Exploded driveshaft leads to practice wreck with Xfinity title contenders
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Two NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contenders crashed after an exploded driveshaft leaked fluid on the track in practice.
Going into turn one, Brennan Poole quickly pulled onto the apron after a driveshaft exploded into two pieces. The damage was done as driver championship contender Justin Allgaier locked up the front tires and smacked the outside wall.
Behind them, Aric Almirola crashed his owner championship-contending No. 20 Toyota into Brandon Jones’ No. 9 car, destroying their cars.
Allgaier drove the car to the garage and stormed away with tensions mounting in his 14th bid for the Xfinity Series championship.
Almirola exited his car and quickly came back as his team unloaded his backup car within minutes. Soon afterward, Allgaier was also back in his car and rolling back on to the track.
Being Championship 4 teams, they each had a backup car fully wrapped with an engine inside, allowing them to turn more practice laps after crashing.
Brandon Jones didn’t have that. Jones sat out the rest of practice while the team swapped around the seats and other key parts to get him ready for qualifying.
Poole also sat out the rest of practice. The team replaced the driveshaft in the shadow of the exploded driveshaft sitting in the parts cart near the car.
Despite the issues, Allgaier was second-fastest in practice with a time of 27.7 seconds, averaging 129.964 MPH around the one-mile track. Almirola also was fourth-fastest (27.77 seconds, 129.636 MPH).
The other Championship 4 contenders — Cole Custer, Austin Hill and A.J. Allmendinger — were fifth (27.798, 129.506 MPH), sixth (27.801, 129.492 MPH) and ninth (27.853, 129.25 MPH) respectively in practice.
Jones was seventh-fastest with a time of 27.841 seconds, averaging 129.306 MPH. Poole was 27th (28.388, 126.814 MPH).
Parker Kligerman will also go to a backup car after an incident in practice. He ran 20th-fastest with a time of 28.143 seconds, averaging 127.918 MPH.
Ahead of all of them was Jesse Love in second (27.587 seconds, 130.496 MPH). Connor Zilisch slotted in third in practice (27.706 seconds, 129.936 MPH).
Qualifying is coming up Saturday afternoon before the race Saturday evening.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com