HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger proved to be a man of fine timing scoring his first win of the season in last week’s Playoff race at Las Vegas to earn an automatic bid into the Championship finale Nov. 9 at Phoenix Raceway.
The last two seasons, Playoff drivers have similarly celebrated their ticket to contend for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the NASCAR Xfinity Series Credit One NASCAR AMEX Credit Card 300 is the second half of a Saturday double-header (3:30 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Two of the eight Playoff drivers have victories at Homestead-Miami, including defending race winner Sam Mayer and 2017 race winner Cole Custer. A win for either would be well-timed with only two races (at Homestead and then Martinsville, Va. next week) to decide which four drivers are championship eligible for the Phoenix race.
JR Motorsports’ veteran Justin Allgaier currently leads the points standings with a healthy 32-point advantage atop the four-driver cutoff line. The defending series champion Custer is next, 16 points to the good and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith holds that final transfer position by a slim eight-points over Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill.
Hill’s RCR rookie teammate Jesse Love is 13 points below Chandler Smith. JR Motorsports’ teammates Mayer and Sammy Smith are 23 and 53 points back, respectively.
Of note, Allgaier’s points position now may prove especially helpful for the perennial championship contender considering he has only three top-10 finishes in 15 starts at the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami oval. His best career finish is sixth back in 2016. His only top-10 since then was a 10th place in 2022.
On the flip side, Hill has a perfect two-for-two top-10 showing at Homestead-Miami, including fourth place last year. Mayer is the defending winner and Sammy Smith started fifth and finished 10th last year in his only previous start at the track. This will be the 19-year-old rookie Love’s first Homestead race.
Practice for the race is at 4:05 p.m. ET on Friday with qualifying following at 4:40 p.m. ET – both sessions available to watch on the NBC Sports App.
Source: Holly Cain | NASCAR Wire Service
