One side shines, while the other side falters. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Xfinity Garage had both sides of the winning spectrum on Saturday. In the glittering corner, we saw Sammy Smith rejoicing in a much-awaited victory. Despite owning 13 top-tens and 5 top-fives going into Talladega, Smith lacked that coveted trophy. He finally clinched it, but his teammate and namesake wallowed in misery.

Sam Mayer had marginal point protection when he entered the race. But the No. 1 Chevrolet driver’s fortunes went haywire. Despite finishing in the top 20, he fell prey to NASCAR’s hawk eyes inspecting for blemishes post-race. In this way, he had to bow down to Joe Gibbs’ Xfinity stud, Chandler Smith.

Rallying two victories this season, Sam Mayer technically should be in a more comfortable position than his teammate. But the United Rentals 250 race marked his 8th result outside the top 30. Mayer overcame the fearsome apprehensions about the 2.66-mile drafting beast—he started the race in 12th place and cruised to a respectable 16th-place finish. However, NASCAR did not let him get Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s mentee’s average result so easily.

Post-race inspection revealed that Smith’s No. 1 Chevy failed the height requirement. It measured too low in the rear as officials checked after the Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. This startling result jumbled up the point standings. Mayer had a 10-point cushion over the cutline entering the race, but this disqualification dropped him 13 points below the line. Conversely, this locked Joe Gibbs‘ star Chandler Smith in the Round of 8 on points. Bob Pockrass updated this situation on X, “With the Sam Mayer DQ, Chandler Smith has clinched a spot in the next round. Will have updated points margins in a moment.”

According to Pockrass’ point margins, Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s mentee glaringly sits at the bottom. Instead of his promised three-point gain, Mayer settled for one point and a massive hit due to his penalty. However, Chandler Smith faced some upsets of his own. A lug nut was found to be unsecured on the No. 81 JGR Toyota, which may result in a monetary fine.

Also, he bore the brunt of Riley Herbst’s fury after he passed him in a massive push forward on the last lap. Herbst fumed, “He would have won the race and all he did was kill his run, my run, and his teammate’s run and let the 8 [Sammy Smith] get away.”

Indeed, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s other mentee sparkled with no less effort of his own.

On the sunnier side

Talladega Superspeedway has been dreaded ever since its inception in 1969. After NASCAR introduced restrictor-plate racing to curb the high-speed chaos at the track, other problems emerged. For instance, bunched-up racing led to more intense wrecks. However, the Earnhardts honed a skill to tame this beast—while his father owns 10 victories, Dale Earnhardt Jr. boasts 6 trophies from Talladega. So going up to the Xfinity race, his mentees and other drivers sought his advice. While Sam Mayer could not keep up, Sammy Smith incorporated those valuable words perfectly.

For one whose only other victory came in April 2023, it was a high-stakes, clutch performance. The risks of playoff elimination peaked, but so did Sammy Smith’s hunger to reverse his fortune. So he consulted with Dale Jr., JR Motorsports co-owner, picking his brain for all sorts of details and information.

“We sat down Wednesday,” Smith said. “It wasn’t a whole lot, but asking him what he would do in certain situations [on the big track]. Feels really good to win again.” He added emotional words about his struggle. “It’s been a really tough year … Man, it’s been a while. It’s been a struggle. I’m very happy to be here and looking (forward to) getting better on these ovals and road courses.”

Evidently, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s words of wisdom pronounced different results for his drivers. Let us see if Sam Mayer can get back in the winner’s circle like his teammate.