NASCAR
Ryan Truex Takes Second Career Xfinity Win in Dover Double Overtime
DOVER, Del. – The underdog hometown hero for Dover Motor Speedway is victorious for a second straight year in Xfinity. After edging ahead in double overtime, Ryan Truex takes home another win with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. The dominant driver a year ago, Truex was the upset this year after a very dramatic and restart-filled run to the checkers.
After teammate Brandon Jones earned the pole, JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier took Stage 1. The No. 7 Chevrolet would fall short of a Stage sweep, with Stage 2 going to the 00 of Cole Custer. The only incidents between both Stages were a few scary fires for RSS Racing cars of Ryan Sieg and Blaine Perkins.
Custer held command off pit road leading into Stage 3 and initially rocketed off from the pack. Heavy lapped traffic did keep Allgaier within reach of the leader however. Weather in the area did pick up this race’s sense of urgency as well. A rain caution did fly just inside of the final 50 laps at the Monster Mile.
Once racing resumed, Allgaier soon lost the lead to Austin Hill, but several short runs kept the field close. One of these restarts saw Carson Kvapil take the leaders three wide to put the No. 88 Chevrolet in the wind. Making only his second Xfinity start, Kvapil looked to be the ultimate wildcard winner at Dover.
A first attempt at overtime would not last half a lap, with Austin Hill spinning from contact with Kvapil. The second generation star would line up alongside Ryan Truex for a second dash to the checkers.
On the restart, Truex remained on Kvapil’s inside into turn three and cleared him at the white flag. With a grand total of two laps led, Ryan Truex is now a two time Dover Xfinity Series winner.
“I can’t believe it,” Truex said. “Our car was just good at the end when it mattered. I was so loose all day. I got to apologize for running into the 2, I just ran out of talent to be frank. Feel bad about that. Shoutout to Carson (Kvapil), what an amazing run for his second race. I felt a little bad running him up the hill but man, you got to take these things when you can. This GR Supra was as fas as Xfinity Internet. I’m out of breath from those last two laps. Thank you so much to the fans, love this track and crowd. Just can’t believe it.”
Unofficially behind Truex at the checkers were Kvapil, Sam Mayer, Sheldon Creed, and Cole Custer. The rest of the top-10 were: AJ Allmendinger, Chandler Smith, Kyle Weatherman, Anthony Alfredo, and Parker Retzlaff. By finishing ninth, Alfredo takes home the fourth and final Dash4Cash bonus of 2024. Hear from a few of these drivers below.
Xfinity will return to action at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, May 11. The Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 goes green at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
