This weekend the Xfinity Series went down to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the first time since 2008 as a partner race for the first international points-paying race in the Cup Series since 1958.
Connor Zilisch led the field to the green beside Ty Gibbs, Gibbs led the first lap before Zilisch made a dive into Turn 1 and was just clear for the lead before Gibbs pushed him off into the grass exiting Turn 2. Caution flew for the first time on lap three as Sam Mayer would wheel hop into Turn 11 and smack the tire barrier.
The race restarted on lap 6 with Gibbs leading over Christopher Bell, Gibbs took back control of the race as William Sallawich spun in Turn 4. Zilisch passed Bell to move back to 2nd on lap 9 as Daniel Suarez who started shotgun on the field made his way from 39th to 16th in the first 11 laps. Bell spun from 3rd place on lap 13 and he fell to 10th place as a result. Sammy Smith got turned off the nose of Jesse Love on lap 15. Meanwhile, Gibbs built his gap to about a second and a half over Zilisch. Leaders pitted to flip the stage and as a result, Carson Kvapil would stay out to win the stage.
Stage One Results:
- Carson Kvapil
- Taylor Gray
- Jesse Love
- Austin Hill
- Nick Sanchez
- Brandon Jones
- Sage Karam
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Jeb Burton
- Alex Labbe
After the stage break pit stops Zilisch led Gibbs and the field to the start of the second stage. Zilisch took a push from Bell and Smith to retake control of the race as Suarez came out of the restart in 3rd place. We saw a few issues for the Chevy’s of Anthony Alfredo who spun and Austin Hill cut a tire causing him to to pit. Stage winner Carson Kvapil would also spin fighting in the mid-teens ruining his alternate strategy. Zilisch pulled a similar gap to the one Gibbs had in stage one before the pit stops began. Bell attempted to make an unplanned stop as his engine expired, he came to a stop right near the entrance of the pit road. NASCAR did not throw the caution as they deemed Bell was far enough out of the way to not warrant a yellow flag. Sammy Smith stayed out to win the second stage.
Stage Two Results:
- Sammy Smith
- Taylor Gray
- Sheldon Creed
- Brandon Jones
- Christian Eckes
- Daniel Dye
- Dean Thompson
- Nick Sanchez
- Connor Zilisch
- Ty Gibbs
The final stage saw the dominant two cars of Zilisch and Gibbs go to battle again with the field in tow. Calamity struck into Turn 1 as Zilisch hopped the curb trying to give Gibbs and Suarez both room and set off a melee that involved Gibbs, Kvapil, Sallawich, Mayer, Parker Retzlaff, and others. After an extended caution period, Suarez led the field to green over Christian Eckes and the field with 14 laps to go. This restart would be without major incident as Suarez quickly built a gap over Eckes.
Taylor Gray made his way into second position and started to cut into Suarez’s lead bit by bit. Love spun out in a congested section of the track and brought out a yellow flag with 7 laps to go. Bringing us to a late-race restart, Suarez led Gray and the field into Turn 1 with just 4 laps to go. After a quick excursion through the grass thanks to the bumper of Gray’s car Suarez was able to build a small gap as he started to pull away. Meanwhile, Zilisch would try his best to get towards the front but would be mired in the back of the top 5. Gray made a late charge but was just short of getting to Suarez’s bumper in the final corner as he held on to win The Chilango 150.
Top Ten Results:
- Daniel Suarez
- Taylor Gray
- Austin Hill
- Christian Eckes
- Connor Zilisch
- William Sallawich
- Austin Green
- Jeb Burton
- Harrison Burton
- Sammy Smith
Photo Credit: NASCAR on Facebook
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