Alfredo Derailed By Talladega Big One After Strong Start

Anthony Alfredo (5) was collected in a lap-91 accident at the end of Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. (Nigel Kinrade/NKP photo)

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Our Motorsports and Anthony Alfredo ran strong Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway and had a chance to back up their spring podium finish, but were collected in a late-race accident that eliminated Alfredo from the United Rentals 250.

Alfredo put the No. 5 Dead-On Tools Chevrolet Camaro toward the front often after qualifying 13th, racing into the top 10 in less than 25 laps and ending stage one in sixth place.

He remained in solid position for much of the second segment, but faded back to 23rd by the lap-50 benchmark and began the final stage at the tail of the lead lap following pit stops.

The 25-year-old from Ridgefield, Conn., was undeterred, however, slowly and methodically moving back through the pack and solidly re-entering the top 10 with 24 laps left to put himself back in contention.

Though he never led a lap officially at the start-finish line, Alfredo did get to the lead for a brief moment during the race and was running eighth coming to three to go in regulation when mayhem broke loose in front of him.

After getting squirrelly from a push by Brandon Jones, rookie Carson Kvapil spun in the pack entering turn one just ahead of Alfredo, creating a mass accordion effect as cars checked up trying to sneak through the crash.

Alfredo hit the brakes, but was tagged by Ryan Sieg from behind and got turned hard right into the outside wall. The impact caused race-ending damage that left Alfredo 30th in the final results.

It was a disheartening end on paper for the Chris Our-owned organization, but Alfredo remained positive in looking at the overall performance of his team at another superspeedway race.

“I don’t really know what started the wreck; I just saw them get all out of shape and squirrelly in front of me, and when I checked up, I thought I had it missed for a split second … but the guys behind me couldn’t stop in time and I just got turned head-on in[to] the wall. That doesn’t take away, at all, from the day we had going though,” said Alfredo. “That’s just the way these superspeedway races go sometimes.

“It’s a shame from the perspective that we had such a fast Dead-On Tools Chevrolet, because I feel like I’m really good at these places in the draft,” Alfredo added. “I put myself up front every time and with a small team, having no teammates, that’s really all you can do. Every move I made, it seemed like everyone did the opposite all day.

“I did the best I could to put our team in position to win a race and it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Alfredo featured new team partner Dead-On Tools, one of the world’s fastest-growing brands of hardware and storage gear. Their cornerstone products – including investment cast hammers – helped build the way for the brand, which has expanded into professional tool belts, additional hand tools, and other styles of gear.

Dead-On Tools has been a consistent presence in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in recent years, serving as the anchor partner for TRICON Garage driver Tanner Gray in addition to their new role in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Alfredo.

Alfredo exits Talladega still stably 15th in points, hoping to tie or better his career-best mark in the season standings with five races left. He’s on pace for a career-best average finish since going full time in 2022, currently sitting on a mark of 18.5.

He’ll have a second chance at Talladega to “score one for the little guys” Sunday afternoon when he runs his final scheduled NASCAR Cup Series race of the year with Beard Motorsports in the YellaWood 500.

The Xfinity Series resumes at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL. Broadcast coverage of the Drive for the Cure 250 is set for Saturday, Oct. 12 at 4 p.m. ET on The CW, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.