TALLADEGA, Ala. - Brandon Brown earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win when Saturday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway was called for darkness six laps from the scheduled distance.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” Brown said on his team’s radio. “Wow! Just wow! Oh my God! This is a dream come true! This is a dream come true!”
Brown’s victory came in his 114th career series start.
Brandon Jones was credited with second. He was followed by Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Jordan Anderson. Austin Cindric finished eighth and clinched a spot in the next round. This is the second consecutive race a non-playoff driver has won.
MORE: Race results, driver points
The race was under caution for a crash when series officials determined it was too dark to continue. Talladega does not have lights.
“Oh my God, dad, we did it!” Brown told NBCSN. “Everything we hoped and dreamed for. Everything I wanted to do is take the trophy home to mom and dad.”
Brown’s win came a few hours after Tate Fogleman scored his first career Camping World Truck Series win in the first race of Saturday’s doubleheader at Talladega.
Playoff drivers Harrison Burton and Riley Herbst were eliminated in a crash 11 laps from the scheduled end. Burton, running in the middle of three-wide, was hit from behind by Brett Moffitt and had his right front clipped by Daniel Hemric. That sent the car down the track. He bounced off Jordan Anderson’s car and into the path of John Hunter Nemechek, Riley Herbst and others.
Playoff drivers Noah Gragson and Myatt Snider were eliminated in a crash that stopped the race on Lap 90. Brett Moffitt led the top lane with Jeb Burton and Myatt Snider behind. Snider got a run and that momentum sent Burton to the rear of Moffitt’s car. Slight contact sent Moffitt’s car down the track into Gragson’s car, which was leading the bottom lane.
That contact sent Gragson’s car up the track, and he hit the wall head-on. His car then was drilled in the back by Snider’s car. As Gragson’s battered car came down the banking of the track, CJ McLaughlin’s car rammed the rear of Gragson’s vehicle. Gragson walked away from the incident. Thirteen cars suffered damage in the incident.
Gragson finished 30th. Snider placed 31st.
“I had a feeling something like that would happen, the energy in the pack was kind of chaotic,” Snider told NBCSN.
Playoff driver AJ Allmendinger saw his race end in a crash with Sam Mayer on the last lap of the first stage.
“I got hung up there and once you get back there, the people you’re racing, there’s a chance of that happening,” Allmendinger told NBCSN. “At the end of the day, it’s disappointing.”
Allmendinger finished 39th in the 40-car field.
STAGE 1 WINNER: John Hunter Nemechek
STAGE 2 WINNER: Blaine Perkins
NEXT: The Round of 12 ends Oct. 9 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval (3 p.m., ET, NBC)