AVONDALE, Ariz. – JR Motorsports came into Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway with three chances at coming away with the title, but when all was said and done, they would fall short of that goal.
Of the three JRM Chevrolets, Noah Gragson came the closest to bringing another championship to the team before moving up to the Cup Series in 2023, but would have to settle for second place, finishing 0.397-seconds behind Ty Gibbs.
Gragson, who won eight times in 2022, including at Phoenix earlier this season, looked to be JRM’s best bullet to take down Gibbs and the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team, but a miscue on pit road late in the race dropped Gragson back in the field and he just ran out of time to catch Gibbs by the time the checkered flag fell.
As Gibbs performed his celebratory burnouts, Gragson climbed from his car on pit road, slammed his helmet down on the roof of his car, put his hands on his hips, and just looked on with disappointment on his face wondering what could have been.
“Just the execution on pit stops. We needed to be better as a Bass Pro Shops team all around,” Gragson said. “Still proud of everyone’s efforts. Thought we had a really good car there in the second half. Restarted eighth on the last restart and got up to second. Just too tight there at the end. Still super proud of everybody.
“Just didn’t have enough for him at the end. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. I was going to drive it in if I was any closer and get that POS. Definitely sucks to lose to someone like that.
“This Bass Pro Shops team was really good all year. Eight wins, led the most laps, most top-fives, but came up one race short. Just so thankful for everyone at JR Motorsports. This sucks.”
The elder statesman of the JR Motorports stable, Justin Allgaier, led four times for 26 laps, but with his engine possible going south in the closing laps of the race, he was left to watch the battle for the lead and the championship out of his windshield from third place.
Saturday marked Allgaier’s fifth Championship 4 appearance, but once again, it was another driver hoisting the trophy at night’s end.
“I think tonight was a difficult one, but like Noah said, Ty had the best car,” Allgaier said. “They executed all night. They made good adjustments. They beat us on pit road. They did all the right things. I was pretty disappointed we got the lead there, and there was some things I would do…
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