With four races remaining on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule, Sheldon Creed is scheduled to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Xfinity Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra will make his 100th career start in the Xfinity circuit.
A native of Alpine, California, Creed made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August 2017. By then, he had achieved back-to-back Stadium Super Truck championships (2016-17) and transitioned to stock car racing following his early success in SST and off-road competition. He had also made select starts within the ARCA Menards Series East and West divisions for MDM Motorsports and Jefferson Pitts Racing. Driving the No. 01 Chevrolet for JD Motorsports, Creed started 32nd and finished 34th in his Xfinity debut. He would return two races later at Road America, where he ended up in 38th place following an early vibration issue.
From 2019 to 2021, Creed, who won the 2018 ARCA Menards Series championship, competed on a full-time basis in the Craftsman Truck Series for GMS Racing, where he won the 2020 series’ championship, accumulated eight victories and made the Playoffs during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. During the three-year span, he made two starts in the Xfinity Series. The first occurred at Daytona International Speedway in July 2019, where he drove the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports and ended up in 34th place after being involved in two separate multi-car wrecks. He then competed for BJ McLeod Motorsports during the 2021 finale at Phoenix Raceway, where he collected his first top-10 career finish by finishing in 10th place.
In 2022, Creed graduated to the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis, where he replaced Myatt Snider as the driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing (RCR). Finishing sixth in his first start with RCR at Daytona in February, the Californian recorded nine top-10 results through 24 regular-season events as he spent the majority of the stretch mired outside of the top-12 cutline to make the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs. At Darlington Raceway in September, Creed attempted to pull a “video game” move on the final lap by scraping his No. 2 Chevrolet against the outside wall at full speed, but his momentum got stalled entering the frontstretch, which allowed Noah Gragson to overtake him for the victory as Creed, who had been battling Gragson and Kyle Larson for the victory, settled in a career-best runner-up result. After finishing 11th and 37th during the final two regular-season events on the schedule, he was unable to mount his way into the Playoffs. Recording another runner-up result at Martinsville Speedway in October along with a total of three top-10 results throughout the seven-race Playoff stretch, Creed ended up in 14th place in the final standings. Overall, he recorded four top-five results, 13 top-10 results, 155 laps led and an average-finishing result of 17.5 throughout his first full-time Xfinity campaign.
Returning for a second full-time Xfinity campaign with RCR in 2023, Creed finished 34th and 23rd in the season’s first two events before notching five top-10 results, including a runner-up result at Talladega Superspeedway in April, during the next 10 events on the schedule. At Portland International Raceway in June, he notched his first career pole position and led a race-high 47 laps before ending in seventh place despite being spun by John Hunter Nemechek prior to the second stage’s conclusion and getting shuffled while battling for the lead amid a two-lap shootout. Despite finishing no higher than eighth during his next nine starts, Creed then recorded back-to-back runner-up results while contending for the victory. The first runner-up result occurred at Watkins Glen International in August after he assumed the lead during an overtime shootout before losing the lead to Sam Mayer after slipping out of the racing groove before the final lap. The second occurred at Daytona after he was edged by Justin Allgaier by 0.005 seconds. Concluding the regular-season stretch with an eighth- and third-place finish in two races, Creed earned a spot into the Xfinity Series Playoffs for the first time in his career.
After finishing no lower than 11th throughout the Round of 12, he was able to earn the eighth and final transfer spot into the Round of 8 by two points over Daniel Hemric and four over Parker Kligerman. Then coming off a 15th- and 26th-place finish during the first two Round of 8 events, Creed placed himself in another opportunity to claim his first series victory during the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway. During an overtime shootout, however, Creed, who bumped and rubbed fenders with teammate Austin Hill on the final lap and entering the final two turns, managed to take the lead from Hill in Turn 3 before he locked up the tires and briefly fell off the pace, which resulted with Hill ramming into the rear of Creed’s No. 2 entry as Hill was involved in a last-lap multi-car wreck. Amid the carnage, Creed was then edged at the finish line by Allgaier by 0.032 seconds, which marked his sixth runner-up result in the Xfinity circuit, as both Creed and Hill were unable to transfer into the Championship 4 round. Despite receiving harsh comments and criticisms from Hill and the RCR organization, Creed proceeded to finish in the runner-up spot for a seventh time during the finale at Phoenix in November, which resulted in the Californian settling in seventh place in the final standings. By then, Creed had earned three additional top-five finishes and two additional top-10 results compared to the 2022 season. He had also led 35 extra laps from the previous season and improved his average finishing result from 17.5 to 13.5.
After announcing his departure from Richard Childress Racing a month before the 2023 season’s conclusion, Creed was announced as the driver of the No. 18 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2024 Xfinity season in December. He commenced his first season with team owner Joe Gibbs by finishing in second place behind former teammate Hill. Despite enduring a winless stretch throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, the Californian notched two poles, a total of six runner-up results, 13 top-five results and 17 top-10 results, which were enough for him to make the 2024 Playoffs. Despite finishing fifth and fourth, respectively, during the first two events of the Round of 12, Creed was involved in a multi-car wreck just shy of the Round of 12’s finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. While trying to finish the event, Creed’s car stalled on the course and he retired in 35th place. As a result, he fell short of transferring into the Round of 8 by seven points.
As Creed continues his pursuit for his first elusive victory in the Xfinity Series for the remaining four races on this year’s schedule, he is set to join Haas Factory Team, an organization rebranded from Stewart-Haas Racing, in 2025.
Through 99 previous Xfinity starts, Creed has achieved three poles, 26 top-five results, 48 top-10 results, 453 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.1. To date, he holds the record for the most number of runner-up results without an Xfinity victory at 13. Currently, Creed’s 2024 stats in top fives (15), top 10s (19) and average-finishing result (12.3) are his best as he is also scored in 10th place in the standings.
Sheldon Creed is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Ambetter Health 302. The event is scheduled to occur this upcoming Saturday, October 19, and air at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
NASCAR released the penalty report following this past weekend’s Xfinity-Cup Series events at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course that occurred between October 12-13, 2024.
In the Cup Series, Joshua Thomas (front-tire changer) and Nick Covey (jackman), both of whom work in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team piloted by Austin Dillon, have been issued a two-race suspension due to a left-front wheel that detached from Dillon’s car on Lap 80 of 109 during Sunday’s event. The incident occurred after Dillon had made a green-flag pit stop and left his pit box despite the tire changer unable to tighten the left-front tire’s single lug nut before the car departed. Dillon would proceed to finish in 32nd place at Charlotte in an event that determined the Playoff’s Round of 8 field and was won by Playoff contender Kyle Larson.
With the suspensions, Thomas and Covey will not be present for the upcoming Cup Series Playoff events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and at Homestead-Miami Speedway, respectively.
In the Xfinity Series, four crew chiefs were each fined $5,000 apiece due to their respective entries having a single lug nut unsecured during the post-race inspection process following Saturday’s event that also determined the series’ Round of 8 field and was won by Playoff contender Sam Mayer.
The crew chiefs that were penalized include Philip Bell, crew chief for Sammy Smith and the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team; Jeff Meendering, crew chief for Chandler Smith and the No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team; James Pohlman, crew chief for Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team; and Andy Street, crew chief for Austin Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team.
Ironically, each of the crew chiefs’ respective competitors represent half of the current eight Playoff contenders who remain in championship contention as the series transitions to the Round of 8 that begins this upcoming weekend at Las Vegas.
Tuesday’s penalty report comes a day after Hendrick Motorsports opted to not appeal the disqualification of Alex Bowman from the Round of 8 due to Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet entry not meeting the minimum weight requirements following Sunday’s event, where Bowman had initially transferred after finishing in 18th place and winning the event’s second stage period.
Bowman’s disqualification allowed Joey Logano, who initially missed the Round of 8 cutline by four points, to claim the round’s final transfer berth.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series’ teams return to action this upcoming weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the Playoff’s Round of 8 also commences for both series. The Xfinity’s Round of 8 event at Vegas will occur on Saturday, October 19, and air at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network. The Cup’s Round of 8 event will follow suit on Sunday, October 20, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
For a second consecutive season, Sam Mayer went from being scored below the cutline in the Playoff’s Round of 12 finale to leapfrogging his way into the Round of 8 by winning the Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval) on Saturday, October 12, amid an overtime shootout.
The 21-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led three times for 13 of 72 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row alongside Playoff contender Shane van Gisbergen but was penalized for launching ahead of the latter prior to the start/finish line while not the control competitor. Despite serving a pass-through penalty through pit road during the second lap, Mayer blended back on the track inside the top-15 mark, carved his way back into the top 10 after pitting before the first stage’s conclusion, and settled in 11th place. Despite falling one spot short of accumulating crucial stage points following the first stage period, Mayer racked up eight points by settling in third place at the conclusion of the second stage period.
After restarting on the front row for the start of the final stage period with 24 laps remaining, Mayer assumed the lead during the following lap. Despite pitting for fresh tires during a late caution period that started with 15 laps remaining, the Wisconsin native would use the tires to carve his way back up the leaderboard and up to second place as he tried to challenge Playoff contender Parker Kligerman for the victory in the closing laps.
