Justin Allgaier wins at Martinsville, locks up Championship 4 spot

Here are some takeaways from the Round of 8 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway.

The elimination format creates high-pressure situations

Chaos. That is the word that described the final lap of the Xfinity race at Martinsville Speedway.

Justin Allgaier won a drag race with Sheldon Creed at the line and scored his fourth win of the season. A large portion of the field crashed behind them on the frontstretch.

Cole Custer crossed the finish line on fire but still pointed his way into the Championship 4. Austin Hill crashed across the finish line and was eliminated from championship contention. Riley Herbst scored his fourth consecutive top-five finish.

There were some drivers that could point their way into the Championship 4. Others could only win their way in. Martinsville Speedway was the final opportunity to pursue these outcomes.

The result was aggressive moves throughout the field that led to destroyed cars and extensive cleanup efforts.

“Guess that is Martinsville,” John Hunter Nemechek said after the race. “I know the 21 turned down on the 2 getting into (Turn 3), and it was on from there. I really don’t know what happened.

“All I know is I hit the wall with the right front tire, and then there was a bunch of carnage on the front straightaway and caught on fire.”

This chaos was the result of NASCAR’s elimination format, for better or worse. Every time the playoff field decreases, there are drivers doing everything they can to move on to the next round.

One side effect of the elimination format is that teammates don’t work together. Austin Hill was visibly upset with teammate Sheldon Creed for the way he raced him in overtime. He voiced his frustrations to the media after the race.

Sammy Smith, who had the dominant car at Martinsville, also had frustrated comments about his teammate, Nemechek, after the race.

“I had a good run on (Nemechek) and then he went to go block me down to the bottom,” Smith said to NBC Sports’ Kim Coon after the race. “He didn’t want to create any enemies but I’m very frustrated right now and he definitely made one.

“I’m not going to let that one go, and we’ll see how that goes.”

Just keep pushing forward

Cole Custer made his way to the Championship 4 on points. It was not an easy journey for him and the No. 00 team.

The first two stages were straightforward on paper. Custer finished second in stage 1 and eighth in stage 2. He finished the race 19th after being involved in the multi-car crash on the fronstretch.

Custer had multiple issues throughout the race. His car was overheating at different points and he sustained damage in one of the numerous on-track incidents. Custer also voiced concerns about a power-related issue during the red flag delay for track cleanup.

“At the start of the race, we were overheating the motor and then the volts started going down, and then radio one went out under that red flag, so we had to switch to radio two,” Custer said after the race.

“So just a lot of little things that get your heart rate up a little bit, but we were able to stay calm and do what we needed and get to the final four. I’m really proud of the day we put together. We got really good stage points, came from behind and still got in.”

Despite the issues, Custer was still able to point his way to Phoenix. He will now compete for a championship for the third time in his Xfinity Series career. The first two times (2018, 2019), he finished second behind Tyler Reddick.

Saturday’s race featured eight leaders and 15 cautions.

Click here to see where everyone finished.

Click here for the penalty report.

Click here for the cumulative race report.

Click here for the updated driver points.

Click here for the updated owner points.

For the first time in his career, Justin Allgaier is a winner at Martinsville Speedway.

Allgaier won in overtime after taking advantage of a battle between teammates. Sheldon Creed moved teammate Austin Hill out of the way to get beside him.

The RCR teammates worked their way back to the start-finish line, where Hill door-slammed Creed. Allgaier used the teammate conflict to move to the inside of Creed.

There was a final drag race to the finish line. Allgaier won over Creed by a nose and locked his spot in the Championship 4. Meanwhile, a massive crash unfolded behind them.

The Xfinity race at Martinsville has come to a stop for a big pileup on the backstretch.

The incident occurred as the leaders checked up while battling for position. This had a chain reaction through the field that led to the big wreck on the backstretch.

The incident collected Brandon Jones, Myatt Snider, Kaz Grala, Josh Williams, Jeremy Clements, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Sieg, Chad Finchum, and Rajah Caruth.

The incident also brought out the red flag as the track crew worked on removing cars and cleaning up fluid left by Sam Mayer and Jeffrey Earnhardt.

Once the race goes back under caution, there will be a late restart. Austin Hill is the leader. Sheldon Creed is scored second. Both need to find a way into the Championship 4.

The caution has flown for the 14th time at Martinsville Speedway.

Anthony Alfredo was the cause of the latest yellow. He spun in Turn 4 and set up a late restart.

John Hunter Nemechek was in the lead at the time of the caution. Behind him was Austin Hill, Sammy Smith, Sheldon Creed, Cole Custer and Justin Allgaier. All of these drivers behind Nemechek are still in the hunt for spots in the Championship 4.

