Sammy Smith’s thrilling win at Talladega, where he surged from P27 to overtake Riley Herbst in overtime, is one fans won’t forget soon. With his second Xfinity career win, Smith vaulted from near elimination to the top of the playoff standings.

While his victory was monumental, it came with consequences for his team. Although Sammy Smith secured his spot in the top 8, he put teammates Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer in danger of elimination. Denny Hamlin couldn’t help but admire Smith’s impressive run, acknowledging how the win shook up the playoff bubble—for his teammates and other contenders.

Sammy Smith wins at Shane van Gisbergen’s expense

The first race of the Xfinity Series playoffs put Sammy Smith in a tight spot. He was 12th in the playoff picture, and he needed to recover and do it fast. That’s when the Talladega race worked as a savior when he managed to clinch the win in the nick of time. Everything happened so fast that Riley Herbst fell two positions in a second, and Ryan Sieg got the best of him too. But Denny Hamlin’s eyes were on Smith.

The JR Motorsports driver became the topic of discussion on the Denny Hamlin’s Actions Detrimental podcast, and a justified one as the Xfinity race winner had him impressed. Impressed by how Smith secured his spot in the next round, Hamlin said, “The guy went from being out of the XFINITY playoffs to winning and putting himself into the next round.” He then added, “Now we’ve got some big names below the cut line since it’s a cut race for them too, right?”

Denny Hamlin also mentioned all the victims of Smith’s victory: “We have [Justin] Allgaier, SVG, and Sam Mayer, Parker Glickman.” The attention then moved to SVG as he does well on road courses, and Hamlin said, “Well, I mean, given the way the format in the XFINITY series is going, you’d think SVG has just got an automatic bid to the next round because he’s got a road course coming up.”

Speaking of Shane van Gisbergen, he is already a favorite in the Xfinity Series this year. The man who won his debut race is known for his road course races, and with the Roval being the next race, Hamlin believes he might be secure. SVG finished 15th in the race, but he still did not have a day as bad as Sam Mayer, who was disqualified from the race.

Sam Mayer’s disqualification and its appeal

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Sam Mayer, yet another JR Motorsports driver, did not have a day as great as his teammate. After finishing 16th at Talladega, his car failed to meet the post-race height requirement during a technical inspection. The rear of the car was noted to be too low, and he was served a disqualification and was placed last on the grid.

Unhappy about this situation, Dale Earnhardt Jr. decided to raise an appeal to try to get his driver out of the mess. However, a three-member appeals panel held a hearing on Wednesday, and the penalty would stand. In a statement about the verdict, NASCAR revealed, “The panel found that NASCAR used standard inspection procedures at Talladega Superspeedway on October 5, 2024, on the No. 1 NXS car and found Rule 14.17.3.2.2.2 in violation.”

If it weren’t for the penalty, Sam Mayer, who now stands 11th on the playoff grid, would be in the safe zone, right above the cutoff line at P8. As of now, he is 13 points away from being in the safe zone, and the Roval race will decide his fate in the next round.

It was a day of mixed emotions for JR Motorsports and its fans, but with another race remaining before eliminations, do you think that both Sam Mayer and Justin Allgaier will be able to make it to the top 8?