Initially poised to finish in second place behind Kligerman, which would have eliminated him from the Playoffs, Mayer was gifted an opportunity to reclaim the lead after Leland Honeyman wrecked in Turn 3. The caution occurred inches before Kligerman could start the final lap of the event and make the event official, and instead sent the field into overtime. During the overtime shootout, Mayer overtook Kligerman through the Roval’s newly configured Turn 7 and muscled away from the field for two laps to win and maintain his 2024 championship hopes for another three weeks.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff rookie Shane van Gisbergen notched his third Xfinity Series pole position of the season and his career with a pole-winning lap at 97.110 mph in 84.523 seconds. Playoff contender Sam Mayer joined him on the front row was Playoff contender Sam Mayer, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 96.871 mph in 84.731 seconds.
Prior to the event, Ed Jones and Thomas Annunziata dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Sam Mayer rocketed his No. 1 QPS Employment Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Shane van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger from the inside lane through the frontstretch as he proceeded to lead through the first turn before he navigated his way through the infield turns, starting in Turn 2. The field, led by Mayer, would then navigate through a pair of right-hand turns in Turns 3 and 4 before entering a brief straightaway to another right-hand turn in Turn 5. Mayer retained the lead through the Roval’s new design turns from Turns 6 and 7 before making a sharp left-hand turn to return back to the main Charlotte oval course.
As the field continued to jostle for early spots, Mayer proceeded to lead through the backstretch’s chicane before he was penalized by NASCAR for jumping the start while not the leader of the race. Amid the penalty, Mayer navigated his way through the final pair of turns before he returned to the frontstretch, drove through the chicane and led the first lap while being black-flagged by NASCAR.
During the second lap, Mayer served a drive-through penalty through pit road, which allowed van Gisbergen to assume the lead as he was followed by teammate AJ Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, Josh Bilicki and Austin Hill. Despite being pressured by his Kaulig Racing teammate of Allmendinger, van Gisbergen would navigate his way through the 17-turn course and lead the following lap. By the fourth lap, however, Allmendinger navigated his way past van Gisbergen through the frontstretch’s chicane. With Allmendinger leading, van Gisbergen would fend off Creed for the runner-up spot as Bilicki and Hill followed suit.
Through the first five-scheduled laps, Allmendinger was leading by over teammate van Gisbergen as Creed, Bilicki and Austin Hill continued to trail in the top five ahead of rookie Jesse Love, Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier, Connor Mosack and Riley Herbst. Behind, Aric Almirola trailed in 11th place ahead of Cole Custer, Parker Kligerman and Anthony Alfredo while Sam Mayer was mired in 15th place ahead of teammate Sammy Smith.
Two laps later, van Gisbergen missed the backstretch’s chicane, where he locked up the front tires and drove off the course while running in second place. The on-track misfortune dropped the New Zealander to sixth place, where he had to come to a full stop before proceeding back on the racing surface, as Bilicki, Creed, Hill and Jesse Love all moved up the leaderboard. By then, Allmendinger was leading by more than three seconds.
At the Lap 10 mark, eight of 12 Playoff contenders were racing inside the top 10 as Allmendinger continued to lead by more than two seconds over Bilicki. Behind, Creed, Hill and Love followed suit ahead of van Gisbergen, Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Almirola while Mayer carved his way back into the top 10. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Kligerman, Herbst, Custer and Sammy Smith were racing inside the top 15 mark as Connor Mosack occupied 14th place.
By Lap 15, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to nearly four seconds over Bilicki while third-place van Gisbergen carved his way back up to third place in front of Creed, Hill and Love. Behind, Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Almirola and Mayer remained in the top 10 ahead of Kligerman and Herbst while Custer and Sammy Smith dropped to 16th and 17th, respectively.
Not long after, Creed, who was racing in fourth place, spun in the Roval’s newly configured Turn 7 after he got hit by Love, who was trying to make a move beneath teammate Hill for a top-five spot. The incident dropped Creed out of the top-10 mark on the track as the event remained under green flag conditions.
By Lap 17, select names led by Bilicki and including Chandler Smith, Almirola, Mayer, Kligerman, Austin Green, Brandon Jones, Custer, Anthony Alfredo, Sammy Smith, Josh Williams, Ed Jones, Alex Labbe and Ryan Sieg pitted under green. Parker Retzlaff had pitted a lap earlier as Allmendinger retained the lead by more than six seconds over teammate van Gisbergen.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Allmendinger cruised to his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate van Gisbergen followed suit in second ahead of Allgaier, Hill and Love while Creed, Mosack, Herbst, Bilicki and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10. With eight of 12 Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders including Mayer, Kligerman, Custer and Sammy Smith were mired in 11th, 21st, 23rd and 26th, respectively.
Under the stage break, some led by Allmendinger and including Playoff contenders van Gisbergen, Creed, Herbst, Allgaier, Hill and Love pitted while the rest led by Bilicki and Chandler Smith remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Love exited pit road first, ahead of Allmendinger, Creed, Hill, Herbst, Allgaier, van Gisbergen, Jeb Burton, Mosack and Sage Karam.
The second stage period started on Lap 24 as teammates Bilicki and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Bilicki and Chandler Smith both dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Bilicki muscled his No. 19 Insurance King Toyota Supra ahead through the infield turns. As the field behind jostled for spots, Bilicki retained the lead through the infield turns, including the tight, left-hand Turn 7, before returning to the main oval course. In the midst of the battles, van Gisbergen, who restarted outside the top 20, made contact with Creed in Turn 7 in his charge back to the front before Alex Labbe spun through the backstretch’s chicane amid contact with Ed Jones. Amid the on-track chaos, the race remained under green flag conditions as Bilicki led the following lap ahead of teammate Chandler Smith while Aric Almirola was up to third place.
During an ensuing caution period that started on Lap 26 due to debris spotted in Turn 2, select names led by Creed and including Thomas Annunziata, Leland Honeyman and Blaine Perkins pitted while the rest of the field led by Bilicki remained on the track. Creed’s pit service was due to the driver reporting a shifter issue to his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra.
With the field restarting under green on Lap 29, Bilicki fended off teammate Chandler Smith through the first two turns to retain the lead. Bilicki retained a steady advantage over Smith, Mayer, Almirola and Kligerman through the infield turns from Turns 3 to 7 as the field fanned out while navigating back onto Charlotte’s oval course. Then as the field navigated through the backstretch’s chicane before returning to the frontstretch, the caution returned due to Matt DiBenedetto crashing into the tire barriers just past Turn 6 and struggling to restart from his carnage scene.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 32 featured Bilicki and Mayer occupying the front row, where both dueled for the lead through the first three turns before Mayer muscled ahead entering Turn 4. As the field behind fanned out, Mayer fended off Bilicki through the following three sets of infield turns before he returned to the oval course and continued to lead through the backstretch chicane. With Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Allmendinger trailing in the top five, Mayer led the following lap.
Shortly after, the caution returned when Herbst, who was battling Alfredo amid close-quarters racing for 15th place, made contact with Alfredo through the frontstretch chicane that resulted in Herbst getting turned sideways off the front nose of Alfredo as both went straight into the outside wall and igniting a pileup that involved Josh Williams, Mosack, Ed Jones, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg, Dylan Lupton, Preston Pardus, Blaine Perkins, Brad Perez, Jeremy Clements, Brennan Poole and Creed. Despite sustaining damage to their respective cars, Herbst and Creed continued and remained on the lead lap.
During the caution period and extensive cleanup period, a majority of the field led by Mayer pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.
With the race restarting under green with three laps remaining in the second stage period, Allgaier and Sage Karam led the field to the restart zone, where Allgaier rocketed away from Karam and the field to lead through the infield turns as Leland Honeyman overtook Karam for second place. With Allgaier retaining the lead, the field fanned out while navigating through the infield turns, the oval turns and the backstretch’s chicane. As Allgaier proceeded to lead the following lap, more trouble struck for Creed, who was off the pace and limping his damaged car below the Charlotte oval’s apron. Creed would lose a lap as the field lapped him entering the backstretch.
As Herbst was also falling off the pace in his damaged No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang and with a broken trackbar, the caution would then fly on the final lap of the second stage period due to Creed coming to a halt in the backstretch. The caution would officially conclude the second stage period scheduled for Lap 40 as Allgaier claimed his 15th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammates Mosack and Mayer would follow suit in second and third, respectively, while Almirola, Honeyman, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Karam and Bilicki were scored in the top 10. With five of 12 Playoff contenders racking up a second round of stage points and both Herbst and Creed out of contention, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Kligerman, Love, Hill, Sammy Smith and Custer were mired inside the top 20.
During the stage break, select names including Allgaier, Karam, Clements, Retzlaff and Honeyman pitted while the rest led by Mosack remained on the track.
With 24 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as teammates Mosack and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start, Mosack muscled ahead and cleared teammate Mayer through the first turn. As Mosack proceeded to lead in his No. 88 Apollo Pex Chevrolet Camaro through the ensuing infield turns, Mayer fended off Allmendinger to retain second while Almirola, van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top six. With van Gisbergen diving his way up to fourth place through Turn 7, Mosack fended off teammate Mayer through both the backstretch and frontstretch chicanes to lead the following lap while teammates Hill and Love battled for ninth place.
Then, as Almirola and Clements spun in Turn 7, Mayer overtook teammate Mosack through Turns 8 and 9 to assume the lead. Mayer would retain the lead for the following lap as teammate Mosack, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top five.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Mayer was leading by more than a second over teammate Mosack as Playoff contenders Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Hill followed suit in the top seven ahead of Bilicki, Austin Green and Love. Behind, Sammy Smith, Custer and Allgaier were scored in the top 15 along with Brandon Jones and DiBenedetto as 31 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Five laps later, Mayer continued to lead by more than a second over Allmendinger as van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith and Mosack followed suit in the top five. With Mayer, who came into the event scored below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, leading, van Gisbergen currently occupied the eighth and final transfer spot to the top-eight cutline by two points over Allgaier, who overtook Custer for 12th place.
