Posted on by Dustin Albino

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Advancement to the Championship 4 was on the table for Team Penske at Talladega Superspeedway. Now, the team’s title hopes are on life support. 

The bulk of Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway couldn’t have played out any better for Ford’s powerhouse organization, but it all went awry in the closing laps.   

After Cody Ware brought out the caution with 21 laps in regulation for spinning on the apron in Turns 1 and 2, Ryan Blaney exited pit road with the lead. His Team Penske teammate and three-time and defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano slotted in second, choosing the inside lane behind the No. 12 car for the restart.  

MORE: Full race results | Briscoe wins, onto Champ 4

With Todd Gilliland, a satellite Penske teammate at Front Row Motorsports, lining up alongside for the restart, the dynamite duo were poised to control the race. With a shove from Kyle Larson, however, Gilliland dropped low to command the inside line. That began a bottleneck of lost track position for the Nos. 12 and 22 Fords.  

Former Penske driver Brad Keselowski was directly behind Logano on the inside line. The No. 6 car was in fuel-saving mode and couldn’t stay glued to the No. 22 car’s back bumper. The distance between the two cars enabled the top lane to control the race and drop down to the bottom. Before you could blink, Penske’s two cars dropped well outside the top 10.  

“The car behind me was saving gas – that doesn’t help,” a baffled Logano said after the checkered flag. “That kills the whole bottom lane. Cars are pulling down in front of us, and we keep getting demoted. The first two cars to third in line, fourth in line and the next thing you know, we’re all the way in the back. 

“We can’t be saving gas at the end of the race and expect to win, that’s the bottom line. Ryan is not. I wasn’t. It’s just frustrating to see us keep getting demoted in the lane as cars keep pulling down in front of you. You are helpless. You are sitting there driving in circles and know what the right thing to do is, and you can’t do it. I drive one car.” 

Blaney was just as frustrated as Logano. He wasn’t certain why Keselowski was soft on Logano’s bumper, but it ultimately cost the two remaining Ford drivers in the postseason considerably.  

“We got control of the race; me and Joey had control of it,” Blaney added. “What I could tell, [Keselowski] was super soft on Joey and then [Gilliland] got down in front of me, and [Keselowski] was still soft on Joey, and we could never go and just faded. I thought we did a great job of getting the spot that we were in, but it didn’t work out.”  

With a lap-and-a-half remaining, Chris Buescher got bumped by William Byron and clobbered the inside wall on the backstretch. The Penske crew chiefs of Jonathan Hassler and Paul Wolfe attempted a Hail Mary to pit for a splash of gas, knowing their fuel situation was bleak. Blaney restarted in 22nd ahead of the green-white-checkered finish, with Logano one spot behind in 23rd.  

While Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace and Chase Briscoe traded the lead in overtime, Logano gained seven positions to finish 16th. Blaney dropped a spot to 23rd. 

Both Penske teams are in must-win mode entering the Round of 8 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway next weekend. Logano is 38 points below the elimination line, while Blaney is 47 markers back. Blaney has, however, won the last two fall Martinsville races.  

“It’s simple in what to do,” Logano stated. “At this point, it’s all or nothing. Stage points aren’t going to matter; nothing is going to matter — we’re too far back. You just have to go win.”  

Even though Blaney has multiple victories at Martinsville, he knows that it doesn’t guarantee him a spot into this year’s Championship 4 via a victory. 

“So what, we’ve won there twice?” Blaney said. “It’s up and down, you never know what’s going to happen year after year. The people that have been saying, ‘Oh, Blaney is going to win Martinsville.’ It’s [expletive]. It’s hard. I don’t know what speed we’re going to have. It’s nice that we’ve won there a couple of times, but we’ve got to dig down deep for this one.”  

Posted on by Zack Albert

TALLADEGA, Ala. — The late-race situation was about as rosy as could be for Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson after running 500-plus miles at Talladega Superspeedway. The pair ran 1-2 in that order as Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs showdown lurched into overtime, and the two controlled the front row for the fateful final restart — Larson lined up high after lane choice, with Byron low.

