2020 NASCAR Racing Experience 300

The **2020 NASCAR Racing Experience 300** was a NASCAR Xfinity Series race held on February 15, 2020, Contested over 120 laps, on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) asphalt superspeedway. It was the first race of the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

## Practice

### First practice

Noah Gragson posted the fastest lap in the opening practice for the NASCAR Xfinity Series NASCAR Experience 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

Gragson, driver of the No. Bass Pro Shops/BRCC Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, recorded a lap of 47.214 seconds, 190.621 mph on his 10th of the 17 laps he completed in the session.

Ross Chastain, who won the July Daytona race last season, was second fastest in the No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing.

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### Final practice

Caesar Bacarella led the way in the final practice session for the Xfinity Series NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

Bacarella, driver of the No. 90 Maxim/Alpha Prime Regimen Chevrolet, posted a lap of 48.311 seconds, 186.293 mph on his sixth and final lap.

Only 21 drivers took to the track for final practice and no one completed 10 consecutive laps.

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## Qualifying

Myatt Snider scored his first career pole in qualifying for Saturday’s Xfinity Series NASCAR Racing Experience 300 with a lap of 47.763 seconds, 188.430 miles per hour (303.249 km/h).

Ross Chastain had a mechanical failure on his qualifying attempt and failed to make the race in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. Chastain will now drive the No. 38 Chevrolet that Jeff Green qualified. Chastain will have to start at the back due to the driver change.

## Race

What was a novel experience for Gragson was old hat to Earnhardt, who won at the 2.5-mile track for the seventh time as a car owner-with his seventh different driver. Five of Earnhardt’s victories have come in the season opener at the Birthplace of Speed, including the last three in a row.

Gragson recovered from an early pit road speeding penalty to take control of the race. His crew chief, Dave Elenz, won for the fourth time at Daytona with his fourth different driver.

"We were wide open all day and managed to control the group behind us really well," said Gragson, who climbed the frontstretch fence to celebrate his maiden win. "My spotter, Earl Barban, did a great job. He led me to this victory. Very, very thankful to everybody at JR Motorsports, (engine supplier) Hendrick Motorsports for the great power and building this new chassis. Without everybody like that, it just wouldn’t be possible.

"Just trying to stay focused, stay positive when we threw it away on that speeding penalty after that first stage. But I’m so, so proud to be on this team. We stayed till 9:30 the night before we came down here working on the hauler. The team chemistry is better than it’s ever been. And I’m ready to go and do this deal some more."

A strong push in the top lane from runner-up Harrison Burton propelled Gragson into the lead after the final restart on Lap 198 of 200. On the final lap, Gragson had pulled away from his pursuers by roughly two car lengths before Brandon Brown knocked Michael Annett’s Chevrolet sideways and started the wreck that ended the race under yellow.

The caution froze the finishing order, with Timmy Hill, Brandon Jones and Chase Briscoe running third, fourth and fifth, respectively. A 12-car wreck on Lap 114 that eliminated the contending cars of Jeb Burton and Austin Cindric set up the three-lap dash to the finish.

Previous multicar crashes had KO’d Justin Allgaier and first-time pole winner Myatt Snider. Jeb Burton (26 laps), Allgaier (23) and Snider (22) combined to lead 71 circuits, but none of the three was running at the finish of the race.

Harrison Burton thought he had an excellent at the victory before the wreck and caution on the final lap.

"Noah got out front about a car-and-a-half, and I thought ‘He might be in trouble here,’ but then the caution came out," Burton said. "Just really proud of our guys. We had a tough day. I think that there were a couple times in the race that we were down and out, and our guys clawed it out. I was proud of that effort."

Briscoe had grabbed the lead from Gragson before the wreck on Lap 114 but couldn’t hold it after the final restart.

"That one is going to sting for a while for sure," Briscoe said. "I feel like we were making more moves than anybody and I thought I was going to have a really good shot there at the end. I don’t know what was up with the 19, he couldn’t give me any help on the bottom.

"It was just one of those where you wish you would have picked the top. We went on the bottom because at the time it felt like the right decision."

Justin Haley, Brandon Brown, Ray Black Jr., Ryan Sieg and Alex Labbe completed the final stage.

### Race results

#### Stage results

**Stage 1:** 30

**Stage 2:** 30

**Stage 3:** 60

#### Race summary

* **Margin of Victory:** Under caution.
* **Caution Flags:** 7 for 28 laps.
* **Lead Changes:** 12 among 8 drivers.
* **Lap Leaders:** M. Snider 1-13; H. Burton 14; M. Snider 15-23; J. Burton 24-31; J. Allgaier 32-36; H. Burton 37-44; J. Allgaier 45-62; J. Burton 63-80; T. Hill 81; A. Labbe 82-100; N. Gragson 101-113; C. Briscoe 114-118; N. Gragson 119-120.
* **Leaders Summary:** (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Jeb Burton 2 times for 26 laps; Justin Allgaier 2 times for 23 laps; Myatt Snider 2 times for 22 laps; Alex Labbe 1 time for 19 laps; Noah Gragson 2 times for 15 laps; Harrison Burton 2 times for 9 laps; Chase Briscoe 1 time for 5 laps; Timmy Hill 1 time for 1 lap.

## References

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