There is now one race remaining in the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series season -- and it’s the biggest one yet, as it will determine who the champion will be.
Let’s look back at Saturday’s penultimate race of the Xfinity playoffs and how the results and standings impacted what will take place a week from now in the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
RESULTS:
Justin Allgaier just supersized the so-called “Big Three.”
With his win Saturday at ISM Raceway, Allgaier joins the Xfinity Series’ Big three – Christopher Bell, Cole Custer and defending series champ Tyler Reddick – in next Saturday’s championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In addition to Allgaier’s win, Custer finished second and Reddick was third in Saturday’s race.
Bell, meanwhile, dominated the first two stages, leading 89 of the first 90 laps, before he was penalized for speeding on pit road, sending him to the back of the lead lap. Then, on Lap 117, Bell suffered a solo spin that brought out the caution. He wound up finishing a distant 16th.
POINTS:
As for the reseeded results, the now “Big Four” all head to Miami tied at 4,000 points apiece. They won’t have to worry about stage points in that race. Rather, the game plan is simple: the driver who finishes above the other three will emerge as the champion.
As for the four drivers who failed to advance to the Miami championship-deciding season finale, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe are both tied for fifth place with 2,252 points apiece, while Michael Annett is eighth (2,210 Points) and Noah Gragson is ninth (2,208 points). Sandwiched in-between in seventh place (2,212 points) is John Hunter Nemechek, while Brandon Jones rounds out the top 10 with 2,173 points).