Related: Zippo 200 at The Glen Results | Updated Chase Grid
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Early misfortunes, including a major multi-car wreck, had an unsettling effect on the Chase chances for several NASCAR XFINITY Series playoff hopefuls Saturday at Watkins Glen International.
Darrell Wallace Jr. and Blake Koch were among the hardest hit in a 10-car stack-up on the 18th of 82 laps in the Zippo 200, a pileup that forced a red flag of nearly 14 minutes.
Wallace's Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford sustained heavy front-end damage and spent plenty of time in the garage for repairs, extending his streak to four straight races without a top-10 finish. He wound up 29th in the final rundown, 19 laps off the pace.
Wallace started and ended the day ninth on the provisional Chase grid, but slipped to just a 16-point edge over 10th-place Ryan Reed -- the wrong direction for momentum ahead of the playoffs.
"All I see is we have bad luck and it is getting old, my friend," Wallace told NBCSN. "It is unfortunate for my team. We come here and I messed up on the first lap in the first practice we had, and then we were sitting pretty for the rest of the weekend. It is just getting old. We will go on to Mid-Ohio and try to have some luck there."
Koch's Kaulig Racing No. 11 Chevrolet was done for the day with damage all around. Koch, who was clinging to the final spot on the provisional Chase grid after last weekend's event at Iowa Speedway, failed to finish for the second time in the last four races.
"Just points. That's the only thing going through my mind from the first impact, all I thought was points," Koch said. "It's not good, but I made a mistake early on and lost a bunch of spots and got us back there and that kind of started it. I've just got to be a little bit smarter at these road courses, but man, I hate it for everybody."
Koch was evaluated and released from the infield care center, but had his right hand bandaged -- a byproduct, he said, of blisters from all of the shifting in Thursday's extended XFINITY practice on Watkins Glen's new pavement.
"You know what, I need to have manlier hands," Koch said with a laugh. "That's the issue."
Jeremy Clements was another driver with plenty to gain from the multicar wreck, entering the day tied for the top spot among drivers outside the provisional Chase grid. But Clements' No. 51 Chevrolet had its own pitfalls, limping to the garage with a broken track bar on Lap 9 and returning for a 25th-place finish. He dropped from 13th to 15th in the series standings.
Ross Chastain took sole possession of 13th place in the XFINITY standings with a 14th-place outing Saturday at The Glen. He closed from 24 points back to just a two-point gap behind Koch in the final cut-off spot.
The XFINITY Series sticks to road racing next week for Saturday's Mid-Ohio Challenge (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM) at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.