Cross Portland off list; next stop is Sunday's Cup race near St. Louis.
- NASCAR Xfinity Series Race
- Inaugural Pacific Office Automation 147
- Portland, Oregon
- Saturday’s Results
AJ Allmendinger continued his mastery of the road course portion of NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series schedule on Saturday afternoon at Portland International Raceway. But make no mistake about it… it wasn’t the prettiest or most artful of his 14 NASCAR victories.
“It might be one of the craziest wins I’ve ever had,” said Allmendinger, who started from the rear after inspection issues and then went off-track a couple of times before winning the Pacific Automation 147 in a shootout with Myatt Snider. The winner told FOX Sports 1 after the race, “(It was my) most mistakes to ever win a race for sure.”
The 75-lapper began in the rain, creating difficulty for those who had never raced in the rain. There were brief periods of dry, then more rain toward the end. Allmendinger’s victory in a Chevrolet was all the more impressive since he came from the rear in those testy weather conditions.
Laps were running down by the time he worked his way near the front. On the restart after the ninth and last caution, he easily pulled away from Snider to win by almost three seconds. He built that lead over the final three laps around the 1.967-mile road course where he got the first of his five career Champ Car victories in 2006. Saturday’s race was the first-ever for NASCAR’s Xfinity Series in the Pacific Northwest.
AJ Allmendinger’s win in Portland was the 12th in his NASCAR Xfnity Series career.
Meg OliphantGetty Images
Snider never had a chance at the end, but he doggedly held on to finish second, beating rookie Austin Hill, recent Charlotte winner Josh Berry, and Justin Allgaier. Daniel Hemric, Ty Gibbs, J.J. Yeley, Noah Gragson, and Alex Labbe completed the top 10 in the race that had more cautions (9) than lap leaders (8).
The victory was Allmendinger’s second this season, coming several months after winning on the Circuit of the Americans in Texas. It was his 12th career Xfinity Series victory, eight of them on road courses: three times on the Charlotte roval, twice at Mid-Ohio, and once each at Elkhart Lake, COTA, and now at Portland International.
Both of his NASCAR Cup Series victories – at Watkins Glen in 2014 and Indianapolis last year – have been on road courses. In addition, three of his other 11 Cup Series top-5 finishes have been on road courses.
Gibbs (42) led the most laps, Snider led 19, and Allmendinger only 6, including the last four. Jade Buford led four, Andy Lally three, and Sheldon Creed one. The series has next weekend off before going to Nashville on June 25.astery of the road course portion of NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series schedule on Saturday afternoon at Portland International Raceway. But make no mistake about it… it wasn’t the prettiest or most artful of his 14 NASCAR victories.
“It might be one of the craziest wins I’ve ever had,” said Allmendinger, who started from the rear after inspection issues and then went off-track a couple of times before winning the Pacific Automation 147 in a shootout with Myatt Snider. The winner told FOX Sports 1 after the race, “(It was my) most mistakes to ever win a race for sure.”
The 75-lapper began in the rain, creating difficulty for those who had never raced in the rain. There were brief periods of dry, then more rain toward the end. Allmendinger’s victory in a Chevrolet was all the more impressive since he came from the rear in those testy weather conditions.
Laps were running down by the time he worked his way near the front. On the restart after the ninth and last caution, he easily pulled away from Snider to win by almost three seconds. He built that lead over the final three laps around the 1.967-mile road course where he got the first of his five career Champ Car victories in 2006. Saturday’s race was the first-ever for NASCAR’s Xfinity Series in the Pacific Northwest.
Snider never had a chance at the end, but he doggedly held on to finish second, beating rookie Austin Hill, recent Charlotte winner Josh Berry, and Justin Allgaier. Daniel Hemric, Ty Gibbs, J.J. Yeley, Noah Gragson, and Alex Labbe completed the top 10 in the race that had more cautions (9) than lap leaders (8).
The victory was Allmendinger’s second this season, coming several months after winning on the Circuit of the Americans in Texas. It was his 12th career Xfinity Series victory, eight of them on road courses: three times on the Charlotte roval, twice at Mid-Ohio, and once each at Elkhart Lake, COTA, and now at Portland International.
Both of his NASCAR Cup Series victories—at Watkins Glen in 2014 and Indianapolis last year—have been on road courses. In addition, three of his other 11 Cup Series top-5 finishes have been on road courses.
Gibbs (42) led the most laps, Snider led 19, and Allmendinger only 6, including the last four. Jade Buford led four, Andy Lally three, and Sheldon Creed one. The series has next weekend off before going to Nashville on June 25.
AJ Allmendinger, left, and his father Greg celebrate the Saturday night win in Oregon.
Meg OliphantGetty Images
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race
Inaugural Pacific Office Automation 147
Portland, Oregon
Saturday’s Results
1. (10) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 75.
2. (25) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 75.
3. (2) Austin Hill #, Chevrolet, 75.
4. (19) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 75.
5. (9) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 75.
6. (3) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 75.
7. (6) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 75.
8. (35) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 75.
9. (11) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 75.
10. (23) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 75.
11. (22) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 75.
12. (28) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 75.
13. (20) Scott Heckert, Ford, 75.
14. (5) Jade Buford, Chevrolet, 75.
15. (13) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 75.
16. (27) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 75.
17. (15) Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 75.
18. (17) Matt Jaskol(i), Toyota, 75.
19. (36) Patrick Emerling, Toyota, 75.
20. (12) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 75.
21. (33) Joe Graf Jr., Ford, 75.
22. (31) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 74.
23. (37) Ryan Vargas, Chevrolet, 73.
24. (26) Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, 73.
25. (29) Mason Filippi, Chevrolet, 72.
26. (38) Jesse Iwuji #, Chevrolet, 71.
27. (18) Parker Chase, Toyota, Accident, 62.
28. (8) Connor Mosack, Toyota, Accident, 62.
29. (24) Spencer Pumpelly, Ford, Accident, 62.
30. (34) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, Accident, 62.
31. (1) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, Accident, 62.
32. (7) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, Accident, 55.
33. (21) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, Accident, 55.
34. (16) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 44.
35. (14) Riley Herbst, Ford, Accident, 35.
36. (30) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, Accident, 27.
37. (32) Darren Dilley, Ford, Accident, 25.
38. (4) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 12.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 48.883 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 1 Mins, 21 Secs. Margin of Victory: 2.879 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 26 laps.
Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Alfredo 0;S. Creed # 1;T. Gibbs 2-43;A. Lally 44-46;M. Snider 47-62;A. Allmendinger 63-64;J. Buford 65-68;M. Snider 69-71;A. Allmendinger 72-75.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Ty Gibbs 1 time for 42 laps; Myatt Snider 2 times for 19 laps; AJ Allmendinger 2 times for 6 laps; Jade Buford 1 time for 4 laps; Andy Lally 1 time for 3 laps; Sheldon Creed # 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 54,21,18,11,02,36,9,10,19,7
Stage #2 Top Ten: 31,44,21,10,8,23,7,16,2,48
Keyword: AJ Allmendinger Wins First Leg of Personal NASCAR Double Weekend