“Just play the game,” No. 24 spotter Branden Lines told Byron as the regular-season champ’s Chevrolet got up to speed and inched ahead with the field barreling toward the white flag. Shortly thereafter, that dream 1-2 scenario unraveled.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega

Both Hendrick Motorsports drivers faltered in the final circuit of Sunday’s YellaWood 500, watching their opportunity for a victory and an automatic championship-race berth evaporate. Larson bailed out of the pack with half a lap to go, his No. 5 Chevrolet stumbling with a dry fuel tank and leaving him with a 26th-place finish. That result was one spot below 25th-finishing Byron, who was overcome by a Toyota-led charge in the outside lane and later spun through the trioval as the low-lane shoving grew more intense.

The two now find themselves on opposite sides of the playoff bubble with one chance remaining to clinch a Championship 4 slot in next Sunday’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway. Larson sits 36 points above the elimination line as the provisional final driver in; Byron is the first driver out as it stands, down by the same 36-point margin.

“Looks like we’ve got to win,” said Byron, who placed 36th after a crash in the previous week’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas. “It looks like all the guys below the cut have to win, so we’ve just got to go there and do that. So we’ve had two strong weeks but no results, and we’ve just got to go there and try to do the best we can.”

Byron’s hopes looked optimistic throughout the last two-lap dash, and they seemed to strengthen when he hooked up behind Larson’s No. 5 for the last stretch. Once Larson’s car stammered, he was left without a teammate to tandem with, and a Toyota train of Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs and eventual winner Chase Briscoe rocketed past him.

“We got linked together really good through (Turns) 1 and 2 and the bottom, I got clear for a minute, and then just couldn’t get linked for whatever reason off of four, and those guys were just pushing really hard on the outside lane and just pushed past us,” Byron said. “So I don’t know. The pushes just didn’t get timed up perfectly, and lost control there of the bottom lane, and then just seemed like the outside had more energy for some reason, and then the 5 ran out of gas, so that hurt us a little bit even more. I mean, overall, I think we gave it our best effort. We were tight there on fuel, so just trying to manage that, but it just didn’t work out, and then we got spun out there coming to the line.”

Larson was just behind Byron on the official rundown, but his hopes for contending expired a half-lap from the end. No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels said he knew the team’s final splash of fuel would leave Larson tight on making it to the end, but he still tried to encourage his driver that the tank would hold.

Kyle Larson, right, talks to crew chief Cliff Daniels on pit road at Talladega Superspeedway
Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media

“I mean, the numbers we had, we thought we were gonna run out literally at the checkered flag,” Daniels said. “So I would say that was basically a quarter-gallon from where we ran out on the back straightaway to making it back around. In a game of small margins, it was just a small margin that made the difference.”

Said Larson: “We obviously knew it was close, because we got the warning on whatever pump we were on under caution, and it sounded like we would be OK once I went to the other pump, even where I was under yellow, having to flip the switch. So yeah, he had a lot of confidence when he told me, so it gave me confidence. And yeah, it was just hammer down. I mean, there wasn’t really anything I could do otherwise, that last run there. Then I got another warning on the final pump that we have and was just hoping that it would make it to the finish, but it started sputtering shortly after that, so just got out of the way.”

Larson’s spot relative to the playoff bubble is a bit more hopeful, but he said that his chances of reaching his third Championship 4 in the last four years are teetering. Like him, all four drivers below the cutline — Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott — are past Martinsville winners. A victory next week by any of them would make the avenue to the Nov. 2 finale at Phoenix Raceway much more narrow.

“Honestly, it’s a great [place] to be that if nobody below wins, but you’ve got to assume one of them guys is going to win. They’re all really good there,” Larson said. “I mean, every single one of them has a win there. I believe, and multiples at that. So yeah, it’ll be a fight, I think, a point battle between me and Christopher. You know, you don’t want to be a four-spot guy, but yeah, we’ll see. Hopefully, we can go execute again, like we have been, and be up front.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

TALLADEGA, Ala. — In a typically dramatic push to the Talladega Superspeedway checkered flag, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe made a last-lap pass on the frantic field to claim victory in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race and earn his first-ever shot at the season title.

The 30-year-old Indiana native Briscoe will join his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin, who won last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leaving the final two positions in the Championship 4 to be decided in next week’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega

Briscoe thanked another JGR teammate, however, 23-year-old Ty Gibbs, for the push forward on the final lap Sunday that resulted in his first-ever superspeedway win, 0.145 seconds over Front Row Motorsports’ driver Todd Gilliland and Gibbs, neither of whom is among the eight-driver playoff field.

