Sunday saw one of the most interesting points battles in the history of NASCAR’s playoffs. But, it’s still not time to shut the book on NASCAR’s trip to the Great Plains. So, who were the biggest losers from NASCAR’s weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s ROVAL?
Look, we can rag on the playoff and the regular season, factoring in as much as we want, but this weekend, we actually got to see a decision made in March factor into the Xfinity Series Round of Eight. So, when Sammy Smith booted Taylor Gray at Martinsville, everyone laughed because Smith didn’t even win the race, but at the Roval, the No. 8 somehow won the war.
Say what you want about Sammy Smith, the guy pulled off one of the best comebacks in recent memory. After all, he was in last place, behind playoff point-less Austin Hill, leaving the first race at Bristol. But, for Gray, his Rookie season will unfortunately be forgotten, overshadowed by no wins, an early exit from the playoffs, and, of course, a Rookie of the Year battle that wrapped up in July. However, the playoffs could still deny Zilisch his title.
Man, that was tough. Brent Crews led not only his first NASCAR National Series laps, but he also led 56 of the day’s 70 laps, and was en route to the first win for TRICON for a driver not named Corey Heim since Ryan Preece won Nashville for the then Ford team in 2022. There was even a chance that this could be a close finish, with Crews citing low fuel before a caution, caused by another TRICON entry, ended his pursuit.
In NASCAR, we often talk about almost wins; Matt DiBenedetto, Kenny Wallace, and others often come to mind, but Crews’ run from last Friday afternoon will be forgotten. Not because he lost, but because his valiant effort was overshadowed by his teammate Corey Heim breaking a 25-year-old record. But hey, Crews was born in (checks notes), 2008. He has enough years to rebound from this race.
Oh boy, what a year for 23XI Racing! While Bubba Wallace and Charles Denike have put together one of Wallace’s best yet, Tyler Reddick is putting up numbers similar to those he achieved in his second year at RCR. Even after a hot start to the playoffs, Bubba did not advance to the Round of Eight after his owner, Denny Hamlin, made his now-infamous pass attempt at Kansas.
Last year was a literal banner season for the team, a reminder that they, not Joe Gibbs Racing, were the lone Toyota representative in the Championship Race at Phoenix. Now, it’s easy to say, “Hey, let’s regroup for next season,” but technically, due to some ongoing litigation, we don’t know if there will be a next season for the team in its current form or 23XI at all. But 23XI’s tough afternoon didn’t stop there.
Did you think we forgot about Riley Herbst? It is easy to forget that a third 23XI car and even a third Monster Energy car exist. So where do we start? What about the Kyle Busch comments?
Now, Riley didn’t say this, but whoever did left an open door for the NASCAR community to absolutely roast the No. 35’s tough first season. Oh, but it gets worse. Herbst also retaliated against Ty Dillon under caution for a prior shove and cut down his own left front tire.
Finally, Herbst’s day ended with a disqualification, meaning that he could have parked it five laps in, avoided all this other stuff, and still finished in the same spot.
We knew that SVG vs Herbst for Rookie honors would be boring at times, but at least SVG has improved on Ovals this season. That’s not to say Herbst isn’t a skilled driver; after all, he has demonstrated his skill in the Xfinity Series. However, this weekend served as a great recap of his first year in NASCAR’s top division.
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