CONCORD, N.C. -- A.J. Allmendinger won Saturday’s Xfinity Series race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, outrunning Tyler Reddick and Austin Cindric in a three-lap shootout.
It is Allmendinger’s third career Xfinity win and his first since 2013. It is the second win for Kaulig Racing after Ross Chastain’s victory at Daytona in July.
Allmendinger, an NBC Sports motorsports analyst who will appear Sunday on NBCSN’s Victory Lap after the Cup race, took the lead with 20 laps to go. He took the lead by putting a fender to Christopher Bell’s rear bumper in Turn 8 to move the No. 20 aside.
“I just knew if I was stuck behind him for a couple more laps he could start running his own pace and be comfortable and it was probably going to be game over for me,” Allmendinger said. “If it was the Cup Series I would have done the same thing. I just had to go then.”
At the start-finish line afterward, Allmendinger told NBCSN: “God, the last (few) times we’ve road course (raced) I’ve been gutted not getting my win. I can’t thank my race team enough.”
Allmendinger said he knew his car was good in clean air, “but in traffic it was a struggle.”
Justin Allgaier and Noah Gragson rounded out the top five
Canadian Alex Labbe finished a career-best sixth in his 44th Xfinity start.
The top 10 was completed by John Hunter Nemechek (playoffs), Cole Custer (playoffs), Chase Briscoe and Ryan Truex.
With his finish Custer clinched a spot in the second round of the playoffs based on points.
Christopher Bell finished 12th after he was assessed a penalty for missing the frontstretch chicane and not stopping on the frontstretch. He missed the chicane after he ran out of room fending off Briscoe as they raced for second. On the ensuing lap, the two made contact between Turn 2 and 3, causing Briscoe to spin.
“I knew it was a penalty to miss the chicane, but there was a clause in there in the driver’s meeting where if you missed the chicane due to an incident, NASCAR would review it,” Bell said. “I figured that me getting run off the race track and having no other option was a justifiable reason, but I guess not.”
After @AJDinger won the @NASCAR_Xfinity Series race at the ROVAL, he went into the crowd and gave the checkered flag to a young fan and took some selfies! #KidsDriveNASCAR pic.twitter.com/iEI3SC402y
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 28, 2019
STAGE 1 WINNER: Chase Briscoe
STAGE 2 WINNER: Cole Custer
More: Race results, point standings
WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Tyler Reddick bounced back from missing the backstretch chicane on the first lap to finish second. He and Austin Cindric finished in the top five in all four road course races ... Noah Gragson and Justin Allgaier finished in the top 10 in all four road course races.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Michael Annett, who started from the rear in a backup car, finished 15th after he ran into the back of another car on a Lap 5 restart … Playoff driver Ryan Sieg finished 30th after spending three laps in the garage for a fuel pump issue ... Playoff driver Justin Haley finished six laps down in 31st after he went to the garage to fix a mechanical issue
WHAT’S NEXT: Bar Harbor 200 at Dover International Speedway, 3 p.m. ET, Oct. 5 on NBCSN