Known for his road course and superspeedway prowess, A.J. Allmendinger went to work during the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday after starting 11th.
The full-time Cup Series driver, while piloting the No. 10 for Kaulig Racing, earned his second win of the Xfinity Series season after leading 25 total laps during the Tennessee Lottery 250.
Allmendinger quietly snuck into the battle for the lead with 53 laps to go, as Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer fought off Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith. The two frontrunners continued to show each other a wheel, trading the advantage back and forth, until Allmendinger swept by the pair in a matter of three laps.
Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman inherited the lead briefly due to the pit cycle late in the race, but with under 15 laps to go, the No. 10 was back in prime position leading the 38-car field around the 1.33-mile track.
The race went into overtime, as Chad Chastain got loose in his No. 91 Chevrolet with six laps to go and brought out the 10th caution of the race. Smith brought out another caution on the restart, when he slid up into the wall in his No. 16 Chevrolet and spun.
On the final restart, with two laps to go, Allmendinger got a clear jump on the field and rode the wave all the way to his 17th career Xfinity Series win. Behind him, chaos ensued on the final lap as JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier wrecked on the frontstretch, making contact with Brett Moffitt and Parker Retzlaff in the process.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst finished second behind Allmendinger, earning his third top-five finish of the year.
Sam Mayer, Austin Hill and Josh Berry completed the top five.
Notably, stage one winner Ty Gibbs was taken out of contention on lap 53 after Hill tapped the left rear of the No. 19 Toyota and sent Gibbs into the outside wall.
Smith, who won stage two and also led 74 laps of the 196-lap race, finished 12th.