AVONDALE, Ariz. — Chandler Smith overcame an incident with a teammate and took advantage of Justin Allgaier’s misfortunes to win Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway.
It is Smith’s second career series win in 40 starts. His first series victory came in April 2023 at Richmond.
MORE: Phoenix Xfinity results
MORE: Driver points after Phoenix
Allgaier appeared headed for the victory when his left rear tire blew five laps from the scheduled finish, sending him into the wall. He finished 29th.
Allgaier’s incident sent the race to overtime, extending the event by five laps. Smith held off the field to win.
Rookie Jesse Love placed a career-best second. Sheldon Creed was third. Austin Hill placed fourth. Reigning series champion Cole Custer completed the top five. Shane van Gisbergen finished sixth.l
Smith and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate John Hunter Nemechek made contact while racing for second off a restart at Lap 144. The contact triggered an 11-car crash that eliminated Nemechek, among others.
Stage 1 winner: Chandler Smith
Stage 2 winner: Cole Custer
Who had a good race: Rookie Jesse Love finished second for his first top-10 finish in the series. ... Sheldon Creed (third) has finished in the top five in three of four races this season. ... Austin Hill (fourth) scored his first career top five at Phoenix. ... Shane van Gisbergen (sixth) has two top 10s in four career Xfinity starts. ... Leland Honeyman Jr. finished a career-best 11th. ... Nick Leitz placed a career-best 17th.
Who had a bad race: John Hunter Nemechek was running second and next to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chandler Smith when they had contact, leading to 11 cars suffering damage. Nemechek, Sam Mayer, Parker Retzlaff, Jeb Burton and Hailie Deegan were among those eliminated in the Lap 144 incident.
Next: The series is off until March 23 at Circuit of the Americas.
