Written by Adrian Beecher
Bristol, TN - ​Erik Jones maneuvered through the cautions and the rain on his way to the checkered flag at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon in the 2017 Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300. Early on, pole sitter Kyle Larson dominated the race leading most of the way until rain delayed the race for over an hour. After the rain, it was anyone’s race to win. Here’s how it all went down at the World’s Fastest Half-Mile.
After starting on the pole, Kyle Larson in the #42 ENEOS Chevrolet was immediately passed by Austin Dillion in the #2 Rheem Chevrolet to lead lap 1. After that Larson regained the lead and started his domination. It took Larson just 6 laps to put Mike Marmon in the #74 Somerset Hardwood Flooring Chevrolet a lap down, making him the first of many. On lap 20 Erik Jones would pass Larson, he was able to lead for 6 laps before Larson regained the lead.
By lap 41 there were only 18 cars left on the lead lap as Larson continued to dominate leading the pack through the field. Then on lap 79, Ryan Reed in the #16 Lilly Diabetes Ford cut a tire down as he hit the wall coming out of turn 2 on the track. That would end his day and bring out our first caution of the day. The caution lasted through the end of stage 1, which gave the stage victory to Kyle Larson. At this point, there were just 8 cars on the lead lap.
35 laps into the second stage, our 3rd caution of the race came out as Ray Black II in the #07 Scuba Life Chevy got into the wall in turn two. On the restart, Larson continued his domination as he raced his way trying to get to the end of the stage before the rain made its way to the track. During most of this time, Daniel Suarez in the #18 Juniper Toyota was doing everything he could to get by Larson and was unable to do so before the rain made its way onto the track causing the 3rd caution of the day to come out.
As the rain continued to fall, NASCAR made the decision to drop the red flag on the track and halt the race with just 8 laps left in stage 2. This was the start of an hour and 38-minute delay for rain. As the red flag went away and drivers took a pit, it was Daniel Hemric taking the lead electing to stay out on the track before the end of stage 2. This proved to be very beneficial as he took the stage two victory, earning a spot in the Dash 4 Cash.
As the final stage got underway, Ryan Blaney in the #22 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Chevy was in the lead. His lead only lasted for 10 laps before Suarez was able to make a pass on him to get back in the lead for just the 2nd time of the day. Then with just 95 laps to go, Larson overtook the lead back from Suarez and began to pull away fast.
Later, on lap 231, Ray Black II found himself in trouble again as he got loose in turn 4 getting into the wall. That is when David Star in the #99 Double D-Mt Co. Strong Technology Chevrolet ran into the front end of Black who was sideways. This ended both of their days early.
On the restart, Brandon Jones in the #33 M-D/Menards Chevrolet led the pack to the green flag. However, he was quickly overtaken by Ryan Blaney in the 22 for the lead. Then with just 56 Laps to go, we got our 6th caution as Brendan Gaughan in the #62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet gets spun by #6 Darrell Wallace Jr. in the front stretch and hits the inside retaining wall then spun and hit the outside wall in turn 1.
After just 3 laps of green flag racing our 7th caution of the day came out. Kyle Larson bumped the tail end of the #33 of Brandon Jones causing him to slam into the #01 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet of Harrison Rhodes who then got loose and hit Darrell Wallace Jr. in the #6 causing him to spin out in turn 4. That is when the #0 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet of Garrett Smithley slammed into Wallace and ended both of their days.
This cause a red flag to come out for 5 minutes before they got back to yellow. They would restart with 35 laps to go and then 5 laps later the 8th caution of the day came out as the #4 GK Services Chevrolet of Ross Chastain blew a right front tire and slammed into the wall on the backstretch.
The restart came with just 23 laps to go and Ryan Blaney in the #22 in the lead. However, after just 1 lap of racing, Erik Jones gave Blaney a little bump going into turn two. This cause Blaney to get loose and gave Jones the lead as he looked to pull away. Then with just 7 laps to go, the 9th caution of the day came out the #9lLiberty University Chevrolet of William Byron got into the back of the #7 Cheney Brothers/ Southern Foods Chevrolet of Justin Allgaier causing him to spin out.
