Final Restart Creates Frustration For Alfredo At Indy

Anthony Alfredo (42) battles Josh Williams at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (John Harrelson/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Though Anthony Alfredo finished on the lead lap Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it’s not the kind of result he’s looking for at this stage of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

Alfredo ended up 23rd in the Pennzoil 250 at the Brickyard, but ran as high as 12th in the closing laps at the iconic 2.5-mile oval after working his way forward from the 11th row of the starting grid.

The 25-year-old from Ridgefield, Conn., and his Young’s Motorsports team worked on the No. 42 DUDE Wipes Mint Chill Chevrolet throughout the race, but still found themselves struggling for that last bit of speed when it mattered most.

Alfredo fought his way toward the top 15 via two late-race restarts – one for a rain shower and a second for a crash between Austin Hill and Aric Almirola with 10 to go – and restarted on the outside of the eighth row for the four-lap dash that decided the race.

He was running 15th with a lap and a half left, but got shuffled out of line and lost multiple spots to cars on the bottom groove that were lined up in the draft and pushing one another past him.

That left Alfredo to fade back to his 23rd-place finishing position and understandably disappointed after climbing from his race car.

“We just didn’t have the balance we needed to be able to stay tucked up in the draft,” Alfredo explained. “I executed well on the final two restarts to get up into the top 15, but being pushed up off the bottom coming to the white and having so many cars behind me that were organized and working together just left me as a sitting duck. All I could do from that point was salvage as best we could.”

Alfredo sits 23rd in the playoff picture for the Xfinity Series, 190 points back of 12th-place Jeb Burton of Jordan Anderson Racing and in must-win territory as the postseason approaches for NASCAR’s second-highest division.

But two strong wild-card opportunities remain for Alfredo and company, at both Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l and Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway during the month of August.

“The playoffs have been our goal since the beginning of the season and that’s still what we’re aiming for,” Alfredo noted. “At this point, we know that we have to win, so we’re pouring our focus into doing just that over the final five races of the regular season.

“We know what our strengths are as a team and the goal is to capitalize on those. Wherever the chips and points fall after that, we’ll take as they come at us.”

Next up for Xfinity Series teams is Iowa Speedway, the seven-eighths-mile, D-shaped oval where Alfredo has one prior start. He finished 15th and on the lead lap a year ago with Our Motorsports.

Broadcast coverage of the Hy-Vee Perks 250 from Iowa airs Saturday, Aug. 2 at 4:30 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.