NASCAR Xfinity, Trucks Results from Saturday: Kligerman, Hill go rut-busting

• .Part-timer Parker Kligerman showed he’s not a one-track wonder by winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio.

• Later in the day, Austin Hill of Winston, Ga. held off an eight-car pack on the last lap to win the Alsco Xfinity Series 150 at Atlanta.

• The NASCAR Cup Series races at Atlanta on Sunday.

A couple of drivers aiming to break out of racing ruts managed to do exactly that on a busy Saturday afternoon of NASCAR racing in Ohio and Georgia. The schedule continues on Sunday afternoon, when the Cup Series runs the Quaker State 400 at 3:00 ET at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

First, on Saturday, 32-year-old part-timer Parker Kligerman showed he’s not a one-track wonder by winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course at Lexington. Before Saturday, the Westport, Conn., native’s only two NASCAR victories had come in Truck Series races at Talladega Superspeedway in 2012 and 2017.

Later in the day, Austin Hill of Winston, Ga. held off an eight-car pack on the last lap to win the Alsco Xfinity Series 150 at AMS. It had been a lifelong goal to win a major event in his home state’s biggest track, where he was second in the spring Xfinity race and had runner-up finishes in the Truck Series in 2020 and 2021.

Camping World Truck Series

• Kligerman shed his “Talladega-only” label by passing Zane Smith with three laps remaining at Mid-Ohio, then then surviving Smith’s aggressive but clean bid to overtake on the last lap. They briefly ran side-by-side on the last two laps, giving Smith several chances to rough-drive the leader. But he played it fair, and looked all the better for it.

Combined, second-starting Kligerman (three times for 56 laps) and Smith (twice for eight) led all but the first three laps. Pole-winner Cory Heim was briefly ahead for 1-3 before Kligerman took over. He led 4-39, yielded to Smith for 40-42, then regained the point for 43-59. Smith led laps 60-64 before Kligerman led the final three to win by 0.119 seconds. Nobody else was even close after 67 laps around the 2.258-mile course.

Behind Kligerman and Smith in the year’s 15th of 23 CWTS race were Carson Hocevar, Stewart Friesen, Christian Eckes, Chandler Smith, Kaz Grala, Derek Kraus, Colby Howard, and Hailie Deegan. It was only Deegan’s second career top-10 finish in 38 CWTS starts dating to 2020.

The runner-up finish padded Zane Smith’s points lead to 58 over John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith. The rest of the top 10 going into the July 23 race at Pocono: Friesen (-69), Ben Rhodes (-70), Ty Majeski (-80), Eckes (-93), Hocevar (-116), Grant Enfinger (-158), and Matt Crafton (186).

Xfinity Series

• Hill got his second Xfinity Series victory of the season—the other, at Daytona Beach in February, was the first of his career—by .111 seconds in the 163-lap, 251-mile race at AMS. He was dogged over the final 15 laps by eight challengers, all of whom dutifully lined up and followed him until the final lap, each hoping someone else would make something happen and give them a chance.

Fourth-running Daniel Hemric tried first, coming low approaching Turn 1 on the last lap. But second-running Josh Berry dipped down a lane to slow Hemric’s charge, an equally futile attempt to take the lead or stay second. When the pack began to break up and spread out even more, Hill’s victory was virtually assured.

“My car (a Richard Childress Chevrolet) was a rocket ship all day,” he said. “What a car; they worked their tails off to bring a fast car. I’ve tried so hard to win, on the big track because this is my home state’s track. I had three straight second-places here, so this is going to be special for the rest of my life.”

He earned it, having led four times for 73 of the 163 laps, including the final 63. Second-place Berry led three times for 13 laps, Truex led once for eight, fourth-place Tyler Reddick led once for 21. AJ Allmendinger (25), Sheldon Creed (16), and Ty Gibbs (seven) combined to lead the remaining 48.

Behind Hill, Berry and Ryan Truex came Reddick, Hemric, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Landon Cassill, Riley Herbst, and Allmendinger. The Xfinity Series next goes to Loudon, N.H. for a Saturday afternoon race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race

Inaugural O'Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Lexington, Ohio

Saturday, July 9, 2022

1. (2) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 67.

2. (13) Zane Smith, Ford, 67.

3. (3) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 67.

4. (19) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 67.

5. (20) Christian Eckes, Toyota, 67.

6. (31) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 67.

7. (17) Kaz Grala, Chevrolet, 67.

8. (23) Derek Kraus, Chevrolet, 67.