Shortly after, the caution flew due to Thomas Annunziata driving his No. 35 NFPA Toyota entry head-on into the barriers entering Turn 1 due to a brake failure. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Mayer and including Playoff contenders Allmendinger, Hill, Kligerman, Allgaier, Custer and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by van Gisbergen remained on the track. In addition to van Gisbergen, Austin Green, Love, Preston Pardus and Nathan Byrd remained on the track.
The start of the ensuing restart period with 11 laps remaining featured van Gisbergen rocketing his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro away with the lead as the field fanned out entering the first turn. With van Gisbergen leading Love, Green, Mayer and Kligerman through the infield turns and back on the oval turns, the New Zealander retained the lead by a steady margin through the backstretch chicane as Kligerman battled and overtook Love for the runner-up spot.
With 10 laps remaining, several competitors including Mosack and Alfredo spun through the frontstretch chicane while more including Sammy Smith served an on-track stop-and-go penalty in the frontstretch. At the front, van Gisbergen retained the lead over a hard-charging Kligerman while Mayer carved his way up to third place. Kligerman would cut van Gisbergen’s deficit through the infield turns before the former retained the advantage for the remaining turns.
The following lap, Kligerman, who pitted for fresh tires during the previous caution period and is placed in a “must-win” situation to advance into the Playoff’s Round of 8, closed in to van Gisbergen’s rear bumper through the infield turns. Kligerman then made his move beneath van Gisbergen in Turn 7 to move his No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet Camaro into the lead and he would retain the top spot through the oval turns and the following set of chicanes as Mayer overtook van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot. Van Gisbergen, whose tires were beginning to wear out, would then yield third place to teammate Allmendinger through the infield turns during the following lap as Kligerman retained the lead over Mayer.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Kligerman kept his lead to three-tenths of a second over Mayer, with the latter keeping pace and remaining within a striking zone of the former while Allmendinger tried to close in on the two leaders. Behind, van Gisbergen trailed by more than two seconds in fourth place ahead of Hill while Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Bilicki and Love were racing in the top 10.
Then with four laps remaining, Mayer seized an opportunity and made his move beneath Kligerman entering the frontstretch chicane to assume the lead. With Mayer lightly bumping into Kligerman and retaining the lead through the chicane, Kligerman then executed a crossover move of his own as he made his move beneath Mayer and reassumed the lead through the frontstretch. With Kligerman fending off Mayer through the first three turns, Allmendinger joined the battle and van Gisbergen also tried to close in from fourth place. During the following lap, Mayer briefly lost his momentum through the oval’s backstretch, which allowed Allmendinger and van Gisbergen to challenge him for the runner-up spot. Mayer, however, defended his spot as Kligerman muscled away with the lead through every turn and straightaway.
For the following lap, Kligerman’s steady advantage grew to nine-tenths of a second over Mayer as Allmendinger and van Gisbergen followed suit by less than two seconds. Despite Mayer trimming the gap to half a second towards the frontstretch, Kligerman remained in the lead.
Then as Kligerman was inches away from crossing the start/finish line to take the white flag and start the final lap of the event, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime due to Leland Honeyman wrecking and getting buried beneath the tire barriers in Turn 3. During the caution period, some including Love pitted while the rest led by Kligerman remained on the track
The start of the first overtime attempt featured Kligerman and Mayer dueling for the lead through the first four turns before the former rubbed and fended his way back to the front to retain the lead. Kligerman would retain the lead for the following infield turns before Mayer pulled a crossover move beneath Kligerman in Turn 7 and assumed the lead entering the oval turns. Mayer would proceed to lead through the backstretch chicane while Kligerman was trying to fend off Allmendinger and van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Mayer remained as the leader by a second over Allmendinger and van Gisbergen, who overtook Kligerman for second and third. By then, van Gisbergen was tied with Love for the final transfer spot to the Round of 8. As Love was trying to gain a spot within the middle of the pack, Mayer retained the lead from the infield turns to the backstretch. With both Allmendinger and van Gisbergen unable to close in from behind, Mayer would cycle back to the frontstretch and weave his way through the chicane before crossing the finish line in first place and notching his third Xfinity checkered flag of the 2024 season.
With the victory, Mayer, who came into the Charlotte Roval event 13 points below the cutline after being disqualified due to his car failing to meet the height requirements during the post-race inspection process last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, notched his seventh career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division, his third of the season and his first since winning at Iowa Speedway in June. The victory was also the 16th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate, with the manufacturer racking its sixth consecutive win at the Charlotte Roval, and the 88th overall for JR Motorsports.
The second consecutive victory at the Charlotte Roval allowed Mayer and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team to automatically advance into the Round of 8, where the Wisconsin native continues his pursuit for his first Xfinity Series championship.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Man, it’s all thanks to the good Lord above,” Mayer said on the CW Network. “He’s blessed me with a lot of issues this year, learning moments. To come out here to the Charlotte Motor Speedway [Rova], go back to back [in wins] with a fast, fast car. To do it at home is something special. This No. 1 car was fast today. We certainly had to work for [the win] there. I knew that [passing in Turn 7] was my only shot if I got a good angle into that corner. [Kligerman] blocked the bottom [lane], which was good for me. It gave me a better angle up off the corner and this QPS Employment Chevrolet hooked up and we were gone from there. [It] Was something super special and now, I get to celebrate.”
As Mayer celebrated the race victory that enabled him to advance into the Round of 8, Jesse Love was also left smiling after he finished in 19th place, which was enough for him to claim the eighth and final spot to advance into the next round of the Playoffs by two points over rookie rival van Gisbergen, who ended up in third place. The result marks the second time where a driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet entry claimed the final berth into the Round of 8 while van Gisbergen’s championship run in his first full-time NASCAR campaign came to a bittersweet end.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[The ending was] Just stressful,” Love said. “[My team] were telling me I needed one more [spot] and then one more. I was like, ‘When is [the race] gonna end?’ At the end of the day, I got to be loyal to my guys and they busted their ass really hard, so I got to put a sack over my shoulder and man up and drive forward. Just proud of my whole Whelen No. 2 team. We’re good enough to go race for a championship and we just got to go show it in the next three weeks.”
“It is what it is,” van Gisbergen said. “It probably comes down to last week [at Talladega] having the dramas we had and the DNF there, so that’s probably it. I’m proud of the Kaulig Racing guys. We’ve had an amazing year, my first year in NASCAR. I’ve loved it. I’m happy, but I’m also not. I’d love to keep going [in the Playoffs]. [I] Did what I could.”
Compared to van Gisbergen, teammate AJ Allmendinger advanced into the Round of 8 by finishing in second place. Playoff contenders Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Justin Allgaier all advanced by finishing fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively, on the track as they joined Sammy Smith, who advanced by winning last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, for the Round of 8 battle.
Meanwhile, Kligerman did not transfer despite capping off his strong run in sixth place. Kligerman’s sixth-place result left the Connecticut native with mixed emotions and fighting off tears as he was initially within inches of both achieving his first elusive Xfinity victory and advancing into the Round of 8 during the event’s regulation period. Nonetheless, Kligerman remained humble and remained optimistic in pursuing his victory before he retires from NASCAR competition at this season’s conclusion.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I might have teared up when I thought we got it there with the white flag and the caution comes out and then had to refocus,” Kligerman said. “I thought I’d cut off Turn 7 enough, but [Mayer] somehow got below me and then, it was on from there. I said I want to cry. I’m not gonna cry, but I really love this game. I just really, really wanted that. It would have meant the world, but you know what? It meant the world to be in that position. Thank you to [owner] Scott Borchetta and everyone at Spiked Coolers. Everyone who made this possible. Big Machine Racing. I don’t know how to process this. It’s going to take a while, but just really thankful to have the opportunity. God, I love this game. I want to get a trophy.”
Ultimately, Kligerman and van Gisbergen join Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed as the bottom four competitors in the Playoff standings to not advance into the Round of 8.
There were 12 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 20 laps. In addition, 26 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Sam Mayer, 13 laps led
2. AJ Allmendinger, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Shane van Gisbergen, seven laps led
4. Austin Hill
5. Chandler Smith, one lap led
6. Parker Kligerman, 12 laps led
7. Justin Allgaier, six laps led, Stage 2 winner
8. Josh Bilicki, 10 laps led
9. Aric Almirola
10. Sammy Smith
11. Brandon Jones
12. Parker Retzlaff
13. Cole Custer
14. Alex Labbe
15. Jeb Burton
16. Anthony Alfredo
17. Ryan Sieg
18. Connor Mosack, five laps led
19. Jesse Love
20. Jeremy Clements
21. Preston Pardus
22. Matt DiBenedetto
23. Kyle Sieg
24. Dawson Cram
25. Nathan Byrd
26. Brad Perez
27. Dylan Lupton, one lap down
28. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident
29. Sage Karam – OUT, Brakes
30. Austin Green – OUT, Engine
31. Ryan Ellis, 14 laps down
32. Riley Herbst – OUT, Driveshaft
33. Blaine Perkins, 16 laps down
34. Thomas Annunziata – OUT, Accident
35. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident
36. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident
37. Ed Jones – OUT, Accident
38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident
*Bold indicates Playoff competitors
Playoff standings
1. Sam Mayer – Advanced
2. Sammy Smith – Advanced
3. Chandler Smith – Advanced
4. Austin Hill – Advanced
5. Cole Custer – Advanced
6. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced
7. Justin Allgaier – Advanced
8. Jesse Love – Advanced
9. Shane van Gisbergen – Eliminated
10. Sheldon Creed – Eliminated
11. Riley Herbst – Eliminated
12. Parker Kligerman – Eliminated
The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to commence at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Ambetter Health 302. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, October 19, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Rookie Shane van Gisbergen will start on the pole position for the 2024 Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval) on Saturday, October 12.
