John Hunter Nemechek made the winning pass with seven laps remaining in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway to punch his ticket.
The 26-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led 38 of 200 laps and benefitted from a late skirmish involving Allgaier and Kligerman to snatch the lead with six laps remaining and secure his spot for the Playoff s Round of 8 by winning at the Lone Star state.
After spending the last three seasons with SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt (2020 – 2022), Joe Graf Jr. moved to RSS Racing during the offseason, where he’ll spend the majority of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season competing for the Sugar Hill, Ga.-based team.
The 37-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, led a race-high 110 of 300 laps and executed during a 44-lap dash to the finish on fresh tires to fend off Daniel Hemric, win at Thunder Valley and become the first Xfinity competitor to transfer to the Playoff s Round of 8.