The current playoff format in NASCAR is, at its best, when the live standings look like the New York Stock Exchange.
At its worst, it’s drivers and fans sitting around like patients in a doctor’s office waiting for test results.
In the cutoff race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Oct. 4 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, we got both when Sammy Smith came from last in the playoff standings to squeak past Taylor Gray for the final spot in the Round of 8.
It almost had to be Smith advancing in the most bizarre yet coincidental manner possible considering his season, which can be best summarized in two races.
At Martinsville Speedway on March 29, Smith divebombed Gray going into turn 3 on the final lap and turned the paperclip into a graveyard of sheet metal. He was docked 50 points and dogpiled on by the sport.
Three races later at Rockingham Speedway on April 19, Jesse Love won the Xfinity Series return to the high-banked 1-mile track … until he didn’t. He was disqualified in post-race tech, handing the win and a playoff spot to the second-place finisher and recently-made persona non grata, Smith.
After that win, Smith’s season is largely unremarkable. Not bad by any means. After a disqualification at the Charlotte oval in May, he finished in the top 10 in six of the next eight races and added podium finishes at Watkins Glen International and Daytona International Speedway. But when compared to Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier and even the winless Carson Kvapil, Smith didn’t make nearly the same noise as those in his JR Motorsports stable.
His playoff run started off horribly with a mechanical failure relegating him to last at Bristol Motor Speedway. A fourth-place run at Kansas Speedway shrunk his deficit to 14 points going into the ROVAL, and he still sat six points out with five laps remaining.
Then came a hail Mary in the form of Smith and crew chief Phillip Bell deciding to pit with four laps to go, creating the visual of the pit crew putting on tires as the caution waved for the wounded car of Sage Karam stopping on the frontstretch.
Originally, it was something the team discussed, but their hand was forced with a badly blistered right front tire that was shown on The CW’s broadcast.
“It was something on our bingo card when we talked about it if we were that far out,” Smith said. “You saw a lot of guys do it. The No. 9 [Connor Mosack] did it and just hoped for a caution. … We had been fighting blistered right fronts and left fronts all day and were able to pit and get that lucky caution.”
When the rest of the field pitted, Smith wound up in seventh place in a dead-heat with JR Motorsports teammate Kvapil at the overtime restart. At this point, Austin Hill and Harrison Burton had had their hopes dashed with issues. Everyone else was still in play to be in or out with one crazy moment.
That moment came when Nick Sanchez dove into turn 7, forcing Alex Labbe around and collecting Brennan Poole. Gray had to run wide, throwing him in a war with fellow playoff drivers Sheldon Creed and Love for 11th.
Ahead of it all was Smith, moving up to third with fresh tires and getting to race part-timers with the more restraint and respect, Austin Green and Kaz Grala, on the final lap … if there was one. A caution flag ended the race and the Round of 12 with most of the field still racing in the infield. Time to see who survived.
You know what’s shocking about it taking damn near 10 minutes to decide who made the cut based on when the caution flew? The fact that it’s not shocking at all.
This very series had a lengthy, somewhat-still-disputed review of the finish at Talladega Superspeedway. In the NASCAR Cup Series, there was an even longer review last season (27 minutes) to decide who was in the Championship 4. Plus, this is a road course, where we learned earlier this year that you can drive 90 mph into a barricade with no brakes and go unnoticed by race control.
“How brutal of a moment was that to wait through Sammy?” was the question asked to Smith immediately after the announcement came. I’ve got a pretty good idea how brutal it must be.
And in the end, the review just delayed the inevitable. It went from a dead tie, which Smith would have won on a tiebreaker, to Smith one-point up on, who else, Gray. Talk about brutal.
“I don’t know,” Gray said when asked for his reaction. “Probably going to go home and cry myself to sleep.”
NASCAR drivers. They’re just like us, folks.
As for Smith, this is a lifeline for him. If his past two races are any indication, he can get great finishes to point his way into the Championship 4. Plus, the next round includes a stop at Talladega Superspeedway where he won last season.
“I’m just relieved,” Smith said. “I think we’re a Championship 4 caliber team, and unfortunately, what happened at Bristol took us out of it. We’re going to regroup and try to do everything we can to make the final four.”
Smith staying in the playoffs means something wild is bound to come in the next three weeks. Hopefully, the wait isn’t as long next time.
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in La Crosse, Wisconsin as a local sports reporter, including local short track racing. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.