Tire Issue Foils Alfredo’s Day At Darlington Raceway

Anthony Alfredo (Matthew Thacker/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

DARLINGTON, S.C. – A likely top-10 result for Anthony Alfredo Saturday at Darlington Raceway came undone thanks to a cut tire under green in the Sport Clips Haircuts/VFW Help a Hero 200.

After qualifying 14th and getting as high as 10th early on, the flat during stage one left Alfredo pinned a lap down for much of the 200-mile NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval.

Though he finally got the free pass during the fourth caution of the day, following a lap-53 restart, Alfredo could never quite recapture the momentum he had at the start and was stuck among the mid-pack during the second half.

The 25-year-old from Ridgefield, Conn., ended up 26th at the checkered flag, the last car on the lead lap in the No. 5 Ferguson Chevrolet Camaro for Our Motorsports.

“Man, a tough result at Darlington after we had a really solid top-15 run there in the spring,” lamented Alfredo. “I was really happy with the speed we brought back there, but we just couldn’t catch a break all race long. What I think should have been a top 10 finish was ruined by a flat tire under green that we could never fully recover from.

“I am thrilled with the fast cars we have been bringing to the track lately, and if we keep doing that, more great results will come our way.”

With three races remaining in the regular season, Alfredo remains 15th in the Xfinity Series standings, just 17 points behind 14th-place Brandon Jones of JR Motorsports.

Though he sits 149 points out of the playoff field and is in must-win territory at this juncture of the season, Alfredo still has two solid chances to chase a victory that would vault him into the postseason – at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway and Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

“We don’t believe we’re out of it, by any means,” Alfredo noted. “With Atlanta being draft-style racing, we’re confident in our potential after we had such a strong run going at Daytona a couple of weeks ago, and Bristol is the kind of short-track racing I grew up doing … where most anything can happen as well.

“It all comes down to how the cards shake out, but regardless, this team continues to build a stronger foundation and that gives us plenty of optimism as we get deeper into the year.”

Alfredo will hit the track Saturday, Sept. 8 for the Focused Health 250 at Atlanta, with broadcast coverage at the 1.54-mile quad-oval set for 3 p.m. ET on USA, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.