With 3 laps to go the field took to the restart and Erik Jones pulled away and captured his 2nd consecutive win at Bristol. Jones led the race a total of two times for just 27 laps, but it was enough for him to capture his 6th ever Xfinity Series race win.
After starting on the pole, Kyle Larson in the #42 ENEOS Chevrolet was immediately passed by Austin Dillion in the #2 Rheem Chevrolet to lead lap 1. After that Larson regained the lead and started his domination. It took Larson just 6 laps to put Mike Marmon in the #74 Somerset Hardwood Flooring Chevrolet a lap down, making him the first of many. On lap 20 Erik Jones would pass Larson, he was able to lead for 6 laps before Larson regained the lead.
By lap 41 there were only 18 cars left on the lead lap as Larson continued to dominate leading the pack through the field. Then on lap 79, Ryan Reed in the #16 Lilly Diabetes Ford cut a tire down as he hit the wall coming out of turn 2 on the track. That would end his day and bring out our first caution of the day. The caution lasted through the end of stage 1, which gave the stage victory to Kyle Larson. At this point, there were just 8 cars on the lead lap.
35 laps into the second stage, our 3rd caution of the race came out as Ray Black II in the #07 Scuba Life Chevy got into the wall in turn two. On the restart, Larson continued his domination as he raced his way trying to get to the end of the stage before the rain made its way to the track. During most of this time, Daniel Suarez in the #18 Juniper Toyota was doing everything he could to get by Larson and was unable to do so before the rain made its way onto the track causing the 3rd caution of the day to come out.
As the rain continued to fall, NASCAR made the decision to drop the red flag on the track and halt the race with just 8 laps left in stage 2. This was the start of an hour and 38-minute delay for rain. As the red flag went away and drivers took a pit, it was Daniel Hemric taking the lead electing to stay out on the track before the end of stage 2. This proved to be very beneficial as he took the stage two victory, earning a spot in the Dash 4 Cash.
As the final stage got underway, Ryan Blaney in the #22 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Chevy was in the lead. His lead only lasted for 10 laps before Suarez was able to make a pass on him to get back in the lead for just the 2nd time of the day. Then with just 95 laps to go, Larson overtook the lead back from Suarez and began to pull away fast.
Later, on lap 231, Ray Black II found himself in trouble again as he got loose in turn 4 getting into the wall. That is when David Star in the #99 Double D-Mt Co. Strong Technology Chevrolet ran into the front end of Black who was sideways. This ended both of their days early.
On the restart, Brandon Jones in the #33 M-D/Menards Chevrolet led the pack to the green flag. However, he was quickly overtaken by Ryan Blaney in the 22 for the lead. Then with just 56 Laps to go, we got our 6th caution as Brendan Gaughan in the #62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet gets spun by #6 Darrell Wallace Jr. in the front stretch and hits the inside retaining wall then spun and hit the outside wall in turn 1.
After just 3 laps of green flag racing our 7th caution of the day came out. Kyle Larson bumped the tail end of the #33 of Brandon Jones causing him to slam into the #01 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet of Harrison Rhodes who then got loose and hit Darrell Wallace Jr. in the #6 causing him to spin out in turn 4. That is when the #0 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet of Garrett Smithley slammed into Wallace and ended both of their days.
This cause a red flag to come out for 5 minutes before they got back to yellow. They would restart with 35 laps to go and then 5 laps later the 8th caution of the day came out as the #4 GK Services Chevrolet of Ross Chastain blew a right front tire and slammed into the wall on the backstretch.
The restart came with just 23 laps to go and Ryan Blaney in the #22 in the lead. However, after just 1 lap of racing, Erik Jones gave Blaney a little bump going into turn two. This cause Blaney to get loose and gave Jones the lead as he looked to pull away. Then with just 7 laps to go, the 9th caution of the day came out the #9lLiberty University Chevrolet of William Byron got into the back of the #7 Cheney Brothers/ Southern Foods Chevrolet of Justin Allgaier causing him to spin out.
With 3 laps to go the field took to the restart and Erik Jones pulled away and captured his 2nd consecutive win at Bristol. Jones led the race a total of two times for just 27 laps, but it was enough for him to capture his 6th ever Xfinity Series race win.