2024 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200
The 2024 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 was the 23rd stock car race of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, August 31, 2024, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, a permanent egg-shaped racetrack. The race was scheduled to be contested over 147 laps but was extended to 150 laps due to an overtime finish. Christopher Bell, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would stay consistent throughout the race, after scoring the pole, leading 108 laps and winning after leading when A. J. Allmendinger got a flat tire on the final lap, bringing out the caution. This was Bell's nineteenth career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his second of the season. To fill out the podium, Cole Custer, driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, and Sheldon Creed, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would finish 2nd and 3rd, 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, and from 2008 to 2019, there was one night race. In 2020, a day race returned to the schedule, and instead of two races during the entire year, the track hosted six races. 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
- ' denotes rookie driver.
- ' denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, August 31, at 10:35 AM EST, and would last for 20 minutes. Austin Hill, driving for Richard Childress Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.013, and a speed of.Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Saturday, August 31, at 11:05 AM EST. Since Darlington Raceway is an intermediate racetrack, the qualifying system used is a single-car, one-lap system with only 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.Christopher Bell, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 29.828, and a speed of.
Dawson Cram was the only driver who failed to qualify.
Race results
Stage 1 Laps: 45| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
| 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell ' | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0 |
| 2 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 18 | Sheldon Creed | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 14 | Chad Finchum | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 00 | Cole Custer | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 81 | Chandler Smith | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
Stage 2 Laps: 45
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
| 1 | 18 | Sheldon Creed | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 20 | Christopher Bell ' | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0 |
| 3 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 00 | Cole Custer | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 30 | Noah Gragson ' | Rette Jones Racing | Ford | 0 |
| 10 | 17 | Chase Elliott ' | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
Stage 3 Laps: 57
| Pos. | St. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
| 1 | 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell ' | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 150 | 108 | Running | 0 |
| 2 | 21 | 00 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 150 | 0 | Running | 42 |
| 3 | 2 | 18 | Sheldon Creed | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 150 | 30 | Running | 50 |
| 4 | 16 | 17 | Chase Elliott ' | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 5 | 11 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 44 |
| 6 | 23 | 2 | Jesse Love ' | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 31 |
| 7 | 26 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen ' | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 8 | 5 | 81 | Chandler Smith | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 150 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 9 | 6 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Toyota | 150 | 0 | Running | 41 |
| 10 | 20 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 37 |
| 11 | 15 | 19 | Joe Graf Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 150 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 12 | 24 | 92 | Ross Chastain ' | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 13 | 10 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 34 |
| 14 | 27 | 88 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 29 | 30 | Noah Gragson ' | Rette Jones Racing | Ford | 150 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 16 | 30 | 11 | Josh Williams | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 17 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 13 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 150 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 22 | 38 | Matt DiBenedetto | RSS Racing | Ford | 150 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 28 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 34 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 22 | 31 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 150 | 0 | Running | 15 |
| 23 | 33 | 42 | Leland Honeyman ' | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 24 | 35 | 35 | David Starr | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 12 | 26 | Corey Heim ' | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 150 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 26 | 14 | 5 | Anthony Alfredo | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 4 | 16 | A.J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 149 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 28 | 3 | 1 | Sam Mayer | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 149 | 11 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 38 | 07 | Greg Van Alst | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 149 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 36 | 45 | Garrett Smithley | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 148 | 1 | Running | 7 |
| 31 | 25 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 146 | 0 | Running | 6 |
| 32 | 7 | 9 | Brandon Jones | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 146 | 0 | Running | 5 |
| 33 | 37 | 14 | Chad Finchum | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 142 | 0 | Running | 7 |
| 34 | 32 | 29 | Blaine Perkins | RSS Racing | Ford | 133 | 0 | Running | 3 |
| 35 | 8 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 129 | 0 | Running | 2 |
| 36 | 9 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Running | 1 |
| 37 | 19 | 91 | Kyle Weatherman | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 54 | 0 | Accident | 1 |
| 38 | 18 | 15 | Joey Logano | AM Racing | Ford | 12 | 0 | Engine | 0 |
Standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings;Manufacturers' Championship standings
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points | |
| 1 | Chevrolet | 852 | |
| 2 | Toyota | 823 | |
| 3 | Ford | 743 |
- Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.