The three-time SuperCars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, was one of 10 from a list of 38-entered competitors to transfer into the final round of qualifying, where the first phase of qualifying consisted of two 19-car groups (Group A and Group B) and the top-five fastest competitors from each group transferring into the final qualifying round.
After being the fastest qualifier from the Group A qualifying round, van Gisbergen would proceed to post his best qualifying lap at 97.110 mph in 84.523 seconds during the final qualifying round, which was enough for him to claim the pole position for Saturday’s main event.
With the result, van Gisbergen, who is pulling double-duty roles between the Xfinity and Cup Series divisions, notched the third NASCAR Xfinity Series pole of the 2024 season and of his career. His previous poles of this season occurred at Sonoma Raceway in June and at the Chicago Street Course in July, both of which he proceeded to win the main events.
With Saturday’s main event at Charlotte serving as the Round of 12 finale in the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs, van Gisbergen’s pole position comes at a critical time. The New Zealander is currently ranked in 10th place in the Playoff standings and trails the top-eight cutline to the Round of 8 by 10 points. Having finished eighth and 35th, respectively, during the first two events of the Round of 12, van Gisbergen aims to race up front and contend for the victory that would enable him to the Round of 8 and remain in title contention.
“The WeatherTech Camaro was really good,” van Gisbergen said on USA Network. “Obviously, AJ’s [Allmendinger] fast as well, so that’s a credit to our Kaulig Racing guys. We struggled at Watkins [Glen] for pace, had to rethink and now, our cars are really, really good. Hopefully, we can both take [the competition] to’em. Hopefully, both of us get through to the second round of the Playoffs. We’re in a good spot. See how the race goes.”
Joining van Gisbergen on the front row will be Sam Mayer, a 2024 Xfinity Playoff contender who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 96.871 mph in 84.731 seconds. Like van Gisbergen, Mayer enters the Charlotte Roval below the cutline following a disqualification last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway due to his car failing to meet the height requirements during the post-race inspection process. Having won the Charlotte Roval in a “must-win” situation a year ago, Mayer, who trails the cutline by 13 points, strives to repeat his success at the Roval that would enable him to maintain his Playoff hopes for another round.
AJ Allmendinger, van Gisbergen’s teammate at Kaulig Racing and a five-time NASCAR national touring series race winner at the Charlotte Roval, will line up in third place with his best qualifying lap occurring at 96.776 mph in 84.814 seconds. Allmendinger, who currently occupies the eighth and final transfer spot into the Round of 8 by seven points, will be followed by Josh Bilicki and Playoff contender Sheldon Creed on the starting grid.
Playoff contenders Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, rookie Jesse Love and Justin Allgaier will start sixth to ninth, respectively, while Connor Mosack will occupy the 10th starting spot.
With eight of 12 Playoff contenders starting in the top 10, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, Sammy Smith and Parker Kligerman will start 12th, 14th, 16th, and 22nd, respectively.
*All 38 competitors entered for Saturday’s event at Charlotte earned a starting spot.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
Shane van Gisbergen, 97.110 mph, 84.523 seconds
Sam Mayer, 96.871 mph, 84.731 seconds
AJ Allmendinger, 96.776 mph, 84.814 seconds
Josh Bilicki, 96.256 mph, 85.273 seconds
Sheldon Creed, 96.248 mph, 85.280 seconds
Austin Hill, 96.183 mph, 85.337 seconds
Chandler Smith, 96.115 mph, 85.398 seconds
Jesse Love, 96.079 mph, 85.430 seconds
Justin Allgaier, 95.751 mph, 85.722 seconds
Connor Mosack, 95.636 mph, 85.825 seconds
Anthony Alfredo, 96.137 mph, 85.378 seconds
Riley Herbst, 95.775 mph, 85.701 seconds
Aric Almirola, 95.767 mph, 85.708 seconds
Cole Custer, 95.688 mph, 85.779 seconds
Brandon Jones, 95.675 mph, 85.790 seconds
Sammy Smith, 95.669 mph, 85.796 seconds
Austin Green, 95.562 mph, 85.892 seconds
Ed Jones, 95.543 mph, 85.909 seconds
Alex Labbe, 95.446 mph, 85.996 seconds
Parker Retzlaff, 95.385 mph, 86.051 seconds
Jeremy Clements, 95.335 mph, 86.096 seconds
Parker Kligerman, 95.319 mph, 86.111 seconds
Josh Williams, 95.215 mph, 86.205 seconds
Brennan Poole, 95.119 mph, 86.292 seconds
Ryan Sieg, 94.898 mph, 86.493 seconds
Matt DiBenedetto, 94.833 mph, 86.552 seconds
Jeb Burton, 94.777 mph, 86.603 seconds
Sage Karam, 94.549 mph, 86.812 seconds
Preston Pardus, 94.397 mph, 86.952 seconds
Ryan Ellis, 94.350 mph, 86.995 seconds
Brad Perez, 94.257 mph, 87.081 seconds
Thomas Annunziata, 94.160 mph, 87.171 seconds
Leland Honeyman, 93.877 mph, 87.434 seconds
Blaine Perkins, Owner Points
Kyle Sieg, Owner Points
Dylan Lupton, Owner Points
Dawson Cram, Owner Points
Nathan Byrd, Owner Points
The 2024 Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course is scheduled to occur Saturday afternoon, October 12, at 3:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
The Playoffs continue this weekend as the NASCAR Cup Series competes on the Charlotte ROVAL on Sunday afternoon in the last race of the Round of 12.
After the race, four drivers will be eliminated from Cup Series championship contention. Joey Logano (-13), Daniel Suárez (-20), Austin Cindric (-29) and Chase Briscoe (-32) are currently below the cutline.
Four Xfinity Series drivers will also be eliminated from the Playoffs following the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Drivers below the cutline include Justin Allgaier (-7), Shane van Gisbergen (-10), Sam Mayer (-13) and Parker Kligerman (-16).
The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is off until October 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
All times are Eastern.
Saturday, Oct. 12 10 a.m.: Xfinity Series Practice All entries, 50 minutes USA/NBC Sports App
11 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying Impound, Groups A & B, Multi-Vehicle, 2 Rounds USA/NBC Sports App
12:30 p.m.: Cup Series Practice Groups A & B, Two 20-minute sessions each group USA/PRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
2:00 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying Impound, Groups A &B, 2 Rounds USA/PRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Post Cup Series Qualifying: NASCAR Press Pass
4:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series Drive for the Cure 250 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield Stages 20/40/67 Laps = 152.76 Miles CW/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,419,755 Post Xfinity Series Race: NASCAR Press Pass
Sunday, Oct. 13 2:00 p.m.: Bank of America ROVAL 400 Stages 25/50/109 Laps = 248.52 Miles NBC/PRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Purse: $8,056,477 Post Cup Series Race: NASCAR Press Pass
Using lessons and scenarios gained from team owner and former NASCAR veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sammy Smith capitalized on an overtime shootout amid a late battle with his fellow Playoff contenders to advance into the second round of the Playoffs by winning the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 5.
The two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion from Johnston, Iowa, led five times for a total of five of 98 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started the deepest of the Playoff field in 27th place. Despite carving his way up through the field and inside the top-10 mark amid the draft before ending up a single position shy of claiming a stage point after the first stage period, Smith would rally by surging to a second-place finish at the conclusion of the second stage period.
Once the final stage period started under green flag conditions with 38 laps remaining, Smith would lead for the first time on Lap 67 and spend the majority of the stage racing towards the front as the action around him intensified amid three-wide formation and his fellow competitors drafting aggressively.
Following three restart periods and two multi-car wrecks, the latter of which knocked out three of his JR Motorsports teammates, Smith, who restarted alongside Playoff contender Riley Herbst on the front row for an overtime shootout, overtook Herbst for the lead on the final lap before he dueled with Playoff contender Chandler Smith for the lead through the backstretch. With Chandler Smith having no drafting help through the final two sets of turns, Sammy Smith received drafting help from Ryan Sieg to surge ahead and fend off the incoming field to score his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in over one year and automatically transfer from the Playoff’s Round of 12 to 8.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff rookie contender Jesse Love notched his fifth Xfinity career pole position after he posted a pole-winning lap at 182.129 mph in 52.578 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender and teammate Austin Hill, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 181.770 mph in 52.682 seconds.
Before the event, the following names that include CJ McLaughlin, Joey Gase and Tommy Joe Martins dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Aric Almirola also dropped to the rear of the field after his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team was assessed with a windshield violation during the inspection process. In addition, Almirola was assessed a drive-through penalty after taking the green flag.
When the green flag waved and the race started, teammates Jesse Love and Austin Hill dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes before Hill muscled ahead as he started on the inside lane. As the field began to fan out to multiple lanes exiting the backstretch, Hill fended off Playoff contenders Chandler Smith and AJ Allmendinger through two lanes and through the frontstretch to lead the first lap as Aric Almirola served his pass-through penalty.