The runner-up showing was a career best for Gilliland. 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and Haas Factory Team’s Cole Custer rounded out the top five.

“Ty Gibbs, just an incredible teammate there,’’ said an emotional Briscoe, who stood on his No. 19 JGR Toyota waving his arms to the cheering crowd. “I honestly would not have won that race without Ty. It was an amazing team effort. I can’t believe I won a superspeedway race. I’ve never done it at any level.”

“It’s not hit me, we’re going to Phoenix,’’ a grinning Briscoe said of the championship opportunity he now has after leading only 16 laps Sunday, but the most important final one.

“Absolutely [a dream come true]. So thankful that the Lord’s blessed me, opening doors and closing doors at times, but certainly opening an incredible door for me here at Joe Gibbs Racing. … Even today, I just had such a ‘peace’ and normally I’m scared to death, nervous around this place, but today, just had such a peace.’’

Another JGR driver, Christopher Bell joined Briscoe as the only other playoff competitor to finish among the top 10 Sunday, crossing the line eighth in the frantic three-wide, four rows deep finish that has long characterized the 2.66-mile Talladega high-banks – NASCAR’s largest track. With Hamlin and Briscoe in the title race thanks to victories, Bell now holds the top remaining points position, 37 points above the cutoff line.

SHOP: Winner’s gear

As good a day as it was for the Gibbs team to claim half the championship race eligibility and position Bell atop the points standings, it was a disappointing afternoon for the other two organizations also racing for a shot at the title: Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske.

Hendrick had two cars running among the top five for the overtime restart only to have Kyle Larson drop back from the lead after running out of fuel. William Byron get spun out from behind only yards in front of the finish line while running inside the top 10. They finished 25th (Byron) and 26th (Larson).

Larson is ranked fourth, a point below Bell in the standings – 36 points above the cutoff line. Byron – the Regular Season Champion – is now fifth, 36 points below the line.

Penske’s two playoff drivers, reigning series champion Joey Logano and 2023 series champ Ryan Blaney, also experienced similar late-race frustration after positioning themselves up front in the waning laps. Logano’s No. 22 Ford actually led the most laps (35) on the day and turned in the longest single stint out front (16 laps) in a race that featured an incredible 77 lead changes among 27 drivers.

Ultimately, neither could move forward in the closing pair of laps, however. Logano finished 16th and Blaney was 23rd, after both had to pit during the overtime caution period to top off on fuel.

“Really, really frustrating because you’re so close and you see in front of you what you’ve got to do and you can’t do anything about it,’’ said Logano. “It’s frustrating, but we know what we’ve got to do now, it’s pretty simple.’’

Sunday’s results leave Logano ranked sixth among the eight playoff drivers, 38 points below the cutoff line. Blaney is seventh, 47 points back. Both now need a victory at Martinsville to return to the championship race. Blaney has won the last two playoff races at the 0.526-mile Martinsville track, and Logano won it in 2018.

RELATED: Clutch in the playoffs: Drivers who win in critical situations

NASCAR’s perennial most popular driver and a huge Talladega crowd favorite, Chase Elliott, was the first playoff driver to have trouble Sunday, collected in a nine-car accident near the front of the field only 51 laps into the 193-lap race, resulting in a last-place finish in the 40-car field.

Elliott had started the race ranked sixth in the playoff standings, only 23 points below the cutoff line, and has now fallen to eighth among the eight drivers, 62 points out of playoff contention and also needing to win next Sunday at Martinsville – something he’s done before, claiming the 2020 playoff finale there en route to his championship.

“I saw somebody get turned sideways just like normal, and you hope you can get slowed down in time, but I got turned sideways there somehow, someway and hit some more stuff after that,’’ Elliott said, adding, “We just did not execute that well as a group and put ourselves in the back of the pack, unfortunately, and got caught up in the mess.

“Stage points are so crucial right now, and I wasn’t super surprised everybody was starting to get super aggressive, and unfortunately, I didn’t make it through.

“Unless we won today, we were already likely in a very similar situation next week. I hate it. I don’t know what you do in those situations. We weren’t back there doing anything wild or crazy. I just got turned sideways and slid up into the wreck. Thinking about it, I wish I could have done something different, but I don’t really know what I would have done. Looking forward to Martinsville. Got one more shot at it.’’

Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, Bell, Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith and RFK Racing owner-driver Brad Keselowski rounded out Sunday’s top 10.

The final round to set the 2025 playoff field is Sunday afternoon’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

NOTE: Inspection in the Cup Series garage was completed with no issues, confirming Briscoe as the winner. No cars will return to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina for further inspection.

Posted on by Staff Report

Erik Jones pushed Noah Gragson around and into AJ Allmendinger racing for the lead at Lap 52 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, also claiming playoff driver Chase Elliott.

Elliott, who entered the middle Round of 8 race at 23 points below the cutline, went low to avoid the Turn 3 wreck from 19th but was contacted by Daniel Suárez from behind and suffered heavy damage. He could not continue in the 188-lap event, finishing 40th.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega

“I saw someone get turned sideways, kind of like normal, and just hoping to get slowed down in time,” Elliott told reporters outside the infield care center, recalling the crash just before the Stage 1 end. “I haven’t seen it back, but I got turned sideways there somehow, some way, and yeah, and hit some more stuff after that.

“Stage points are so crucial right now, you know? So I just wasn’t super-surprised everybody was starting to get really aggressive, and unfortunately, yeah, we didn’t make it through.”

In total, nine different drivers were involved in the incident. Allmendinger’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet caught on fire after contacting the outside wall, coming to a stop at the exit of Turn 4. The 43-year-old exited his car under his own power and briefly lay on the ground before walking to an ambulance.

“I was just trying to lead both lanes and unfortunately, the outside lane didn’t really have that same plan,” Allmendinger said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “Got turned right up there, right up into the fence, and I think when Noah got turned, I think it hit the right-front tire and either knocked it flat or whatever, just turned me directly up in the wall. So disappointing there, but just the way this racing is.

“It hurt. It knocked the breath completely out of me, and then as I was trying to get out, I felt like the car, I couldn’t tell if it was catching on fire, but it definitely started smoking, so got out. Definitely sore on my right side from hitting the wall. So more than anything, it was just trying to get the breath back and just take a moment there, and so I’m fine. I’ll be all right.”

Gragson, Justin Haley, defending race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Cindric, Jones and Elliott were also checked and released from the care center. Elliott now faces a must-win situation next Sunday at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) after finishing 18th in last weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I’m excited about it. I mean, unless we won today, we were likely going to be in a very similar position next week,” Elliott said. “I hate it. I don’t know what you do about those situations, right? Like, we weren’t back there doing anything wild or crazy. It just, it turned sideways and slid into the wreck. So I don’t know. Kind of thinking back through it, I wish I could have done something different, but I don’t really know what I would have done. I was just trying to get slowed up.

“I’m looking forward to Martinsville, though. Got one more shot at it.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series continue the playoff action this weekend in Alabama, each continuing their respective Round of 8s at Talladega Superspeedway. Bookmark this page and come back often for your race-week essentials — from links to qualifying order, average practice speeds, results and more.

RELATED: Full weekend schedule | TV listings

NASCAR Cup Series

Race day: Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Seven sets for the weekend (six new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying). 

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Race day: Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on The CW. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Four sets for the weekend (three new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying). 

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Race day: Friday at 4 p.m. ET on FOX. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Four sets for the weekend (three new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying).

