TALLADEGA, Ala. – Brandon Brown had never been so happy to see the sun setting.
Brown, driving for his family-owned Brandonbilt Motorsports, was declared the winner of Saturday’s Sparks 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race after it became too dark for the race to continue.
It was Brown’s first Xfinity Series victory in his 114th series start.
“Oh my God, this is a dream come true,” Brown said after exiting his race car. “Talladega, a winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Oh my God! Dad, we did it.”
Brown didn’t enter the front half of the field until the second half of the race. He moved to the front of the field shortly after a restart with 20 to go following a massive crash with 25 laps left that involved 13 cars that was triggered by contact between leader Brett Moffitt and Jeb Burton.
He restarted eighth with 20 laps left as Brandon Jones moved his way into the lead. Brown stuck to the bottom as the field began stacking up and slowly moved his way closer to the race lead.
With 14 laps left Brown got to the inside of Jones and coming out of turn four found himself in the race lead. Jones and Brown would trade the lead multiple times in the laps that followed, with Brown on the bottom and Jones on the top.
Jones found himself in the race lead coming out of turn two with 12 laps left, but Brown was bound and determined on the bottom. They were soon joined by veteran Justin Allgaier, who split the duo as they roared towards turn three.
Behind them mayhem struck as a push from Brett Moffitt to Harrison Burton went bad, sending Burton around and collecting at least half a dozen cars. The caution flag waved seconds later and after several moments, NASCAR officials determined Brown as the leader at the time of the caution.
As the cars circulated during the caution period the impending darkness arrived, making it nearly impossible for drivers and spotters to see. Under caution with six laps left NASCAR officials made the call to end the race, awarding Brown his first Xfinity Series victory.
“This is everything I’ve ever wanted to do, take the trophy home to Mom and Dad,” Brown said. “We saw our moment and we ceased it. God I’m just so proud of everyone at Brandonbilt Motorsports, I’m so proud of our team here and at home, everyone that has worked on our team since the beginning. We did, we did it, we did it.”
Jones was second at the conclusion of the race, with Allgaier finishing third. Daniel Hemric and Jordan Anderson completed the top-five finishers.
A.J. Allmendinger, the regular season Xfinity Series champion, finished 39th after being taken out of the race in a crash on the last lap of stage one. He remains more than 30 points above the cutoff line entering next Saturday’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
Austin Cindric, the defending series champion, clinched a spot in the next round of the playoffs based on his point total after Saturday’s race at Talladega.