William Byron leads Christopher Christopher Bell by 17 points and Kyle Larson by 22. Byron is locked into the round of eight as the NASCAR playoffs head to the Charlotte road course this week.
The Cup playoff field will be cut from 12 to eight drivers.
Defending series champion Ryan Blaney stands sixth, 49 points back and 25 above the cut line. He’s the only Ford driver in the top eight. Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe are on the bubble below the cutline.
Charlotte’s 17-turn “roval” course has been reconfigured to provide additional passing opportunities for drivers. Changes include an extended straightaway coming out of Turn 5, a new Turn 6 and sharper hairpin in Turn 7. There’s also a 35-foot elevation change, among other tweaks.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. became the second consecutive non-playoff driver to win as he conquered Talladega in overtime to end a 65-race drought dating back to last year’s Daytona 500.
It was typical Talladega with a late crash collecting 27 of 40 cars, including Stenhouse’s Chevy, which was missing some safety foam on his driver’s side door. The race was red-flagged for nine minutes, and the chaotic cleanup left some teams livid after the race about NASCAR’s handling of the crash scene. Just four active playoff drivers finished in the top 10.
AJ Almendinger won at the Roval last year.
Practice and qualifying is 11:30 am Saturday. Race time is 1 pm Sunday.
Sammy Smith surged from last in the playoff standings to become the first driver to reach the second round with an overtime win in the United Rentals 250 at Talladega as the XFinity Series head to the Charlotte Roval for its next playoff race.
The JR Motorsports driver entered the weekend 12th in points and started 27th but steadily made his way forward in the No. 8 Chevy owned by Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was second when the race restarted with a two-lap sprint and outdueled several drivers before holding off non-playoff driver Ryan Sieg by .177 seconds to break a 56-race drought with his second career win. Riley Herbst was third, Sheldon Creed fourth and Chandler Smith fifth.
Mayer (16th) was disqualified after his No. 1 Chevy failed the postrace inspection height requirement for being too low in the rear. The team has appealed the decision.
Chandler Smith (2,122 points) leads Cole Custer and Austin Hill by 27 points with Sheldon Creed 32 back and Jesse Love 42 behind. Initial top seed Justin Allgaier and fellow contenders AJ Allmendinger, Shane Van Gisbergen and Parker Kligerman were involved in a late accident and are in danger of elimination.
Mayer won at the Roval last year.
Practice and qualifying is at 9 am Saturday. Race time is 3 pm Saturday.
The Craftsman Truck Series returns to action at Homestead-Miami on Oct. 26.
