Sammy Smith scores Talladega win, upsets Playoff field: A last lap pass for the win is a recurring theme at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and that’s exactly what landed JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith in Victory Lane on Saturday. It was the only lap he led all day but it was good enough to win Saturday’s United Rentals 250 overtime thriller and earn Smith an automatic berth into the next round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.(Read more)(10-5-2024)

Entering Talladega shotgun on the playoff field, #8-Sammy Smith upset the field by winning the United Rentals 250 Xfinity Series race. It snaps a 56-race winless streak, dating back to the fourth race of the 2023 season. It’s also his first victory with JR Motorsports.
#39-Ryan Sieg used a big push on the final lap to reach second, tying the best finish of his career. #98-Riley Herbst finished third despite leading the race as it entered overtime. #18-Sheldon Creed spun across the finish line in fourth, with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate #81-Chandler Smith rounding out the top five.
Polesitter #2-Jesse Love led a race-high 28 laps and finished sixth after getting involved in a late wreck. #27-Jeb Burton rebounded to finish seventh despite being involved in multiple wrecks. #14-David Starr, #44-Brennan Poole and #28-Kyle Sieg complete the top 10.
#81-Smith won the opening stage, his seventh stage victory of the season. #21-Hill won his fourth stage of 2024 in Stage 2.
There were 28 lead changes among 11 drivers and six cautions for 27 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 124.927 mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.

Talladega Paint Schemes

Race Fast Facts – Talladega:
Sammy Smith (P) won the United Rentals 250, his second victory in 70 Xfinity Series races.
This is his first victory and 14th top-10 finish in 2024.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in three races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Ryan Sieg (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 15 races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2024.
Riley Herbst (P) (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in nine races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Jesse Love (P) (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Chandler Smith (P) leads the point standings by 28 points over Austin Hill (P).

Xfinity Series Standings after Talladega(Race 28 of 33):
1)#8-Sammy Smith, win
2)#81-Chandler Smith 2,122, +64
3)#21-Austin Hill 2,095, +37
4)#00-Cole Custer 2,095, +37
5)#18-Sheldon Creed 2,090, +32
6)#2-Jesse Love 2,080, +22
7)#98-Riley Herbst 2,078, +20
8)#16-AJ Allmendinger 2,065, +7
Below elimination line
9)#7-Justin Allgaier 2,058, -7
10)#97-Shane van Gisbergen 2,055, -10
11)#1-Sam Mayer 2052, -13
12)#48-Parker Kligerman 2,049, -16
See the Drivers Points Standings and Owners Points Standings.

