It has all come down to this for the stars of tomorrow in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. After tonight, the annual fall race at the bullring-style paperclip, Martinsville Speedway, located in the rolling hills of southern Virginia, our Championship 4 will be official. Two drivers already head into tonight’s race locked in. Those drivers are the JRM teammates of regular-season champion Connor Zilisch and defending series champion Justin Allgaier. Allgaier had a pretty decent starting spot, which is more than what can be said for Zilisch. The No. 88 was not allowed to make a qualifying attempt, so he started in the rear. If he wanted to win the race, he had a heck of a workload in front of him. But, his mind was at ease due to his state in the title battle.
With those two drivers clinching berths to the Championship 4, that meant that we had two more spots up for grabs. Jesse Love entered tonight’s race with a 40-point cushion. So, ideally, all he needed to do was keep his nose clean and minimize mistakes. If the final transfer spot comes down to points, it means that it likely was going to be a throwdown between two more JRM teammates, Sammy Smith and Carson Kvapil. Kvapil entered with an 11-point advantage over Smith. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, and Sheldon Creed most likely needed to score wins in order to make it in. Hey, crazier things have happened. All three drivers have shown race-winning speed at the paperclip more than once in the past.
So, what all went down at the ‘clip? Who made the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4? Let’s break it down. Here’s everything that happened in the NASCAR Xfinity Series cutoff race at Martinsville Speedway.
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Harrison Burton led the field to the green flag to kick off the opening stage of the race. He led a handful of the opening laps of the race. However, as the broadcasters stated on the CW, Burton’s front brake rotors were glowing a bright, orange-red. Once Playoff driver Sam Mayer got to his rear bumper shortly thereafter, the No. 25 Ford didn’t have anything left. He had no choice but to let the much faster No. 41 to the race lead. Same Mayer to the lead. After we got our first caution flag of the night, most of the field came down pit road. Notable exceptions were Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, Jeb Burton, Christian Eckes, and Sam Mayer.
The race restarted and it didn’t take long for Mayer to regain control of the race. He raced on, leading the field, until rookie Nick Sanchez got into and turned Myatt Snider, triggering the second caution of the evening and first for incident. Check it out.
The race restarted with just 8 laps to go. And, in those final laps of the stage, Justin Allgaier wrestled the race lead from Sam Mayer and went on to win the stage. Some radio chatter of note during this incident include some frustration over the No. 7 radio where he complained how drivers were racing so early and the race as well as frustration over the No. 27 car radio. Jeb Burton was upset at Sam Mayer, stating that he didn’t care if Mayer was racing for a championship or not; he was “done”. That was an interesting story to follow through the night.
With this stage win, Allgaier takes a great step towards his ultimate goal of successfully defending his NASCAR Xfinity Series title.
*GREEN–Clinched Championship 4 Berth
**YELLOW–Playoff
There were a variety of strategies shuffling the field to start the second stage. Carson Kvapil, for example, took a gamble and stayed out, as did his teammate Connor Zilisch. Things didn’t work out so cleanly, though, as Sheldon Creed gives him a tap and he washes up the track, losing all of his track position. Shortly thereafter, his JRM teammate Carson Kvapil drove by Allgaier and Mayer to lead his first laps since leading at Atlanta in June.
Kvapil, who will lose his full-time ride with JRM at the conclusion of the season, went on to win the stage, keeping his championship hopes alive. Other Playoff drivers who finished the stage in the top 10 include Sam Mayer (4th), Justin Allgaier (6th), Brandon Jones (7th), and Sheldon Creen (9th). Notably absent is Jesse Love, who has been suffering from pit road mistakes/issues all night long. While he still has a cushion over the cutline, he needs to clean up his performance if he wants to be a serious threat next week in Phoenix. He had the chance to clinch his berth in the Championship 4 and, thus far, he has squandered it.
