Saturday’s Darlington Xfinity race: Start time, forecast, TV channel

By Dustin LongSep 5, 2020, 9:58 AM EDT

The Xfinity Series has had different winners in each of the last four races. Can Saturday’s Darlington Xfinity race at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC extend that streak to five in a row?

The streak started with Austin Cindric‘s victory on the Daytona road course. That was followed by Justin Allgaier‘s victory at Dover, Chase Briscoe‘s win in the second half of the Dover doubleheader, and Justin Haley‘s win last weekend on the Daytona oval.

Four races remain in the Xfinity regular season: Darlington, the Richmond doubleheader (Sept. 11-12) and Bristol (Sept. 18).

Here is all the info for Saturday’s Darlington Xfinity race:

(All times are Eastern)

START: Dr. Joe Kearney and Dr. Mary Smyrnioudis, emergency room doctors at McLeod Regional Medical Center, will give the command to start engines at 12:19 p.m. The green flag is scheduled to wave at 12:30 p.m.

PRERACE: Garage access health screening begins at 6 a.m. Drivers report to their cars at 12:05 p.m. The invocation will be given at 12:12 p.m. by Tim Coker, pastor, Central Baptist Church in Darlington. The national anthem will be performed by Christian recording artist Broken Lantern Project at 12:13 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 147 laps (200.8 miles) around the 1.366-mile speedway.

STAGES: Stage 1 ends on Lap 45. Stage 2 ends on Lap 90.

TV/RADIO: Coverage begins on NBC with Countdown to Green at noon. Race broadcast begins at 12:30 p.m. Motor Racing Network’s radio coverage will begin at noon. and also can be heard at mrn.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the broadcast.

STREAMING: Watch the race on the NBC Sports App. Click here for the link.

FORECAST: The wunderground.com forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies, a high of 83 degrees and a 19% chance of rain at the start of the race.

LAST RACE: Justin Haley won at Daytona when Kaulig Racing teammates AJ Allmendinger and Ross Chastain wrecked racing for the lead. Gray Gaulding finished second. Chase Briscoe placed third.

LAST RACE AT DARLINGTON: Chase Briscoe held off Kyle Busch on the last lap to win in May. Busch finished second. Justin Allgaier placed third.

STARTING LINEUP: Click here for starting lineup

NASCAR suspends Chase Elliott one race for incident with Denny Hamlin

By Dustin LongMay 30, 2023, 5:39 PM EDT

NASCAR suspended Chase Elliott one Cup race for wrecking Denny Hamlin in Monday’s Coca-Cola 600, the sanctioning body announced Tuesday.

“We take this very seriously,” Elton Sawyer, senior vice president of competition, said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “The incident that happened off Turn 4, again after looking at all the available resources — in-car camera, data, SMT, which basically gives us (a car’s) steering, throttle, gives us braking — it was an intentional act by Chase in our opinion.”

Hendrick Motorsports stated that it would not appeal the penalty. Corey LaJoie will drive the No. 9 car for Hendrick Motorsports this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway. Carson Hocevar will drive LaJoie’s car this weekend.

Hendrick Motorsports also stated that it would submit a waiver request for Elliott to remain eligible for the playoffs. Sawyer said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that “I don’t see any reason at this point in time why wouldn’t (grant the waiver) when that request comes across our desk.”

This weekend will mark the seventh race in the first 15 that Elliott will have missed. He missed six races after breaking his leg in a snowboarding accident in early March. Elliott, who is winless this season, is 29th in points.

Elliott and Hamlin got together shortly before the halfway mark in Monday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

As they ran together, Elliott’s car slapped the outside wall. Elliott’s car then made contact with the right rear of Hamlin’s car, sending Hamlin into the wall.

“I got right-rear hooked in the middle of the straightway,” Hamlin said after the incident. “Yes, it was a tantrum. He shouldn’t be racing next week. Right-rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable. He shouldn’t be racing.”

Said Sawyer on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio: “In the heat of the battle, things happen, but they have to learn to react in a different way. … Our drivers need to understand that you have to handle that in a completely different way than hooking someone in the right rear and putting them in harm’s way, not only with just a major head-on collision like Denny had, but also other competitors.”

