox Ford, 4, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 36, Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Classic Collision Chevrolet, 1, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 32, Akinori Ogata(i), No. 35 YKK Chevrolet, 0, , , , , , 0, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Length: 102 Laps, 255. Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 10 Mins, 34 Secs.
Average Speed: 117.182 MPH
Margin of Victory: Under Caution

Stage 1 Top 10: 7, 81, 16, 18, 48, 20, 5, 19, 8, 51
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 98, 20, 16, 27, 48, 18, 81, 9, 11

Comments: Ryan Truex has won the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway, his third career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: No. 1 (Engine Change), No. 21 (Unapproved Adjustments).

Cautions: 7 for 34 laps;
Laps: 2-9 (No. 21, 43, 14, 51, 35, 29, 15, 26, 7 Incident Turn 3 [None]);
32-36 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]);
60-65 (No. 1, 2, 5 Incident Turn 4 / Stage 2 Conclusion [00]);
70-73 (No. 9 Spin Backstretch [21]);
78-82 (No. 2, 00, 27, 31, 8, 9, 38, 45, 28 Incident Frontstretch [21]);
96-100 (No. 26, 51, 45, 92, 5, 97 Incident Turn 4 [Red Flag: 00:12:12] [8]);
102-102 (No. 16, 51 Incident Turn 1 [None]).

Lead Changes: 19 among 6 drivers;
C. Smith 1-10;
A. Allmendinger 11-14;
C. Smith 15-18;
A. Allmendinger 19-22;
J. Allgaier 23-32;
A. Allmendinger 33;
S. Mayer 34-40;
A. Allmendinger 41-51;
R. Truex 52-55;
J. Allgaier 56-61;
R. Herbst 62;
R. Truex 63-66;
C. Smith 67;
R. Truex 68-73;
A. Allmendinger 74-75;
R. Truex 76;
A. Allmendinger 77-84;
R. Truex 85-89;
A. Allmendinger 90-94;
R. Truex 95-102.