Gragson wins Xfinity Series race at Talladega in triple OT

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Noah Gragson held off Jeffrey Earnhardt in triple overtime to win the Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday for his second victory of the season.

Gragson restarted fourth on the outside of the second row but inherited the lead when JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier ran out of gas and pulled out of traffic. Gragson had to work the No. 9 Chevrolet all over the wide Alabama superspeedway to hold off traffic and deny Earnhardt his first career victory.

Earnhardt, the grandson of the late Dale Earnhardt, started from the pole in the No. 3 Chevrolet. His runner-up finish was a career-best.

AJ Allmendinger finished third for Kaulig Racing and earned a $100,000 bonus as the highest-finishing eligible driver in Xfinity-sponsored program. He was followed by teammate Landon Cassill as Chevrolet drivers took the top four spots and 18 of the top 25.

“This JR Motorsports team, they never quit,” Gragson said. “We had four really fast cars. Came down to fuel strategy and there was one point where I was like ‘Oh man, I can’t get up there, we just don't have the car fast enough.' But you know, we never quit.”

Gragson is scheduled to run the Cup race on Sunday for Beard Motorsports but desperately wanted to head to Talladega Blvd., the party strip in the infield notorious for its debauchery. The Talladega infield parties had been on pause the last two years because of the pandemic and only resumed this weekend.

“Talladega Boulevard sounds a lot better right now,” Gragson said. “We're going to have some fun. Let's go celebrate, maybe get some (Mardi Gras) beads and maybe we'll have some fun tonight.”

The race went to the first overtime when the eighth caution came out following a