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

Posted on by Staff Report

Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200

Martinsville Speedway

Dis 17 743631 Coca Cola 250 V6gb 4pres

  • Entry list
Car No. Driver Team Crew Chief Chassis Mfg. Sponsors
1 Patrick Emerling KPL Racing LLC Dale Hedquist LFR Fleetworks, Inc.; Middlesex Interiors
02 Joey Coulter IV Coulter Motorsports Harold Holly Jr. FURY Race Cars SRI Performance; Bilstein Shocks; PFC Brakes; Molecule; Simpson
3 Tyler Rypkema Boehler’s Racing Equipment Greg Fournier Boehler Racing USNE; SYP; Northeast Drilling
4 Ryan Newman Connolly Racing Shane Connolly FURY Race Cars Bobcat; USNE; Finzer Rollers; Montrose Molders; Key Display; Ellerys Pub
05 Teddy Hodgdon IV THR LLC Teddy Hodgdon IV FURY Race Cars Montanari Fuel; Business Time Motorsports
7 Luke Baldwin Tommy Baldwin Racing LLC Tommy Baldwin PSR Products Baldwin Automotive
8 John-Michael Shenette Eighty-Two Autosport Scott Morin LFR USNE Power Midwest Operations; Eighty-Two Services General Contractor
14 Jake Lutz Advantage Motorsports Bill Putney LFR Advantage Trucks; Washtronic’s; Anastasi Trucking
18 Ken Heagy Christopher Fleming Greg Gorman FURY Race Cars Speed 77
21 Stephen Kopcik Wanick Motorsports Nick Kopcik Troyer Wanick Constructions, Inc.; Newtown Pools
22 Kyle Bonsignore Kyle Bonsignore Keith McDermott FURY Race Cars MTT; ChaLew Performance; Munns Auto
23 Carson Loftin Brian Loftin Brian Loftin Troyer L&R Transmission; LeBleu Water; QMF Metal & Electronics
25 Danny Bohn Mike Smith Terry Hall FURY Race Cars Alpine Partners; Amerifast; Cutting Edge Stonework; Cha Lew Performance
38 Bobby Labonte PSR Products Neal Cantor PSR Products Cook-Out; PSR Products; Pace-O-Matic
46 Craig Lutz Goodie Racing Douglas Ogiejko FURY Race Cars Riverhead Building Supply
51 Justin Bonsignore Kenneth Massa Motorsports, LLC Ryan Stone FURY Race Cars Phoenix Communications, Inc.
54 Tommy Catalano Catalano Motorsports Rick Kluth Troyer FX Caprara; USNE
55 Jeremy Gerstner GMR Enterprises Dawn Gerstner Troyer JT’s Services; Garage Doors of the Triad;
56 Trevor Catalano Catalano Motorsports David Catalano Troyer USNE Power
58 Eric Goodale Goodie Motorsports Rob Hyer FURY Race Cars GAF ROOFING
60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee/Elite Motorsports Mike Stein Troyer PeeDee Motorsports; Bar Harbor Bank and Trust
64 Austin Beers KLM Motorsports Ron Yuhas Troyer G&G Electrical Supply, Dell Electric, Lumiere Electrical, Andrew James Interiors, Fastrack Electrical, AP Marquadt & Sons, Hu
70 Andy Seuss Steve Seuss Jon Marlott LFR Rockingham Boat
77 Michael Christopher Jr Mike Curb Gary Putnam Troyer Curb Records; Mohawk Northeast
99 Conner Jones Mario Jamie Tomaino Eddie Harvey Troyer Driveshaft Shop
111 Norman Newman Percy Newman Percy Newman LFR Family Funland
129 Mike Marshall TLC Performance Kevin Ledoux Troyer MLM Diagnostics; Jusczak Electric
140 Luke Fleming Chris Fleming Christopher Fleming PSR Products William E. Smith Trucking; Taylor’s Auto Parts; Simmons Powersports; Perkins & Associates; Hodges Realty
179 Jake Crum David Hill David Hill PSR Products EME Industrial; Mt. Airy Toyota

 

Posted on by PJ Walsh

NASCAR odds are unique when the Cup Series visits drafting tracks, like Sunday’s YellaWood 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC) at Talladega Superspeedway.

Ryan Blaney is the race favorite at +1000 odds, which isn’t exactly a shock, but due to the unpredictability of superspeedway racing, the 10-1 price tag is much longer than where we see favorites priced at most other tracks.

RELATED: More on Penske’s plight in What to Watch

Still, I rarely take favorites at Talladega and typically opt to embrace the potential chaos with low-risk, high-upside sleepers.

However, that’s all changing today as my two NASCAR best bets for Talladega come right from the top of the odds board.

Let’s take a look.

NASCAR Odds, Best Bet Pick for Talladega

*Odds as of Sunday morning

Ryan Blaney (10-1) to Win — BetMGM

Team Penske always brings fast cars to superspeedways, and Blaney has made the most of them at this race track.

The driver of the No. 12 Ford has three career Cup Series wins at Talladega, and since NASCAR debuted the Next Gen car in 2022, you can make an argument Blaney has been the top performer at this track.

Over that span, Blaney has one win, the most top-three finishes (three) and is second in laps led (just behind Joey Logano).