Through the second to fifth lap, a majority of the field migrated to the outside lane and within a long single-file line behind the leader Hill while Allmendinger led a small parade of competitors drafting and trying to keep pace with Hill on the inside lane. Allmendinger, however, would surge ahead to lead the fourth lap as he had Playoff contender Riley Herbst following suit from the inside lane while Hill was trying to keep pace from the outside lane. Taylor Gray and Playoff contender Sam Mayer also navigated their way to the front while Allmendingergressively blocked both lanes to maintain the lead.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, a series of on-track shuffling ensued towards the front as the field fanned out to three packed lanes, with Love moving back atop the leaderboard ahead of Allmendinger, Hill, Ryan Sieg and Anthony Alfredo. Behind, Riley Herbst and Chandler Smith along with Playoff contenders Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier were racing in the top 10 ahead of Taylor Gray, Brandon Jones, Carson Kvapil, Jeb Burton and Playoff contenders Cole Custer. Meanwhile, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer and Shane van Gisbergen were mired in 17th, 18th and 22nd, respectively.
Five laps later, Love maintained a narrow advantage over Allmendinger as he led two stacked drafting lanes while Chandler Smith, Hill, Alfredo and Justin Allgaier were mired in the top six on the track. By then, Almirola, who was lapped two laps earlier, was mired in 37th place. With a majority of the front-runners racing in two-wide formation amid the draft, Love continued to lead at the Lap 20 mark as he transitioned from both the inside and outside lanes to fend off Chandler Smith and Allgaier for the lead, though Chandler Smith then drew himself alongside Love and led the following lap by a hair.
A lap after being edged by Chandler Smith, Love then got shoved out of the draft entering the backstretch as Allgaier made his move beneath Love and had the drafting momentum with him. With Love drifting back within the top-10 mark, Chandler Smith had the lead to his possession while Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Allmendinger and Gray were scored in the top five.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Playoff contender Chandler Smith fended off final-lap challenges from teammate Creed, Allgaier and Allmendinger to claim his seventh Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Playoff contenders Allmendinger, Allgaier, Austin Hill and Creed followed suit in the top five while Anthony Alfredo, Taylor Gray, Mayer, Custer and Dean Thompson were scored in the top 10. With seven of 12 Playoff contenders accumulating the first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sammy Smith, Herbst, Kligerman, Love and van Gisbergen were mired in 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 23rd, respectively. In addition, Almirola was the recipient of the free pass after being the first competitor that was scored a lap down at the first stage’s conclusion.
Under the stage break, a majority of the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith pitted for a first round of pit service while others led by Blaine Perkins remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Love exited pit road first after he opted to have none of his four tires changed while Chandler Smith, Creed, Allgaier and Allmendinger followed suit in the top five. The remaining competitors, who stayed on the track, led by Perkins, pitted a lap after the rest of the field did, which handed the lead back to Love.
The second stage period started on Lap 31 as Love and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Love muscled ahead from the outside lane through the first two turns, but he would then be locked in a side-by-side battle with Chandler Smith just past the frontstretch. With the field behind closing in amid two stacked drafting lanes, Love managed to lead the following lap while Chandler Smith and Allgaier dueled for second place. Allgaier would then surge into second place in front of Cole Custer and Chandler Smith by Lap 33 as the field fanned out to three packed lanes through the backstretch.
At the Lap 35 mark, Love led a small single-file line that included Allgaier, Custer, Hill, Alfredo and Kvapil while Chandler Smith was mired in seventh place along with Jeb Burton, van Gisbergen and Allmendinger. By the next lap, the top 24 competitors were running under two seconds as Love retained the lead ahead of Allgaier, Custer, Hill and Alfredo. By then, playoff contenders van Gisbergen, Herbst, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Creed, Kligerman and Sammy Smith were mired within the top-20 mark while Sam Mayer was racing in 23rd place. In addition, Almirola had carved his way back into the top-20 mark.
By Lap 40, Love maintained a steady five-car breakaway from two stacked lanes that included Allgaier, Hill, Alfredo and Taylor Gray while Allmendinger and Chandler Smith were trying to charge their way towards the front amid their respective drafting lanes. Allmendinger would then climb his way up to fourth place with a strong surge from the outside lane as he had Custer and Kvapil drafting him.
A lap later, the caution flew when Allmendinger, who had gained a draft on Love from the outside lane, caused a brief stack-up from the outside lane, starting after the backstretch, after he surged to Love’s bumper at a high-rated speed, got loose and was shuffled out of the draft. This resulted in Nick Leitz getting turned and wrecking in front of Kligerman and Jeb Burton as Josh Williams and Dean Thompson were also involved in Turn 4. At the moment of caution, Allgaier had overtaken Love for the lead through Turns 3 and 4.
During the caution period, some including Kvapil, Brandon Jones, Herbst, Taylor Gray, Ryan Sieg, van Gisbergen, Kligerman and Jeb Burton pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Gray was penalized for speeding on pit road.
With the event restarting under green with four laps remaining in the second stage period, Allgaier and Hill dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Cole Custer was shuffled out of the draft despite lining up with the Richard Childress Racing competitors, Hill continued to duel with Allgaier for the lead through the frontstretch, where Allgaier led the following lap, as Allmendinger aggressively shoved his way towards the top-three mark and amid a three-wide move. As the field continued to fan out aggressively, Allgaier managed to move in front of Hill to have both lanes to his control and lead the following lap.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 50, Playoff contender Austin Hill, who used a bold crossover move on Allgaier to assume the lead and outlasted a series of aggressive challenges from his competition amid the draft over the previous two laps, fended off a last-lap surge from Sammy Smith to claim his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Behind, Playoff contenders Sammy Smith, Love, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Allmendinger, Creed and Custer all finished in the top nine while Brandon Jones settled in 10th place. With nine of 12 Playoff contenders racking up the second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Allgaier, Mayer and Kligerman settled in 13th, 17th and 21st, respectively.
During the stage break, Hill led a majority of the field, including all Playoff contenders, back to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Herbst, who only opted for fuel, exited pit road first as he was followed by Brandon Jones, Kvapil, Chandler Smith and Gray.
With 38 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Herbst and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst received drafting help from Chandler Smith to surge ahead of Jones through the first two turns as the rest of the field followed suit amid two stacked lanes. With the field beginning to fan out to multiple lanes through the backstretch, Herbst led the following lap ahead of Chandler Smith while Gray made his way up to third place ahead of Jones, Creed and Love. Love then surged towards the front with no drafting help through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4 before Herbst fought back with all the momentum occurring behind him toward the outside wall. As the majority of the field migrated towards the outside lane led by Herbst, Love continued to fight back from the inside lane as he had Sammy Smith, Almirola and Allgaier following suit.
With 34 laps remaining, Love, who spent the last several laps dueling with Herbst, surged ahead to lead as he was followed by Sammy Smith and the rest of the field. Smith then made his move beneath Love exiting the backstretch and both dueled in front of two stacked lanes through the frontstretch and prior to completing the following lap as Love was still scored ahead of Smith and Herbst.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event and with the field fanned out to three stacked drafting lanes, Herbst was ahead of Chandler Smith, who used the inside lane to lead a few laps earlier amid a three-wide action, and Almirola while Sammy Smith, Love, Allgaier, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Jordan Anderson and Hill were scored in the top 10 ahead of Josh Williams, Mayer, Cred, Kvapil and Alfredo. Meanwhile, Kligerman and Custer were mired in 17th and 24th, respectively, while the top 23 competitors were racing under a second of one another.
Five laps later, Chandler Smith was out in front ahead of Love, Herbst, Sammy Smith, Allmendinger and van Gisbergen while Almirola, Hill, Williams and Allgaier were mired in the top 10 amid a flurry of on-track battles as the field continued to duel amid three tight-packed lanes.
With 20 laps remaining, Allmendinger, who made an aggressive move to overtake Love from the outside lane before he dueled with Chandler Smith for the lead from the inside lane, was leading ahead of Sammy Smith, Herbst, Almirola and Chandler Smith as the top-28 competitors were separated within two seconds.
A lap later, the caution flew when van Gisbergen, who was scored in sixth place approaching the frontstretch’s tri-oval, made contact with Dean Thompson which resulted in van Gisbergen going below the double yellow line zone. Immediately after, Jordan Anderson ran into the rear of Thompson and got Thompson spinning and clipping van Gisbergen, where the latter went back up the track and ignited a multi-car wreck that involved Anderson, David Starr, Taylor Gray, Josh Williams and Austin Hill.
During the caution period, some including Kligerman and Love pitted to top off on fuel while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track. By then, Hill was able to remain on the lead lap after having his car repaired and meeting minimum speed to continue while van Gisbergen was eliminated from further competition.
The start of the following restart period with 13 laps remaining featured Sammy Smith and Allmendinger dueling for the lead just past the frontstretch before Allmendinger surged ahead with drafting help from Herbst and Chandler Smith on the inside lane through the first two turns. The field then scattered before filing back into two draft-packed lanes as Herbst challenged Allmendinger for the lead. By then, Almirola, who was racing towards the front, blew a left-front tire through the frontstretch and fell off the pace, though he continued below the apron without drawing a caution. The caution, however, returned with 11 laps remaining due to debris coming off of Almirola’s car on the backstretch as Almirola limped his car to pit road.
With the race restarting under green with seven laps remaining, Herbst and Sammy Smith dueled for the lead before Herbst surged ahead from the inside lane with drafting help from Allmendinger, Chandler Smith and Allgaier. Allmendinger then tried to duel beneath Herbst for the lead through the backstretch, but he had no drafting help while Herbst retained the lead with drafting help coming from Chandler Smith. As the field fanned out through the frontstretch, Herbst retained the lead for the following lap.
