Justin Allgaier will race for a NASCAR Xfinity championship in Phoenix. Richard Childress Racing drivers Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed will not.
And it was all decided coming to the checkered flag on an overtime finish at Martinsville Speedway Saturday night.
Allgaier emerged from chaos racing Creed to the line as many in the field were crashing behind them.
“My guys kept telling me, ‘It’s not over.’” Allgaier said. “Coming to the start/finish line I don’t think I saw a single person sitting down,” Allgaier said. “I was just trying to hang on and go as fast as I can.”
Among those crashing was Hill who went from fighting for the lead to finishing 21st.
It was the culmination of 16 cautions and a nearly 30-minute red flag that came with 6 laps to go after a multi-car crash coming out of Turn 2. After an extensive cleanup the field ran the final 6 scheduled laps under caution setting up an overtime restart. Both Hill and Creed were below the cutline and lined up side by side on the restart. After taking the white flag Hill and Creed were fighting for the win coming into Turn 3; Creed punted Hill coming out of Turn 4 sending him spinning. Allgaier, also needing to win, seized the opportunity and beat Creed to the line by just .032 of a second.
Ironically had the RCR drivers finished first and second both would have made the final 4.
“I’m not proud of racing like that, but I didn’t blast him,” Creed said of his battle with his teammate. “He was still with me (on the final lap)… I feel like I raced pretty fair for the situation, and he’s going to be mad, but it’s for a Championship 4 spot, and I’m going to fight for my guys all the way to the end.”
Naturally Hill had a different view of the final laps. He also might have revealed Creed’s next move, which is yet to be officially announced.
“Man, it’s uncalled for for that to happen, and then for neither of the RCR guys to make it to the final four,” Hill said. “It’s frustrating. I’m pretty excited for him to go to his next adventure over at Gibbs, and I don’t have to put up with him anymore.”
Sammy Smith, who also came in with a must win situation, won Stage 2, and led the most laps, 147, was third. Riley Herbst and Josh Berry rounded out the top five.
Hill and Creed weren’t the only teammates at odds.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver John Hunter Nemechek had clinched his spot in the final 4 during the second stage of the race but was racing with Smith in the final laps. The two got together coming to the line with Nemechek finishing 18th and Smith out of the final 4.
“They were telling me that he wasn’t going to make any enemies,” Smith said. “I asked him if he was going to choose the top, and he said he wasn’t going to do that. I had a good run on him and he went to block me down to the bottom. He didn’t want to make any enemies, but I’m really frustrated right now. He definitely made one. I’m not going to let that one go, and we will see how things go.”
Cole Custer grabbed the final spot on points sliding backwards across the start-finish line for 19th. Sam Mayer, who won the opening race in the round and secured the first of the final 4 spots finished 25th.
The win was the fourth of the season for Allgaier and his third appearance in the final 4 in the last 3 seasons.
“This car has been lights-out all year,” Allgaier said. “I cannot say about everybody at the shop, all our partners. We have a shot at going for the championship at Phoenix. This is an emotional one. I’ve been wanting to win at Martinsville for a long time.”
Race Results
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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