9. (30) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 67.

10. (28) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 67.

11. (12) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 67.

12. (21) Ty Majeski, Toyota, 67.

13. (22) Chase Purdy, Toyota, 67.

14. (14) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 67.

15. (10) Taylor Gray, Ford, 67.

16. (35) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 67.

17. (34) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 67.

18. (5) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 67.

19. (6) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 67.

20. (16) Tanner Gray, Ford, 67.

21. (7) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 67.

22. (36) Stephen Mallozzi, Toyota, 67.

23. (15) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, 66.

24. (27) Lawless Alan #, Chevrolet, 66.

25. (33) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Accident, 65.

26. (1) Corey Heim #, Toyota, Transmission, 60.

27. (29) Dean Thompson #, Chevrolet, 60.

28. (4) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 57.

29. (26) Jack Wood #, Chevrolet, Accident, 54.

30. (25) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, Accident, 54.

31. (8) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, Accident, 49.

32. (9) Dylan Lupton, Chevrolet, Accident, 47.

33. (32) Kenko Miura, Toyota, 42.

34. (11) Connor Mosack, Chevrolet, Brakes, 37.

35. (18) Trey Burke III, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 16.

36. (24) Mason Filippi, Toyota, Engine, 9.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 65.116 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 19 Mins, 24 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.119 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 15 laps.

Lead Changes: 5 among 3 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Heim # 1-3;P. Kligerman 4-39;Z. Smith 40-42;P. Kligerman 43-59;Z. Smith 60-64;P. Kligerman 65-67.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Parker Kligerman 3 times for 56 laps; Zane Smith 2 times for 8 laps; Corey Heim # 1 time for 3 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 75,38,4,51,23,98,16,42,41,52

Stage #2 Top Ten: 38,75,51,98,42,23,52,16,02,66

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race

2nd Annual Alsco Uniforms 250

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Hampton, Georgia

Saturday, July 9, 2022

1. (5) Austin Hill #, Chevrolet, 163.

2. (2) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 163.

3. (21) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 163.

4. (22) Tyler Reddick(i), Chevrolet, 163.

5. (16) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 163.

6. (6) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 163.

7. (7) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 163.

8. (18) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 163.

9. (8) Riley Herbst, Ford, 163.

10. (3) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 163.

11. (4) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 163.

12. (15) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, 163.

13. (13) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 163.

14. (14) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 163.

15. (9) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 163.

16. (29) Kyle Sieg #, Ford, 163.

17. (11) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 163.

18. (26) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 163.

19. (19) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, 163.

20. (23) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 163.

21. (36) Ryan Vargas, Chevrolet, 163.

22. (28) David Starr, Ford, 163.

23. (12) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 162.

24. (30) Mason Massey, Chevrolet, 162.

25. (20) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 162.

26. (32) Joey Gase, Ford, 161.

27. (37) Natalie Decker, Ford, 161.

28. (34) Caesar Bacarella, Chevrolet, 161.

29. (17) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 161.

30. (31) Joe Graf Jr., Ford, 161.

31. (38) Brennan Poole(i), Chevrolet, 159.

32. (27) Jesse Iwuji #, Chevrolet, 157.

33. (24) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, Accident, 119.

34. (10) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 106.

35. (1) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, Accident, 93.

36. (35) JJ Yeley, Ford, Fuel Pump, 71.

37. (33) Matt Mills(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 64.

38. (25) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, Engine, 23.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 128.071 mph.

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 57 Mins, 36 Secs. Margin of Victory: .111 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 6 for 28 laps.

Lead Changes: 17 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J. Berry 1-6;A. Allmendinger 7-21;A. Hill # 22-25;A. Allmendinger 26-34;J. Berry 35-36;A. Allmendinger 37;J. Berry 38-42;T. Gibbs 43;S. Creed # 44-47;T. Reddick(i) 48-68;S. Creed # 69-79;A. Hill # 80-82;S. Creed # 83;A. Hill # 84-86;T. Gibbs 87-92;R. Truex 93-100;A. Hill # 101-163.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Austin Hill # 4 times for 73 laps; AJ Allmendinger 3 times for 25 laps; Tyler Reddick(i) 1 time for 21 laps; Sheldon Creed # 3 times for 16 laps; Josh Berry 3 times for 13 laps; Ryan Truex 1 time for 8 laps; Ty Gibbs 2 times for 7 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 8,54,16,68,9,11,21,7,19,31

Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,2,68,48,7,19,54,18,10,26