Break-even day on Xfinity playoff bubble as Kligerman, Creed rally for top 10s at Indy

SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- Dueling rallies Saturday evening at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course netted out to a break-even sort of day on the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff bubble. Parker Kligerman gained a single point in his bid to overtake Sheldon Creed for the final provisional spot in the 12-driver postseason field as both drivers emerged with top-10 finishes in Saturday's Pennzoil 150 presented by Advance Auto Parts. Both overcame their own dose of adversity to virtually hold serve with four regular-season races remaining. RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Indy Kligerman started 12th and raced to take fourth in the opening stage to collect valuable stage points. But an unplanned stop after contact knocked out a valve stem on a left-side tire on his Big Machine Racing No. 48 Chevrolet slowed his efforts in Stage 2. He made it all the way back to seventh by the time darkness and the checkered flag fell. "Obviously, the flat tire was just unfortunate," said Kligerman, who is now 18 points below the elimination line. "Green-flag stop, it killed us. We lost all our track position, and we just had to motor our way on through. Big Machine Racing just buckled down on that run. I don't know how many cars we passed. It had to be a lot. You know, we had speed. We keep doing that, we've just got to execute better." While Kligerman was mired further back, Creed matched his fourth-place finish in Stage 2 to offset his competitor's stage-point gain. But Creed's charge was upended when he pitted on Lap 44 out of 62, entering just after pit road had closed for the stalled No. 34 entry of Andre Castro. The penalty knocked his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevy back in the running, and his comeback put him eighth in the final order. "Not fun. I hate racing for points," Creed said of the spot he's in. "But at the end of the day, we just need to go run -- what do we have, four left? -- we're just gonna go run four good races. Today was honestly a really good race for us, other than coming in and pitting when the light came on. Other than that, I felt like we executed really well. Our car was really fast. I thought we were definitely a top-five car." MORE: What to Watch: Indianapolis The Xfinity Series heads to Watkins Glen International next Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Creed's top-10 result was his first in eight races, but Kligerman has had a more pronounced rise, placing ninth, second, eighth and seventh in his last four starts. "It's funny, right? Like you get to this time of season, everyone buckles down, so all our competitors are doing the same thing," Kligerman said. "We're just all in the zone, clicking off finishes. ... I mean, it's great momentum. It keeps us in the fight, it keeps the pressure on, and I think every track ahead of us is a place we can go run top 10 or top five, so I'm confident we're gonna make the playoffs."