Heading into Saturday’s (October 4) NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, two major questions loomed. Could anyone possibly beat rookie phenom and road course ace Connor Zilisch? And would any of the four drivers below the playoff cutline bump their way into the Round of 8 and avoid elimination?
The answer to the first question shouldn’t surprise anyone, as Zilisch put on yet another dominant performance in his JR Motorsports Chevrolet to score his 10th victory of the season. The 19-year-old led 61 of 68 laps and went virtually unchallenged for most of the day, as he quickly pulled away on each restart and built a sizable margin over the rest of the field.
However, the answer to the second question remained unclear until after the checkered flag flew. With four laps to go, it seemed all but certain that Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Taylor Gray would hang on to the eighth and final playoff transfer spot, as his closest competitor, JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith, trailed by multiple points and had to hit pit road under green due to a flat right front tire.
That certainty all went away seconds later, as the caution flew for an incident on the frontstretch involving Sage Karam. Since Smith had already pitted, he stayed on track while many of the drivers in front of him pulled down pit road for fresh tires, cycling the Iowa native up to eighth. On the overtime restart, Smith quickly worked his way around Gray, who fell out of the top 10 after staying out on older tires, and managed to drive his No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet up to third when the caution flew on the final lap, ending the race.
Smith’s late charge was just enough to advance him onto the Round of 8, as he officially beat Gray by one point to take the eighth and final transfer spot. Joining Gray below the playoff cutline were Nick Sanchez, Austin Hill and Harrison Burton, who have each seen their championship hopes come to an end.
Crossing the line behind Zilisch were Austin Green and Smith, while Kaz Grala and Connor Mosack rounded out the top five. Jeb Burton, William Sawalich, Justin Allgaier, Nick Sanchez and Christian Eckes finished out the top 10.
The Winners
With Zilisch’s dominant victory, he becomes only the sixth driver in series history to win 10 races in a single season. In addition, the Trackhouse development driver has now won in his last four road course starts, with previous wins coming at Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and Portland Raceway.
It was a remarkable drive from Green, who scored his career-best finish of second after running inside the top 10 for the majority of the event. The North Carolinian has quietly proven to be one of the best road racers in the series, as he has finished 11th or better in his last six road course starts.
While a well-timed yellow may have helped keep Smith’s season alive, it was still a very strong performance from the 21-year-old, as he managed to finish inside the top five in both of the opening stages and overcame a 14-point deficit heading into the race to advance to the Round of 8. With a third-place result, the JR Motorsports driver has now finished top five in four of the last seven races.
Green wasn’t the only part-time driver who impressed on Saturday, as Grala and Mosack both earned top-five finishes driving for Sam Hunt Racing and JR Motorsports, respectively. Grala qualified ninth and overcame an uncontrolled tire penalty late in stage one to score his third top 10 finish at the ROVAL, while Mosack matched his career-best result of fifth despite having to make an unscheduled pit stop in the closing laps due to fuel pressure issues.
Lastly, it was a strong points day for Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love and Carson Kvapil, who each finished in the top 10 in both opening stages and did exactly what they needed to do to advance to the Round of 8. Heading into the final restart, Kvapil rolled off from 22nd after pitting and looked to be in danger of potentially being eliminated, but the JR Motorsports rookie took advantage of his fresh tires and managed to claw his way up to 15th, putting him three points above the playoff cut line.
The Losers
While plenty of drivers left Charlotte feeling disappointed with their result, there was likely none who felt as devastated as Gray. The Joe Gibbs Racing rookie had entered the race with a 16-point advantage over the cutline, and despite struggling to find much speed in his No. 54 Toyota Supra throughout the day, he still seemed poised to advance to the Round of 8 before the caution flew with four laps to go. Gray’s team made the call to leave him out on track with the hope that he could maintain his track position, but unfortunately, the New Mexico native fell through the field and ended up crossing the line in 13th, just two positions shy of where he needed to finish to outscore Smith.
Also failing to advance were Chevrolet drivers Sanchez and Hill, who finished ninth and 28th, respectively. Sanchez scored four points in the opening stage after electing to stay out on old tires on a late restart, but a pit road penalty during stage two sent him to the back of the field. The rookie driver also had to make an unscheduled pit stop with 11 laps to go, but the timing of the final caution allowed him to regain some of his track position and salvage a top-10 result.
Hill, meanwhile, had shown great speed in the opening two stages and seemed to be in position to advance, but an engine issue in stage three caused him to lose several spots on track and effectively eliminated him from the playoff picture. The Richard Childress Racing veteran missed advancing by 21 points, ironically the same number of points that he lost following his suspension for intentionally wrecking Aric Almirola at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26.
Meanwhile, it was a tough day for Harrison Burton, who came into the ROVAL needing a strong points day in order to advance. His race was derailed early with fuel pump issues, and he finished 34th, four laps down.
Fuel for Thought
Now that the field is officially set for the Round of 8, it’s time to start making our picks for which drivers will advance to the championship round at Phoenix. With Zilisch sitting at a whopping 57 points above the cutline, it’s tough to see a scenario where he fails to advance, even with Talladega Superspeedway in the Round of 8 this season. Meanwhile, Zilisch’s veteran teammate Allgaier sits at 24 points above the cutline, which could really come in handy for the defending champion, as he has shown great speed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway in recent years but has often struggled to finish well at Talladega.
As for the remaining playoff contenders, it’s difficult to predict who will move on, as the points are just so tight. Only 15 points separate third-place Brandon Jones from eighth-place Creed. Sam Mayer and Love have shown the most consistent speed week to week and should have a good chance at advancing, but between the unpredictability of Talladega and the chaos that we often see in the Martinsville elimination race, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to see any of the eight playoff drivers advance to the championship.
Paint Scheme of the Week
Green’s No. 87 3Dimensional Services Chevrolet was one of the more eye-catching schemes on track Saturday night. Green qualified 10th and ran up front for most of the race en route to his runner-up finish.
Where to Next?
The Xfinity Series returns to Las Vegas on October 11 for the opening race of the Round of 8. The last time the series visited Sin City in March, Allgaier dominated and led over 100 laps en route to his first victory of the 2025 season. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET, with television coverage on The CW and radio coverage on the Performance Racing Network.
Jake Altmayer joined the Frontstretch team in 2025, assisting as a news writer and contributing to other weekly columns and articles, such as Friday Faceoff and Xfinity Breakdown. A 2024 graduate of DePaul University, Altmayer has closely followed NASCAR's national series (Cup, Xfinity and Trucks) for nearly a decade and has attended more than a dozen races over the course of that time. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, spending time with his loved ones, and listening to his favorite band, the Beach Boys.