Race report
NASCAR O'Reilly Watkins Glen
Leaders spin and Kyle Larson wins Xfinity race at The Glen
Kyle Larson was gifted the lead and then had to work for the win in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
Jim Utter
Published: Aug 20, 2022, 10:22 PM
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Ty Gibbs led on a restart with five of 82 laps remaining, but William Byron got alongside him coming out of Turn 1 with Larson in third.
As Gibbs and Byron raced side-by-side through the inner loop, they both spun off course, which allowed Larson to pass them and inherit the lead. He then spent the final four laps deftly holding off talented road racer A.J. Allmendinger, clearing him by 0.273 seconds for the win.
The victory is the first in the series for Larson since the 2018 season and he was making just his second start of the year. Larson, the reigning Cup Series champion, now has 13 career Xfinity wins.
“I got lucky,” Larson said. “My only shot really was if (Gibbs) and (Byron) got racing. I just wanted to help Willy down the frontstretch as much as I could and they got battling in the esses.
I tried to help him to get clear in the bus stop and they raced side-by-side into there, got together, the seas parted and I was able to get through.
“Then I had A.J. behind me and I just tried to hit my marks as beast I could. He definitely had me nervous out front of him. It’s cool to get a win here.”
Sammy Smith finished third, Noah Gragson was fourth and Kaz Grala rounded out the top-five.
Completing the top-10 were Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed, Josh Berry and Jeremy Clements.
Byron ended up 25th while Gibbs finished 27th.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, several lead-lap cars pit but Byron stayed on the track and remained in the lead.
On the restart on Lap 45, Byron was followed by Gibbs and Allmendinger.
Creed was the first of the lead-lap cars to make its final pit stop on Lap 52 to take on new tires and fuel to make it to the finish of the race. Byron and Gibbs followed on Lap 53.
On Lap 59, Daniel Hemric locked up his brakes plowed nose-first into the tire barrier in the carousel to bring out the seventh caution of the race.
Those cars that had yet to pit elected to do so. Gibbs was among those who remained on the track and moved back into the lead.
The caution was extended by several laps after Myatt Snider brought his car from the garage after repairs but it began dropping fluid on the track.
On the restart on Lap 68, Gibbs was followed by Byron, Gragson, Larson and Allmendinger.
Larson quickly bolted to second on the restart only to see Byron reclaim it.
With 10 laps remaining, Gibbs maintained a lead over Byron of just under a second. Larson ran third and Allmendinger fourth.
On Lap 76, Ross Chastain got stuck in the sand trap which forced NASCAR to throw another caution.
Gibbs remained the lead on the restart with five laps remaining. He was followed by Byron, Larson, Smith and Allmendinger.
As Gibbs and Byron raced side-by-side through the inner loop, both cars spun off course and Larson inherited the lead.
With two laps to go, Larson led but Allmendinger was right on his rear bumper with Smith in third.
Stage 2
Byron cruised to the Stage 2 win over Gibbs by 1.4 seconds.
Allmendinger finished third, Gragson fourth and Larson rounded out the top-five.
Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, a handful of cars pit but Smith remained on the track and remained in the lead.
On the restart on Lap 24, Smith was followed by Byron, Creed and Larson.
Larson went to the outside of Smith on the restart to take the lead for the first time in the race.
On Lap 25, Byron out-braked Larson entering Turn 1 to reclaim the lead.
NASCAR was forced to display a caution on Lap 29 after Alex Labbe suffered a flat tire and came to a stop in the inner loop.
When the race resumed on Lap 30, Byron led the way followed by Larson and Gibbs.
On Lap 31, Kris Wright’s car came to a stop off Turn 1 which forced NASCAR to throw another caution.
The race returned to green on Lap 34 with Byron still out front, followed by Larson and Gibbs.
With five laps remaining in the stage, Byron held a 1.24-second lead over Creed as Larson ran third.
Stage 1
Smith passed Allmendinger on a restart with two laps remaining and held on for the Stage 1 win.
Grala was third, Clements fourth and Kyle Weatherman rounded out the top-five.
Byron started on the pole and took control early.
