NASCAR XFINITY SERIES RACE RECAP
SciAps 300 | Bristol Motor Speedway | Bristol, TN
THUNDER VALLEY BREAKTHROUGH: McQUEEN EARNS FIRST CAREER XFINITY WIN
NO. 55 DOMINATES LATE, SURVIVES RESTART TO CAPTURE CAREER-DEFINING VICTORY
Under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway, where tempers flare and legends are made, Logan McQueen III delivered the biggest moment of his young career.
The No. 55 Peak Motorsports Chevrolet didn’t just compete Saturday night, it conquered.
McQueen qualified 12th, putting himself in the mix early on the high-banked half-mile. From the drop of the green flag, the race quickly turned into a battle of rhythm, patience, and survival as long runs and heavy traffic defined the opening stage.
McQueen showed immediate speed, working the middle groove and keeping the car clean while others struggled to maintain track position. Then the inevitable happened as McQueen got tangled up in a wreck. The crew hustled and got him back out quickly and by the end of Stage 1, he had surged forward to finish 2nd, signaling that the No. 55 was a serious contender.
Stage 2 belonged to McQueen.
As the field tightened and aggression ramped up, McQueen found another gear, methodically carving through traffic and taking control of the race. When the stage ended, the No. 55 sat atop the board, his first stage win of the season and a clear statement to the field.
But Bristol never makes it easy.
The final stage turned into a three-driver war between McQueen, Sheldon Creed, and Jesse Love. The trio traded momentum through lapped traffic, with each driver searching for clean air and the right lane to make a move.
That’s where McQueen separated himself.
Navigating slower cars with precision, he consistently found openings that others couldn’t, slicing through traffic while Creed and Love lost crucial time battling in dirty air.
With the laps winding down, McQueen had control, until one final twist.
A late caution with just ten laps to go erased his advantage and set up a pressure-packed restart. It was the one scenario that threatened to undo everything, as McQueen had struggled on restarts earlier in the race.
This time was different.
When the green flag dropped, McQueen nailed the launch. No wheel spin. No hesitation. Just execution.
He cleared the field entering Turn 1 and never looked back.
From there, it was a sprint to history.
When the checkered flag waved, Logan McQueen III crossed the line first, capturing his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in the SciAps 300.
Behind him, Justin Allgaier and Connor Zilisch rounded out the podium after a chaotic final lap.
For McQueen, it was validation.
“This is everything,” McQueen said in victory lane. “We’ve been building toward this. I knew if we stayed clean and gave ourselves a shot late, we could do it. That restart… I just told myself, ‘don’t miss it.’”
Crew chief Alex Ward emphasized the growth behind the win.
“He learned all night,” Ward said. “Traffic, restarts, race management... he kept getting better. And when it mattered most, he was flawless.”
At Bristol, where pressure is constant and mistakes are costly, McQueen didn’t blink.
He delivered.
And now, he’s a winner.
For McQueen it's becoming a trend for him to win at Bristol with him taking the win in the second Bristol race in ARCA and sweeping the track last season in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Official Results | SciAps 300 | Bristol Motor Speedway | Race 9 of 31
| Pos | Driver | Mfr | Team | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logan McQueen III | Chevrolet | Peak Motorsports | 21:35.997 |
| 2 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | JR Motorsports | +1.136 |
| 3 | Connor Zilisch | Chevrolet | JR Motorsports | +1.536 |
| 4 | Aric Almirola | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | +1.772 |
| 5 | Sheldon Creed | Ford | Haas Factory Team | +2.198 |
| 6 | Jesse Love | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing | +2.244 |
| 7 | Sam Mayer | Ford | Haas Factory Team | +2.956 |
| 8 | Brandon Jones | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | +3.743 |
| 9 | Austin Hill | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing | +4.245 |
| 10 | Sammy Smith | Chevrolet | JR Motorsports | +4.426 |
| 11 | Taylor Gray | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | +4.494 |
| 12 | William Sawalich | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | +4.752 |
| 13 | Christian Eckes | Chevrolet | Kaulig Racing | +5.325 |
| 14 | Ryan Sieg | Ford | RSS Racing | +5.776 |
| 15 | Nick Sanchez | Chevrolet | Big Machine Racing | +6.007 |
| 16 | Harrison Burton | Ford | AM Racing | +6.304 |
| 17 | Dean Thompson | Toyota | Sam Hunt Racing | +6.305 |
| 18 | Carson Kvapil | Chevrolet | JR Motorsports | +11.549 |
| 19 | Ryan Truex | Toyota | Sam Hunt Racing | +1 Lap |
| 20 | Daniel Dye | Chevrolet | Kaulig Racing | +2 Laps |
| 21 | Shane van Gisbergen | Chevrolet | JR Motorsports | +2 Laps |
| 22 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | JCR | +2 Laps |
| 23 | Jeb Burton | Chevrolet | Jordan Anderson Racing | +2 Laps |
| 24 | Josh Williams | Chevrolet | Kaulig Racing | +2 Laps |
| 25 | Corey Day | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | +2 Laps |
| 26 | Matt DiBenedetto | Chevrolet | Viking Motorsports | +2 Laps |
| 27 | Parker Retzlaff | Chevrolet | Alpha Prime Racing | +2 Laps |
| 28 | Anthony Alfredo | Chevrolet | Young’s Motorsports | +2 Laps |
| 29 | Brennan Poole | Chevrolet | Alpha Prime Racing | +2 Laps |
| 30 | Ryan Ellis | Chevrolet | DGM Racing | +2 Laps |
| 31 | Garrett Smithley | Chevrolet | SS GreenLight Racing | +2 Laps |
| 32 | Blaine Perkins | Chevrolet | Jordan Anderson Racing | +2 Laps |
| 33 | Greg Van Alst | Chevrolet | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | +2 Laps |
| 34 | Kyle Sieg | Ford | RSS Racing | +2 Laps |
| 35 | Brad Perez | Chevrolet | Alpha Prime Racing | +2 Laps |
| 36 | Joey Gase | Chevrolet | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | +2 Laps |
| 37 | Josh Bilicki | Chevrolet | DGM Racing | +3 Laps |
| 38 | Preston Pardus | Chevrolet | Alpha Prime Racing | +3 Laps |
Logan McQueen III — Bristol Recap
| Driver | Qualified | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Finish | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan McQueen (#55) | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 59 |
They Said It
Logan McQueen III: “That restart is all I was thinking about. I knew if I got it right, we had it. This is unreal, first series win at Bristol? You dream about that.”
Alex Ward (Crew Chief): “He won that race in traffic. That’s where he was better than everyone else tonight. And then he finished it when it counted.”
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