Sammy Smith clinches a NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 8 spot with victory at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday in the United Rentals 250.
TALLADEGA, Ala. – A last-lap pass for the win is a recurring theme at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and that’s exactly what landed JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith in Victory Lane on Saturday. It was the only lap he led all day, but, it was good enough to win Saturday’s United Rentals 250 overtime thriller and earn Smith an automatic berth into the next round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
Sammy Smith Clinches a NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 8 Spot with Victory at Talladega
It was a huge turn of fortune for the 20-year-old Iowa native, who came into the race ranked last among the 12 Playoff drivers and winless on the season. He started his No. 8 JRM Chevrolet 27th in Saturday’s 38-car field, but moved forward rapidly from the fall of the green flag, running near the front most of the day, avoiding multiple multi-car accidents, and making the move to the checkered flag when it counted most.
“It’s been a really tough year,’’ said Smith. “It’s been a while and it’s been a struggle, but I’m very happy to be here and looking forward to getting better on these ovals and road courses.”
It was a high-stakes, clutch performance for the young talent, whose only other victory came last April at the Phoenix Raceway one-miler. Just this week with Playoff elimination a possibility, he piqued his team owner’s brain for tips on racing on the Talladega 2.66-mile high banks – his team owner being Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won six NASCAR Cup Series races at Talladega including an unprecedented four in a row.
“We sat down Wednesday,’’ Smith said. “It wasn’t a whole lot, but asking him what he would do in certain situations [on the big track]. Feels really good to win again.”
The United Rentals 250 Results
Smith beat RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg to the line by a slight 0.177-second with a three-wide battle on track right behind featuring Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith who round out the top five.
Herbst was leading with a lap remaining and a massive push forward including a run by Chandler Smith ultimately left both losing out to Sammy Smith and Ryan Sieg. After the race, a frustrated Herbst walked directly to Chandler Smith’s car with words for the young driver.
“I was just telling him, he had his teammate behind him and was in the best spot you want to be in and I told him he made a right move but in the wrong place,’’ Herbst said. “He would have won the race and all he did was kill his run, my run, and his teammate’s run and let the 8 [Sammy Smith] get away.”
Polesitter, rookie Jesse Love led a race-best 28 of the 98 laps in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet finishing sixth in a race marked with six cautions, a brief red flag, 11 race leaders, and 28 lead changes.
Jeb Burton finished seventh with David Starr, Brennan Poole, and Kyle Sieg round the top ten.
Although relatively calm through the early goings – Chandler Smith won the opening stage and RCR’s Austin Hill won the second stage. The final laps lived up to Talladega’s expectations. Only three of the 12 Playoff drivers were not in accidents on the afternoon.
Playoff Drivers Outside the Top-Ten
Two perennial championship favorites and current Playoff drivers, Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger and JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier were among those leading laps – as expected – but were also in multi-car accidents.
Allmendinger still rallied to an 11th place showing after his No. 16 Chevy suffered minor damage in a 12-car accident with three laps remaining that triggered a nearly ten-minute red flag stoppage and forced overtime. Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet suffered more damage in the crash and he finished 26th.
Reigning series champion, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer was also caught up in the accident and finished 27th. Fellow Playoff competitor, Kaulig Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen – a three-race winner this season – was a part of a multi-car accident earlier – with 18 laps remaining – and finished 36th.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Point Standings
Next week’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL will decide which eight drivers advance in the Playoffs. With Smith’s win today, three positions will be decided next weekend. Chandler Smith now holds a strong 57-point edge on the cutoff points position with Hill, Custer, Creed, Love, Herbst, and Sam Mayer rounding out the top eight.
Mayer holds a slim ten-point advantage in the final transfer position over Allmendinger and he’s 18 points up on his JRM teammate Allgaier.
Van Gisbergen, who has won three road course races already this year, goes into the Charlotte road course-oval hybrid 21 points back. Parker Kligerman, who finished 12th Saturday despite being collected in multiple wrecks, is 26 points off Mayer for that final transfer position.
Up Next
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next week at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. The race starts at 4 p.m. ET, and coverage is on CW, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Mayer is the defending race winner.