3 NASCAR Xfinity drivers now locked into Round of 8, cutline tightens
After a chaotic Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, there are now three NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff drivers locked into the Round of 8.
John Hunter Nemechek locked up a spot by winning Saturday. He now has seven wins on the season.
Cole Custer also locked up a spot at Texas. He finished sixth and is now +63 points to the cutline – locked into the next round with Nemechek and Justin Allgaier.
At +44 points, Austin Hill is almost there too, miraculously, after Texas.
Hill sustained right-front fender damage during a wreck with Trevor Bayne on lap 99. The damage destroyed the fender and took him out of the top-10 until a late-race caution.
A caution fell on lap 161 for Daniel Dye and gave the eight lead-lap drivers a big advantage. Among them, Austin Hill.
Hill restarted second on lap 166 and held on through three restarts to finish seventh.
Teammate Sheldon Creed finished eighth after not earning any stage points.
Creed ran 12th and risked falling below the cutline. Then, a two-tire pit stop with 20 laps to finish eighth, +9 points to the cutline.
Also inside the top-10 from above the cutline were Sammy Smith (third, +18) and Chandler Smith (fourth, +32).
Narrowly above the cutline after finishing 24th with a lap 195 crash DNF is Daniel Hemric.
After being +25 to the cutline at one point, Hemric left just +1 to the cutline.
Parker Kligerman is -1 to Hemric but he almost changed everything for both of them.
With eight laps to go, Kligerman and John Hunter Nemechek had fresher tires than leader Justin Allgaier. However, Kligerman pulled away from Nemechek and challenged Allgaier for the lead.
Then, Kligerman slid up the track in turn three and caused both he and Allgaier to lose time.
That let Nemechek sneak by for the win while Kligerman finished second.
“It feels like I choked but I gave him a lot of room. We showed up here, locked in executed at a high level. I’m really disappointed right now. I could feel it, had the best damn restart of my life and just choked. I’ll feel that one but I’ll be alright,” Kligerman said.
Kligerman (-1) Jeb Burton (-19), Josh Berry (-27) and Sam Mayer (-34) are below the cutline going into the Round of 12 cutoff race in two weeks.
Sam Mayer didn’t have a shot Saturday at Texas. Mayer slipped out of the groove in turn on on lap 1 and crashed, putting him out of the race in last.
The rest of the first two stages went clean – but then quickly went awry for Burton and Berry.
After stage two, Burton had an issue with a wheel hub. The team fixed that but a broken track bar ended his day in 31st.
Shortly after that, Berry wrecked on lap 99 but continued. However, issues persisted and he finished 27th, seven laps down.
Here is what the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff standings look like heading into the Round of 12 cutoff race October 7 at Charlotte Motor Speedway:
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com
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