Down to the final five laps of the event and the field still fanned out to three packed lanes, Sammy Smith was leading ahead of teammates Allgaier and Jones while Allmendinger and Herbst battled for fourth place. Allgaier and Herbst then pinned Sammy Smith in the middle of a three-wide battle through the backstretch as Allgaier surged ahead with the lead. With Allgaier leading the following lap ahead of Herbst, Sammy Smith battled Leland Honeyman, Jones, and Chandler Smith for third place as the field behind continued to draft aggressively through three packed lanes.
Then with three laps remaining, the caution returned when Kvapil, who was racing towards the top five, was bumped by teammate Jones exiting the frontstretch, which resulted in Kvapil getting loose and spinning into the path of teammate Allgaier as both smacked the outside wall hard. Kvapil then shot dead left back across the track and clipped Jones as Jones took a vicious head-on hit into the outside wall, where he collected Alfredo and Custer. In the ensuing chaos, more names including Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff, Jeb Burton, Allmendinger, Dylan Lupton, Love and Perkins wrecked. The multi-car wreck was enough to not only send the event into overtime but also place the event in a brief red flag period as Herbst, who made a move beneath Allgaier for the lead through Turns 3 and 4 a lap earlier, was scored the leader.
When the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, some including Allgaier, Allmendinger and Custer pitted for repairs to their respective cars while the rest led by Herbst and Sammy Smith remained on the track.
The start of the first overtime attempt featured Herbst and Sammy Smith tightly dueling for the lead through the first two turns, with Chandler Smith drafting Herbst while Creed was drafting Sammy Smith. Through the backstretch, the top-four competitors that included Herbst, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith and Creed muscled away from the rest of the field until Herbst muscled ahead with drafting help from Chandler Smith entering Turns 3 and 4 when Sammy Smith lost his drafting help from Creed.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Herbst remained as the leader as the rest of the field behind came storming back towards the front-runners while Sammy Smith started to make his move beneath Herbst for the lead. Chandler Smith then made his move beneath Herbst with drafting help from teammate Creed, which resulted in Herbst dropping out of the top five as he had not drafting help and left both Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith to duel for the lead in front of Ryan Sieg, Leland Honeyman and Creed through the first two turns.
With the field still fanned out to three tight-packed lanes through the backstretch as Jeb Burton tried to surge to the front, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith remained in a tight duel for the lead until Sammy Smith started to have drafting help from Ryan Sieg through Turns 3 and 4. Then entering the frontstretch, Sammy Smith surged ahead with drafting help from Ryan Sieg while Chandler Smith was losing momentum as he had no drafting help. With no additional drafting runs or challenges occurring behind him, Sammy Smith was able to muscle ahead and claim the checkered flag by a tenth of a second over Ryan Sieg while Creed got turned by Love after taking the checkered flag.
With the victory, Sammy Smith, the reigning Xfinity Series Rookie-of-the-Year recipient, notched his second career win in his 70th start in the Xfinity Series, his first on a superspeedway venue and his first since winning at Phoenix Raceway in March 2023. The victory was also Smith’s first driving for JR Motorsports and the first time the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet entry went to Victory Lane in an Xfinity event since Josh Berry piloted the entry to a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October 2022. In addition, JR Motorsports notched its fourth Xfinity victory at Talladega and its 87th victory overall in the series while rookie crew chief Phillip Bell, who was swapped to JR Motorsports’ No. 8 team from the No. 9 team in early September, achieved his first career win.
As a result, Smith, who came into Talladega 23 points below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, earned an automatic spot into the Playoff’s Round of 8, where he will continue his pursuit of his first Xfinity Series championship.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“It’s been a really tough year,” Smith said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “[Spotter] Tyler Monn, he did a really great job today, helping me. Man, it’s been a while. It’s been a struggle, but I’m very happy to be here and looking forward to, hopefully, go getting better on these ovals and road courses. [I] sat down with [team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.], I think it was on Wednesday. [The conversation] wasn’t a whole lot. Just kind of some stuff he would do in those situations, but man, it feels really good to get a win again.”
Ryan Sieg followed Sammy Smith to the finish line by a tenth of a second as he finished in the runner-up spot for the fourth time in his career while Playoff contenders Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith finished in the top five.
Playoff contender Jesse Love, Jeb Burton, David Starr, Brennan Poole and Kyle Sieg completed the top-10 results in the final running order ahead of Playoff contenders AJ Allmendinger and Parker Kligerman. Behind, Sam Mayer ended up in 16th place while Austin Hill settled in 24th place. In addition, Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer both finished a lap down in 26th and 27th, respectively.
*Following the post-race inspection process, Sam Mayer was disqualified from finishing 16th due to his car failing to meet the rear height requirements and being too low. Instead of leaving Talladega with 24 points and occupying the eighth and final transfer spot in the Playoff standings by 10 points, Mayer officially leaves Talladega 13 points below the cutline and with a single point recorded following his run at Talladega.
With Sammy Smith leapfrogging his way from the bottom to the top of the Playoff standings along with racing his way into the Playoff’s second round, Chandler Smith has also clinched his spot into the Round of 8 by points as he is 64 points above the cutline. Currently, the four competitors who trail the top-eight cutline entering next weekend’s Round of 8 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course are Justin Allgaier, Shane van Gisbergen, Mayer and Parker Kligerman. Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger, who was initially scored 10 points below the cutline, now occupies the eighth and final transfer spot in the standings by seven points over Allgaier.
There were 28 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 27 laps. In addition, 24 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Sammy Smith, five laps led
2. Ryan Sieg, one lap led
3. Riley Herbst, 22 laps led
4. Sheldon Creed
5. Chandler Smith, 11 laps led, Stage 1 winner
6. Jesse Love, 28 laps led
7. Jeb Burton
8. David Starr, one lap eld
9. Brennan Poole
10. Kyle Sieg
11. AJ Allmendinger, 13 laps led
12. Parker Kligerman
13. Tommy Joe Martins
14. Leland Honeyman
15. Ryan Ellis
16. Matt DiBenedetto
17. CJ McLaughlin
18. Blaine Perkins, one lap led
19. Aric Almirola
20. Dean Thompson
21. Joey Gase
22. Carson Ware
23. Austin Hill, seven laps led, Stage 2 winner
24. Dylan Lupton, one lap down
25. Justin Allgaier, one lap down, eight laps led
26. Cole Custer, one lap down
27. Carson Kvapil – OUT, Accident
28. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident
29. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident
30. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident
31. Kyle Weatherman, 11 laps down
32. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident
33. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Accident
34. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident
35. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Accident
36. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Brakes
37. Nick Leitz – OUT, Accident
38. Sam Mayer – Disqualified, one lap led
*Bold indicates Playoff competitors
Playoff standings
1. Sammy Smith – Advanced
2. Chandler Smith – Advanced
3. Cole Custer +37
4. Austin Hill +37
5. Sheldon Creed +32
6. Jesse Love +22
7. Riley Herbst +20
8. AJ Allmendinger +7
9. Justin Allgaier -7
10. Shane van Gisbergen -10
11. Sam Mayer -13
12. Parker Kligerman -16
The Round of 12 in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to conclude next Saturday, October 12, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in Concord, North Carolina, for the Drive for the Cure 250, where the first of two elimination processes will occur. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
NASCAR travels to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend with all the series set to compete on the 2.66-mile asphalt track. The race will mark the second race in the Round of 12 Playoffs for the Cup Series and Xfinity Series and the first event of the Craftsman Truck Series Round of 8.
Qualifying (impound) for all series: Single Vehicle – 1 Lap – 2 Rounds.
Note: There will be no practice at Talladega.
NASCAR Press Pass will be available post-race for all series.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, Oct. 4 1:00 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS2 4:30 p.m.: Truck Series Love’s RV Stop 225 Stages end on laps 20/40/85 Laps = 226.1 Miles FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $880,113
Saturday, Oct. 5 Noon: Xfinity Series Qualifying USA/NBC Sports App 1:30 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying USA/MRN/SiriusXM 4:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series United Rentals 250 Stages end on laps 25/50/94 Laps = 250.04 Miles CW/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,337,574
Sunday, Oct. 6 2:00 p.m.: Cup Series YellaWood 500 Stages end on Laps 60/120/188 = 500 Miles NBC/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $9,222,964
Carson Kvapil has received the call to be named a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor for JR Motorsports in 2025.
Kvapil, a 21-year-old, second-generation racer from Mooresville, North Carolina, is set to pilot the No. 1 Chevrolet entry, which is currently being driven by Sam Mayer who will join the newly formed Haas Factory Team next season. The entry will be sponsored by Bass Pro Shops as Kvapil will commence his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity circuit at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2025.
The news comes as Kvapil, the reigning two-time CARS Late Model Stock Tour champion who was also crowned the 2021 CARS Super Late Model Tour and 2020 Carolina Pro Late Model Series titles, is coming off a thrilling victory in the prestigious ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway this past weekend.
This season, Kvapil, who joined JR Motorsports to compete in Late Models in 2022, made his first eight career starts in the Xfinity Series while piloting JR Motorsports’ No. 88 “all-star” Chevrolet entry. After finishing an impressive fourth place in his Xfinity debut at Martinsville in early April, he notched a career-best runner-up result in his second start at Dover Motor Speedway in late April after being overtaken for both the lead and eventual victory during a second of two overtime attempts.
