Event: Inaugural UNOH 188 (Round 19 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (3.61-mile, 14-turn road course)
Format: 52 laps, broken into three stages (15 laps/15 laps/22 laps)
Start/Finish: 2nd/29th (Accident, completed 46 of 52 laps)
Point Standing: 2nd (782 points, 48 out of first)
Race Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Overview:
The first 46 laps of the UNOH 188 NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday on the road course at Daytona International Speedway went pretty well for Chase Briscoe. The driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang led twice for a race-high 26 laps and won Stage 2. But on a restart with six laps to go, Briscoe was caught in an accordion-like crash at the entry to turn one as those around him overshot the corner. In fourth place as the field entered the first left-hander on the 3.61-mile, 14-turn road course, Briscoe tried to clear the front runners by overtaking them on the outside. But the top-three cars each ran wide, pushing Briscoe off the track, and as Briscoe came off the turn and onto a straight before the International Horseshoe, he got sandwiched between two other cars. This sent Briscoe spinning into the grass, whereupon the nose of his HighPoint.com Ford sustained heavy damage. The team was unable to make repairs and Briscoe had to retire his racecar with a disappointing 29th-place finish. It was his first DNF (Did Not Finish) in 35 races, a streak dating back to July 5, 2019 when Briscoe was collected in a multicar accident during the Firecracker 250 on Daytona’s 2.5-mile superspeedway.
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We had a really strong HighPoint.com Ford Mustang and I felt like we were in the best position to win after the last pit stop. We had worked on the car all race and Richard Boswell (crew chief) and the guys did a great job of getting it to turn better. I knew I had more I could do on those final laps to make sure we stayed ahead of everyone, but I needed to clear the two cars on the front row pretty quickly if I wanted to get back to the lead. That didn’t really go as planned, which ended up being the end of our day. I hate that it happened for everyone on this team and everybody at HighPoint, but I feel like we are at least back to running how we should. I’m looking forward to getting to Dover next week and going for two wins.”
Notes:
● Briscoe finished seventh in Stage 1 to earn four bonus points. He won Stage 2 to earn 10 more bonus points and a playoff point.
● Austin Cindric won the UNOH 188 to score his seventh career Xfinity Series victory, his fifth of the season and his second straight. His margin of victory over second-place Brandon Jones was 7.108 seconds.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of eight laps.
● Twenty-five of the 38 drivers in the UNOH 188 finished on the lead lap.
● Cindric leaves Daytona as the championship leader with a 48-point advantage over second-place Briscoe.
Next Up:
The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is a doubleheader Aug. 22-23 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Each race is 200 laps around the 1-mile, concrete oval and both races are called the Drydene 200. The first race starts at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 22 and the second race begins at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 23. NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will broadcast both races.
