Road America
Race Report
After qualifying P17, Parker Kligerman and the Spiked Light Coolers No. 48 team made the necessary adjustments to put the car up front for a P2 finish in double overtime at Road America.
“It’s a really big day for us,” said Parker. “I had the lead in 14 and there was so much speedy dry, that’s how I got the lead, and I said ‘alright let me just not blow this corner.’ The #1 found the lane on the inside that had a lot more grip and I was ‘why didn't I go there.’ We made a ton of changes after yesterday and it gives me and the team a lot of confidence. I think we can go get a checkered flag. We’re close.”
The driver of the #1 car Sam Mayer, the 20-year-old from Franklin, Wisconsin, got his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.
Parker now has 505 points, behind Sheldon Creed’s 527 and 10th place place Riley Herbst with 530.
The team rolls to Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan Saturday August 5. Green flag drops at 3:30 p.m. eastern, watch on NBC and Peacock. Listen on Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN affiliates nationwide. Click here to find the station near you.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race - Road America 180
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
1. (5) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 49.
2. (17) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 49.
3. (14) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 49.
4. (6) Sage Karam, Toyota, 49.
5. (4) Riley Herbst, Ford, 49.
6. (13) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 49.
7. (9) Kaz Grala, Toyota, 49.
8. (11) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 49.
9. (1) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 49.
10. (33) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 49.
11. (32) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 49.
12. (19) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 49.
13. (34) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 49.
14. (20) Parker Retzlaff #, Chevrolet, 49.
15. (26) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 49.
16. (23) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 49.
17. (25) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, 49.
18. (3) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 49.
19. (21) Brad Perez, Chevrolet, 49.
20. (38) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 49.
21. (18) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 49.
22. (29) Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 49.
23. (35) Joe Graf Jr., Ford, 49.
24. (28) Stanton Barrett, Toyota, 49.
25. (30) Dexter Stacey, Toyota, 49.
26. (12) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 49.
27. (31) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 49.
28. (22) Leland Honeyman, Chevrolet, Transmission, 45.
29. (7) Connor Mosack, Toyota, Rear Gear, 44.
30. (2) Cole Custer, Ford, Accident, 41.
31. (10) Sammy Smith #, Toyota, Accident, 41.
32. (27) Kyle Sieg, Ford, Brakes, 39.
33. (37) Alex Labbe, Ford, Accident, 38.
34. (8) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, Accident, 31.
35. (36) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Accident, 25.
36. (15) Brett Moffitt, Ford, Hub, 23.
37. (16) Chandler Smith #, Chevrolet, Accident, 20.
38. (24) Katherine Legge, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 9.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 65.265 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 2 Mins, 21 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.368 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 15 laps.
Lead Changes: 2 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Allmendinger(i) 1-5;J. Allgaier 6-47;S. Mayer 48-49.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Justin Allgaier 1 time for 42 laps; AJ Allmendinger(i) 1 time for 5 laps; Sam Mayer 1 time for 2 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,00,10,20,24,98,26,21,1,18
Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,00,24,10,1,26,8,48,18,91
Overview
Event: Henry 180
Date: Saturday July 29, 2023
Time: 2:00 p.m. central
Location: 7390, WI-67, Plymouth, WI 53073
Layout: 4.048 mile road coarse- 14 turns
Laps: 45
Miles: 182.16
Stage Lengths: Stage 1 ends on Lap 22, Stage 2 ends on Lap 34, Final Stage ends on Lap 45.
TV: NBC
Radio: Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN. For the station near you, click here.
Driver Points: 467, 12th place
Read Parker’s interview with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Dave Kallman here.
Turning left and right at Road America
After some fun at Pocono Raceway with only three turns, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will now head to Road America to give its 14-turn course a go.
There have been 13 NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Road America’s 4.048-mile course, producing eight pole winners and a new winner every year (13). Three races have been won from the pole or first starting position, most recently by AJ Allmendinger in 2013.
Drivers will push to break the qualifying and race records this weekend, spots currently held by Alex Tagliani and Nelson Piquet Jr., respectively. Tagliani snagged the qualifying record in 2016 with a speed of 109.866 mph, while Piquet Jr. became the race record holder in 2012 with his speed of 85.171 mph.
A few other drivers have their names etched in the Road America Xfinity Series record book: AJ Allmendinger and Alex Tagliani are tied for most poles with two each, Brendan Gaughan has posted the most top fives at four, and Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler are tied for most top 10s at five each.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will kick off its weekend with practice at 5 p.m. ET followed by qualifying at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, July 28 on the USA Network and streamed on the NBC Sports App.
Hot Streak: Will the Road America different Xfinity winners streak continue?
The drivers that have landed themselves in Victory Lane at Road America are Carl Edwards (2010), Reed Sorenson (2011), Nelson Piquet Jr. (2012), AJ Allmendinger (2013), Brendan Gaughan (2014), Paul Menard (2015), Michael McDowell (2016), Jeremy Clements (2017), Justin Allgaier (2018), Christopher Bell (2019), Austin Cindric (2020), Kyle Busch (2021), and Ty Gibbs (2022).
Of the 13 drivers that have taken the checkered flag at Road America, only three will have the opportunity to add another Road America trophy to their trophy case this weekend – AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements and Justin Allgaier.
