Pit Boss 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Circuits of The Americas in Austin, Texas

Pit Boss 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Circuits of The Americas in Austin, Texas on March 26, 2022. (Photo: Ralph Arvesen)

A.J. Allmendinger was the class of the field in Saturday’s Pit Boss 250, holding off a hard-charging pack of drivers to take the checkered flag by 2.039 seconds. The donnybrook capped off an action-packed day of white-knuckled excitement at the 20-turn, 3.41-mile Circuit of The Americas (COTA).

“We’ve had a good start to the year when you look at the finishes, but we hadn’t really contended for the win,” Allmendinger said. “Last year, Kyle beat us down pretty good. This race is a tough race. It’s a long race. The track is slick. As we saw in the truck race, if you get a late caution, anything can happen.”

Allmendinger led a race-high 27 laps and battled most of the afternoon with NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) regular Ross Chastain en route to the victory. Chastain, who led three times for 14 laps, got spun by Landon Cassill with seven laps remaining and was relegated to a 17th-place finish.

“Ross was doing an amazing job,” Allmendinger said. “It was going to be tough to beat him. Once he got spun, I was just praying for no more yellows.”

COTA is the sixth different road course on which Allmendinger has won during his career. That streak includes seven Xfinity Series (NXS) wins and two NCS wins. The Los Gatos, Calif. native has finished fourth or better in 15 of 18 NXS road course races.

With the victory, Allmendinger moves to within one point of Noah Gragson in the point standings. Austin Hill, who won at Watkins Glen in a Camping World Trucks Series (NCWTS) race last season, finished second in Saturday’s Pit Boss 250.

“It was a solid effort,” Hill said. “I’ve always felt like I can get around road courses. I felt like that last year at Watkins Glen. It gave us confidence coming here. It shows that we can run with A.J. We’ll go back and debrief and see where I can be better as a driver.”

After battling back from a speeding penalty earlier in the race, Cole Custer finished third. Gragson and Sam Mayer rounded out the top five finishers. NASCAR at COTA’s tripleheader weekend culminates Sunday with the second running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. (Source: NASCAR Wire Service)

Pos	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Laps Led	Points
1	16	A.J. Allmendinger		Chevrolet	46	2:13'14.556			27	53
2	21	Austin Hill		Chevrolet	46	2:13'16.595	2.039	2.039		35
3	7	Cole Custer		Ford	46	2:13'23.810	9.254	7.215
4	9	Noah Gragson		Chevrolet	46	2:13'25.488	10.932	1.678		35
5	1	Sam Mayer		Chevrolet	46	2:13'26.973	12.417	1.485	3	42
6	31	Myatt Snider		Chevrolet	46	2:13'27.123	12.567	0.15		31
7	2	Brett Moffitt		Chevrolet	46	2:13'27.612	13.056	0.489		30
8	48	Jade Buford		Chevrolet	46	2:13'28.331	13.775	0.719		42
9	88	Miguel Paludo		Chevrolet	46	2:13'30.826	16.27	2.495		28
10	2	Sheldon Creed		Chevrolet	46	2:13'31.868	17.312	1.042		27
11	39	Ryan Sieg		Ford	46	2:13'33.785	19.229	1.917		26
12	35	Parker Kligerman		Toyota	46	2:13'34.506	19.95	0.721
13	23	Anthony Alfredo		Chevrolet	46	2:13'35.904	21.348	1.398		24
14	91	Preston Pardus		Chevrolet	46	2:13'36.864	22.308	0.96		28
15	54	Ty Gibbs		Toyota	46	2:13'38.268	23.712	1.404	1	23
16	44	Sage Karam		Chevrolet	46	2:13'39.187	24.631	0.919		26
17	92	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	46	2:13'39.855	25.299	0.668	14
18	19	Brandon Jones		Toyota	46	2:13'40.866	26.31	1.011		19
19	26	Parker Chase		Toyota	46	2:13'42.162	27.606	1.296		21
20	68	Brandon Brown		Chevrolet	46	2:13'42.771	28.215	0.609		17
21	99	Stefan Parsons		Chevrolet	46	2:13'42.867	28.311	0.096		16
22	28	Patrick Gallagher		Ford	46	2:13'43.975	29.419	1.108		15
23	27	Jeb Burton		Chevrolet	46	2:13'45.725	31.169	1.75		14
24	51	Jeremy Clements		Chevrolet	46	2:13'46.563	32.007	0.838		15
25	11	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	46	2:13'47.699	33.143	1.136		20
26	98	Riley Herbst		Ford	46	2:13'47.716	33.16	0.017		17
27	8	Josh Berry		Chevrolet	46	2:13'48.187	33.631	0.471		17
28	18	Bubba Wallace		Toyota	46	2:13'52.848	38.292	4.661
29	66	J.J. Yeley		Chevrolet	46	2:13'53.254	38.698	0.406		8
30	6	Ryan Vargas		Chevrolet	46	2:13'53.848	39.292	0.594		7
31	10	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	46	2:13'56.667	42.111	2.819		6
32	5	Scott Heckert		Chevrolet	46	2:13'59.561	45.005	2.894		6
33	7	Justin Allgaier		Chevrolet	46	2:14'04.150	49.594	4.589	1	18
34	8	Joe Jr.		Ford	46	2:14'06.369	51.813	2.219		3
35	45	Josh Bilicki		Chevrolet	46	2:14'11.837	57.281	5.468		2
36	36	Alex Labbé		Chevrolet	41	2:03'00.407	5 Laps	5 Laps		10
37	38	Will Rodgers		Ford	34	2:13'44.450	12 Laps	7 Laps		1
38	4	Bayley Currey		Chevrolet	13	30'49.613	33 Laps	21 Laps		1

NASCAR
NASCAR is the largest racing organization in the United States and is most famous for the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Camping World Truck Series. Each year NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 US states as well as in Canada, Mexico, and Europe.

Looking to the future, NASCAR is developing the Next Gen car, expected to hit the track in 2021. The new car is going to feature a redesigned body and under-the-hood enhancements to make NASCAR stock cars even more like the cars in showrooms across America.

Circuit of The Americas
Circuit of The Americas is the premier destination for world-class motorsports and entertainment in the United States. Set on 1,500 acres in the rolling hills just outside downtown Austin, Circuit of The Americas has hosted the biggest names in racing, action sports and music since 2012. At its heart is a 3.41-mile racetrack that was designed to challenge the world's most exacting competitors while providing a thrilling spectacle for audiences.

The 20-turn, counterclockwise circuit takes advantage of the naturally undulating landscape, including an intimidating 133-foot hill at Turn 1 that must be seen in person to be believed. It is home to Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, NASCAR EchoPark Texas Grand Prix, and MotoGP Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas, and has played host to ESPN's X Games, the FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Pirelli World Challenge and more.

NASCAR
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Circuit of The Americas
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Photos by Ralph Arvesen
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