Race 29 of 33: Drive for the Cure 250 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Track Specs: 2.280-mile road course / 72 laps
Race Winner: Sam Mayer
Allgaier’s finish: 7th
Smith’s finish: 10th
Jones’ finish: 11th
Mosack’s finish: 18th
Sam Mayer
Sam Mayer, driver of the No. 1 QPS Employment Chevrolet, prevailed in overtime on Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway and advanced into the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. The young driver immediately set himself up for success, putting the No. 1 Chevrolet on the front row to begin the day, starting second in line and remaining in contention for the rest of the day. After a strong pit stop under the stage break, Mayer restarted the final stage in second and quickly took the top spot with 22 laps to go. A caution with 15 laps left allowed Mayer to come down pit road for four fresh tires and fuel, returning to the track in sixth. Mayer started his charge back to the front and found himself battling for the lead until a caution flag waved just before the white flag. Lining up second for NASCAR’s overtime, Mayer seized the opportunity and powered his way into the lead, earning his third series win of the season.
“Absolutely unreal race today and I could not be any more thankful for this No. 1 JR Motorsports team and how hard these guys worked to get us here. Feels great to be back in Victory Lane in Charlotte and advance to the Round of 8 where we belong. Looking forward to Las Vegas next week and continuing on in the fight for the championship.”
Justin Allgaier
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 Jarrett Chevrolet, advanced into the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs in dramatic fashion on Saturday afternoon at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. Entering the day seven points below the playoff cutline, Allgaier scored valuable stage points at the conclusion of Stage One and captured his series-leading 15th stage victory in Stage Two to put himself in position to race heads-up over the closing laps. Pushing through a green-white-checkered restart in NASCAR’s version of overtime, Allgaier was able to fight to secure a well-earned seventh-place finish and move on into the next round of the NXS Playoffs. With the re-seeding of the points heading into next weekend’s event in Las Vegas, Allgaier now sits alone atop the standings, seven points above the field with three races remaining in the round.
“What an unbelievable day. This entire group kept fighting all day long and we were not going to give up. Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and all the guys on this Jarrett team gave me a great car. It’s just a great feeling to know we are moving on in these playoffs, along with our teammates in the Nos. 1 and 8. Huge congrats to Sam (Mayer) on getting the win as well. Now it’s on to Vegas where I know we are capable of doing what we need to do to move on to Phoenix.”
Sammy Smith
Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, entered this weekend without the pressure of making the cutoff into the Round of 8 by virtue of his victory last week in Talladega. However, with momentum being vital, Smith set out for another solid run as the young driver qualified 16th for the Drive for the Cure 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. The No. 8 JR Motorsports team fought a tight car for the majority of the 67-lap event and pitted off-sequence to the rest of the field to try and gain an edge. Even as he struggled with handling issues, Smith ran just within reach of the top 10 throughout the afternoon. And Smith started 16th. The Iowa native charged up to 10th at the finish to earn hi 15th top-10 result of the season.
“The race didn’t go how we envisioned it, but we knew with it being a road course and the final race of the Round of 12, it could be unpredictable. We fought a tight Pilot Flying J Chevrolet all day, but we kept fighting right up to the end. We’ll refocus this week and be ready to fight hard these next three races to continue our hunt for the championship.”
Brandon Jones
Brandon Jones, driver of the No. 9 Menards/Delta Chevrolet, qualified in the 15th position for the 67-Lap feature on the reconfigured Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval Saturday afternoon. Jones maintained position within the top 20 for the beginning stage until a pit strategy call by crew chief Adam Wall had him take a trip down pit road with three laps to go. This allowed Jones to restart the second stage in the sixth position. The No. 9 team would continue to run this strategy throughout the race with the intent to keep improving their position within the field. After working his way back into the top 15, Jones avoided several on-track incidents before the race went into NASCAR’S version of overtime. Over the final three laps, the 27-year-old Georgia native fought hard, ultimately taking the checkered flag in 11th.
“It is always great to run at Charlotte and have all of our friends and family come out to watch. I wish we would have been able to pull off the top-10, but I am so proud of this No. 9 team. They never give up and we are going to keep the same intensity through these last four races.”
Connor Mosack
Connor Mosack made his second NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the season for JR Motorsports on Saturday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, driving the No. 88 Apollo PEX Chevrolet. The Charlotte native, who finished sixth in his first start earlier this year at the Chicago Street Course, ran a smooth and steady race under the guidance of crew chief Andrew Overstreet. After finishing a solid seventh in Stage One, Mosack used track position and good race-craft to finish second in Stage Two, behind teammate Justin Allgaier. Mosack ran in the lead pack for much of the final stage, but was knocked sideways from contact with 10 laps to go in the event. Restarting 24th, Mosack advanced eight positions to finish 18th.
“I was looking forward to this race with Apollo PEX, a local company, on the car, and we were pretty solid in the first two stages. I got pretty tight early, but Andrew (Overstreet) said we had a plan and to just hold on. We were doing that, but we ran into some trouble late and had to fight back in the final stage.”