Sheldon Creed hoped to finally turn around his abysmal luck in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in Saturday’s Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of the Americas, and looked to be on the right track when he won a stage for the first time and led sixteen laps.
Unfortunately for him, the misfortune continued for another race as contact with A.J. Allmendinger sent him into a spin with fourteen laps remaining. As Creed was left trying to salvage position, Allmendinger faced off against fellow Cup Series driver William Byron and scored his eleventh series win on a road course and second in a row at COTA.
“Hate that I had contact with Sheldon, he got under me, I was trying to stay off him,” Allmendinger explained.
Creed, who eventually recovered to finish ninth, told FOX Sports shortly after, “I’d seen him and I thought I gave him enough room, but I don’t know. I feel like if I’m leading and I give him a little room that he can’t overdrive a corner, I need to watch it. I really don’t know. I could have came down on him.”
With Creed out of contention, Byron became Allmendinger’s biggest opponent but was too far back to close the gap. Allmendinger’s eleven road course victories are the most in Xfinity Series history and complements his two at the Cup level for a baker’s dozen total. Zane Smith‘s win in the Truck event earlier in the day meant both NASCAR support divisions saw their 2022 COTA winners repeat.
“I spent a lot of years not winning anything so I’m going to celebrate every one of them like it’s my last one,” Allmendinger continued. “You never know. As much pressure as I put on myself, I’m always going to try to live up to it.”
Elsewhere in the field, Alex Labbé finished fifteenth in replacement duty for the suspended Josh Williams. Preston Pardus suffered a broken suspension in the first race for family-run Pardus Racing.
Cameron Lawrence and Baltazar Leguizamón, who were hoping to make their Xfinity débuts, were among the four who failed to qualify.
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 1 | 10 | A.J. Allmendinger* | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 2 | 9 | 17 | William Byron* | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 3 | 3 | 19 | Ty Gibbs* | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 46 | Running |
| 4 | 2 | 18 | Sammy Smith | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 46 | Running |
| 5 | 8 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 6 | 11 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 7 | 14 | 1 | Sam Mayer | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 8 | 15 | 8 | Josh Berry | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 9 | 4 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 10 | 7 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 46 | Running |
| 11 | 26 | 9 | Brandon Jones | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 12 | 27 | 16 | Chandler Smith | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 13 | 18 | 88 | Miguel Paludo | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 14 | 25 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 15 | 23 | 92 | Alex Labbé | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 16 | 29 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | B.J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 17 | 34 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 18 | 20 | 26 | Kaz Grala | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 46 | Running |
| 19 | 22 | 24 | Connor Mosack | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 46 | Running |
| 20 | 32 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 21 | 21 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 22 | 33 | 02 | Kyle Weatherman | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 23 | 31 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 46 | Running |
| 24 | 13 | 08 | Aric Almirola* | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 46 | Running |
| 25 | 36 | 45 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 26 | 38 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 46 | Running |
| 27 | 6 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 46 | Running |
| 28 | 24 | 91 | Josh Bilicki | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 29 | 30 | 53 | Brad Pérez | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 30 | 35 | 38 | Joe Graf Jr. | RSS Racing | Ford | 46 | Running |
| 31 | 5 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Big Machine Racing Team | Chevrolet | 46 | Running |
| 32 | 10 | 00 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 45 | Running |
| 33 | 37 | 6 | Brennan Poole | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29 | Steering |
| 34 | 28 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | AM Racing | Ford | 27 | Engine |
| 35 | 16 | 44 | Sage Karam | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 23 | Engine |
| 36 | 19 | 50 | Preston Pardus | Pardus Racing | Chevrolet | 16 | Suspension |
| 37 | 12 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 13 | Engine |
| 38 | 17 | 07 | Carson Hocevar* | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 7 | Transmission |
| DNQ | 66 | Cameron Lawrence | MBM Motorsports | Ford | |||
| DNQ | 74 | Baltazar Leguizamón | CHK Racing | Chevrolet | |||
| DNQ | 4 | Garrett Smithley | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | |||
| DNQ | 35 | Parker Chase | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | Toyota |
* – Ineligible for points