The drama is building early at Phoenix Raceway during championship weekend
On Friday, the NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers rolled to the 1-mile track of Phoenix Raceway. Early in the practice session, we saw multiple cars tag the wall after slipping in oil. Two of those cars are in a battle for the championship.
Watch the crash video below.
Phoenix Menu
ARCA: Race
Truck: Prac/Qual | Race
Xfinity: Prac | Qual | Race
Cup: Prac | Qual | Race
Going into the corner, Brennan Poole suffered a mechanical failure. He left oil on the track for the cars behind them.
As they entered the corner with speed, it turned into Mario Kart. Multiple cars slid in the oil and slammed the wall.
Justin Allgaier is racing for a drivers championship this weekend. He picked up heavy damage and will be forced to a backup car.
When Allgaier climbed from his car, he slammed his fists on the tool cart.
Aric Almirola isn’t racing for driver points. However, the No. 20 car is in a battle for owner points. Almirola will also go to a backup car.
Remarkably, both teams were able to unload their backup cars and turn more laps in practice.
Aric Almirola comments
“Just really disappointing to come out here and race for a championship to have oil on the track and wipe out all the cars racing for a championship,” Aric Almirola told NBC Sports.
“We worked on that car for over a month. That was certainly our best one. Now, we’re going to go fight with our second best one.”
Justin Allgaier comments
“It’s just frustrating. Especially when you get to a format like you have right now where it’s a single race playoff for the championship,” Justin Allgaier stated.
“This practice session, there’s still 30 minutes left. But, we crashed 15 minutes in, at the most. Our car was really fast.”
“It’s arguably the best car I’ve ever had at this racetrack. This one’s going to hurt. But, we worked really hard on our backup car this week because of this scenario.”
Watch the video of the crash below.
Phoenix Raceway
Practice Results
November 8, 2024
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Pos | Driver
1. Jesse Love
27.587
2. Justin Allgaier
27.700
3. Connor Zilisch
27.706
4. Aric Almirola
27.770
5. Cole Custer
27.798
6. Austin Hill
27.801
7. Brandon Jones
27.841
8. Parker Retzlaff
27.843
9. AJ Allmendinger
27.853
10. William Sawalich
27.867
11. Sam Mayer
27.893
12. Riley Herbst
27.910
13. Chandler Smith
27.911
14. Sheldon Creed
27.930
15. Jeb Burton
28.048
16. Jeffrey Earnhardt
28.100
17. Shane van Gisbergen
28.126
18. Josh Williams
28.130
19. Daniel Dye
28.136
20. Parker Kligerman
28.143
21. Anthony Alfredo
28.149
22. Josh Bilicki
28.189
23. Ryan Sieg
28.229
24. Jeremy Clements
28.303
25. Sammy Smith
28.350
26. Leland Honeyman
28.382
27. Brennan Poole
28.388
28. Matt DiBenedetto
28.421
29. Stefan Parsons
28.450
30. Dylan Lupton
28.461
31. Kyle Sieg
28.494
32. Joey Gase
28.712
33. Blaine Perkins
28.734
34. Patrick Emerling
28.740
35. Ryan Ellis
28.820
36. Dawson Cram
29.068
37. Greg Van Alst
29.084
38. Garrett Smithely
29.165
