With two Championship 4 spots on the line, it was Taylor Gray who spoiled the party for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and exorcized Martinsville demons en route to his first career national series win.
Those two spots, meanwhile, went to Jesse Love and Carson Kvapil, who joined prior Round of 8 winners Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier in advancing to championship eligibility next week at Phoenix Raceway.
Sammy Smith finished in the runner up position after getting himself into contention late in the race. Smith had an opportunity to make the championship four but didn’t get a good enough restart, ending his title hopes as fifth in points exiting Martinsville. Brandon Jones, who finished third, and fourth-place Sheldon Creed also did not advance, alongside Sam Mayer.
After the race, Mayer ran his No. 41 into Jeb Burton‘s No. 27 following an on-track incident during the race, sending both cars into the wall.
Aric Almirola rounded out the top five.
“About damn time I get me a clock,” Gray told The CW. “All these guys, the pit crew did an awesome job, everyone brings good racecars to this racetrack and gives me an opportunity to win every time we come here.”
After a miserable race, Love needed every bit of his points advantage, holding on to advance to the championship race by what eventually became 18 points. Kvapil captured the stage two win, giving him just enough wiggle room to transfer by just four points.
Pole sitter Harrison Burton lead the opening stint before giving way to Almirola. Pit strategy split the field during the succeeding caution, bringing rookie Brenden Queen and Jeb Burton to the front. In the final parts of the stage, Allgaier maneuvered himself to the front past Queen and Mayer and set sail for the stage-one victory.
Rivalries formed throughout stage two, notably with Jeb Burton and Mayer. Mayer helped spin out Burton, to which the veteran noted that he would make the Haas Factory Team’s driver life difficult for the rest of the night. Burton minced no words postrace.
Love ran into multiple issues on pit road, the first of two pit road penalties, sending him into a perilous spot in the 30s.
After navigating some chaotic traffic, Kvapil took home the second stage and set himself up to be in good position for a no-holds-barred fight to the finish.
Stage three provided no shortage of chaos with a series of cautions down to the end.
More cautions eventually brought Love back into the fold, after he fell a lap down and into a single-digit points advantage after entering the night with 40 in the bank. Kvapil met a similar fate to many after getting run into by Ryan Sieg and Harrison Burton, taking his double-digit lead and turning that right into a nine-point deficit.
Kvapil miraculously recovered as drivers kept coming and going, but it wasn’t easy after the race was sent to overtime after a Daniel Dye flat tire. Gray rocketed off on the ensuing restart en route to claiming his first career Xfinity win.
Martinsville Xfinity Results
The Xfinity Series championship race from Phoenix airs next Saturday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m. ET on The CW.
Thomas is in his first year covering NASCAR at Frontstretch. A Bay Area NASCAR fan for over 15+ years, he found his love for the sport through Jeff Gordon.
Thomas has enjoyed several trips to Sonoma Raceway in his time and currently covers college football in the Bay Area, also writing about the California Golden Bears.