For the second consecutive year, Sam Mayer has earned himself a spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs ‘Round of 8’ with a victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
Unlike his triumph last October, this time Mayer had some competition, in the form of Shane Van Gisbergen, AJ Allmendinger, and at the end of Saturday’s Drive for The Cure 250, Parker Kligerman.
Kligerman ended up being the biggest thorn in the side of the Franklin, Wisconsin-native after Patrick Donahue called the No. 48 to pit road under a late-race yellow with 15 to go.
The Westport, Connecticut native then sliced through traffic and got himself to the race lead, making a pass on Shane Van Gisbergen, who stayed on the racetrack with older tires.
With Mayer and Allmendinger pursuing him, Kligerman was able to do just enough to maintain a gap over the driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro, who ran into issues with his clutch getting into third gear at the exit of NASCAR Turn 2.
Things were looking overwhelmingly positive for Kligerman, in his final season as a full-time NASCAR driver, rounding the final chicane and approaching the start-finish line, when a caution came out milliseconds before the No. 48 crossed the start-finish line.
As it usually does, NASCAR Overtime got rough. Entering Turn 7 after the restart, Kligerman defended low, allowing Mayer to move to the outside and cross-under exiting the corner, getting around the Big Machine Racing entry by the time the field reached the backstretch chicane.
“We were all crossed up getting off in there, I was loose into [Turn 6] and I knew that it was my only shot if I got a good angle into that corner,” said Mayer. “But he blocked the bottom, which was good for me, it gave me a better angle up off the corner. This QPS Employment Chevrolet was hooked up and we were gone from here. It was something super special and now I get to celebrate.”
Kligerman would drift back to sixth by the time the checkered flag was displayed, with Mayer driving to a 1.474-second advantage over AJ Allmendinger by the end of the race, who led a race-high 18 laps.
After starting on the pole, Shane Van Gisbergen brought his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro home in third. Austin Hill and Chandler Smith finished fourth and fifth.
Kligerman, as previously mentioned, dropped back to sixth by the end of the two-lap NASCAR Overtime. Justin Allgaier was seventh, with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Josh Bilicki and Aric Almirola in eighth and ninth. Sammy Smith completed the top-10.
Saturday’s Drive for The Cure 250 at the Charlotte ROVAL marked the final race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs ‘Round of 12’. After lots of adversity faced by post-season drivers on Saturday, Shane Van Gisbergen, Sheldon Creed, Riley Herbst, and Parker Kligerman were eliminated from the Playoffs.
Herbst and Creed were collected in a massive pileup in the middle of Saturday’s event, when Anthony Alfredo got into the No. 98 Ford Mustang and spun him in front of the pack, ending the afternoons of several drivers, including, eventually, Sheldon Creed.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will tackle the opening race in the ‘Round of 8’ next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Coverage will continue to be on The CW.
