Practice #1
The 2024 United Rentals 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series practice results offer insights into driver performance, including lap times, top speeds, and practice session leaders at Talladega Superspeedway.
United Rentals 250
Saturday, October 5th, 2024
Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, AL
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25
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5
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8
- Thursday, October 3rd, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Xfinity Series returns to the unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway
For the first time in two years, the NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to Talladega Superspeedway for a Playoff race – the United Rentals 250 Saturday at 4 p.m. ET (The CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Aric Almirola won last week’s 2024 Playoff opener at Kansas Speedway but because he is not Playoff eligible- this second race of the three-race round becomes even more pivotal in deciding which eight drivers will advance to the next round.
Playoff driver A.J. Allmendinger won the last Fall Playoff race at Talladega in 2022. Jordan Anderson Racing’s Jeb Burton is a two-time Talladega winner and joins Playoff rookie Jesse Love, who won at the big track this Spring as the only current fulltime drivers to hoist a Talladega trophy.
Entering the race, Regular Season Champion, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, JR Motorsports Sam Mayer, JGR’s Sheldon Creed, Kaulig Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen, RCR’s Love and SHR’s Riley Herbst sit above the Playoff cutoff line.
Meanwhile, a pair of preseason title favorites – JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier and Kaulig’s Allmendinger are currently just below that cutoff line. Allgaier, a two-time race winner this season, is a single point behind Herbst, has only four top-five finishes in 17 Talladega starts and has never hoisted a trophy there.
A victory this week would similarly go a long way for Allmendinger, who is still racing for his first win of the season and currently sits 10th in the Playoff standings, 13 points below the cutoff line.
“Anything can and usually does happen at Talladega. JR Motorsports has always had an incredibly strong superspeedway program and I know that that will be the case once again on Saturday,” Allgaier said.
“We just need to be smart out there and not get ourselves caught in a bad position in the middle of the pack. If we can keep our nose clean and run up front all day long, I see no reason why we won’t be fighting for the win with our JRM teammates and get ourselves into the next round of the Playoffs once the checkered flag falls.”
Qualifying is set for 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday (USA Network, NBC Sports App). Austin Hill won the pole position in the Spring race. Mayer won the pole for the last Playoff race at Talladega two years ago.
- United Rentals 250
- Pole Winner: Jesse Love
- Age: 19
- Team : No 2 - Whelen Chevrolet
- Owner: Richard Childress
- Crew Chief: Danny Stockman, Jr
- Jesse Love won the Pole Award for the United Rentals 250 with a lap of 52578 seconds, 182129 mph
- This is his fifth pole in 28 NASCAR Xfinity Series races
- This is his fifth pole and 17th top-10 start in 2024
- This is his first pole in two races at Talladega Superspeedway
- Austin Hill (second) posted his 17th top-10 start of 2024 and his fifth in six races at Talladega Superspeedway
- Chandler Smith (third) posted his second top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway It is his 22nd in 28 races this season
- Jesse Love (first) was the fastest qualifying rookie
- Saturday, October 5th, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Sammy Smith clinches spot in Round of 8 with victory at Talladega
A last lap pass for the win is a recurring theme at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and that’s exactly what landed JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith in Victory Lane on Saturday. It was the only lap he led all day but it was good enough to win Saturday’s United Rentals 250 overtime thriller and earn Smith an automatic berth into the next round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
It was a huge turn of fortune for the 20-year old Iowa native, who came into the race ranked last among the 12 Playoff drivers and winless on the season. He started his No. 8 JRM Chevrolet 27th in Saturday’s 38-car field, but moved forward rapidly from the fall of the green flag, running near the front most of the day, avoiding multiple multi-car accidents and making the move to the checkered flag when it counted most.
“It’s been a really tough year,’’ said Smith. “It’s been a while and it’s been a struggle, but I’m very happy to be here and looking forward to getting better on these ovals and road courses.”
It was high-stakes, clutch performance for the young talent, whose only other victory came last April at the Phoenix Raceway one-miler. Just this week with Playoff elimination a possibility, he piqued his team owner’s brain for tips on racing on the Talladega 2.66-mile high banks – his team owner being Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won six NASCAR Cup Series races at Talladega including an unprecedented four in a row.
“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.”
Smith beat RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg to the line by a slight .177-second with a three-wide battle on track right behind featuring Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith who rounded out the top-five.
Herbst was leading with a lap remaining only to get passed in a massive push forward that included a run by Chandler Smith – ultimately both losing out to Sammy Smith and Ryan Sieg. Frustrated, after the race Herbst immediately walked over to Chandler Smith’s car and had words with the young driver.
“I was just telling him, he had his teammate behind him and was in the best spot you want to be in and I told him he made a right move but in the wrong place,’’ Herbst said. “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.”
Polesitter, rookie Jesse Love led a race best 28 of the 98 laps in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet finishing sixth in a race marked with six cautions, a brief red flag, 11 race leaders and 28 lead changes.
Although relatively calm through the early goings – Chandler Smith won the opening stage and RCR’s Austin Hill won the second stage – the final laps lived up to Talladega expectation. Only three of the 12 Playoff drivers managed to avoid being caught up – in varying degrees – in accidents on the afternoon.
Two perennial championship favorites and current Playoff drivers, Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger and JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier were among those that led laps – as expected – but were also collected in multi-car accidents.
Allmendinger still rallied to an 11th place showing after his No. 16 Chevy suffered minor damage in a 12-car accident with three laps remaining that triggered a nearly 10-minute red flag stoppage and forced overtime. Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet suffered more damage in the crash and he finished 26th.
Reigning series champion, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer was also caught up in the accident and finished 27th. Fellow Playoff competitor, Kaulig Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen – a three-race winner this season – was a part of a multi-car accident earlier – with 18 laps remaining – and finished 36th.
Jeb Burton finished seventh with David Starr, Brennan Poole and Kyle Sieg rounding out the Top-10.
Next week’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL will decide which eight drivers advance in the Playoffs. With Smith’s win today, three positions will be decided next weekend. Chandler Smith now holds a strong 57-point edge on the cutoff points position with Hill, Custer, Creed, Love, Herbst and Sam Mayer rounding out the top-8.
Mayer holds a slim 10-point advantage in the final transfer position over Allmendinger and he’s 18 points up on his JRM teammate Allgaier.
Van Gisbergen, who has won three road course races already this year, goes into the Charlotte road course-oval hybrid 21 points back. Parker Kligerman, who finished 12th Saturday despite being collected in multiple wrecks, is 26 points off Mayer for that final transfer position.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next week at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. Mayer is the defending the race winner.
- Drivers Entered: 39 (1 drivers will not make the race)
- Laps Scheduled: 94
- Laps Actual: 98 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
- Margin of Victory: 0.177 Seconds
- Time of Race: 2 Hours 5 Minutes 12 Seconds
- Average Speed: 124.927
- Cautions: 6 for 27 laps
- Lead Changes: 28
- Green Flag Passes: 5,553 (78.2 passes per green flag lap)
- United Rentals 250
- Race Winner: Sammy Smith
- Age: 20
- Team : No 8 - TMC Transportation Chevrolet
- Owner: Dale Earnhardt, Jr
- Crew Chief: Phillip Bell
- Sammy Smith won the United Rentals 250, his second victory in 70 Xfinity Series races
- This is his first victory and 14th top-10 finish in 2024
- This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in three races at Talladega Superspeedway
- Ryan Sieg (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 15 races at Talladega Superspeedway It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2024
- Riley Herbst (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in nine races at Talladega Superspeedway
- Jesse Love (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie
- Chandler Smith leads the point standings by 28 points over Austin Hill
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