Since his first two Xfinity career starts, Kvapil has racked up an additional top-five run by finishing fifth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June before he finished 10th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. With his current average-finishing result being 11.5, he also led 63 laps during the span. Kvapil is scheduled to make his ninth and final Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
With his plans for the 2025 season set, Kvapil is set to compete alongside teammates Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith and newcomer Connor Zilisch, all of whom will occupy JR Motorsports’ four full-time stables next season. His crew chief for the 2025 Xfinity season ane additional partnerships for his entry have yet to be determined.
Carson Kvapil’s final Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season at Talladega is set to occur this Saturday, October 5, with a 4 p.m. ET broadcast start time on the CW Network.
Aric Almirola commenced the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs by spoiling the opening race with a resurgent victory in the Kansas Lottery 30 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, September 28, leaving a bevy of Playoff contenders left with bruised feelings and an early axe to grind toward one another.
The 40-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led twice for 16 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started sixth and generated race-winning pace in the early portions of the race as he won the first stage period. Then, after settling in second place after the second stage period, Almirola’s event nearly went south when he pitted under green with less than 80 laps remaining due to scraping the outside wall entering the backstretch that cut his right-rear tire.
With a late-race caution flying with under 60 laps remaining due to a wheel rolling onto the frontstretch’s grass during a late cycle of green-flag pit stops, Almirola was able to methodically carve his way back to the front. Starting from the final restart period with 49 laps remaining, he overtook Playoff contender Cole Custer for the lead with three laps remaining. From there, Almirola was able to drive away from Custer and cruise to his second Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Brandon Jones notched his third Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 175.553 mph in 30.760 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Chandler Smith, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 175.291 mph in 30.806 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following drivers, including Logan Bearden, Jeb Burton, Matt DiBenedetto, Brad Perez and Dawson Cram dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Leland Honeyman also dropped to the rear of the field for an engine change.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Chandler Smith jumped ahead with an early advantage from the inside lane as he led Brandon Jones and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. With nearly the entire field running in two packed lanes, Smith muscled ahead and led the first lap as Connor Zilisch managed to keep his car running straight after he slid sideways through Turns 3 and 4 from fourth place.
Over the next four laps, Chandler Smith proceeded to lead as Jones, Playoff contender Cole Custer, Aric Almirola, Playoff contender Justin Allgaier and Playoff contender Jesse Love followed suit in the top six while Zilisch dropped to seventh. By then, Jeremy Clements was penalized for a restart violation, when he changed lanes before reaching the start/finish line to begin the race, as Zilisch continued to lose spots while being overtaken by Taylor Gray and Playoff contender Parker Kligerman.
Then on the sixth lap, the event’s first caution flew when Playoff contender Sammy Smith spun by himself on the backstretch after he got tagged into the frontstretch outside wall by Playoff contender AJ Allmendinger the lap prior. During the caution period, select names including Playoff contender Shane van Gisbergen, Dawson Cram, Joey Gase, Ryan Vargas, Patrick Emerling and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest, led by Chandler Smith, remained on the track.
The start of the following restart on Lap 11 featured a duel between Jones and Chandler Smith before teammate Aric Almirola shoved Smith back out in front from the inside lane entering the first two turns. Smith then proceeded to clear Jones through the backstretch as both Almirola and Custer challenged Jones for the runner-up spot. With Jones fending off Custer and Almirola for the runner-up spot, Chandler Smith proceeded to lead through the Lap 15 mark.
Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Chandler Smith was leading by a second over Jones as Custer, Almirola and Taylor Gray were racing in the top five. Behind, Playoff contenders Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, Parker Kligerman and Sheldon Creed were scored in the top 10 as Playoff contenders Riley Herbst and Jesse Love followed suit in the top 12. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith added another second to his advantage and led by two seconds at the Lap 25 mark. By then, Custer and Almirola had navigated their way to second and third on the track while Jones fell to fourth in front of Gray.
At the Lap 30 mark, Chandler Smith maintained his early advantage by a second over Almirola, with Custer, Jones and Gray scored in the top five. With Playoff contenders Mayer, Allgaier, Hill, Creed, Herbst and Kligerman racing in the top 11, Love was back in 13th place, AJ Allmendinger was mired in 15th place, van Gisbergen was down in 26th place and Sammy Smith was trapped in 28th place.
Seven laps later, Almirola got to teammate Chandler Smith’s left-rear quarter panel and got him loose, then drag-raced him through the frontstretch to assume the lead for the first time. With the clean air to his advantage, Almirola proceeded to lead by more than a second over Smith by Lap 40 with Custer, Jones and Mayer racing in the top five.
Then on the final lap of the first stage period, the caution flew after Taylor Gray lost an engine and dropped oil across the frontstretch. The caution for Gray was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 45 to officially conclude under caution as Almirola cruised to his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Chandler Smith followed suit in second along with Custer, Jones and Mayer while Creed, Hill, Allgaier, Herbst and Kligerman were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Allmendinger, Love, van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith were mired in 13th, 16th, 23rd and 28th, respectively.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Almirola peeled off the racetrack to pit for service. Following the pit stops, Custer exited first with the lead, followed by Hill, Mayer, Creed, Chandler Smith and Jones while Almirola lost six spots amid a slow pit service and ended up exiting pit road in seventh place. Amid the pit stops, Allmendinger was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while JJ Yeley was also penalized for a safety violation. Jones then pitted again from sixth to tighten loose lug nuts
The second stage period started on Lap 53 as Custer and Hill occupied the front row. Custer gained a strong start from the outside lane to transition back to the inside lane in front of Hill entering the first two turns. As the field behind fanned out, Custer proceeded to lead the following lap while Mayer and Chandler Smith overtook Hill for second and third, respectively. As Smith and Hill dueled for third, Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed battled for fifth in front of Almirola while Daniel Dye nearly spun after he made contact with Anthony Alfredo. Amid the early battles, Custer proceeded to lead by half a second just past the Lap 55 mark.
By Lap 60, Custer retained the lead by a second over Chandler Smith as Mayer, Herbst and Hill remained in the top five ahead of Creed, Allgaier, Almirola, Kligerman and Zilisch. Behind, Love and Allmendinger were mired back in 18th and 20th, respectively, while van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith were back in 25th and 28th, respectively. In addition, Jones was in 15th behind Matt DiBenedetto, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg and Corey Heim.
Three laps later, the caution returned due to Brad Perez falling off the pace below the backstretch’s apron and coming to a stop in Turn 3. During the caution period, select names including Love, van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith, who cycled back onto the lead lap, pitted while the rest, led by Custer, remained on the track.
The beginning of the next restart period on Lap 69 did not last long as Playoff contender Justin Allgaier got hit by Sheldon Creed entering the backstretch, sending Allgaier sliding and making head-on contact with the inside wall. During the incident, Custer, who received a strong shove from Chandler Smith during the previous restart’s start, maintained the lead over Mayer, Chandler Smith, Almirola and Hill.
At the beginning of the next restart period on Lap 75, Mayer and Custer dueled for the lead through the frontstretch. Then as Chandler Smith tried to make a move beneath Custer, Almirola launched a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot through the first two turns as Mayer surged ahead with the lead entering the backstretch. As Mayer led the field through the backstretch, more trouble struck for Allgaier, who blew a tire, hit the outside wall and retired from further competition. Amid his wreck that took an early hit in his Playoff bid, the race remained under green flag conditions as Mayer proceeded to lead the next four laps while Almirola overtook Custer for the runner-up spot.
At the Lap 80 mark, Mayer retained the lead by half a second over Almirola as Custer, Chandler Smith and Zilisch were racing in the top five. Mayer would slightly extend his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Almirola by Lap 85.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Mayer fended off Almirola to capture his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Almirola retained second while trailing Mayer at the start/finish line by three-tenths of a second while Custer, Chandler Smith and Zilisch were in the top five. “Behind, Hill made contact with Herbst entering the frontstretch and sent Herbst spinning through the frontstretch’s grass while Hill proceeded to finish sixth ahead of Creed, Jones, DiBenedetto and Ryan Sieg. Amid his spin, Herbst ended up in 16th place and joined Love, Kligerman, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith as Playoff contenders who did not record and stage points after the second stage period.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field, led by Mayer, pitted. Following the pit stops, Chandler Smith exited pit road first ahead of Custer, Almirola and Creed while Mayer dropped four spots. Not long after, Almirola pitted for a second time to have the lug nuts tightened.
With 103 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Chandler Smith and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Smith received a strong push from teammate Creed from the outside lane to rocket ahead and maintain the lead from Custer through the first two turns. With the field fanning out and jostling for late spots, Smith proceeded to lead at the event’s scheduled halfway distance on Lap 100.
With 90 laps remaining, Chandler Smith was leading by a second over Custer with Zilisch, Creed and Hill scored in the top five on the track. Behind, Jones, Ryan Sieg, Mayer, Allmendinger and Corey Heim were racing in the top 10 as Almirola was mired in 11th place ahead of Heim, Josh Williams, Love, Kligerman, Herbst and Retzlaff. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen was back in 21st and Sammy Smith was mired in the 29th.
Ten laps later, Chandler Smith continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Custer while Zilisch, Creed and Hill remained in the top five. Smith would proceed to lead by four-tenths of a second over Custer with 70 laps remaining. By then, Corey Heim pitted under green after he got loose through the first two turns and smacked the outside wall in front of Kligerman eight laps earlier. Almirola hit the outside wall entering the backstretch after marching his way back into the top 10 and pitted to change a flat right-rear tire nearly five laps earlier.
