NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Worst to first. Sammy Smith and the No. 8 JR Motorsports team are heading to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs after winning Saturday’s United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. Smith came into the day at the bottom of the Playoff standings, some 23 points below the cut-off line, but with his victory on Saturday, he’s the first of the championship contenders to advance to the next round. “Just a great team. My sponsors, everybody that has stuck withRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS City, Kan.— Part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Aric Almirola ran down Playoff leader Cole Custer in the closing laps of Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway and pulled away for his second victory of the season in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. In a Round of 12 Playoff opener that ended with several unhappy drivers and a handful of post-race conversations between Playoff contenders, Almirola picked up his first win at the 1.5-mile track and the sixth of his career.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – One driver’s misfortune was another’s gain. Coming into Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway to close out the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, it appeared to be Justin Allgaier’s points lead to lose with a healthy lead over Cole Custer and others in the points standings. It was going to take some misfortune on Allgaier’s part for Custer and the others to be in position to strike and that’s exactly what happened. After leading the opening 60 laps, Allgaier found himselfRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Cole Custer’s return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series after a three-year stint in the Cup Series may have been a “demotion,” per se, but the driver of the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford took the move in stride and now can call himself a champion. “You get knocked down a little bit and you just want to prove that you can go out there and do it,” Custer said. “I think these guys have just really always believed in me all year and IRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — From backing up his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford into the Championship 4 to confirmation that’ll he’ll be back with the Xfinity team next year, life has been pretty swell for Cole Custer. Last Saturday, with a ravaged Mustang and on fire, Custer did his best Tow Mater (Cars) and Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza) impression by limping his machine backwards to the start/finish line at Martinsville Speedway. Well aware that every position is up for grabs and can make a difference on who’llRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Day two at Phoenix Raceway will be highlighted by NASCAR’s second highest division, as the NASCAR Xfinity Series wraps up its 2023 campaign by crowning its newest champion – all of which would be a first-time champion. Twelve championship hopefuls started the six-week march to the Valley of the Sun, with only four drivers left standing to duel it out in the Arizona desert on Saturday night. It all comes down to a battle between the JR Motorsports duo of Justin Allgaier andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Sitting under the red flag in the waning laps of the penultimate race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season last weekend at Martinsville, Justin Allgaier had resigned himself to the fact that racing for a championship this season may not be in the cards for him and his No. 7 JR Motorsports team. Giving himself only 5% odds of being able to get to the lead to punch his ticket to Phoenix, he overcame those staggering odds against him by beating Sheldon CreedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service  MARTINSVILLE, Va. – At the end of Saturday’s chaotic Dead on Tools 250, Justin Allgaier rescued his season with an improbable victory that earned the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet a berth in the Nov. 4 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway. Allgaier’s Camaro crossed the finish line glued to the side of Sheldon Creed’s No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, scoring his first win at Martinsville, his fourth of the season and the 23rd of his career  byRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Sam Mayer claimed his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series oval-race victory in the second half of a NASCAR double-header at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday in the Contender Boats 300 after holding off last week’s race winner Riley Herbst by a mere .227-second. It marks the JR Motorsports driver Mayer’s fourth series victory of the season – and his career – most important for Mayer – who joked he didn’t breath the final four laps – it is his ticket into the Championship 4 finale that will decideRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — It was a fitting venue, a perfect scenario for Riley Herbst to earn his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series race – a dominating 14.9-second victory in the Alsco Uniforms 302 at his home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Herbst’s No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford led 103 of the 201 laps of the Playoff race leaving no room for error in this career-making day for the 24-year old Las Vegas native. It was the largest margin of victory in the series thisRead More