Creed had shown that he was willing to do what it takes to get drivers out of his way. He moved Allgaier up the track before the caution. Having another late restart created the expectation that there will be more incidents.

The caution has flown for the 12th time at Martinsville Speedway.

Ryan Ellis and JJ Yeley were the cause of the latest yellow. They crashed after a stack-up.

John Hunter Nemechek had taken back the lead from Austin Hill prior to the yellow flying. This put him back in control of the race.

Sheldon Creed was in third at the time. Justin Allgaier was in fourth. Sammy Smith was in fifth.

Cole Custer, who had fallen below both Hill and Allgaier on points, made a big move on the restart. He passed several people and moved up to seventh. This put him back above the cutline and ahead of Allgaier.

The yellow flag has flown for the 11th time at Martinsville Speedway.

The latest caution was due to Akinori Ogata spinning.

Austin Hill was in the lead at the time of the caution. He had passed John Hunter Nemechek on the outside and put more distance between himself and the playoff cutline.

Justin Allgaier, who is battling Hill and Cole Custer for spots in the Championship 4, had moved up to third.

The caution has flown on Lap 185. This time, it was for a multi-car wreck.

The incident occurred as the aggressiveness increased. The field went three- and four-wide, which sent Connor Mosack into the inside wall. He rebounded into the field and spun. This incident also sent Jeremy Clements spinning.

Custer sustained the most damage in the incident. He crumped the hood but told the team over the radio that it wasn’t too bad. He wasn’t pushing water and his temperatures were not rising. He continued rolling around the track under caution in 12th.

Another playoff driver saw their championship dreams come to an end under this caution. Chandler Smith, who had sustained damage in an earlier incident at Martinsville, had to be pushed behind the wall with an engine issue.

The caution has flown on Lap 175. This yellow was for a slow car on the track.

Parker Kligerman was the cause. He had a flat tire that caused him to be slow on the track. He tried to limp his way back to pit road but was unable to accomplish this.

NASCAR threw the caution as leader Sammy Smith caught Kligerman. This brought the field to a crawl once again and set up another late restart.

There was another decision for the leaders to make after the caution for Kligerman. They had to choose whether to pit or stay out.

Smith and Cole Custer both headed down pit road with Josh Berry and Riley Herbst behind them. Justin Allgaier, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill and others stayed out on the track.

The caution has flown with fewer than 100 laps remaining at Martinsville Speedway.

The cause of the caution was Layne Riggs spinning after contact from Sam Mayer. This was his second time spinning at the .526-mile short track.

Sammy Smith had the lead over Josh Berry and Myatt Snider at the time of the caution. Cole Custer was in fourth after working his way through the field. Custer was told by his team prior to the caution that he had the fastest car in the field.

This caution created conversations over the radio. Teams tried to figure out if it was too early to put on the last set of tires for the day.

The majority of drivers chose to stay out on the track. Though Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier both pitted for fresh tires after seeing Custer stay out on the track.

John Hunter Nemechek is going to race for a championship before moving up to the Cup Series.

Nemechek entered the Martinsville race 44 points above the cutline. He finished third in stage 1 and locked up seven points. This gave him enough points to clinch his spot in the Championship 4.

Nemechek will compete for a championship for the first time as an Xfinity driver. He will join Sam Mayer, who locked up a spot by winning at Homestead last week. Only two spots remain.

Sammy Smith has scored the stage 2 win at Martinsville Speedway.

Smith, who finished fifth in stage 1, led the way throughout stage 2 while Josh Berry and Myatt Snider chased him down. They had to settle for second and third, respectively, in the stage.

Sheldon Creed, Kaz Grala, Parker Retzlaff, Chandler Smith, Cole Custer, Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst all scored stage points.

Justin Allgaier in 11th, Sam Mayer in 14th, John Hunter Nemechek in 15th and Austin Hill all failed to score stage points.

Custer was able to put himself 14 points above the cutline by running inside of the top 10 in both stages. He was ahead of both Allgaier and Hill.

The caution has flown for Ryan Sieg spinning at Martinsville Speedway.

The caution flew as Sieg spun entering the turn. He was racing Riley Herbst for sixth at the time.

Sieg did not collect any other cars. Though several came close. Brett Moffitt was one of the drivers that went to the outside to avoid Sieg. Many others dove to the bottom of the track.

There were concerns over the radio of Cole Custer under caution. He said that his car was running hot. The team tried to diagnose the issue as he circled the track in 15th, ultimately deciding to keep him out on the track.