Throw in the fact Blaney won the most recent superspeedway race in August at Daytona, and we have a driver very capable of scoring the win at very enticing 10-1 odds.

Joey Logano (11-1) to Win — BetMGM

Like teammate Blaney, Logano is always a factor at drafting tracks, and the numbers back that up once again this season.

Across five total races at Daytona, Atlanta and Talladega this year, Logano sports the best driver rating (by far), the top average running position, and has led the most laps (also by far).

And similar to Blaney, Logano has three career wins at Talladega, so he certainly knows how to find Victory Lane at this race track.

With both Team Penske drivers needing to run up front and potentially win to keep their championship hopes alive, it wouldn’t surprise me to see other fast Fords do all they can to help push and keep both Blaney and Logano at the front of today’s race.

Does it mean they’re guaranteed to win? Of course not.

However, at 10-1 and 11-1 odds, respectively, I’ll take chances on Blaney and Logano to maneuver their way to the front of the field as the laps wind down at Talladega.

Posted on by Zack Albert

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Justin Allgaier awaited the official word on pit road Saturday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway, even though he was already beaming with a relatively unscathed top-five result. The bigger-picture good news came moments later with NASCAR’s confirmation: He’d earned enough points to clinch a spot in the final-four field in the Xfinity Series’ Nov. 1 season finale at Phoenix Raceway, where the 39-year-old veteran will defend his championship.

The words of congratulations came from all corners, with JR Motorsports team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. embracing his senior driver, to the No. 7 Chevrolet’s crew sharing in the modest celebration. The last note came from soon departing crew chief Jim Pohlman, who clasped hands with Allgaier and reminded him how easily he’ll breathe, carrying playoff immunity into next Saturday’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway.

It’s an overwhelming luxury at this point in the season, so Pohlman didn’t have to coax Allgaier too hard into making plans to savor Martinsville’s best-known delicacy next weekend.

“I don’t even eat hot dogs, and I’d probably eat a hot dog next week at Martinsville, just because well … it doesn’t really matter,” Allgaier said. “We can go there and have fun.”

Allgaier surged to a third-place finish in Saturday’s United Rentals 250, rallying after a late fuel stop to secure his third straight top-10 result. JRM teammate Carson Kvapil made a similar comeback after also refueling before the two-lap overtime dash, finishing second and reviving his postseason hopes, turning a 22-point deficit into an 11-point advantage above the provisional elimination line.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega

The overall outcome left three JR Motorsports drivers on the plus side of the Xfinity Series Playoffs bubble, with rookie teammate Connor Zilisch also riding an insurmountable points edge into the Championship 4 grid. The fourth JRM pilot, Sammy Smith, has a chance to make it a clean final-four sweep for the organization after he finished ninth Saturday, leaving him an 11-point gap to close in Martinsville.

Kvapil came closest to clinching with a victory, driving from eighth to second with a head of steam on the final lap. Finishes of ninth and third at the stage breaks helped him offset his points situation, and though a pre-overtime pit stop for gas set him back in the running order, he wound up just 0.105 seconds behind race winner Austin Hill at the checkered flag.

“I’m mixed, right?” Kvapil said. “I mean, I feel like we did our job, and we did what we planned on doing coming into the weekend. We wanted to get stage points and put ourselves in position to try to win the race at the end, but also just trying to have a good finish and trying to stack the points, and I feel like we kind of did our job there.”

Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love is foremost among those keeping JRM from locking all four drivers in. Love started from the pole position and contended all race until the end, when he made the first move to step out of line with two laps remaining in regulation. His pit stop for fuel during the ensuing caution took him out of third place in the order, and he rallied to claim 10th.

He leaves Talladega with a 40-point margin over the elimination barrier, a cushion he’s not sure will be a safety net for Martinsville.

“Yes and no,” Love said. “If we get 15 stage points, then yes. If we don’t, I mean … I didn’t touch a soul there last year, ran a really clean race and then got wrecked. So I don’t know. I’m going to tell my guys to make sure that freaking whatever’s around the radiator is as strong as it can possibly be, because it’s so easy to get even just run in the back up there and pushing the guy in front of you on a restart stack-up, and the second that radiator goes, you’re done. So definitely have to be mindful of that and play it safe next week, start focusing on Phoenix without getting too far ahead of ourselves, but Martinsville is just always gonna be Martinsville.”

