Texas Motor Speedway Race Results from November 4, 2017 featuring the NASCAR Xfinity Series
The NASCAR Xfinity Series lands at the repaved at reconfigured, Texas Motor Speedway. The 1.5 mile speedway is now the second fastest track in NASCAR.
45 laps in stages 1 & 2, 110 laps in the final stage. Erik Jones and Cole Custer lead the field to turn 1 for the 200 lap race. Turn 1 is narrow, there’s a single groove and it’s around the bottom.
View full Texas Xfinity race results below.
Stage 1
Green flag, the bottom line drives away on the bottom. Erik Jones takes the lead with ease. Cole Custer loses a turn of positions. Custer started on the outside of row 1, after 1 lap, he’s 8th. Lap 3, Cole Custer falls to 15th.
More trouble for Cole Custer. He’s wrecking loose. He found a hole to the bottom, that didn’t help. He’s two seconds off the pace. Custer radio, “I don’t know if we have a flat or what?”
Lap 9, Custer to pit road. At the same time, Ty Dillon is around. Caution. Cole Custer did indeed have a flat tire. The right rear had just 11 lbs of air. He’ll be 1 lap down.
Green, Erik Jones picks the outside lane. He clears Matt Tifft before the end of the dog leg then he cuts down to the bottom. He was barely clear, an aggressive move to take the bottom on lap 16. Especially when he could have just chosen that lane to begin with. He cleared him but just a few inches and he had plenty of momentum over the inside lane.
Lap 29, Erik Jones has caught lapped traffic. He’s closing fast but he’s not sure where the lapper is going to go. Jones lifts to make sure the lapped car will give him room on the bottom.
Elliott Sadler is there. Erik Jones pulls low to block the bottom. Sadler pulls to his door at the entry to turn 1. Sadler lifts, he doesn’t want to venture into the 2nd lane in turn 1. Sadler goes to the outside of a lapper, he took it easy. Kyle Larson is on the charge, he doesn’t lift and sweeps around Sadler on the exit.
3 to go in stage 1, playoff driver Ryan Reed has a flat right from. He was running 11th.
Stage 1 Results: 1. Erik Jones; 2. Kyle Larson; 3. Elliott Sadler; 4. Ryan Blaney; 5. Matt Tifft; 6. Christopher Bell; 7. William Byron; 8. Brennan Poole; 9. Justin Allgaier; 10. Daniel Hemric;
Stage 2
William Byron takes just two tires on pit road. He picks up 6 positions and will lead the field to green.
Green flag, Elliott Sadler pushes Byron into turn 1. Jones is losing ground on the outside, by he makes it all back on the exit. Jones swings back around Sadler, up to 2nd.
Lap 56, Angela Ruch got loose off turn 2. She clipped the inside wall, heavy damage. Meanwhile, Cole Custer took the wave around on the last stop. He was 10 laps from running out of fuel. Now, he gets to fill it up and he’s back on cycle.
Green, side by side for the lead off turn 2. Bottle neck for 5th on back. Trouble. Brandon Jones was in a 4 wide situation for 9th. They ran out of room, Jones came down a little, possibly to block the 4 wide scenario. Jones slid across the nose of Michael Annett. Jones slammed the inside wall.
Green, Byron missed a shift. Yikes! Sadler looks low, 3 wide for the lead. Erik Jones takes the lead on the outside. Byron falls to 7th.
13 to go in stage 2, Larson is running down Erik Jones. Larson has a long run car, he did this in the last stage as well. Jones looks to the outside of a lapper at the entry to turn 3. Larson dives to the bottom, the lapper won’t be in his way in the corner.
Larson is there, they come off turn 4, door to door. They are fast approaching the lapped car now. Larson cuts it left down the straight away to avoid running into the back of him. Jones goes to the highside. They split him at the entry to the dogleg.
Still even! They had into turn 1, side by side. Larson dives to the bottom, the backend steps out. Larson slides up the banking, he narrowly misses Jones. Caution, Christopher Bell has spun. It was a self spin for the #18.
4 to go in stage 2. Green flag, Erik Jones and Kyle Larson side by side into turn 1. Larson pinches him on the bottom. Any slip from Jones and they are both out. Larson slides up the banking. Jones drives to the lead.
Stage 2 Results: 1. Erik Jones; 2. Kyle Larson; 3. Brennan Poole; 4. Elliott Sadler; 5. Matt Tifft; 6. Daniel Hemric; 7. Cole Custer; 8. Ryan Blaney; 9. William Byron; 10. Brendan Gaughan;
Stage 3
Kyle Larson hits pit road. There’s a problem, pit road is closed! Larson radio, “I’m an idiot.” Larson rolls through the pit lane and blends back in 6th. Larson pits with the rest of them on the next lap, Larson gains 5 positions! Cole Custer took 2 tires. Meanwhile, 10+ cars stayed out.
Green flag, Ryan Blaney and William Byron lead them to green. Blaney clears him 500 feet before turn 1. The top 10 are single file in turn 3. Ross Chastain and Brendan Gaughan bang fenders 3-4 times down the back straight away. No spin, no caution.
Lap 116, Blaney leads but new tires are coming. Kyle Larson is up to 4th, Erik Jones runs 5th.
Lap 125, caution number 7. Brendan Gaughan got loose off turn 4, he rear end abruptly kicked out. He turned right to correct it and Dylan Lupton was there. He clipped Lupton and sent him through the infield grass.
Erik Jones Austin Dillon and Elliott Sadler are the first 3 off pit road. They all took 2 tires. A mix of 2 and 4 for 4th on back. Kyle Larson’s crew missed a lugnut, he has to return to pit road. Larson to the tail.
Green, Erik Jones takes the lead.
16 to go, most cars can’t make it on fuel. Ryan Blaney is the first to pit road, he pits from 2nd. Elliott Sadler and more follow.
14 to go, Erik Jones pits from the lead. He comes out just 3 car lengths ahead of Ryan Blaney. That’s the race for the win.
8 to go, the pit cycle is complete. Erik Jones reassumes the lead. However, they are deep in lapped traffic. One car after the next, the leaders race through the lappers.
Erik Jones is going to hold him off and take the win at Texas Motor Speedway!
Author: Shane Walters
Texas Xfinity Race Results
November 4, 2017
1. Erik Jones
2. Ryan Blaney
3. Kyle Larson
4. Elliott Sadler
5. Cole Custer
6. Christopher Bell
7. Brennan Poole
8. Matt Tifft
9. William Byron
10. Austin Dillon
11. Justin Allgaier
12. Michael Annett
13. Blake Koch
14. Daniel Hemric
15. Spencer Gallagher
16. Ty Dillon
17. Brendan Gaughan
18. JJ Yaley
19. Ross Chastain
20. Ryan Sieg
21. Dylan Lupton
22. Jeremy Clements
23. Ryan Reed
24. Garrett Smithley
25. Harrison Rhodes
26. BJ McLeod
27. Joey Gase
28. Mario Gosselin
29. Spencer Boyd
30. Timmy Hill
31. David Starr
32. Mike Harmon
33. Gray Gaulding
34. Josh Williams
35. Brandon Jones
36. Reed Sorenson
37. Jeff Green
38. Angela Ruch
39. Morgan Shepherd
40. John Jackson
