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 15 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.
“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.
