Nostradamus call at the Roval advances Sammy Smith in Xfinity playoffs
CONCORD, N.C. — Sammy Smith and his team had the type of finish that could’ve made Nostradamus blush.
Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Charlotte Roval appeared to be going green from the restart after the lap 40 stage break to the scheduled checkered flag on lap 67.
Sammy Smith also appeared to be eliminated from the Xfinity Series playoffs without something different happening.
Then, something different did happen; crew chief Philip Bell called Smith to pit road for fresh tires after a reported tire issue.
To almost everyone’s shock, a caution flew moments later for Sage Karam blowing a tire and shedding debris on the track.
That caution brought almost everyone else to pit road and allowed Smith to restart as the first driver on fresher tires behind six drivers on older tires.
Ultimately, the pit call paid off. Smith restarted seventh and drove to third, allowing him to advance by one point over Taylor Gray.
“It was a hard fought day to put ourselves in that position. I’m really proud of the team. Philip made a great call and it worked,” Smith said.
Gray finished 13th and missed out on advancing after appearing to be headed to the checkered flag relieved, instead of in discomfort after the caution flew.
“Obviously bummed out, won’t be able to race for a championship at the end of the year. We weren’t good enough today, didn’t race well enough at Bristol. We shouldn’t have even been in this spot but we’ll take our losses and move on,” Gray said.
Austin Hill also failed to advance by the 21 points, which is exactly what he lost after NASCAR suspended him for an incident with Aric Almirola at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“If anyone is at fault, it’s me for losing those 21 bonus points in the middle of the year,” Hill said.
Hill finished 28th after having electrical issues in Saturday’s race.
Ahead of Hill, Nick Sanchez failed to advance by nine points despite a strong effort to earn stage points and a ninth-place finish.
“We’re going to Vegas and chase four more trophies. It sucks we’re not in contention but such is life,” Sanchez said.
Harrison Burton finished 34th with mechanical issues and failed to advance by 41 points.
NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff standings after Charlotte Roval
- Connor Zilisch +57
- Justin Allgaier +24
- Brandon Jones +4
- Sam Mayer +2
- Jesse Love -2
- Sammy Smith -7
- Carson Kvapil -11
- Sheldon Creed -13
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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
I was on the radio and Smith actually made the call to pit. He had the right front going down and Bell approved it, but smith made the call. I was a guest of Pilot sitting on the pit box.