JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith has finally caught a good break this season. After a tame and uneventful regular season, he has locked himself in the Round of 8 of the playoffs with a win at Talladega Superspeedway. This was Smith’s first Xfinity Series win after last season’s heroics at Phoenix, but the timing of this win is just perfect for the entire #8 team.

To put this result in context, Sammy Smith was placed 12th in the playoff standings after last weekend’s race at Kansas. He didn’t do himself any favor with a P22 and found himself 23 points shy of the cutline. Talladega was probably his best bet to claim a win, and he certainly made the most of this opportunity and locked himself in the next round.

Sammy Smith survives the Talladega scare and booked his ticket to the next round

The United Rentals 250 had more than just bumping and banging among the drivers on the racetrack. The likes of Austin Hill, Jesse Love, and SVG were all impacted by the big ones. However, with the race going into overtime, Smith dug deep and made sizeable gains hugging the inside lane. Meanwhile, Riley Herbst, who was in the commanding position, lost his advantage jostling for position.

Sheldon Creed further put Herbst in a rough spot as he pushed Chandler Smith to the front. And this move left the #98 out of the picture for the win. Smith, despite getting the help, wasn’t able to contest Smith coming onto the final corner. The JRM driver even closed the door on Ryan Seig, who tried sneaking in a run coming to the checkered flag.

Despite parking his race car in the victory lane, the Iowa native just couldn’t help but reflect on the torrid outing he’s had so far in 2024. “Yeah, just a great team, sponsor, and everybody’s that stuck with us. It’s been a really tough year. Yeah, it’s been a while; it’s been a struggle, but I’m very happy to be here and looking forward to to get better on these ovals and road courses.” Smith said this in the post-race interview.

However, he did mention that team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s mentorship helped him get out of tough situations during the race. “Yeah, we did. We sat down with him this Wednesday, and it wasn’t a whole lot, just dirt stuff he would do in those situations, but man feels very good to win again,” he added.

While this race turned out to be a redemption story for Sammy Smith, it proved to be a big disappointment for a few notable drivers.

SVG and Jesse Love find themselves on the bitter end of the stick

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Competing in his rookie year, the Kiwi speedster was going to have his back against the walls in the playoffs. Superspeedway racing is something that the Kiwi driver is trying to master. Although he ran pretty well in the top 10 places, his race ended with a DNF finish after being involved in a big one. Coming into this race, he was 21 points shy of the safe zone, and today’s results certainly won’t help him gain any ground.

The good news for SVG is that he will be on his stomping ground at the road course race at Charlotte Roval next. Although Jesse Love didn’t crash out of the race, he will leave Talladega scratching his head about where he went wrong. He started the race on the pole and led the most laps (28) but despite a solid run, he had to contend for a P6 finish. He was the winner of the spring race, so this result would leave a bad taste in the mouth of the RCR after putting in the effort.

Austin Hill, Cole Custer, and Justin Allgaier were among the few big names who would want to bury the hatch of the Talladega and focus on the race at Roval.