Then with 64 laps remaining, Custer, who spent the last several laps closing in and stalking Chandler Smith, used the inside lane from Turns 3 and 4 to muscle ahead of Smith and assume the lead. By then, Ryan Sieg pitted from the top 10 under green. As Herbst and Kligerman battled for ninth place behind Allmendinger, Custer maintained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith as Hill pitted from the top five with 60 laps remaining.
With 59 laps remaining, Playoff contenders Mayer, Allmendinger and Herbst pitted along with Patrick Emerling and Zilisch before Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff, Chandler Smith and Creed pitted during the following lap. The leader Custer then pitted with 57 laps remaining before the caution flew due to a tire rolling out of Parker Retzlaff’s pit box and onto the frontstretch’s grass. By then, 15 competitors were scored on the lead lap, including Custer as he had exited pit road and returned to the track without being lapped, as Jones had cycled into the lead followed by Josh Williams. During the caution period, some of the drivers, led by Jones, pitted while the rest, led by Custer and including Chandler Smith, Hill and Creed, remained on the track.
With the race restarting under green with 49 laps remaining, Custer rocketed ahead from the outside lane and he maintained the lead from Hill and Chandler Smith while Almirola rocketed his way back up into the top five. As the field fanned out towards the top-10 mark, Custer proceeded to lead the following lap as Smith was up to second place ahead of Hill. Behind, Almirola barely slid in front of Zilisch entering the frontstretch to snatch fourth place before the latter fought back. While Zilisch and Almirola proceeded to battle for fourth place, Chandler Smith started to close in on Custer for the lead.
Then with 45 laps remaining, a heated side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between Custer and Chandler Smith that started with both dueling for the lead through the backstretch as they remained dead even through the frontstretch. Chandler Smith would prevail and return to the lead for the following lap while Custer followed suit in second.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Chandler Smith retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Custer as Almirola, Zilisch and Jones were scored in the top five. Behind, Hill dropped to sixth ahead of Creed, Love, Williams and Alfredo while Mayer, Herbst, van Gisbergen, DiBenedetto and Ryan Sieg were mired in the top 15 ahead of Allmendinger and Kligerman as Sammy Smith was back in 22nd place.
Five laps later, Chandler Smith’s advantage decreased to two-tenths of a second over Custer while Almirola, who was faster compared to the top-two competitors, trailed the lead from third place by two seconds. As Custer cut the deficit to a tenth of a second, he could not execute the final move to overtake Chandler Smith as the latter continued to lead while third-place Almirola cut his deficit to a second as he trailed both Chandler Smith and Custer by a second with 20 laps remaining.
Then with 18 laps remaining, Custer launched a side-by-side battle with Chandler Smith through the frontstretch, but he still could not execute the pass on Smith for the lead entering Turns 1 and 2. With Custer still trailing Chandler Smith for the lead, their early side-by-side battle allowed Almirola to close in to within eight-tenths of a second for the following lap. Custer then drove his car towards the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 to regain ground on Smith with 16 laps remaining, but he remained behind Smith as Almirola trailed by a second in third place during the following lap.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Custer, who nearly got squeezed into the outside wall by Chandler Smith, used the outside lane amid a huge run gained towards the outside wall from Turns 3 and 4 to duel with Chandler Smith through the frontstretch. This time, he was able to rocket past Smith and assume the lead. As Custer rocketed away with the lead, Almirola, who had caught both Custer and Smith on the track, overtook Smith for the runner-up spot exiting the backstretch as he set his sights on Custer, who maintained a reasonable advantage, for the lead.
With five laps remaining, Custer, who was trying to weave his way through lapped traffic, maintained the lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Almirola while Chandler Smith trailed in third place by three seconds. A lap later, however, Almirola gained a run beneath Custer through the frontstretch and he proceeded to snatch the lead entering the first two turns with three laps remaining as Custer was unable to respond with a crossover move.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Almirola remained in the lead by nearly half a second over Custer. With Custer unable to regain ground to mount a final lap charge and reclaim the lead, Almirola was able to smoothly cycle his way around the Kansas circuit for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by six-tenths of a second over Custer.
With the victory, Almirola, who will contest in the remaining six Playoff events in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota entry, notched his sixth career win in the Xfinity Series, his second of the season amid eight starts and his first at Kansas, a venue where he was involved in a harrowing accident during a 2017 Cup Series event that left him with a compression fracture to his T5 vertebra. The Kansas victory was the 10th of the season for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, eight of which have been achieved from the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry as the entry earned an automatic pass into the Playoff’s Round of 8 for the owners’ championship battle.
“[I had to be] Really patient,” Almirola, who described his final overtake on Cole Custer, said on CW Network. “I, obviously, wasn’t patient earlier in the race. I’m wore out. That was a hard day at the office, especially for a guy who’s been sitting on the couch. I knew we had such a great He Gets Us Toyota GR Supra. I was able to get by everybody on the long run and I just pushed too hard there when we had the issue on pit road and I got into the fence and cut the right-rear tire down. I knew I had to put my head down and got to work after that. We got lucky to get the caution when we did and then, we were out of tires, so the fact that [the race] went green there to the end and then, that’s where we were strong. We were really strong on the long run. It just worked out.”
Meanwhile, as Almirola proceeded to celebrate in Victory Lane, Cole Custer and Chandler Smith, both of whom ended up second and third in the final running order, engaged in a brief post-race conversation on pit road. Custer, who was displeased with being raced hard and nearly getting squeezed into the outside wall by Smith, approached Smith, vocally expressed his displeasure and gestured a wave at Smith before walking away and not hearing Smith’s stance.
“[Chandler Smith] killed us,” Custer, who leads the Playoff standings by points said, said. “He definitely burned our stuff up [while I was] trying to get by him. It really made me mad when he put us in the fence on that restart. He’s gonna pay the consequences and I’m gonna race him like he races me. I think we could have gone back-to-back [in wins] pretty easily if things fall the right way, but we’ll move on to Talladega. I’m sure points-wise, we’re pretty good, so just got to keep chugging along.”
“I definitely understand [Custer’s] position,” Smith, who sits in second place behind Custer in the Playoff standings, said. “Last week, I was racing behind somebody for 80 laps and couldn’t find a way around him because we were running the same lane. Obviously, our car was really dominant on the short run. [I] Was able to build up a little bit of a gap and had to come up with a game plan of when [Custer] gets to me, what do I got to do because last time, I just kept running my lane and he just blew my doors off. This is for the race win, this is for advancing into the next round [of the Playoffs] and this is also the guy I’m racing for the championship. I’ve got to be a little more aggressive in a sense of just taking his air away, kind of Cup racing, Truck racing style. Just trying to do the best for my team. [Custer]’s got a very, very valid statement, I understand, but I also wouldn’t change what I did because I was giving myself the best shot to win.”
Custer and Chandler Smith were not the only pair of Playoff contenders to exchange words on pit road following the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoff opener. In addition, Austin Hill and Riley Herbst, both of whom finished seventh and 10th on the track, exchanged words, where Hill apologized for turning Herbst at the conclusion of the second stage period, while AJ Allmendinger and Sammy Smith, both of whom ended up 17th and 22nd on the track, exchanged words as Smith expressed his displeasure for nearly getting turned and having his car damaged by Allmendinger in the opening laps.
Meanwhile, Connor Zilisch came home in fourth place for his second consecutive top-five result in just his second Xfinity career start while Sheldon Creed finished fifth. Pole-sitter Brandon Jones settled in sixth place in front of Hill while Playoff rookies Shane van Gisbergen and Jesse Love rallied to finish eighth and ninth in front of Herbst.
There were 14 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 33 laps. In addition, 16 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Aric Almirola, 16 laps led, Stage 1 winner
2. Cole Custer, 48 laps led
3. Chandler Smith, 114 laps led
4. Connor Zilisch
5. Sheldon Creed
6. Brandon Jones, four laps led
7. Austin Hill
8. Shane van Gisbergen
9. Jesse Love
10. Riley Herbst
11. Josh Williams
12. Parker Kligerman
13. Sam Mayer, 18 laps led, Stage 2 winner
14. Matt DiBenedetto
15. Anthony Alfredo
16. Ryan Sieg
17. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down
18. Brennan Poole, one lap down
19. Ryan Ellis, one lap down
20. JJ Yeley, one lap down
21. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down
22. Sammy Smith, one lap down
23. Jeb Burton, two laps down
24. Kyle Sieg, two laps down
25. Leland Honeyman, two laps down
26. Kyle Weatherman, three laps down
27. Jeremy Clements, three laps down
28. Blaine Perkins, three laps down
29. Ryan Vargas, four laps down
30. Patrick Emerling, four laps down
31. Corey Heim, five laps down
32. Joey Gase, six laps down
33. Logan Bearden, 10 laps down
34. Daniel Dye, 11 laps down
35. Dawson Cram – OUT, Fuel Pressure
36. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident
37. Brad Perez – OUT, Oil Pump
38. Taylor Gray – OUT, Engine
*Bold indicates Playoff competitors
Playoff standings
1. Cole Custer +41
2. Chandler Smith +36
3. Austin Hill +26
4. Sam Mayer +13
5. Sheldon Creed +10
6. Shane van Gisbergen +8
7. Jesse Love +3
8. Riley Herbst +1
9. Justin Allgaier -1
10. AJ Allmendinger -13
11. Parker Kligerman -15
12. Sammy Smith -23
The second Round of 12 event in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to occur at Talladega Superspeedway for the United Rentals 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, October 5, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
