Mayer Wins His Way into Round of 8

With Sam Mayer’s victory Saturday in the Drive for the Cure 250 at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s ROVAL, the NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 8 has been set.

Advancing with Mayer in the playoffs are Justin Allgaier, John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed, Chandler Smith, and Sammy Smith.

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Mayer’s third victory this season, all on road courses, bumped 2021 Xfinity Series champion Daniel Hemric from the playoffs. Hemric needed to pass two cars to advance on points, and he came up about five feet short. Exiting the frontstretch chicane on the final lap, Hemric dove under Kaz Grala, putting Parker Kligerman on the outside of Grala. The three cars drag raced to the finish line with Grala edging Kligerman and Hemric for fifth. Kligerman took a narrow sixth and Hemric seventh.

In addition to Hemric, the other drivers failing to advance in the playoffs are Kligerman, Josh Berry, and Jeb Burton.

The Round of 8 opens next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, then heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway before the championship four are determined at Martinsville Speedway.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina

Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course

1. (1) Sam Mayer (P), Chevrolet, 67.
2. (7) Cole Custer (P), Ford, 67.
3. (3) Josh Berry (P), Chevrolet, 67.
4. (9) Riley Herbst, Ford, 67.
5. (14) Kaz Grala, Toyota, 67.
6. (6) Parker Kligerman (P), Chevrolet, 67.
7. (4) Daniel Hemric (P), Chevrolet, 67.
8. (38) John Hunter Nemechek (P), Toyota, 67.
9. (8) Austin Hill (P), Chevrolet, 67.
10. (5) Sheldon Creed (P), Chevrolet, 67.
11. (22) Sammy Smith # (P), Toyota, 67.
12. (17) Chandler Smith # (P), Chevrolet, 67.
13. (25) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 67.
14. (31) Myatt Snider (P), Toyota, 67.
15. (10) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 67.
16. (12) Jordan Taylor, Chevrolet, 67.
17. (32) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 67.
18. (29) Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, 67.
19. (28) Rajah Caruth(i), Chevrolet, 67.
20. (33) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 67.
21. (26) Leland Honeyman, Chevrolet, 67.
22. (23) Parker Retzlaff #, Chevrolet, 67.
23. (15) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 67.
24. (16) Connor Mosack, Toyota, 67.
25. (18) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 67.
26. (13) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 67.
27. (20) Sage Karam, Ford, 67.
28. (24) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, 67.
29. (11) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 67.
30. (21) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 67.
31. (35) Joe Graf Jr., Ford, 67.
32. (36) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 67.
33. (37) Alex Guenette, Toyota, 67.
34. (19) Jeb Burton (P), Chevrolet, 66.
35. (34) Conor Daly(i), Chevrolet, 66.
36. (30) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Accident, 63.
37. (2) Justin Allgaier (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 60.
38. (27) Brett Moffitt, Ford, Ignition, 40.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 77.387 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 0 Mins, 31 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.909 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 4 for 12 laps.

Lead Changes: 10 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J. Allgaier (P) 1-4;S. Mayer (P) 5-17;J. Allgaier (P) 18-22;S. Mayer (P) 23-38;J. Nemechek (P) 39-40;S. Mayer (P) 41-57;J. Burton (P) 58;J. Allgaier (P) 59;C. Custer (P) 60-63;S. Mayer (P) 64-67.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Sam Mayer (P) 4 times for 50 laps; Justin Allgaier (P) 3 times for 10 laps; Cole Custer (P) 1 time for 4 laps; John Hunter Nemechek (P) 1 time for 2 laps; Jeb Burton (P) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,10,2,48,21,16,18,1,27,07

Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,10,48,2,91,18,1,16,07,08

Harvick DQ Follow-up: Windshield Issue Obvious

NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran says the windshield issue on Kevin Harvick’s Ford after last weekend’s Talladega race was obvious to the casual observer.

“Three bolts along the windshield were missing,” Moran says. “Seven of the eight fasteners along the top were loose or missing.”

In another part of the windshield the sealant had blown out.

“The windshield was not secure,” Moran says. “If the parts were used correctly … it’d be pretty hard for this to come loose. You cannot loosen this off with your hands.”

NASCAR’s rulebook states the windshield fasteners must remain secure for the entire event.

“We’re always checking when the car is going through (inspection) pressing and pushing on glass, side glass, windshield, rear glass, especially at superspeedways because … it’s critical if the cars are leaking air for different reasons,” Moran says. “I don’t want to get into the aero side of it, but we all know that we try to control cars leaking air. We want all the glass tight and installed the way it’s supposed to be.”

Kevin Harvick, who finished second at Talladega before his car’s disqualification, said he didn’t have an opinion about NASCAR’s ruling.

“I can see it both ways,” Harvick says. “I did my job. The rest of it is open for debate as to who did what. I didn’t dig deep into whether it was just or unjust. I just went home and heard the news like everybody else, and I went on with my week.”

Elliott’s Struggles Began Last Year

Chase Elliott says his struggles this year didn’t begin with the broken leg he suffered two races into the season.

“As I learn more about my season and myself and how things have unfolded, I feel like my struggles and the things I’ve fought through this year I was starting to fight through last year, too,” Elliott says. “I kind of picked up where I left off last season, and I was going to have those things to work through regardless.

“I feel like I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years. Most of the time at this level of racing when you make a mistake, you don’t have an opportunity to make up for it. Most of the time you have to wait seven days, and that’s tough.

“I think we’ve been working in the right direction, and I’ve been pushing in the right direction, maybe just not quite as much as we need to. If they know I’m out there giving it my all, then to me that’s all you can ask for. That’s all I ask for out of them. We’re all going to mess up.”

During pre-qualifying activities, Elliott accepted the Smokey Yunick Award for his uncle Ernie Elliott, who was unable to attend the presentation. The award, named for the legendary mechanic and innovator, recognizes an individual from humble beginnings who demonstrated exceptional innovation and made a major impact in motorsports.