Alfredo Hopes Recent Mojo Boost Carries To The Rock

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. – Anthony Alfredo knows that momentum is crucial to success, and he and Young’s Motorsports finally have some heading into the NASCAR Xfinity Series return to Rockingham Speedway.

Alfredo is coming off a top-15 finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, his season-best run in nine races behind the wheel of the No. 42 Chevrolet and a much-needed positive result after a host of misfortune early in the year.

Two crash DNFs at the superspeedways and a blown motor at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in March put Alfredo and company behind the eight-ball, but he believes now that they’re finally headed on an upward trajectory.

“Having a good run at Bristol was really important for our team,” said Alfredo. “We proved to ourselves that if we keep putting ourselves in a position, taking risks, and controlling what is in our control, we can get the results we deserve.

“It certainly wasn’t our best race as far as speed, but we got our best finish by never giving up.”

Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at the .94-mile oval marks the first Xfinity Series visit to ‘The Rock’ since 2004, when now-CW Sports analyst Jamie McMurray won his last of four straight races there.

No active drivers have a win at NASCAR’s second-highest level at Rockingham – which was repaved in 2022 – and very few even have racing experience at the facility, something Alfredo hopes will level the playing field a bit more.

“I am excited about Rockingham Speedway this weekend since it’s a new track for most of the series, especially with the repave,” noted the Ridgefield, Conn., native. “It’s great we were able to test there in January, and even though our track time was limited, we have an idea of what we need to do to be better going back.”

As Alfredo noted, a two-day industry test session was held at Rockingham in late January, where he turned more than 100 laps in preparation for this weekend’s revival race at the historic oval.

Though he admitted that track time “was valuable,” Alfredo doesn’t think that much will translate from a cold winter to this weekend’s much warmer spring conditions.

Race day temperatures are expected to top out at 84 degrees, making Alfredo cautiously optimistic for competitive action across the racetrack.

“I’m not sure much of the open test can be applied since the temperatures will be much warmer, and there will be a lot more cars on track throughout the weekend laying down a whole lot more rubber,” he noted. “Honestly, I’m hopeful that will yield better racing, with a wider groove and a little more opportunity to pass.

“I think track position will be huge based on what we learned at the test. There wasn’t very much tire wear or fall off, and it was mostly one lane of racing. It’ll be a case of wait-and-see when we get on track.”

Saturday’s Xfinity Series headliner, the North Carolina Education Lottery 250, is slated for a 4 p.m. ET start, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.