The race was placed under caution on Lap 5 after Justin Allgaier spun in the esses and slammed into the barrier, which brought an early end to his day.
Just a handful of cars pit. On the restart on Lap 9, Byron led the way followed by Gibbs, Allmendinger and Cole Custer.
Gibbs grabbed the lead on the restart only to see Byron recapture it in the inner loop. Gibbs moved back ahead of Byron on Lap 11.
Patrick Gallagher stalled in the inner loop on Lap 16 which brought out the second caution of the race.
Most of the lead-lap cars elected to pit with Gibbs first off pit road. Allmendinger stayed on the track and inherited the lead. The race resumed with two laps remaining in the stage.
Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Laps Led Retirement Points Bonus 1 88 
Kyle Larson Chevrolet 82 2:35'13.639 7 2 16 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 82 2:35'13.912 0.273 0.273 3 52 3 18 Sammy Smith Toyota 82 2:35'14.307 0.668 0.395 6 44 4 9 Noah Gragson Chevrolet 82 2:35'16.001 2.362 1.694 40 5 48 Kaz Grala Chevrolet 82 2:35'16.216 2.577 0.215 6 1 Sam Mayer Chevrolet 82 2:35'16.643 3.004 0.427 31 7 98 Riley Herbst Ford 82 2:35'19.116 5.477 2.473 4 30 8 2 Sheldon Creed Chevrolet 82 2:35'20.690 7.051 1.574 37 9 8 Josh Berry Chevrolet 82 2:35'21.889 8.250 1.199 32 10 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 82 2:35'25.374 11.735 3.485 2 34 11 07 Cole Custer Ford 82 2:35'28.057 14.418 2.683 12 44 Stefan Parsons Chevrolet 82 2:35'28.209 14.570 0.152 13 39 Ryan Sieg Ford 82 2:35'29.457 15.818 1.248 24 14 66 Timmy Hill Chevrolet 82 2:35'31.365 17.726 1.908 15 26 Connor Mosack Toyota 82 2:35'31.537 17.898 0.172 16 10 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 82 2:35'31.635 17.996 0.098 21 17 45 Josh Bilicki Chevrolet 82 2:35'31.902 18.263 0.267 18 23 Anthony Alfredo Chevrolet 82 2:35'31.911 18.272 0.009 19 19 08 Andy Lally Ford 82 2:35'32.009 18.370 0.098 19 20 35 Brad Perez Toyota 82 2:35'32.185 18.546 0.176 21 91 Preston Pardus Chevrolet 82 2:35'32.424 18.785 0.239 16 22 34 Kyle Weatherman Chevrolet 82 2:35'33.630 19.991 1.206 21 23 78 Scott Heckert Chevrolet 82 2:35'35.622 21.983 1.992 14 24 19 Brandon Jones Toyota 82 2:35'38.241 24.602 2.619 13 25 17 William Byron Chevrolet 82 2:35'39.019 25.380 0.778 35 26 4 Bayley Currey Chevrolet 82 2:35'42.994 29.355 3.975 11 27 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota 82 2:35'52.007 38.368 9.013 25 19 28 92 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 81 2:36'03.970 1 Lap 1 Lap 29 02 Blaine Perkins Chevrolet 80 2:33'19.219 2 Laps 1 Lap 30 21 Austin Hill Chevrolet 73 2:35'57.544 9 Laps 7 Laps 7 31 11 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 58 1:44'22.195 24 Laps 15 Laps Accident 6 32 5 Brandon Brown Chevrolet 51 1:37'44.955 31 Laps 7 Laps Axle 5 33 31 Myatt Snider Chevrolet 50 1:37'30.008 32 Laps 1 Lap Accident 4 34 68 Kris Wright Chevrolet 30 57'45.280 52 Laps 20 Laps Driveshaft 35 36 
Alex Labb Chevrolet 26 49'01.614 56 Laps 4 Laps Accident 2 36 38 Patrick Gallagher Ford 14 23'19.933 68 Laps 12 Laps Rear gear 1 37 27 Jeb Burton Chevrolet 8 15'48.608 74 Laps 6 Laps Accident 1 38 7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 4 5'02.543 78 Laps 4 Laps Accident 1
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