Groovy Hollow Recap
With Aric Almirola’s win at Bristol, it meant that last week at Kansas, all 8 spots of the Round of 8 were still up for grabs. However, in Kansas last week, Brandon Jones won the race to secure a spot and JRM drivers Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier locked themselves in on points. Now, going into the final race of the opening Round of 12 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the stars of tomorrow headed to Charlotte, North Carolina for the challenging wildcard that is the Charlotte Roval. With three spots secured, five sports in the Round of 8 were still left up for grabs.
The drivers around the cutline were really the ones to watch in this race. Austin Hill, Nick Sanchez, and Sammy Smith all entered today’s race out of the Round of 8. Meanwhile, Sheldon Creed, Carson Kvapil, and Taylor Gray entered just barely hanging on. All the while, drivers like Harrison Burton needed to win today in order to advance. Were any of them able to get the job done? Or was it rinse and repeat in terms of the road courses? Did Connor Zilisch continue his dominance? Let’s find out. Here’s everything that happened in the Blue Cross NC 250 at the Charlotte Roval.
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In the final stage, a couple of Playoff drivers had some issues. First, as we approached 15 laps to go, Austin Hill radioed in complaining that he was having a cylinder go down in the engine. This killed his speed on the straightaways and in the wide-sweeping turns of the Charlotte oval. He started dropping like a rock as he watched his Round of 8 hopes slipping away. Who could have predicted that the RCR driver of the No. 21 would be a first-round exit in the Xfinity Series Playoffs? Meanwhile, with 11 laps to go, Nick Sanchez made an unscheduled stop as he had a flat tire. The mistake on pit road was bad, but this was the proverbial nail in his coffin.
As their Playoff hopes were crushed, Connor Zilisch led Justin Allgaier with over six seconds as the sun went down and the lights came on at the 10 to go mark. Meanwhile, his teammate, Sammy Smith, came down pit road with 4 laps to go. With nothing to lose, Smith pitted, hoping for a caution so that he would have fresh tires on a would-be restart. While he was on pit road, Sage Karam had an issue and got into the wall, triggering just what they needed–a caution. This flipped the race on its head and put Smith firmly in the catbird seat.
During the caution, all of the leaders except for Connor Zilisch stayed out. Justin Allgaier won the race off pit road and would end up starting in the 19th position. All the drivers in front of him stayed out. Smith restarted 12th in a Hail Mary pass for the win. He was the highest driver with fresh Goodyear rubber. The field lined up once more for NASCAR Overtime at the Roval.
Zilisch cleared Austin Green in the first corner. Smith launched on the restart and made his way up to 5th. By the time they came back around for the white flag, he was up to 3rd. But Zilisch was pulling away. The cutline between Kvapil, Sammy Smith, and Taylor Gray were all separated but only a point. The caution came out due to fluid on the track. This officially ended the race with Zilisch winning and Sammy Smith’s Hail Mary Pass paying off. All four of JRM’s cars advance to the Round of 8: Zilisch, Allgaier, Kvapil, and Smith. This marked Zilisch’s 11th win of the season and scored him 5 additional Playoff points heading into the Round of 8.
Unsurprisingly, starting today’s race from the pole was road course ace, Connor Zilisch. He led the opening 14 laps of the 20 lap stage. The intention for Zilisch and many of the leaders was to run the stage short, pitting with 3 or 2 laps to go in the stage in order to flip the stages for a better chance to win the race. However, Playoff driver Harrison Burton had some issues as the stage started to come to a close. The issue was terminal mechanical issues. It triggered a caution and his championship hopes came to an end. As a result of the caution, Zilisch and many of the leaders came down pit road. Staying out was Nick Sanchez, who inherited the lead from 16th.
During pit stops, Zilisch came over the radio, stating that he felt that he had a loose wheel. Nevertheless, he stayed on track, restarting in the 5th position, right behind the cars that stayed out. The race restarted with 3 laps to go. By the end of the lap, Zilisch was back out front. Sanchez fell down to 4th as Matt DiBenedetto fell through the field on older tires. Zilisch went on to win the stage. The points didn’t really matter as he was already guaranteed a spot on the Round of 8. It was his 11th stage win of 2025 and his 5th of the last 5 races.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
The second stage ran through much like the first. Zilisch led the way throughout the majority of the stage, leading a race-high of over 30 laps. The plan was still to short pit the stage and flip it. Zilisch pitted coming to 2 laps to go with over a 6 second lead over 2nd place Jesse Love. A number of his competitors, including teammate Justin Allgaier, pitted the lap prior, on the same strategy. During pit stops, Nick Sanchez dragged the jack out of his pit stall, resulting in a penalty.
Inheriting the race lead was Jesse Love, who opted to take the stage win. Behind him were Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, Sheldon Cree, and Carson Kvapil. Love went on to win the stage, scoring 10 points and 1 stage point, helping him in his efforts to stay above the cutline so that he may advance to the Round of 8. Due to his massive lead, Connor Zilisch still managed to finish 10th in the stage, earning another point.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
The following are the unofficial results following the conclusion of the 67-Lap Blue Cross NC 250 at the Charlotte Roval. This list will be updated once tech inspection is completed and the results become official.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
**Eliminated Drivers Depicted in Italics.
The following drivers are entering the Round of 8 above the cutline.
These drivers enter the Round of 8 currently out of the Championship 4 picture.
The following drivers were eliminated in today’s Xfinity Series race at the Charlotte Roval. Their championship hopes have come to a bitter end.
That does it for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 12, Daily Downforce readers! What did you think about this round? How about that bizarre finish? Did your driver make it in? Are you just happy that Austin Hill is out? Let us know what you think! And be sure to return here at DailyDownforce.com tomorrow for our coverage of the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Roval, where we’ll also decide the Cup Series Round of 8 finalists.