MORE: Schedule, TV info: Talladega

Faced with the same prospect of running out of gas when the race lurched into overtime and an eventual six extra laps, Allgaier and Co. make what seemed like an unsavory choice to give up track position and fill up. Pohlman was almost apologetic on the radio after making the call, much as he was three weeks ago in Kansas after a victory bid on an alternative pit strategy didn’t pan out. He promised to play it straight and deliver at Phoenix, but Allgaier absolved him, saying their chance to win Talladega was still up for grabs. That chance nearly came to pass.

“I’m just so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish,” Allgaier said. “You know, we did what we had to do today, and it wasn’t pretty. Jim was really down on himself for making that call at the end there to pit. But look, if we run out of gas and we don’t finish, we’re not locked in. That’s our own fault. I thought we did a really good job of managing the race today, we did good in the stages and we got our JR Motorsports Chevrolet teammates up way farther (in the standings) — one in and one just outside.”

It’s the second time in this playoff march that Allgaier has clinched advancement with one race remaining in the round. He was also locked in before the Round of 12’s final at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, and now has the privilege again of competing without fretting about playoff implications in what promises to be a bare-knuckle Martinsville event.

The Talladega outcome also allows him extra time to get ready for the season’s ultimate test at Phoenix and the opportunity to become a two-time champion. Until then, he’ll spend that extra time soaking in the scene — and the chili and slaw — at Martinsville.

“Charlotte Motor Speedway was probably one of the most fun races I’ve ever had my entire life, because I knew we were locked in and I was able to go there and really just enjoy the experience, right?” Allgaier said. “You know, these races are so cool, but when you pack all the pressure of the playoffs and you pack on winning races and doing all these things, they become stressful. They become anonymous. And when you can go to the race track and know that, ‘hey, I’ve still got a shot at winning the race, but I can go there, I don’t have to worry about points, I don’t have to worry about anything else, I can just go have fun,’ it almost makes you a little bit more dangerous because you can play the strategy game, you can do things differently than you would any other time. I’m not worried as much about how good our car is for Martinsville. So I can go worry about Phoenix and prep myself for Phoenix and do a better job there for for my team.

“So there’s a lot of positives to it, but I’m definitely gonna eat a hot dog. I haven’t had a hot dog in probably 25 years, 30 years, so that’s saying a lot, too.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Once again, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill proved himself the driver to beat on NASCAR’s big drafting-style tracks, the veteran holding off the field on a dramatic overtime restart with two laps remaining at Talladega Superspeedway to earn the victory in Saturday’s United Rentals 250.

Hill’s No. 21 RCR Chevrolet led a race-best 48 of the 100 laps to earn a season sweep at the 2.66-mile speedway, NASCAR’s biggest track. The 31-year-old Georgia native claimed both stage wins and the .105-second victory over JR Motorsports playoff driver Carson Kvapil. The victory now gives him 10 wins at drafting style tracks – having already eclipsed the previous record set by NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Tony Stewart, who each had eight victories on that style of track.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega

Although Hill has been eliminated from contention for the driver’s title, his win Saturday does guarantee his RCR team a car in the 2025 owner’s championship.

“If you have any questions and it’s green-white-checkered, you probably just go to the bottom [of the track] because of how crazy the second and third lane was there at the end,’’ an elated Hill said after climbing down from the hood of his Chevy, where he waved his hands and encouraged the huge crowd’s loud reaction.

“Being able to race for Richard Childress is always special, and to be able to deliver wins like this,’’ Hill continued. “As the playoff started and us getting knocked out the way we did, it stung a lot, but once we knew we were still in it for the owner’s championship, I decided I’d do it just like I would going for a driver’s championship.

“To be able to lock ourselves in and go to Phoenix knowing we’re going for an owner’s championship and be able to try and deliver one to Richard Childress Racing means the world to me.”

Kvapil’s JR Motorsports teammate and fellow playoff driver Justin Allgaier finished third, significant in that it boosted the reigning champion’s points total enough to clinch one of the four Championship-eligible entries for the Nov. 1 season finale at Phoenix.

