AUSTIN, Texas — AJ Allmendinger held off William Byron for the win at the Pit Boss 250 after a hard-fought day of battling back from 29th, but behind the hard fought battle for the lead, Xfinity regulars had their own battle to sort out: Who would qualify for next week’s Dash 4 Cash?
Finishing best among the full-time Xfinity entries, Sammy Smith mixed it up in the top five throughout the race, often going head-to-head with his NASCAR Cup Series peers. He ended the day in fourth as the highest-finishing Xfinity regular.
As the highest running full-time Xfinity driver, Smith qualified himself for next week’s Dash 4 Cash event at Richmond Raceway.
“This is my first time being in Dash 4 Cash, so it’s cool,” Smith said. “Chance to win $100,000. I feel good about Richmond, and look forward to next week.”
Justin Allgaier, who had battled with a damaged nose for the majority of the race, finished behind Smith in fifth. Allgaier had incurred the damage in the opening laps after having to check up in turn 1, and he had fallen out of the top 20 after the incident. However, it did not hinder the handling of the car too much, as he came back for his fourth top-five finish of the season.
“It was a little disappointing at the end of the second stage.” Allgaier said. “We played the right strategy and got run over and moved out of the way for points. Ultimately, we were able to march our way back through there.”
Allgaier ultimately gave credit to his team for giving him a great car this weekend.
“It’s a testament to Jim Pohlman and all the guys No. 7 Brandt Camaro,” Allgaier said. “They did such a great job of giving me an incredible racecar that I was able to make those passes. At the end there, it came down to track position. We lost some time to some of the guys in front of us trying to get clear of some cars.
“I ended up breaking second gear with about three or four laps to go, so I was going from first to third hoping those guys couldn’t catch me. Ultimately, it was a great day.”
As the second car qualified for the Dash 4 Cash race at Richmond, Allgaier had very solid confidence when talking about next week’s race.
“It’s a good track for us too,” Allgaier said. “When you got a good track coming up for us for our team and you got something that’s that cool of an initiative that Xfinity puts on, it makes it a lot of fun.”
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