NASCAR Xfinity Series: A.J. Allmendinger disqualified, stripped of 3rd place

A.J. Allmendinger has been disqualified from Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway, the Circle K Firecracker 250.

Kaulig Racing’s first top three sweep of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race is going to have to settle for being just their first top two sweep in team history.

A.J. Allmendinger, who drove his #10 Chevrolet to a third place finish in Friday night’s Circle K Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway, has been disqualified from this race after his #10 Chevrolet failed post-race inspection.

As a result, he was dropped to 38th (last) place and stripped of his stage two victory. JR Motorsports’ Michael Annett is now the stage two winner and has earned one additional playoff point because of it.

Here is what Xfinity Series managing director Wayne Auton had to say about why Allmendinger was disqualified from this race, according to NBC Sports.

"“Whenever you go especially to restrictor-plate style races, the teams are very much aware that everything has got to be sealed up tight. It could compromise the availability of the restrictor plate to do its job.“Postrace, we automatically teardown the winner and second place and there’s always a random car and (Allmendinger’s car) was picked as the random this week. We took the car back and did our due diligence.”"

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Kaulig Racing teammates Ross Chastain and Justin Haley finished this 100-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida in first and second place in their #16 Chevrolet and #11 Chevrolet, respectively.

Prior to this race, Kaulig Racing had never recorded a top three finish, so this is still by far the best result in team history. Their highest finish had been Austin Dillon’s fourth place finish in the March race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this season.

Notably promoted to third place as a result of Allmendinger’s disqualification was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, who was disqualified after finishing in third in his #20 Toyota in last Saturday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, the highest finishing Ford driver of the Circle K Firecracker 250, was promoted to fourth place after finishing in fifth in his #22 Ford. JD Motorsports’ Stephen Leicht was promoted to fifth after finishing in sixth in his #01 Chevrolet.

Brandonbilt Motorsports’ Brandon Brown, RSS Racing’s Jeff Green, SS-Green Light Racing’s Gray Gaulding, Jeremy Clements Racing’s Jeremy Clements and B.J. McLeod Motorsports’ Matt Mills rounded out the top 10 by finishing in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #86 Chevrolet, #38 Chevrolet, #08 Chevrolet, #51 Chevrolet and #5 Chevrolet, respectively.

Here are the updated full race results of the 2019 Circle K Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

Race Results
1st – Ross Chastain
2nd – Justin Haley
3rd – Christopher Bell
4th – Austin Cindric
5th – Stephen Leicht
6th – Brandon Brown
7th – Jeff Green
8th – Gray Gaulding
9th – Jeremy Clements
10th – Matt Mills
11th – Vinnie Miller
12th – Stefan Parsons
13th – Ray Black Jr.
14th – Garrett Smithley
15th – Noah Gragson
16th – Tyler Reddick
17th – Justin Allgaier
18th – Riley Herbst
19th – Chris Cockrum
20th – Timmy Hill
21st – Shane Lee
22nd – John Hunter Nemechek
23rd – Joe Graf Jr.
24th – Ryan Sieg
25th – Michael Annett
26th – Cole Custer
27th – Chad Finchum
28th – Josh Williams
29th – Caesar Bacarella
30th – Brandon Jones
31st – Scott Lagasse Jr.
32nd – David Starr
33rd – B.J. McLeod
34th – Sheldon Creed
35th – Chase Briscoe
36th – Joe Nemechek
37th – Landon Cassill
38th – A.J. Allmendinger

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Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky is scheduled to host the next race on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. This race, the Alsco 300, is scheduled to take place on Friday, July 12, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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