XFINITY: Sam Mayer Punches Ticket to Round of 8 After Controversial Call
What's a NASCAR race these days without a little bit of controversy? Sam Mayer collected the win in a hard-fought battle against Parker Kligerman in any overtime finish to Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, but it was the circumstances that led to the overtime finish that had everyone talking.
With two laps to go, Leland Honeyman encountered a tire failure, which sent his No. 42 Young's Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro hard into the tire barrier in Turn 3.
The yellow flag is out.
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) October 12, 2024
We are headed to #NASCAROvertime! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/VRKLHooDNG
As Honeyman's car lay motionless in the turn for a good portion of time, NASCAR held the caution flag. And as Kligerman crossed the line to take the white flag, the yellow flag finally waved from the flagman.
It looked as though Kligerman had snatched his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win in what is his final full-time season in NASCAR. Even Mayer thought he had lost the race in the moment.
"Yeah, well when the last caution came out, I thought the leader had crossed the line because it was so close," Mayer admitted. "I was like, 'Well, there goes the entire season right there,' but luckily, it was a little early."
After a brief celebration by the No. 48 Big Machine Racing team and Kligerman fighting back tears that were welling up under his helmet, NASCAR determined that the caution lights around the 2.32-mile road course had illuminated prior to the No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers entry crossing the finish line.
The CW Sports broadcast was able to show the moment that the caution flag came out, and Kligerman was indeed just not quite across the finish line.
.@NASCARonNBC shows the moment the caution came out.
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) October 12, 2024
The leader did not take the white flag. pic.twitter.com/mhtXgwyQSD
Many will question whether the caution flag call should have come 30 seconds to a minute earlier than it did, or if NASCAR should have just let the race end as Kligerman crossed the line, but Kligerman didn't fault the sanctioning body for the call despite the heartbreaking call.
"You know, I'm not going to be angry and ask for every angle. I've watched plenty from the other media side and the fan side, and thought, oh damn, that hurts. But it comes to a restart. You have to buckle and refocus, and we did that."
On the ensuing restart, Kligerman got a decent restart, and he fought to the lead over Mayer, but heading into Turn 7, Mayer set Kligerman up and pulled off an aggressive pass for the race lead. Once Mayer got by, Kligerman free-falled to a sixth-place finishing position, while Mayer would go on to pick up his third win of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
"That last restart was certainly unbelievable. I feel like I did everything in my power there to optimize what that last lap was. I put [Kligerman] in a bad spot, he thought he had to block, and I ended up driving underneath him on the exit of [Turn] 7 and ended up driving away."
After watching the replay, Kligerman admitted it was an error on his part that led to him losing the lead to Mayer, and that the laps leading up to being passed were among his best behind the wheel of a race car.
"I just watched the replay in [Turn] 7, I guess he went wider. I could have opened up my entry more and not let him come under me, but the laps leading up to that were some of the best I've ever driven in my career," Kligerman stated.
Mayer would cross the finish line with a victory margin of 1.474 seconds over Kaulig Racing's AJ Allmendinger. Following the win, Mayer, who won last season at the ROVAL, reflected on how big of a victory this was for him, given how stacked the 38-car field was this time around.
"This was probably the toughest Xfinity field here on the ROVAL that we've had, and we came out on top," Mayer said. "So, it's super cool to have that, and now, I have the trophy next to me. I told my other trophy when I left the house today, I was like, 'I'm going to bring you home a twin, tonight.' So, I actually got to do that, I kept my promise."
Shane van Gisbergen came home in third-place, but the solid finish was not quite enough to advance the road course ace to the next round of the Playoffs. SVG came up just two points shy of fellow NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year contender Jesse Love, who finished in 19th. Love, the driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, went into the final lap of the race outside of the cutline, but did just enough to lock himself into the Round of 8.
For SVG, it was a heartbreaking exit from the Playoffs, but the driver knew he was in an uphill battle after a 35th-place result at Talladega Superspeedway a week ago.
"You're obviously in pain because you wanted to get through, but I guess last week really hurt us," van Gisbergen noted. "And then yeah, making that call at the end, it was a bit different to others, but whether we won or not, yeah, it was a tough one. But proud of the WeatherTech Kaulig Racing team. We had really good speed, but not quite there."
Austin Hill, and Chandler Smith rounded out the top-five finishers in Saturday's race, and they were followed to the finish line by Kligerman, Justin Allgaier, Josh Bilicki, Aric Almirola, and Sammy Smith.
The eight drivers, who will advance to the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs are Round of 12 race winners Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith as well as Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, and Jesse Love, who advanced by way of points.
The four drivers eliminated from Playoff contention on Saturday evening at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL included Shane van Gisbergen, Sheldon Creed, Riley Herbst, and Parker Kligerman.
Creed and Herbst were involved in a big crash on the frontstretch on Lap 34 of the event. The crash heavily damaged both drivers' cars, and they would both head to the garage on the ensuing restart. Herbst would finish 32nd, 15 laps off the pace, while Creed would finish 35th, 34 laps down.
Big stack up on the frontstretch. 😳
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) October 12, 2024
Two drivers in the #NASCARPlayoffs are involved! pic.twitter.com/kL8uPKulwP
Here are the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Standings After Saturday's race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL:
Rank | Car No. | Driver | +/- Cutline |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | +18 |
2 | 00 | Cole Custer | +11 |
3 | 21 | Austin Hill | +9 |
4 | 81 | Chandler Smith | +8 |
*CUTLINE* | |||
5 | 1 | Sam Mayer | -8 |
6 | 2 | Jesse Love | -12 |
7 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | -18 |
8 | 8 | Sammy Smith | -19 |
The Round of 8 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will kick off next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Ambetter Health 302 is set for Saturday, October 19. That race will be televised by The CW beginning at 7 PM ET. The Performance Racing Network (PRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the radio call of that event.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.