Sammy Smith Rises Into Round Of 8 With ‘Dega Xfinity Win

Sammy Smith celebrates in victory lane Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. (HHP/Andrew Coppley photo)

TALLADEGA, Ala. – After saying before the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs began that “we have to get better as a team,” Sammy Smith catapulted himself from worst to first in the championship hunt Saturday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.

The 12th-seeded driver entering the second race of the postseason used a final-lap pass of Riley Herbst – in overtime – to win the United Rentals 250, guaranteeing himself and JR Motorsports a berth in the next round of the playoffs.

It was a stunning turnaround for the 20-year-old from Johnston, Iowa, who was the last driver to make the playoff field on points and had only five top-five finishes all year prior to his Talladega breakthrough.

“We needed this,” said Smith, breathing a sigh of relief after climbing from his No. 8 TMC Transportation Chevrolet Camaro. “We needed this real bad.”

Smith took the white flag second to Herbst, but got a shove coming toward turn one from sophomore driver Leland Honeyman Jr. that propelled him alongside Herbst for the top spot.

Moments later, Ryan Sieg found just enough space to slice down in between Smith and Honeyman to become Smith’s new pusher for the remainder of the final lap.

At nearly the same time, Chandler Smith pulled down into the middle lane with help from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sheldon Creed, hanging Herbst out to dry down the backstretch as the two Smiths began a side-by-side duel for the victory.

With minimal energy coming from the pack behind them, Sammy stayed glued to the bottom and Chandler kept on the right-side door of the No. 8 until the middle of turns three and four, when Chandler Smith didn’t have help from behind while Sammy Smith had Sieg back on his rear bumper.

Sieg helped Sammy Smith to clear any challengers coming into the tri-oval, allowing the Iowan to coast home unchallenged from there and take the checkered flag in front by .177 of a second.

It marked Sammy Smith’s second career Xfinity Series win and first since March of 2023 at Arizona’s Phoenix Raceway, breaking a 56-race drought at the most opportune of times.

“This just comes down to a great team, one that didn’t give in when the going has been rough,” said Sammy Smith. “It’s been a really tough year.

“(Spotter) Tyler Monn, he did a really great job from up top helping me. Man, it’s been a while!” he added. “It’s been a struggle, but I’m very happy to be here [celebrating a win] and now I’m looking forward to hopefully getting better on both ovals and road courses for the rest of these playoffs.”

Smith also tipped that, with elimination on his mind, he met with team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. during the week leading up to the Talladega race to seek advice on strategies to put himself in contention.

“We sat down Wednesday,’’ Smith said. “It wasn’t [asking] a whole lot, but asking him what he would do in certain situations [on the big track]. Man, it just feels really good to win again.”

Sieg finished second for the fourth time in his Xfinity Series career and second time this season, coming oh-so-close yet again to finally making an elusive trip to the winner’s circle.

“[Our car] was fast enough [to win]. It was good,” said Sieg. “I was doing all I could do. … One of these times it’s going to be us going to victory lane.”

Herbst ended up third after leading seven of the final eight laps. He was trailed by Creed and Chandler Smith, who filled out the top five finishers, though Creed went spinning across the apron after the finish line.

The dreaded Big One – in this case a 12-car accident between the tri-oval and turn one with three laps left – set up the overtime finish and eliminated multiple contenders for the win in its wake.

While racing inside the top five, rookie Carson Kvapil got turned sideways off the bumper of his teammate Brandon Jones on the approach to the first turn, sending Kvapil up the banking into the side of a third JR Motorsports Chevrolet in Justin Allgaier before the No. 88 bounced back to the left.

Kvapil’s car pinballed down into Jones’ machine and hooked it across the track nose-first into the outside wall, sparking the worst of the chaos as numerous frontrunners had nowhere to go expect for piling into the accident scene. It led to a nine-minute, 49-second red flag for cleanup prior to the overtime sprint.

Among those involved in the crash were playoff contenders Cole Custer, Parker Kligerman, A.J. Allmendinger, and Allgaier, putting an even bigger dent in his hopes to advance to the Round of 8.

Polesitter Jesse Love led four times for a race-high 28 laps, but picked up right-front fender damage in the lap-92 crash that hindered his abilities in the draft during the final two laps.

Love stayed on the inside lane, however, and got a timely push from Brennan Poole that allowed him to rally back to sixth at the checkered flag. It was his damaged bumper that sent Creed spinning after the finish.

Two-time Talladega winner Jeb Burton, longtime veteran David Starr, Poole, and Kyle Sieg closed the top 10. Aric Almirola, last week’s Kansas victor, finished 19th after suffering damage from a cut left-front tire on lap 84.

Sam Mayer, who originally crossed the line 16th, was disqualified in post-race technical inspection after his No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro was found to be too low in the rear. It relegated him to last in the 38-car field.

Leaving Talladega, Chandler Smith has a 64-point advantage over the elimination line among drivers currently in on points, and a 57-point gap to eighth-place A.J. Allmendinger – meaning his place in the Round of 8 is all but assured.

Allgaier is the first driver below the cut line, joined in the danger zone by Shane van Gisbergen, Mayer, and Kligerman heading to the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL and the first elimination race of the playoffs.

Broadcast coverage of the Drive for the Cure 250 at the ROVAL is slated for Saturday, Oct. 12 at 4 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.