Race Updates:
Lap 98: #8-Smith wins at Talladega and advances to the Round of 8. #39-Sieg, #98-Herbst, #18-Creed and #81-Smith round out the top five.
Lap 96: The top four cars breakaway and are single fire. The pack is getting closer with the white flag waving.
Lap 95: #98-Herbst chooses the inside line for the restart with #8-Smith on the outside. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates make up the second row with #81-Smith and #18-Creed.
Lap 91: The red flag is out for safety workers to clean up the crash.
Lap 90: #9-Jones gets into the rear of #88-Kvapil and turned Kvapil into #7-Allgaier. #5-Alfredo, #00-Custer, #16-Allmendinger, #2-Love, #48-Kligerman, #27-Burton, #29-Perkins, #31-Retzlaff and #15-Lupton all get damage.
Lap 89: #7-Allgaier split #8-Smith to take the lead with five laps remaining. #98-Herbst drafts to the bumper of Allgaier.
Lap 87: #8-Smith takes the lead with a push from his JR Motorsports teammates #7-Allgaier and #9-Jones.
Lap 86: #16-Allmendinger makes a move to try to get the lead from #98-Herbst on the restart but dropped outside the top five.
Lap 80: The caution is out for debris on the backstretch from #20-Almirola. #98-Herbst is the race leader with #8-Smith, #16-Allmendinger, #7-Allgaier and #81-Smith are the top five.
Lap 79: #20-Almirola blows a left-front tire from the top five on the frontstretch.
Laps 75: #97-van Gisbergen and #26-Thompson make contact in the tri-oval, with Thompson then getting turned by #32-Anderson. Van Gisbergen gets turned into the middle of the field, with #19-Gray, #21-Hill, #11-Williams and #14-Starr all receiving damage.
Lap 73: The bottom lane surges, with #16-Allmendinger moving to the lead. #98-Herbst darts high to lead the top lane.
Lap 67: The entire lead pack is three-wide. #81-Smith leads the top lane, #8-Smith leads the middle with #98-Herbst controlling the bottom.
Lap 63: #81-Smith made a move on #2-Love to get the lead and then gets passed by #98-Herbst, who clears for the lead.
Lap 59: #2-Love gets a push to the lead from #8-Smith. #98-Herbst continues leading the outside lane.
Lap 57: #2-Love makes a power move to the bottom lane to lead the bottom lane. #98-Herbst leads with three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates behind him: #81-Smith, #19-Gray and #18-Creed.
Lap 52: #98-Herbst, #9-Jones, #88-Kvapil, #19-Gray and #28-Sieg stop for fuel only after pitting late in the second stage.
Lap 50: #21-Hill wins Stage 2, his fourth stage victory of the season. #8-Smith, #2-Love, #97-van Gisbergen, #81-Smith, #98-Herbst, #16-Allmendinger, #18-Creed, #00-Custer and #15-Lupton earn stage points. #7-Allgaier fell to 13th over the final lap-and-a-half.
Lap 49: #8-Smith got a shove from #97-van Gisbergen to get a run down the backstretch and contest for the lead.
Lap 48: #21-Hill gets a run and moves to the lead. #7-Allgaier got shuffled outside the top 10.
Lap 47: The field broke up on the restart. #21-Hill and #7-Allgaier are trading the lead back and forth.
Lap 42: #92-Leitz spins at the back of the lead pack. #48-Kligerman, #27-Burton and #11-Williams all piled in.
Lap 41: The top lane has momentum and #16-Allmendinger has moved up to third spot.
Lap 38: Drivers have begun positioning themselves for the sprint to the end of the stage with all three lanes being utilized. #2-Love continues to lead #7-Allgaier and #21-Hill.
Lap 36: The top 15 cars are now single file. #19-Gray gets shuffled out of line and #48-Kligerman darts to the bottom to try to hop a few positions.
Lap 34: The field is beginning to get top-lane dominant. The top seven cars are running the top line.
Lap 31: #2-Love is controlling the race on the restart, maneuvering back and forth from the bottom to the top lane.
Lap 27: #2-Love takes no tires to re-inherent the lead. #81-Smith, #18-Creed and #7-Allgaier took two tires to keep track position.
Lap 25: #81-Smith wins the stage, his seventh stage of the season. #16-Allmendinger, #21-Hill, #7-Allgaier, #18-Creed, #5-Alfredo, #19-Gray, #1-Mayer, #00-Custer and #26-Thompson earn stage points.
Lap 21: #2-Love got off the yellow line and stuck in the middle. #81-Smith takes the lead.
Lap 20: #81-Smith is next to #2-Love for the lead.
Lap 18: #7-Allgaier has moved up to second after getting a run on #81-Smith. #2-Love continues pacing the field, controlling both lanes.
Lap 13: #20-Almirola gets lapped after serving his first lap penalty.
Lap 12: The field is beginning to get three wide. #16-Allmendinger and #2-Love lead two lanes, while #39-Sieg has started a third lane a few rows back.
Lap 9: After some shuffling, #2-Love has raced to the lead with Chevy teammates #16-Allmendinger and #21-Hill behind.
Lap 6: #39-Sieg puts #1-Mayer in the middle and takes the lead from #16-Allmendinger. Mayer dropped from the lead to 18th.
Lap 5: #1-Mayer gets a shove from #39-Sieg to lead the bottom lane and challenge for the lead. #16-Allmendinger has #98-Herbst in tow.
Lap 4: #16-Allmendinger takes the lead and slides up in front of #21-Hill to control both lanes.
Lap 3: #16-Allmendinger leads the bottom lane and has raced up next to #21-Hill for the lead.
Lap 1: #21-Hill powers to the lead from the inside row with a push from #81-Smith. #20-Almirola serves his pass-through penalty and will lose the draft.

Cars to the rear: #07-CJ McLaughlin, #35-Joey Gase (unapproved adjustments); #45-Tommy Joe Martins (engine change and driver change); #20-Aric Almirola (inspection failure, will also have to serve a pass-through penalty on Lap 1).

Pit Stall Selections

#2-Jesse Love backed up his April win at Talladega Superspeedway by winning the pole for the United Rentals 250 Xfinity Series race, with a lap of 182.129 mph. This is
fifth pole of his rookie season; four of those have come at drafting-style tracks. This is the fifth straight pole award for Richard Childress Racing at Talladega.
RCR swept the front row with #21-Austin Hill taking second (181.770 mph), ending his streak of Talladega poles at three. #81-Chandler Smith led Joe Gibbs Racing in third (181.656 mph), as #18-Sheldon Creed (181.384 mph) and #16-AJ Allmendinger (181.278 mph) rounding out the top five.
#48-Parker Kligerman, #98-Riley Herbst, #97-Shane van Gisbergen, #20-Aric Almirola and #00-Cole Custer complete the top 10.
See the complete Talladega Starting Lineup.

Qualifying Fast Facts — Talladega
Jesse Love # (P) won the Pole Award for the United Rentals 250 with a lap of 52.578 seconds, 182.129 mph.
This is his fifth pole in 28 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
This is his fifth pole and 17th top-10 start in 2024.
This is his first pole in two races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Austin Hill (P) (second) posted his 17th top-10 start of 2024 and his fifth in six races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Chandler Smith (P) (third) posted his second top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his 22nd in 28 races this season.
Jesse Love (P) (first) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

Qualifying Order

There is no practice at Talladega Superspeedway.

Crew Rosters

Goodyear Tire Notes

There are 38 drivers/teams on the entry list for the United Rentals 250 Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. One car will miss the race.
Notables: #07-CJ McLaughlin, #14-David Starr, #15-Dylan Lupton, #19-Taylor Gray, #20-Aric Almirola, #26-Dean Thompson, #32-Jordan Anderson, #35-Joey Gase, #45-Caesar Bacarella, #53-Carson Ware, #88-Carson Kvapil, #92-Nick Leitz.
See the full Talladega Entry List.
UPDATE: Originally, the #74 for Mike Harmon Racing was entered but has since withdrawn.

Talladega At-Track Schedule