2025 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200
8th race of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2025 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 was the 8th stock car race of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 43rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 147 laps to complete.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||
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| Race 8 of 33 of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series | |||
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| Date | April 5, 2025 | ||
| Official name | 43rd Annual Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.366 miles (2.198 km) | ||
| Distance | 147 laps, 200 mi (323 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 147 laps, 200 mi (323 km) | ||
| Average speed | 104.812 mph (168.679 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 29.911 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | |
| Laps | 56 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | The CW | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander, Jamie McMurray, and Parker Kligerman | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
Brandon Jones, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would take over the lead on the final restart, leading the final 11 laps to earn his sixth career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his first of the season, snapping a 98-race winless streak.[9] Justin Allgaier was dominant for a majority of the race, winning the second stage and leading a race-high 56 laps, ending up with a third place finish.[10] To fill out the podium, Chase Elliott, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would finish in 2nd, respectively.
Report
Background
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Surface issues
Darlington Raceway was last repaved following the May 2007 meeting (from 2005 to 2019, there was only one meeting; the second meeting was reinstated in 2020), and from 2008 to 2019, there was one night race. In 2020, a day race returned to the schedule, and instead of two races (one Xfinity and one Cup) during the entire year, the track hosted six races (three Cup, two Xfinity, and one Truck). The circuit kept repairing the circuit with patches during each summer before the annual Cup race in September. The circuit's narrow Turn 2 rapidly deteriorated with cracks in the tarmac allowing water to seep in the circuit. In July 2021, the circuit repaved a six hundred foot section at the entrance of Turn 2 and ending at the exit of the turn to repair the tarmac and resolve the issue for safety and to reduce the threat of weepers and surface issues in that section of the circuit.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
For practice, drivers will be separated into two groups, A and B. Both sessions were 25 minutes long, and was held on Saturday, April 5, at 10:05 AM EST.[22] Nick Sanchez, driving for Big Machine Racing, would set the fastest time between both sessions, with a lap of 29.859, and a speed of 164.694 mph (265.049 km/h).
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 48 | Nick Sanchez (R) | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 29.859 | 164.694 |
| 2 | 16 | Christian Eckes (R) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 29.995 | 163.947 |
| 3 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 30.043 | 163.685 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Saturday, April 5, at 11:10 AM EST.[22] Since Darlington Raceway is an intermediate racetrack, the qualifying procedure used is a single-car, one-lap system with one round. Drivers will be on track by themselves and will have one lap to post a qualifying time, and whoever sets the fastest time will win the pole.[23]
Christopher Bell, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 29.911, and a speed of 164.408 mph (264.589 km/h).[24]
Two drivers failed to qualify: Dawson Cram and Austin Green.
Qualifying results
Race results
Stage 1 Laps: 45
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | Harrison Burton | AM Racing | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 42 | Anthony Alfredo | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 16 | Christian Eckes (R) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 91 | Josh Bilicki | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 9 | Ross Chastain (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 10 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Ford | 1 |
Stage 2 Laps: 45
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 16 | Christian Eckes (R) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 9 | Ross Chastain (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 4 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 25 | Harrison Burton | AM Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 1 | Carson Kvapil (R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 19 | Christopher Bell (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0 |
| 8 | 17 | Chase Elliott (i) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 9 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Ford | 1 |
Stage 3 Laps: 58
| Fin[25] | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 147 | 24 | Running | 52 |
| 2 | 8 | 17 | Chase Elliott (i) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | 56 | Running | 53 |
| 4 | 27 | 9 | Ross Chastain (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | 21 | Running | 0 |
| 5 | 6 | 1 | Carson Kvapil (R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 37 |
| 6 | 16 | 88 | Connor Zilisch (R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 31 |
| 7 | 9 | 16 | Christian Eckes (R) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 1 | Running | 43 |
| 8 | 15 | 48 | Nick Sanchez (R) | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 29 |
| 9 | 12 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 28 |
| 10 | 10 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Ford | 147 | 0 | Running | 29 |
| 11 | 11 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 28 |
| 12 | 17 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 147 | 0 | Running | 25 |
| 13 | 14 | 25 | Harrison Burton | AM Racing | Ford | 147 | 12 | Running | 40 |
| 14 | 5 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Ford | 147 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 22 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 22 |
| 16 | 19 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 7 | 10 | Daniel Dye (R) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 30 | 26 | Dean Thompson (R) | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 147 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 23 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 4 | Running | 26 |
| 20 | 26 | 4 | Parker Retzlaff | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 18 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 22 | 25 | 71 | Ryan Ellis | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 15 |
| 23 | 21 | 99 | Matt DiBenedetto | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 24 | 31 | 91 | Josh Bilicki | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 25 | 1 | 19 | Christopher Bell (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 147 | 27 | Running | 0 |
| 26 | 37 | 53 | David Starr | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | 1 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 36 | 07 | Nick Leitz | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 10 |
| 28 | 24 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 35 | 45 | Mason Massey | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 34 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 147 | 1 | Running | 14 |
| 31 | 32 | 42 | Anthony Alfredo | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 32 | 28 | 14 | Garrett Smithley | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 5 |
| 33 | 4 | 54 | Taylor Gray (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 147 | 0 | Running | 4 |
| 34 | 38 | 35 | Greg Van Alst | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 146 | 0 | Running | 3 |
| 35 | 20 | 18 | William Sawalich (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 139 | 0 | Running | 2 |
| 36 | 29 | 11 | Josh Williams | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 137 | 0 | Overheating | 1 |
| 37 | 33 | 70 | Leland Honeyman | Cope Family Racing | Chevrolet | 128 | 0 | Accident | 1 |
| 38 | 13 | 5 | Kris Wright | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27 | 0 | Suspension | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Standings after the race
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