Cup Series regular AJ Allmendinger has five Xfinity Series starts at the Wisconsin road course. In those five starts, he’s posted one win (2013), three top fives, and four top 10s. Road America is particularly special for him as it marks his first ever Xfinity Series win. The veteran driver isn’t called a road course ringer for nothing, sitting as the series’ winningest driver on road courses.
In his 450 Xfinity Series career starts, Clements has posted two wins – his first at Road America in 2017 and his second in Daytona in 2022. His first ever win at Road America came as a surprise for all as he was in a nine-year-old car with his small family-owned team. Clements is still looking to post his first top 10 of the 2023 season. His best finish thus far has been 14th, which was on the road course in Austin, Texas (COTA).
Allgaier has made 11 series starts at Road America, posting one win (2018), two top fives and five top 10s. He heads into the weekend with a string of top-five and top-10 finishes on other road courses this season – COTA (fifth), Portland (second), Sonoma (seventh) and Chicago (third).
Painting the Playoff picture heading into Road America
Austin Hill capitalized on Josh Berry’s mistake in Turn 1 during the final restart in Overtime at Pocono Raceway last weekend to win his fourth race of the season, and tie John Hunter Nemechek for the series-most wins this year at four each. With another repeat winner, five spots are still up for grabs to make the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs with just seven races left in the regular season, including this weekend’s race.
The seven drivers that have already earned their spot in the Playoffs by virtue of their wins this season are John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill, Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, and Jeb Burton.
The five drivers who are currently occupying the remaining postseason spots and would transfer on points are Josh Berry (+110 points above the Playoff cutoff), Daniel Hemric (+86 points), Sam Mayer (+78 points), Sheldon Creed (+49 points), and Riley Herbst (+26 points).
Berry, 110 points above the cutline, only has one start on the 4.048-mile road course in Elkhart Lake (2022) but pulled off a third-place finish after racing his up from the 16th starting position.
Hemric, 86 points above the cutline, has made five starts at Road America, posting two top-five and two top-10 finishes. His best finish on the road course was runner-up in 2021, finishing second behind Kyle Busch. The 2021 series champion is looking to make the Playoffs for the fifth time in his career (2017-2018, 2021-2022).
Mayer, 78 points above the cutline, has two starts on the Wisconsin road course with a best finish of 20th. Although he hasn’t done as well as he would hope at Road America, he has put up some great finishes on other road courses this season: COTA (seventh), Portland (third), Sonoma (10th). This year Mayer is looking for his second appearance in the postseason, he made his series career debut in the Playoffs last season (2022).
Creed, 49 points above the cutline, hasn’t had the best of luck at Road America, unable to finish the race in either one of his starts, but he has proved himself on other road courses this season, posting a ninth-place finish at COTA, a seventh-place finish at Portland, and an 11th-place finish at Sonoma. This season, Creed, the 2020 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion, is looking to make the Xfinity Series Playoffs for the first time in his career. He finished 14th in the final Xfinity championship standings last season.
Herbst, currently in the 12th final Playoff spot and 26 points above the cutline, has made three starts at Road America, where he has posted two top-10 finishes. This season, Herbst is looking to make the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs for the fourth consecutive year (2020-2022) in his career.
Exactly right below the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs cutline is Parker Kligerman in the 13th position with 467 points, -26 points back from Herbst in the 12th and final postseason transfer spot on points. Kligerman has made two Xfinity Series starts at Road America, posting a third-place finish (2013) and a 10th-place finish (2017). Kligerman is also looking to make his Xfinity Series career debut in the Playoffs this season.
Xfinity Sunoco Rookie of the Year race continues
The 2023 Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders have 19 races under their belts and are heading to Road America for their 20th of the season and their fifth on a road course this year.
Diving into the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings following Pocono Raceway, currently leading the pack of Sunoco rookies is Chandler Smith, from Talking Rock, Georgia. The rising star has secured his spot in the Playoffs with his one win (Richmond-1), five top fives and eight top 10s this season. He resides in fifth in the overall series driver standings with 587 points. Smith will be making his series track debut at Road America this weekend.
Sliding in next is Sammy Smith, from Johnston, Iowa, who has also secured his spot in the Xfinity Playoffs with his first career win at Phoenix Raceway earlier this season. Smith is currently second in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standing, just -39 points behind Chandler Smith in the standings lead. Sammy Smith has racked up 548 points this season and has posted a win (Phoenix), four top fives and 10 top 10s. Smith made his series track debut at Road America last season; he started eighth and finished 24th.
Parker Retzlaff, from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, is ranked third in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings with 340 points, -247 points back from the rookie standings lead. This season, Retzlaff has posted one top-five and four top-10 finishes in 19 starts.
And closing out the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings in 2023 is Blaine Perkins, from Bakersfield, California, with 153 points, -434 points behind the rookie standings lead. Perkins has made 17 starts this season posting an average finish of 28.2.
Stanton Barrett will be getting behind the wheel of the No. 35 Chevrolet at Road America this weekend. This will be his first start in the series since the 2019 season. He’s made five starts in the series at Road America, with a best finish of 17th (2010).
Milestone Watch
Justin Allgaier to make 425th NASCAR Xfinity Series career start this weekend. Allgaier is ranked eighth on the all-time NASCAR Xfinity Series starts lists with 424 starts; second-most among active drivers behind Jeremy Clements at 450. Kenny Wallace holds the record for the most career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts with 547.