Sawyer also said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that “nothing gave us the indication that on that particular contact with the fourth-turn wall … that anything was broke” on Elliott’s car and could have caused him to come down and hit Hamlin’s car in the right rear.

NASCAR also announced that Scott Brzozowski and Adam Lewis, crew members on Michael McDowell‘s team, had each been suspended two races after McDowell’s car lost a tire in Monday’s race.

Winners and losers at Charlotte Motor Speedway

By Mike HembreeMay 30, 2023, 7:00 AM EDT

A look at winners and losers from Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

WINNERS

Ryan Blaney — Blaney stopped his winless streak at 59 races and gave team owner Roger Penske his second major race victory in two days. Blaney had the best car but had to fight through restarts late in the race to win.

William Byron — Byron, the winningest driver this season, barely missed getting victory No. 4. He finished second and scored his fifth straight top 10.

Martin Truex Jr. — Truex logged his third top five of the season.

23XI Racing — Bubba Wallace was fourth and Tyler Reddick fifth, giving 23XI Racing a pair of top-five finishes for the first time in a points race.

LOSERS

Jimmie Johnson — The seven-time champion admitted having problems adjusting to the Next Gen car on a 1.5-mile track. He crashed early and finished last.

Legacy Motor Club — It was a bad night for Jimmie Johnson and his team’s drivers. Johnson finished last in the 37-car field. Noah Gragson was 36th. Erik Jones placed 32nd.

Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin — Two drivers who had strong cars didn’t make it to the finish after crashing near the halfway point. Hamlin said Elliott “shouldn’t be racing next week. Right-rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable. He shouldn’t be racing.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series results: Justin Allgaier wins at Charlotte

By Mike HembreeMay 29, 2023, 11:56 PM EDT

CONCORD, N.C. — Justin Allgaier finally broke through for his first win of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season Monday night.

Allgaier stretched his last fuel load over the final laps to finish in front of John Hunter Nemechek. Cole Custer was third, Austin Hill fourth and Ty Gibbs fifth. Gibbs ran both races Monday, completing 900 miles.

The win also was the first of the season for JR Motorsports.

Charlotte Xfinity results

Xfinity points after Charlotte

Justin Allgaier wins NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway

By Mike HembreeMay 29, 2023, 11:38 PM EDT

CONCORD, N.C. — Justin Allgaier won a fuel-mileage gamble to win Monday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Allgaier stretched his fuel to outlast second-place John Hunter Nemechek. Following in the top five were Cole Custer, Austin Hill and Ty Gibbs.

The victory was Allgaier’s first of the year and the first of the season for JR Motorsports. He has 20 career wins.

MORE: Charlotte Xfinity results

After a long day at CMS, the race ended at 11:25 p.m. The race started Monday morning but was stopped twice because of weather before it was halted with 48 of 200 laps completed so that the Coca-Cola 600 Cup Series race could be run.

When the race was stopped, Gibbs, Nemechek and Allgaier were in the top three positions.

Gibbs won the first two stages.

Stage 1 winner: Ty Gibbs

Stage 2 winner: Ty Gibbs

Who had a good race: Justin Allgaier has had good cars in previous races but finally cashed in with a win Monday. He led 83 laps. … John Hunter Nemechek, in second, scored his fifth top-two run of the season. … Cole Custer scored his sixth straight top-10 finish. … Ty Gibbs lasted 900 miles for the day and led 52 laps in the Xfinity race.

Who had a bad race: Sam Mayer was running 10th when he spun off Turn 2. He finished 35th. … Sheldon Creed finished three laps down in 28th.

Next: The series moves on to Portland International Raceway in Oregon for a 4:30 p.m. ET race June 3.

Here is all the info for Saturday’s Darlington Xfinity race:

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WINNERS

LOSERS

Read more about NASCAR

Charlotte Xfinity results

Xfinity points after Charlotte

Read more about NASCAR

MORE: Charlotte Xfinity results

Read more about NASCAR