In a stunning turnaround, Sammy Smith catapulted from the bottom of the Xfinity Series playoff standings to secure a spot in the next round with a thrilling overtime victory at Talladega Superspeedway. The JR Motorsports driver, who started the day 12th in the 12-driver playoff field, snapped a 56-race winless streak with his first victory of the season.
Smith credited a pre-race strategy session with team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., a six-time Cup Series winner at Talladega, for his triumph. “We had a brief chat on Wednesday, and he shared some valuable insights on how to approach racing at this track,” Smith said. “It feels amazing to win here!”
The race went into overtime for the 13th time this season, with Smith restarting in second place for the two-lap sprint to the finish. He battled fiercely with Riley Herbst, Chandler Smith, and Ryan Sieg, ultimately crossing the line 0.177 seconds ahead of Sieg.
Herbst led a trio of playoff drivers in third place, followed by Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith. Meanwhile, top contenders Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Shane Van Gisbergen, and Parker Kligerman found themselves in danger of elimination after being caught up in a late-race accident.
Allmendinger, a four-time winner at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s hybrid road course/oval, will need to draw on his past success to avoid being cut from the field in next Saturday’s elimination race. “I’m not sure where we stand in the points, but we’ll find out soon enough,” Van Gisbergen said, looking ahead to the challenges ahead.
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