Chase Briscoe scored his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory and simultaneously became the first winner on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval course with his performance in the Drive for the Cure 200. He did so in dominating fashion, leading 33 of the 55 laps that made up the race.
“It’s huge to me,” Briscoe said. “Everybody had to adapt to it and figure it out, and I don’t know that I’m necessarily the best at it, but I felt like I just tried not to hit anything, and this thing hardly has a scratch on it.”
Chase Briscoe is a NASCAR Xfinity Series winner.
, Chase Briscoe celebrates his first-career NASCAR Xfinity Series win in the Drive for the Cure 200 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Sept. 29, 2018., Getty Images for NASCARDaniel Hemric challenged Briscoe early in the 25-lap third stage of the race, but Hemric was dealt a stop-and-go penalty for missing a chicane in the final 15 laps of the race. He wound up 10th at the finish.
Hemric and Christopher Bell were winners in the two 15-lap stages that made up the first 30 laps of the race.
Hemric took the race lead with two laps remaining in the opening stage after an Austin Cindric spin. Cindric started on the pole and had led the race up to that point. He and Briscoe were the only two drivers to post double digits in the laps-led column.
Cindric was third at the checkered flag, making him the highest finisher among playoff drivers.
Austin Cindric on pole.
, Austin Cindric wins the pole for the Drive for the Cure 200 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Sept. 29, 2018., Getty Images for NASCARHemric stayed out between the first two stages to hold on to his lead, but when the race restarted, Briscoe commandeered the position. Briscoe and Hemric gave up the top-two spots in the running order to pit in the closing laps of the second stage, putting Bell up front for the stage win.
While others pitted during the caution after the second stage, Briscoe and Hemric cycled back up to the top-two.
Following an unusually high number of wrecks during practice sessions and qualifying for both the Xfinity and Cup Series, NASCAR modified a tire barrier on the Roval’s backstretch. The result was an incident-free final practice session for the Cup Series, followed by an Xfinity Series race with relatively low attrition.
The yellow flag waved only three times, aside from the two cautions at the end of the first two stages. One of those other yellow flags was for a stalled car and another for debris. The only other caution came on Lap 34 for a multi-car crash that started with contact between Ryan Truex and Ty Majeski and included a Michael Annett spin as well as several other cars being collected.
“It went green a lot more than what I expected,” Bell said.
Regular season champion Justin Allgaier was involved in an incident with Ryan Sieg in the final two laps of the second stage, but the race continued to run under green. Allgaier was 15th at the finish, as a result.
Other playoff drivers outside the top-10 at the checkered flag included Ryan Reed in 11th, Ross Chastain in 12th, Elliott Sadler 14th, Truex 16th, and Brandon Jones in 22nd.
DRIVE FOR THE CURE 200 RESULTS:
1. Chase Briscoe, No. 98 Ford
2. Justin Marks, No. 42 Chevrolet
3. Austin Cindric, No. 22 Ford
4. Ryan Preece, No. 18 Toyota
5. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
6. Matt Tifft, No. 2 Chevrolet
7. Cole Custer, No. 00 Ford
8. Kaz Grala, No. 61 Ford
9. Tyler Reddick, No. 9 Chevrolet
10. Daniel Hemric, No. 21 Chevrolet
11. Ryan Reed, No. 16 Ford
12. Ross Chastain, No. 4 Chevrolet
13. Alex Labbe, No. 36 Chevrolet
14. Elliott Sadler, No. 1 Chevrolet
15. Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Chevrolet
16. Ryan Truex, No. 11 Chevrolet
17. Brendan Gaughan, No. 3 Chevrolet
18. Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Chevrolet
19. Spencer Gallagher, No. 23 Chevrolet
20. Michael Annett, No. 5 Chevrolet
21. Lawson Aschenbach, No. 01 Chevrolet
22. Brandon Jones, No. 19 Toyota
23. Joey Gase, No. 35 Chevrolet
24. Josh Bilicki, No. 45 Toyota
25. Garrett Smithley, No. 0 Chevrolet
26. Ray Black Jr., No. 74 Chevrolet
27. David Starr, No. 52 Chevrolet
28. Chad Finchum, No. 40 Dodge
29. Spencer Boyd, No. 76 Chevrolet
30. Dylan Murcott, No. 8 Chevrolet
31. Vinnie Miller, No. 78 Chevrolet
32. Timmy Hill, No. 66 Toyota
33. Katherine Legge, No. 15 Chevrolet
34. Ty Majeski, No. 60 Ford
35. Bayley Currey, No. 55 Toyota
36. Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Chevrolet
37. Andy Lally, No. 90 Chevrolet
38. Landon Cassill, No. 13 Dodge
39. Jeff Green, No. 93 Chevrolet
40. J.J. Yeley, No. 38 Chevrolet
UP NEXT: The NASCAR Xfinity Series travels to Delaware for an Oct. 6 race at Dover International Speedway. It will be the initial elimination race of the series’ first 2018?playoff round. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular Ryan Blaney is the defending winner of the fall Xfinity Series race at Dover, but Justin Allgaier won the most recent race there in May. Christopher Bell heads into the contest as the points leader. Austin Cindric, Ryan Truex, Ryan Reed, and Brandon Jones, meanwhile, are in the danger zone in provisional elimination spots.