Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway was the first of seven Playoff races for the 12 Playoff eligible contenders. While some fared well, such as Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer and Carson Kvapil. Others fell out of the Round of 8 needed to proceed for a championship.
However, for others the concrete high bank action took a toll on their Playoff positions.
Foul Motor drops Sammy Smith Below Cuttoff Line
Coming into the 300-lap race, Smith and the No. 8 Chevrolet team were sixth with a four-point cushion to the good. On lap 47, the JR Motorsports driver radioed to his crew he felt like the motor was starting to lose power.
Nine laps later, he relayed the engine problems were getting worse as he slowed on the track. On lap 58, he brought his Chevrolet to pit road and, after a looking over by the Phillip Bell-led crew, the car was taken behind the wall and loaded on the hauler.
“It’s just really frustrating,” he said in the garage. “We’ll just have to do our best next week.”
Smith was credited with a 37-place finish and is now 12th in Playoff standings with a 24-point deficit to overcome.
Love Loses Tire and Points
Jess Love and the No. 2 Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing team came into Bristol eight points above the Cutoff Line in fourth place.
He spent much of the race on the lead lap and battling for positions. But, Bristol is going to be Bristol with its tight confines on the .5-mile concrete oval as the checkered flag looms.
That was the case for Love as he got caught up in a two and three-wide battle with less than 27 laps remaining. Contact with another car caused a flat tire as he started to slow down under green while running in 15th place.
A saving grace for Love took place when fellow Playoff driver Sheldon Creed made contact with Jeb Burton on the following lap. Their battle caused Taylor Gray to spin and bring out the caution.
While it could have been worse for Love, he still had to limp his Chevrolet down pit road with the flat. When he returned to action, he was down a lap. When the checkered flag waved on lap 300, Love finished 25th.
As a result, he tumbled below the Cutoff Line by three points and is now in ninth place. Also suffering a rough night was fellow contender Nick Sanchez.
He and the No. 48 Chevrolet team were 7th in points before the race with a one-point cushion. After finishing 13th, he is 10th in points with a deficit of three markers.
Zilisch Keeps Piling it On
On the end of the spectrum was current Playoff point leader Connor Zilisch. He and the No. 88 Chevrolet team started the race with a 59-point lead. The JR Motorsports driver was able to pad his lead to 91 points with a fifth-place finish and Stage 2 victory.
For the record books, this was Zilisch’s 15th-consecutive top five finish and 16th of the season.
“We put ourselves in a good position and had a chance at it (win),” he said. “But, not tonight.”
Moving from below to above the Cutoff Line were Creed with a second-place finish taking him from 10th to fifth and Harris Burton crossed the line in seventh to move from 11th to sixth in points. Joining them above the Cutoff Line was Kvapil who finished fourth, moving him to fourth from ninth.
“I don’t want to say we were irrelevant at times,” Creed said about his finish in the No. 00 Ford. “But. I’m not going to lie, we’ve struggled and we struggled a little bit tonight and just worked on it and rallied.
“To come out with a top-three finish and up on points is all you can ask for in an opening round.”
The next NXS race is at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 27.
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