When the beating, banging and bumping ended with the overtime checkered flag at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night, it was Taylor Gray winning his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Gray led a race high 52 laps, taking the lead from Lap 202 until the final circuit on Lap 254 in his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Besides the victorious Gray, two other happy drivers were Carson Kvapil and Jesse Love who had to race their way into championship eligibility. They join reigning champion Justin Allgaier and Connor Zilisch, who were already locked in via wins and points beforehand.
Three of the four drivers are from JR Motorsports going up against the lone JGR entry.
Gray is Getting a Martinsville Clock
The winner at Martinsville is awarded the checkered flag and an incredible clock for the victory. For the 20-year-old Gray, the historical significance wasn’t lost on the driver who won in his 45th NXS start.
“It’s about damn time I get me a clock, baby!” an exuberant Gray said in Victory Lane. “Man, I can’t thank everybody on this No. 54 team enough. It was such an awesome race car. It kept getting way faster and way faster.
“Whenever the caution came out with five laps to go I was like, ‘this is my luck every time I come to this dang place.’ I was able to get a really good restart and able to drive away with it.
“Jason Ratcliff (crew chief) and all these guys just did an awesome job tonight. Everybody on this crew just brings awesome cars to this race track and give me an opportunity to win every time.”
He is the eighth different driver to win under Ratcliff, who now has 58 series victories to his credit.
Kvapil Going for a First Championship
Carson Kvapil and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team came into the half-mile oval needing a good finish to move on.
Kvapil was touch and go in the waning laps after spinning from ninth place to bring out the final caution with four laps remaining. This forced the race to overtime where he restarted in 29th place, two points below the cut line.
Crew chief Andrew Overstreet advised his driver what the situation was and what needed to be done while under caution. Kvapil listened and methodically worked his way through the field to finish 18th to make the Championship Four by four points over Brandon Jones.
“It was probably the most nerve-wracking racing I’ve ever done in my career,” Kvapil said. “Obviously, we were sitting in a pretty good spot before we got turned around. It wasn’t a good situation; we just tried to ride it out and not make any enemies.
“When that happened, I thought we were done. This No. 1 group fought hard all day long and give us the opportunity to get to the Championship Four, and I can’t thank them enough. Like I said, all the guys brought me a fast car for Martinsville and it was on rails all night.
“The first stage didn’t go the way we wanted to, I thought we were going to have a little better pace than we did. We’re definitely happy and looking forward to going to Phoenix. The sky is the limit with these guys.”
Love is Focused on Phoenix
This will be Love’s first championship bid and he immediately dismissed the Martinsville finish of 23rd after the race. Now, the RCR team will move all their attention to next Saturday night’s race at Phoenix Raceway.
“What a day we had,” he said. “I don’t think I’m really good here. Our team used our heads, we were aware of our surroundings and we’re very smart. There’s a lot to be proud of, not our finest work today.
“We have to go to Phoenix and just focus on that race. Honestly, the word Martinsville will not come out of my mouth until after Nov. 3. I won’t even think about his race until after Phoenix.
“We’re just focused on going there and winning a championship.”
The final NXS race will take place on Saturday, November 1 at 7:30 p.m. and will be seen commercial free on CW-TV, heard on MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90.
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