Xfinity points, results: Noah Gragson won Friday’s Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, his third consecutive victory on the circuit.
The JR Motorsports driver led 25 of 300 laps in his No. 9 Chevrolet for the 11th victory of his Xfinity Series career, winning by 0.145 seconds over Brandon Jones (who will be replacing Gragson in the No. 9 next season as Gragson moves into the Cup Series).
It’s the career-high sixth victory this year for the 24-year-old Gragson, who also set a JR Motorsports mark for most wins by a driver in a season.
Austin Hill finished third, followed by Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst to round out the top five for the Xfinity regular-season finale, which set the field for the 12-driver playoff.
RESULTS: Click here for where everyone finished l Click here for the race report
Daniel Hemric and Ryan Sieg clinched the final two spots in the playoffs. Sieg took the last by passing Landon Cassill (whose car suffered a mechanical failure) in the points standings.
Sheldon Creed led 34 laps in his bid to make the playoffs but finished seventh after being slammed into the wall from contact with Ty Gibbs, who had been bumped up the track by Ty Gibbs.
Justin Allgaier, Gragson’s JR Motorsports teammate, led a race-high 148 of 300 laps but finished ninth because of a late speeding penalty.
POINTS
AJ Allmendinger, who finished sixth, won the 2022 regular-season championship with a sixth-place finish. The rest of the top five in points were: Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs and Josh Berry.
By virtue of playoff points from his victories and stage wins, Gragson will enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed ahead of Gibbs, Allgaier, Allmendinger and Berry.
Let the #NASCARPlayoffs begin for the @XfinityRacing Series!@NoahGragson has the most points thanks to his six wins on the year. pic.twitter.com/Ly8ad4pFPS
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 17, 2022
CURRENT POINTS AFTER BRISTOL: Click here for reseeded driver points l Click here for reseeded team owner points
REGULAR SEASON AFTER BRISTOL: Click here for final driver points l Click here for final team owner points
