In seven days, Justin Allgaier will have a chance at scoring his first-ever championship in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, after squeezing through a chaotic NASCAR Overtime restart with a victory at Martinsville Speedway.
Allgaier, who lined up from fourth on the final restart of Saturday’s Dead on Tools 250, was able to benefit from the slugfest ahead of him between Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed, to narrowly collect the victory.
It took four different instances of contact for the RCR duo to end up losing the race, and missing out on a Final Four berth for the organization, the first of which happened seconds after the restart, when the No. 21 drove up the track into the side of Creed.
Creed quickly responded in the next set of corners with a shove to the rear-end of Hill’s Global Industrial Chevrolet, a shove that wasn’t enough to get the Whelen-sponsored driver to the lead – where he needed to be to advance.
After taking the white flag, Creed got into the rear bumper of the No. 21 again entering the first corner, sending the regular-season champion up the track and allowing Creed to get underneath, which Hill showed his displeasure for with a door slam down the backstretch.
Creed then got into the final set of corners too hot, trying to get clear of his teammate, who then drove directly into the rear-end of the No. 2, getting him loose and punching out the radiator on Hill.
That was just what Justin Allgaier needed to get inside of Creed, door-slamming with the No. 2 Chevrolet down the frontstretch to take home the victory in a photo finish, while pretty much everybody still in the race crashed behind.
The victory is the fourth of the season for Allgaier, and more importantly, punches his ticket into the Final Four for what will be the sixth time in eight seasons of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff format.
Sheldon Creed, who entered Martinsville in a must-win situation, finished in second place once again, losing in another photo finish – and another photo finish to Justin Allgaier, meaning he would not advance to Phoenix.
Sammy Smith, who led a race-high 147 laps and looked to have the strongest vehicle all afternoon, came home in third place, squeezing through the carnage of the final accident. Riley Herbst and Josh Berry rounded out the top five.
Daniel Hemric finished in sixth place, while Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Jeb Burton, and Parker Kligerman rounded out the top-10. Kligerman, whose No. 48 was pretty much destroyed, came back from being three laps down.
John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer, and Austin Hill were all in the fight to earn a spot in the Final Four, but were all collected in an accident on the final lap of the race, finishing 18th, 19th, and 21st, respectively.
As a result, Cole Custer was able to take the final position in the Final Four, advancing over Austin Hill by seven points. Custer will join race-winners Sam Mayer and Justin Allgaier, as well as John Hunter Nemechek in fighting for a title.
Meanwhile, Sheldon Creed, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, and Austin Hill were all unable to advance to Phoenix with a shot at the championship.
