Race 10 of 33: North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway
Track Specs: 1.017-mile oval / 250 laps
Race Winner: Sammy Smith
Zilisch’s finish: 13th
Kvapil’s finish: 16th
Allgaier’s finish: 21st
Sammy Smith
Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet, recorded the third win of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career on Saturday afternoon at Rockingham Speedway. Smith, who originally crossed the finish line in second, was awarded the victory following post-race technical inspection. Additionally, the JR Motorsports driver claimed the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize and locked himself into the NXS Playoffs by virtue of his victory.
Smith started the 250-lap event in 13th and quickly worked his way into the top 10 where the young driver would remain until a late-stage caution saw crew chief Philip Bell call Smith to pit road as part of a strategy call ahead of the second stage. The Pilot crew made slight adjustments so as not to upset the car for both the conclusion of Stage One and throughout Stage Two. As a result, Smith took the green-and-white checkered flag in 14th and 12th, respectively.
The final stage saw 10 cautions in its 130 laps, allowing for numerous strategy calls among the front-runners to get the best track position possible. Smith patiently maneuvered his way into the top five before advancing into the top three just before NASCAR’s version of overtime. Powering out to the race lead, Smith battled wheel-to-wheel for the top spot before settling into second on the final lap. Smith would take the checkered flag in the runner-up position and secure the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize.
In post-race inspection, however, Smith was awarded the victory following issues with the apparent winner, giving Smith his third career NXS victory and locking him into the Playoffs.
“Securing the Dash 4 Cash is great and I appreciate Xfinity putting this program together for our series. After being awarded the win after tech, it was certainly a feeling of relief and excitement for this JR Motorsports team and my partners Pilot, TMC and Allstate Peterbilt Group. It’s great to know that we are now locked into the Playoffs and I know this whole group is even more hungry to get to Victory Lane again.”
Connor Zilisch
Connor Zilisch endured a roller-coaster afternoon at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday before scoring a respectable 14th-place finish on Saturday afternoon. Zilisch won the pole position for the third time in the 2025 season, despite a flat right rear tire that forced him to start the race from the rear of the 38-car field. Zilisch overcame the setback and was able to work his way through the field. He climbed into the top 10 by lap 72. But another flat-this time on the right front-forced him to pit road moments before the caution waved on lap 110. The costly sequence of events dropped him two laps behind the leaders. Undeterred by the loss of track position, Zilisch and the WeatherTech team worked their way back into contention., twice using the free pass to make up the lost distance and climb back onto the lead lap. Zilisch was poised to finish in the top 10 when he and another car made contact at the entrance to Turn 1, dropping him to a 13th-place finish.
“I want to thank Mardy (Lindley, crew chief) and everyone at JR Motorsports for bringing a great WeatherTech Chevrolet to the track this weekend. We had a great run in qualifying and it was unfortunate to have to start at the rear because of the flat tire, Every time we pitted, we made changes to the car but for some reason it didn’t respond. After the race we discovered that something was broken in the rear. It’s a shame that we had that issue late in the race because we had a chance to score a top-10 despite everything that happened. We’ll rebound next week at Talladega”
Carson Kvapil
Carson Kvapil, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies Chevrolet, started out the weekend strong after being fastest in practice, but ended up taking the green flag in the middle of the pack following qualifying. The 21-start year-old Mooresville native made quick work of the field, breaking into the top 15 by the halfway mark of Stage One. A strategy call by crew chief Andrew Overstreet brought Kvapil down pit road for adjustments during a late-stage caution, setting the rookie driver up to take the first green-and-white checkered flag in the top 10 and earning valuable stage points. This also put Kvapil in position to start Stage Two on the front row, where he would lead for a career-high 47 laps. After battling to maintain the lead for the majority of Stage Two, Kvapil once again came down pit road for adjustments during a yellow and rejoined the field in position to end the second stage inside the top 10 and earn more points. After starting the final stage on the second row, Kvapil fought to maintain position until being collected in back-to-back on-track incidents with less than 15 laps remaining. Fortunately, Kvapil’s Chevrolet did not sustain too much damage and he was able to take the checkered flag in 16th position.
“We had an up-and-down weekend and unfortunately our finish does not reflect the speed this No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies Chevrolet had. It was great tor un up front and we learned a lot, but we will now turn our focus to Talladega.”
Justin Allgaier
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, found himself in prime position in the closing laps to fight for the victory on Saturday afternoon in the NASCAR Xfinity Series return to Rockingham Speedway. Taking the restart with 10 laps remaining inside the top five, Allgaier looked to surge ahead but was unfortunately collected in a multi-car incident just past the finish line as a competitor in front of him was unable to get up to speed. The subsequent damage from the incident forced the JRM driver to make several trips down pit road for extensive repairs. Returning to the track following the service, Allgaier methodically avoided the carnage around him over the closing laps to improve six positions and take the checkered flag in 22nd. Despite the result, Allgaier still holds strong atop the championship standings, 79 markers above the field.
“Today for sure wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for, but we were in position there at the end with our BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet. Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and all the guys on this JR Motorsports team gave me a really fast car today and it’s just unfortunate that we didn’t get to finish where we should have. We’ll rebound from this and be ready for next weekend at Talladega.”
