Taylor Grey nabs his first NASCAR Xfinity Sequence win at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night time within the IAA Ritchie Bros. 250
MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Not solely did Taylor Grey have loads of purpose to have a good time his first NASCAR Xfinity Sequence victory Saturday night time at Martinsville Speedway, however he additionally made Carson Kvapil’s day.
Taylor Grey’s Win at Martinsville
Driving the No.54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Grey pulled away from former nemesis Sammy Smith after an extra time restart on lap 252 and held on to win the IAA & Ritchie Bros. 250 on the 0.526-mile brief monitor.
When Grey took the checkered flag, maintaining Playoff contenders Smith and Brandon Jones behind him, Kvapil had a spot in subsequent Saturday’s Championship 4 Race at Phoenix Raceway.
After a frenetic drive from thirtieth place within the remaining 17 laps of regulation, Kvapil superior to the Xfinity title race by 4 factors over Jones and 5 over Smith. Kvapil joins Jesse Love, Justin Allgaier, and rookie Connor Zilisch within the championship occasion.
Eradicated together with Jones and Smith had been Sam Mayer, who took out his frustrations on Jeb Burton’s automotive after the race, and fourth-place finisher Sheldon Creed, who couldn’t prevail in a must-win scenario coming into the occasion.
Taylor Grey’s Win at Martinsville
The Playoff drama, nevertheless, did nothing to decrease the trouble of Grey, who surged into the lead after a restart on lap 202 and held it the remainder of the way in which.
Grey was driving towards a possible victory in regulation when Daniel Dye’s Chevrolet started spewing sparks and stopped on the monitor to trigger the ninth warning of the night and pressure extra time.
With an ideal launch on the extra time restart, Grey pulled away to win by 0.344 seconds over Smith and 0.650 seconds over Jones.
“(Crew chief) Jason Ratcliff, all these guys—the pit crew did an superior job tonight,” exulted Grey, who led a race-high 52 laps in his forty fifth begin within the collection. “They offer me alternatives to win each time I stroll via the gates to this race monitor.
“I knew I wanted to get a adequate launch in order that I wouldn’t have anybody in attain of me heading into flip one. At that time, I knew we had a adequate automotive to drive away from the fellows behind me.”
Martinsville Redemption for Grey
Final spring, Grey was in the same place earlier than Smith knocked him out of the way in which within the closing laps with such aggression that NASCAR penalized the motive force of the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
In Saturday’s race, Smith drove with extra restraint in his pursuit, and Grey had his maiden victory within the collection
“I really feel like we’re adequate to be within the remaining 4,” Smith stated. “We weren’t adequate within the Playoffs to try this. It actually sucks, so we’ll simply regroup and maintain digging.”
A Troubling Day for Love – Up and Down for Kvapil
Love, who got here to Martinsville with a 40-point cushion above the elimination line, suffered via a night fraught with errors, together with a pair of pit street penalties, and completed twenty third. Nonetheless, he superior by 18 factors over Jones.
Kvapil appeared safe in factors till a chain-reaction collision involving Ryan Sieg and Harrison Burton despatched his No.1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet spinning on lap 227.
Kvapil restarted thirtieth and drove frantically via the sector to complete 18th and protect his spot within the Championship 4.
“That was most likely essentially the most nerve-wracking racing I’ve finished in my profession,” Kvapil stated. “Clearly, we had been sitting in a fairly great spot earlier than we bought circled there…
“I believe the sky’s the restrict for these guys. Our season hasn’t been the flashiest … however you by no means know. All of it comes down to 1 race, and we’ve bought a 25-percent probability of profitable.”
Aric Almirola, who will battle for the Xfinity homeowners’ championship subsequent Saturday in opposition to Allgaier, Zilisch, and Austin Hill, completed fifth behind Creed. Jeb Burton, Mayer, Dean Thompson, Connor Zilisch, and Justin Bonsignore accomplished the highest ten.
Up Subsequent
The collection now heads to Phoenix Raceway for its season finale on Saturday, November 1st. The NASCAR Xfinity Sequence Championship race begins at 7:30 pm ET on CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The 2024 winner is Riley Herbst, who’s now racing within the NASCAR Cup Sequence.