*GREEN–Clinched Championship 4 Berth
**YELLOW–Playoffs
As the laps wound down, it ended up with a JGR-led race to the win. With 30 laps to go, Taylor Gray led the race. He performed there admirably in the spring and was still searching for his first win. Behind him was his teammate Aric Almirola. And, behind them was a third JGR Toyota of Brandon Jones, who, as we drove deeper into the final laps, it was becoming clear that he was going to need to win in order to advance. Would his teammates cut him a break? That was the big question. We certainly know that eventual champion and once-teammate to Jones, Ty Gibbs, didn’t give him a break a number of years ago. It was something to watch.
Meanwhile, Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer, and Carson Kvapil battled hard in the bottom half of the top 10. Kvapil held the points advantage at this point, being 13 points above the cutline. Jesse Love was sitting pretty as well. However, their ability to advance would be compromised if Brandon Jones somehow got by his teammates for the win to advance. The 41 and 1 of Sam Mayer and Carson Kvapil traded some aggressive shots, frustration growing deeper as their desperation started to ramp up. The caution came out with just inside 30 laps to go when Parker Retzlaff spun. This changed the ballgame.
Taylor Gray got a great jump on the restart. But we knew, based on how they were racing earlier, that all hell was bound to break loose. It did with 23 laps to go when Playoff hopeful, Carson Kvapil, got tagged from behind by Ryan Sieg. This changed the battle around the cutline. At this point in the race, Jesse Love and Brandon Jones in position to advance and Smith and Kvapil out. Kvapil fell all the way down to the 30th position.
Kvapil, because he would receive the tiebreaker, made of a head-on spring towards the front upon the restart. Gray continued to lead. But because Kvapil was able to move up eight positions from where he started, this put Jones in a must-win situation in order to advance to the Championship 4. To shake things up even more, we got yet another caution. This was as a result of Daniel Dye cutting a tire and slamming into the outside wall. We were headed into what would most certainly be a very dramatic NASCAR Overtime.
At the choose, Taylor Gray took the bottom with his teammate, Brandon Jones, behind him. Sammy Smith elected to take the outside of the front row with Sheldon Creed behind him. All of these drivers needed to win in order to advance. Gray led them to the green flag and was off to the races. Sammy Smith got a great restart, clearing Brandon Jones in Turn 3. Taylor Gray, meanwhile, was pulling away. And here we were again: 54 vs. 8 at Martinsville. This time, however, there was no controversy. Taylor Gray held off the 8 to score his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Carson Kvapil ended up advancing to the Championship 4, along with Jesse Love, in a thrilling battle for the win. 4 points separated Kvapil and Brandon Jones.
The following are the unofficial results following the conclusion of the 250-lap NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff race at Martinsville Speedway. This list will be updated once tech inspection is completed and the results become official.
*YELLOW–Playoffs
Now that the race is officially in the books, I present you with the four drivers who will be racing for a NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship next week at Phoenix. They are:
Next week in the Valley of the Sun, these four drivers will do battle. Whoever comes out on top, whoever finishes best, will be your 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion. Zilisch is the rookie looking to win it all. He already has 10 wins on the year. Can he cap it off with a title before heading up the Cup with Trackhouse next year? Justin Allgaier is the defending champion. Can he do the unthinkable and go two in a row for JR Motorsports? Jesse Love also held on to make the Championship 4 as did JRM driver Carson Kvapil. So, heading into Phoenix. JRM has 3 of the 4 championship positions. How do you like those odds?
The following drivers fail to advance to the championship round. They are:
By and large, this crop of drivers was considered underdogs this year. Sheldon Creed still hasn’t won a NASCAR Xfinity Series race, despite a record 15 runner-up finishes. Sma Mayer, while good and with a win this year, isn’t largely considered a championship threat. The same can be said for Brandon Jones, who has only won twice this year and Sammy Smith, who has one win this season. The contenders have officially been separated from the pretenders. They’ll have to wait until next year for another crack at it. Undoubtedly, they’ll continue to develop and get better racing with the elites of the series.
What did you think of this race? Who is your pick to win it all at Phoenix? Let us know! Join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates. Be sure to tune back in here tomorrow at DailyDownforce.com for our weekly Xfinity Series coverage!
