CONCORD, N.C. — Chase Elliott won the Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway after using strategy to secure an extra set of tires late.
Brandon Jones finished second. Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top five.
Saturday marked Elliott’s first Xfinity Series win since the 2016 season and his first at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
MORE: Xfinity results
MORE: Xfinity driver points
Justin Allgaier swept the first two stages with a dominant car. However, he received a penalty for speeding on pit road ahead of the final stage. Allgaier was able to work his way back through the field to temporarily get inside the top 10 after restarting 32nd but he fell out of contention for the win.
Mayer was in control of the race after passing Kyle Busch for the lead in the final stage, but a caution for Ryan Ellis spinning bunched the field for a late restart. That is when Elliott capitalized. He left pit road with four fresh tires while other drivers were on scuffed sets.
The restart was chaotic as Noah Gragson nearly wrecked on old tires. Allgaier, who added two new tires, then attempted to move in front of Gibbs but he spun off the nose of the No. 20 and into the outside wall.
The restart after Allgaier’s wreck featured Mayer and Elliott on the front row. Mayer had scuffs. Elliott had fresh tires. Once the green flag waved, Elliott took the lead, though the caution flew once again.
Elliott re-took the lead on the final restart, and he quickly built a one-second advantage over the field. Mayer, who restarted on the front row, fell to fourth after hitting the outside wall.
Stage 1 winner: Justin Allgaier
Stage 2 winner: Justin Allgaier
Who had a good race: Chase Elliott gambled by staying out after late cautions in Stages 1 and 2. This dropped him in the running order initially but set him up with extra tires for the end of the race. He won the race with his fresh set. ... Ryan Sieg ran inside the top 10 in all three stages and scored points in the first two stages. ... Brandon Jones made five extra pit stops due to brake issues in Stage 2. He was outside the top 30 early in the final stage but he worked his way inside the top five with 60 laps remaining. He finished second.
Who had a bad race: Riley Herbst slid up the track, hit the outside wall and spun off AJ Allmendinger’s nose. He hit the inside wall and crumpled the nose of the No. 98. Herbst finished last. ... Parker Kligerman spun near the end of Stage 2. He did not impact the wall but was unable to continue in the race with a steering issue. He finished 37th. ... Sheldon Creed made an unscheduled pit stop due to tire and rotor issues in the final stage. He went behind the wall and finished 36th. ... Cole Custer and Austin Hill crashed while racing for fifth and sixth place. Hill then spun Custer under caution.
Next: Xfinity teams head to the West Coast for a race at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, June 1 (4:30 p.m. ET on FS1).