Another Xfinity weekend, another controversy. This time, however, the flaring tempers stayed limited to one NASCAR driver. Anthony Alfredo, a 26-year-old Xfinity veteran, has high hopes for 2025. Coming off 7 top-tens and 2 top-fives in 2024, Alfredo hoped to ride this momentum entering 2025, but so far, he has only mustered up 2 top-20 finishes, and Darlington was a shot to bounce back. But his team, Young’s Motorsports’ former driver, unfortunately threw a wrench in his plans.
Driving the No. 42 Chevrolet, Alfredo looked to improve his average finish of 22.6 at Darlington Raceway. His best finish at Darlington was 14th, and this time, it looked like he would break his earlier record. However, Alfredo’s race got derailed because of some poor driving from his competitors, and the 26-year-old was fuming.
NASCAR Xfinity drama continues into Darlington
Well, the Martinsville drama last week was heralded by JR Motorsports ace Sammy Smith. This week, however, the onus fell upon Leland Honeyman Jr. Starting in the 33rd spot and driving for Cope Family Racing, Honeyman could not do much better throughout the NASCAR Xfinity race at Darlington. Anthony Alfredo started just a spot better in 32nd but quickly gained track position at the egg-shaped oval. After a lap 23 caution, Alfredo joined the troupe of drivers who used their softer Goodyear tires to claim crucial stage points as he rushed ahead and claimed a 5th-place finish in the first stage. This solid pace continued through the next stages but came to a crashing end with 19 laps to go.
A multi-car crash broke out late in the race involving Leland Honeyman, Josh Williams, and Anthony Alfredo. Honeyman entered the corner and did not lift, heading straight into the back of Harrison Burton’s car. Luckily for Burton, he was able to use the momentum and get away, but Honeyman spun and hit the wall. This led to his car rebounding and spinning into Anthony Alfredo as Josh Williams ran into Honeyman. Alfredo was infuriated at Honeyman’s moves. He told Frontstretch after the race, “Yeah, I got wrecked by the same idiot that starts stuff all the time. I mean, there’s zero qualification for this series anymore… When you see the same person making the same mistakes, it’s really disappointing to see, even if you try to talk to them and help them. Lot of people don’t like getting out run by their old car.”
Leland Honeyman is a part-time driver in the Xfinity Series, so getting wrecked by someone who isn’t even there every week surely stings a lot more. The 20-year-old has been running part-time since 2023, and in 45 Xfinity races, he has managed just three top-10 finishes and no wins. This is what ticked off Alfredo, as he feels that Honeyman should not even be in an Xfinity Series car. “Someone else should be driving that race car… No disrespect, but it’s the truth. I’m just speaking facts here,” Alfredo added.
“There’s zero qualifications for this series anymore… Somebody else should be driving that race car.”@anthonyalfredo upset at @Lelandhoneymnjr after being involved in a crash at Darlington, says it’s not worth talking to him about incident.
: @PitLaneCPT pic.twitter.com/EOrtuLTZbR
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) April 5, 2025
Anthony Alfredo proceeded to break down what exactly had happened. By the looks of it, Leland Honeyman’s hands got a bit slippery at the wheel: “I was picking my way through traffic patiently and cleanly, but those guys had no respect – drove it in there, so deep I couldn’t believe it. I was like, there’s absolutely no way he’s making the corner. He ran straight into the back of the 25 car [Harrison Burton], then slid down in front of me, then hit the wall, over-corrected, and destroyed me. Then, never held the brake pedal all the way down the track, and almost cleaned me out again.”
Just listening to Anthony Alfredo’s post-race interview shows how angry he was. Despite the visible show of emotions, the NASCAR Xfinity veteran did not move into vengeance mode.
Separating himself from the chaotic lot
Well, the instances of payback in NASCAR are too many to count. It happened just last week when Sammy Smith dumped Taylor Gray for allegedly bird-flipping him. Then threats of payback are more common – remember Kyle Busch warning Christopher Bell after the 2024 COTA race? However, Anthony Alfredo steered clear of both.
Back in the 2024 Xfinity race at Talladega, Alfredo reaped the benefits of a non-confrontational attitude. An ill-timed push from Parker Kligerman sent Austin Hill’s car into the nose of Alfredo’s car – it got some damage like a cut tire. However, his team worked on it, and Alfredo wheeled his car to a solid third-place finish. So, based on his past encounters, Anthony Alfredo knows better than to wreak havoc in the name of vengeance for Darlington Raceway.
“It honestly sucks, for lack of a better word,” Alfredo admitted because his team was well-equipped. “We’ve got such fast cars – it would be one thing if we were struggling and had slow and had something to work out. But our cars are so fast, but we just can’t finish because it’s so out of our control.” Despite their technical advantage being shattered by an aggressive rival, Alfredo shunned any prospect of payback. “It’s not even worth it. I tried before… I race people how I want to be raced. Just because someone did something to me doesn’t mean I’m going to do it to them. Frankly, I’d embarrass myself if I did something like that.”
Evidently, the NASCAR Xfinity Series experienced another week of chaos. Thankfully, the trend of vengeance did not continue from Martinsville – with no prospects of it either.
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