TALLADEGA, Ala. — Sammy Smith, who entered Saturday’s Xfinity Series race last among the 12 playoff drivers, won at Talladega Superspeedway to advance to the next round.
The 20-year-old Smith won in overtime, claiming his second career Xfinity victory. He is the 16th different driver to win this season.
MORE: Xfinity results
MORE: Driver points after Talladega
Ryan Sieg placed second to match his career-best finish.
“One of these times it’s gonna be us going to Victory Lane,” Sieg said.
Riley Herbst finished third and was followed by Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith, who won the opening stage.
David Starr placed eighth, earning his fourth career top 10 in 267 Xfinity starts.
The race was stopped three laps from the scheduled distance after a 12-car crash. The cars of playoff contenders Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer and Parker Kligerman were damaged in the incident.
Allgaier, who entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, is 18 points below the cutline heading into next weekend’s elimination race at the Charlotte Roval.
Allgaier finished 26th, marking the fourth time in the last five races he’s finished 26th or worse.
“The 7 guys don’t deserve to have the crap that’s happened over the last month that we’ve had happen,” he said.
The other three drivers below the cutline are AJ Allmendinger (-10 points), Shane van Gisbergen (-21) and Kligerman (-26).
Sam Mayer holds the final transfer spot to the next round.
Stage 1 winner: Chandler Smith
Stage 2 winner: Austin Hill
Next: The series races Saturday, Oct. 12 at the Charlotte Roval (4 p.m. ET on CW Network) in the final race of the first round of the playoffs.