Another JR Motorsports teammate, rookie Connor Zilisch, had a rough outing Saturday. His No. 88 JRM Chevy finished 23rd, three laps down after being collected in a late-race accident. But the good news for the series 10-race winner and regular season champion was that his outing earned enough points for him to officially claim a Championship 4 bid. While it ended a series record streak of 18 top-five finishes for the young phenom, it was still good enough to allow him a shot at his first NASCAR title.

Additionally, Joe Gibbs Racing driver William Sawalich was also involved in the crash that claimed Zilisch and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

WATCH: Honeyman gets loose, collects Zilisch, Sawalich and others

The final two championship positions will be decided next week at Martinsville Speedway, although the JR Motorsports team certainly showed the intensity and purpose it’s carrying forward in hopes of deciding the championship completely among themselves.

Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8 JRM Chevrolet, finished ninth, moving him from last place among the eight playoff drivers entering Saturday’s race to fifth place, only 11 points behind Kvapil, who moved into that all-important fourth-place transfer spot.

Hill’s RCR teammate Jesse Love, who led 19 laps – second only to Hill Saturday – finished 10th after a decision to give up track position to pit for fuel during the caution period leading into the overtime restart. He raced back through the field for that top-10 effort, but had been running top-three behind Hill and Allgaier before topping off for that fuel. He goes to Martinsville third in the standings, a healthy 40 points above the playoff cutoff line.

“Just a bit mundane,’’ Love said of his result, conceding how difficult the call to get fuel was in the closing laps. “Nothing crazy good or bad, but obviously we’ll never know if that was right call to come down and take fuel, but I had to trust my gut and I didn’t know if I was going to make it or not.

“It was honestly kind of close. … It does stink because I think we had as good a car as the 21 (Hill). I think he was a little bit more aggressive than I was, but we did what we needed to do and didn’t beat ourselves today.’’

Overtime was necessitated when Smith – running in the middle lane trying to make a late move for the win – just nudged his No. 8 Chevrolet’s right front bumper from the middle lane into the left rear of Aric Almirola’s Toyota in the outside lane. The result was a five-car accident that eliminated last week’s race winner Almirola and brought out the final two-lap overtime session to decide the trophy.

On the other side of the afternoon, there was almost immediate trouble at the start of the race for a trio of playoff contenders. Both Haas Factory Team cars driven by Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer were eliminated from the race after suffering significant damage in 10-car pileup at Lap 15. They finished 34th (Creed) and 38th (Mayer). JGR’s playoff driver, Brandon Jones, was also involved in the accident to a lesser degree and was able to keep his No. 20 Toyota running, albeit several laps down. He finished 26th.

Jones now sits sixth in the standings, 20 points below the cutoff line heading into Martinsville. Mayer dropped from fourth place to seventh place – 22 points behind Kvapil, the first time he’s fallen below the elimination line this playoff run. Creed is now 41 points below the transfer line in eighth place, needing a clutch victory at Martinsville to continue his championship hopes.

On the upside of Saturday’s Talladega results, Kaulig Racing rookie Christian Eckes finished fourth, his sixth top five of the year. And veteran Caesar Bacarella’s fifth-place run in the No. 5 Alpha Prime Racing Chevy was a career-best effort.

Blaine Perkins, Parker Retzlaff, Leland Honeyman, Smith and Love rounded out the top-10.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to Martinsville Speedway for next Saturday’s all-important IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Almirola is the defending race winner.

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Hill as the race winner. No cars will return to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Posted on by Staff Report

William Sawalich, driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, was released from an Alabama hospital, according to Joe Gibbs Racing.

Sawalich was initially sent from the infield care center to a local medical facility for further evaluation following a crash Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. The JGR team account posted on social media that he was released around 2 a.m. local time.

Sawalich followed up by posting on social media that he was thankful for the support of the racing community, his team and the doctors, nurses and medical staff at UAB Hospital:

At Lap 45 in the Round of 8 playoff race, Leland Honeyman got turned around entering Turn 1, contacting Connor Mosack and Connor Zilisch before Mosack shot up the track and into Sawalich. Dean Thompson and Jeb Burton were also involved.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega

Sawalich, along with Mosack and Thompson, was unable to continue, and both Mosack and Thompson were evaluated and released from the infield care center.

The 19-year-old Sawalich has three top fives and nine top 10s in his rookie Xfinity Series season. He failed to make the playoffs despite runner-up finishes in the final two regular-season races.