Ryan Truex wins as AJ Allmendinger wrecks under white flag in NASCAR overtime
For the second time this season in a limited NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule, Ryan Truex is a winner in the No. 20 car. In eight starts this season, Truex has found Victory Lane twice.
Ryan Truex has won multiple races in the Xfinity Series in the same season for the first time ever. Martin Truex Jr. isn’t known for winning at Daytona, but that’s in the Cup Series. Now, his little brother Ryan joins him as a winner in the summer Daytona race in the Xfinity Series.
This came down to an overtime restart. Truex put himself out front on the white flag lap and that’s when AJ Allmendinger went sliding off the track after an ill-timed push.
What’s it going to take to get this guy a full-time ride?
Ryan Truex has proven that he is a competent driver in the Xfinity Series. I understand that funding is a major hurdle to overcome. But at some point, it has to be on teams to get sponsorship for their talent. When a driver wins 25% of his starts in a season, maybe give him more starts.
That aside, this was a great race from Truex. He kept his car straight, didn’t get in over his head. Other drivers were too aggressive too early and it cost them… and those around them.
There were a few big wrecks in this race, but none that really affected the front of the field much. Austin Hill got caught up in a mess on Lap 1 after being moved to the rear of the field for an unapproved adjustment in prerace.
Then we saw incidents from Jeb Burton and Jeffrey Earnhardt that created big wrecks with multiple cars involved. Two wrecks inside the final 25 laps set the race up for overtime.
AJ Allmendinger had almost raced the perfect race. Parker Kligerman was the perfect partner in the draft. Until he wasn’t. Kligerman and Allmendinger will talk about this one and will likely wish they had a chance to redo it all over again.
Justin Allgaier swept the stages today at Daytona. That is huge for him and his quest for the regular season championship. It is the 15th time that Allgaier has swept the stages, and he has 66 stage wins overall in the Xfinity Series.
There is a non-Cup Series driver in the Xfinity Series that has two wins and won’t be in the playoffs. That is hard to wrap my mind around. Ryan Truex has proven himself once again. This time, he gets it done at Daytona.