A caution with 28 of 300 laps remaining set up a tough decision for the lead-lap cars – to pit for new tires or not.
Gragson, who was running second, stayed out and inherited the lead while the rest of the lead-lap cars headed down pit road. Justin Allgaier, who was leading before the caution, came off pit road first but was flagged for a speeding penalty.
On the restart with 21 laps to go, Gragson quickly cleared for the lead and then spent the final three laps trying to keep Jones – who got to Gragson’s rear bumper several times – at bay. Gragson finally cleared him by 0.145 seconds for his third consecutive win.
The victory is a series-leading sixth for Gragson this season and the 11th of his career.
Absolute mayhem on the frontstrech.
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 17, 2022
We wouldn't expect anything else from a @NoahGragson win. pic.twitter.com/Q7lMguboFk
“That’s three in a row!” Gragson said. “That last caution came out and I knew if we continued to run the top (groove) it was going to be hard for them to get there. I appreciate Brandon Jones racing us clean. He got to my bumper with two to go. I was hanging on and scrubbing the fence.
“I won Bristol in 2020 and there were no fans here. This is 10 times cooler. You guys are awesome. Man, I’m just so thankful. Our car was fast all day. Once we got up to the top, we were rolling.
“I had a blast.”
Austin Hill finished third in the race, Sam Mayer was fourth and Riley Herbst rebounded from an early spin and rounded out the top-five.
Friday night’s race was the last of the Xfinity Series regular season. The playoffs kick off next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
A.J. Allmendinger clinched the regular season title with his sixth-place finish in the race, while Gragson will enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed.
Joining Allmendinger in the playoffs will be Allgaier, Gragson, Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, Austin Hill, Jones, Mayer, Herbst, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Sieg and Jeremy Clements.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, most of the lead-lap cars pit with Allgaier the first off pit road.
On the restart on Lap180, Bayley Currey and Joe Graf Jr. had stayed out and led the way followed by Allgaier.
Allgaier powered around both on the restart to reclaim the lead.
With 50 laps remaining, Allgaier had moved out to a more than 2.5-second lead over Gragson as Jones ran third, 3.8 seconds behind the leader.
On Lap 271, while Allgaier was trying to fend off Gragson, he split two lapped cars but ended up making contact with J.J. Yeley, who spun and hit the wall to bring out a caution.
The leader gets into the No. 66 and we'll have a split decision during this #XfinitySeries caution with under 30 laps left. pic.twitter.com/1lpxHknr3u
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) September 17, 2022
Most of the lead-lap cars pit but Gragson stayed out and inherited the lead. Allgaier was the first off pit road but was penalized for speeding and had to restart from the rear of the field.
On the restart on Lap 281, Gragson was followed by Jones, Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Herbst and Mayer.
Gragson quickly cleared for the lead on the restart even on the older tires.
Stage 2
Allgaier claimed the Stage 2 win under caution when Mayer spun out with three laps remaining and the race could not resume.
Gragson ended up second, Allmendinger third, Jones fourth and Herbst fifth.
Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, most of the lead-lap cars elected to pit with Gibbs the first off pit road.
On the restart on Lap 95, Creed – who stayed out – led the way, followed by Gibbs, Allgaier, Gragson and Jones (who did a two-tire stop).
On Lap 117, Landon Cassill was forced to pit under green with a flat tire and ended up going to the garage with appeared to be a suspension issue.
With 50 laps to go in the stage, Allgaier had closed to rear bumper of Sheldon Creed as Gibbs ran third.
Allgaier finally got around Creed on Lap 125 to take the lead for the second time in the race.
Gragson got into the back of Gibbs on Lap 129 and Gibbs went up the track and slammed Creed into the wall, knocking him out of the race.
Ty Gibbs and Sheldon Creed into the @BMSupdates wall.
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) September 17, 2022
The No. 2 team's #NASCARPlayoffs hopes are over after being in the wrong place at the wrong time. pic.twitter.com/bnmwPtBKhd
“I thought I had the top rolling. (Gragson) just got in (Gibbs),” Creed said. ‘This is just how our year has gone.”
A handful of cars pit but Allgaier remained on the track and in the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 139.
With 10 laps to go in the stage, Allgaier had increased his advantage over Gragson to 1-second with Mayer close behind in third.
Mayer went inside of Yeley and C.J. McLaughlin while running second but got loose and spun out to bring out a caution and end the stage.
Stage 1
Gibbs edged Allgaier to take the win in Stage 1, in which he led all 85 laps.
Gragson was third, Mayer fourth and Allmendinger rounded out the top-five.
Gibbs started on the pole and took an early lead.
Caution was displayed on Lap 6 as Nick Sanchez hit the wall with a flat tire in Turn 2. The race resumed on Lap 11 with Gibbs out front.
Herbst spun after contact on Lap 13 with Creed to place the race back under caution. The race returned to green on Lap 19 with Gibbs still out front.
On Lap 36, Sanchez spun again off Turn 3 to bring out the third caution of the race. A few cars elected to pit, including Jones who was having issues keeping the window net up in his No. 19 Toyota.
The race resumed on Lap 42 with Gibbs out front, followed by Allgaier and Berry.
Brandon Brown wrecked down the backstretch on Lap 45 to force the fourth caution of the race. Gibbs remained the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 51.
With 25 laps remaining in the stage, Gibbs held about a half-second lead over Allgaier as Gragson ran third.