The caution has brought stage 2 at Martinsville to an early halt.

Layne Riggs and Cole Custer were the cause of the caution. Custer made contact with Riggs while trying to pass on the inside to get back in the top 20. He got in the dirt and then the contact sent Riggs spinning around.

There were concerns on Custer’s team about a potential tire rub. They examined the No. 00 under caution and determined that there were not any issues.

Justin Allgaier, who was racing right behind Custer, was able to avoid the incident. He kept moving forward without sustaining damage.

Sammy Smith was in the lead at the time of the caution with Myatt Snider behind him. Chandler Smith, Josh Berry and Riley Herbst were all running inside the top five.

Justin Allgaier has won the opening stage at Martinsville Speedway.

Allgaier inherited the lead from Sammy Smith, who pitted for fresh tires, after the caution flew on Lap 40. He then held off John Hunter Nemechek on the final restart of the stage and went on to score 10 points.

Cole Custer, Nemechek, Austin Hill, Smith, Anthony Alfredo, Riley Herbst, Myatt Snider, Chandler Smith, and Josh Bilicki all scored stage points.

Sheldon Creed in 11th and Sam Mayer in 30th were the two playoff drivers that missed out on stage points. This doesn’t matter for either driver. Creed is in a must-win situation. Mayer already has a spot in the Championship 4.

Brandon Jones had an issue on the final laps of the stage. Contact from another car led to a left front tire rub on the No. 9. He was able to make it to the end of the stage without blowing his tire.

The first stage of the Martinsville race has seen two early caution flags.

Kyle Sieg was the cause for the second yellow on Saturday. He slammed into the Turn 2 wall and came to a stop against the outside wall. He exited his car and made the mandatory trip to the infield care center.

One playoff driver sustained damage to his car during the caution. Sam Mayer slammed into the rear bumper of Josh Bilicki under yellow. This crumpled the front of Mayer’s car and made him head down pit road.

Mayer is the only driver with a spot in the Championship 4. He won last week at Homestead to punch his ticket.

The caution forced drivers to make an early decision. Some headed down pit road, such as Sammy Smith, Riley Herbst, Layne Riggs, Brandon Jones, Kaz Grala and Sheldon Creed.

Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, John Hunter Nemechek and several others stayed out on the track to shoot for stage points.

Sammy Smith started on pole at Martinsville Speedway. He continued to lead the way after a caution on Lap 5 and then he started putting drivers one lap down.

Graf was the first to fall victim to Smith as he fell another lap down on Lap 28. He had lost several laps after bringing out the caution on Lap 5. Devin Jones was next, followed by Akinori Ogata.

Smith’s No. 18 sustained minor damage as he passed Jones on the inside. He made contact with the No. 07 before completing the pass.

Smith was not the only driver that moved Jones while passing him. Justin Allgaier and John Hunter Nemechek also had to do so as they attempted to chase down Smith.

The first caution of the day has occurred at Martinsville Speedway.

Joe Graf Jr. was the cause. He spun in Turn 2 on Lap 5 and came to a stop in the middle of the track. He had a flat tire on the No. 38.

The rest of the field had to check up as the caution waved. Sammy Smith was in the lead at the time of the incident after starting from pole. Justin Allgaier was second, Cole Custer was third, John Hunter Nemechek was fourth and Riley Herbst was fifth.

Ryan Ellis and Jeb Burton both used the early caution as an opportunity to head back to their pit stalls. The rest of the field remained out on the track.

The green flag is in the air at Martinsville Speedway!

Sammy Smith led the field to the green flag with Justin Allgaier on his outside. Once the green flag waved, he used a big jump to clear Allgaier for the lead.

Cole Custer immediately began pressuring Allgaier for second while John Hunter Nemechek and Riley Herbst battled behind him.

There was a close call for playoff driver Austin Hill. He got loose off of Turn 2 and then slid after minor contact from Myatt Snider.

Three drivers enter the weekend in must-win situations. Sammy Smith is 49 points out of a transfer spot to the Championship 4. Chandler Smith is 54 points out of a transfer spot. Sheldon Creed is 65 points out of a transfer spot.

Sammy Smith, who starts from pole after Friday’s qualifying session, finished second during this season’s spring race at Martinsville. This was his second career start at the short track.

Creed has three Xfinity starts at Martinsville. He finished 30th in last season’s spring race and 27th in this season’s spring race. Creed’s best finish is second in last season’s playoff race.

Chandler Smith only has one career start at Martinsville. He finished 10th in this season’s spring race.

Other storylines to watch:

--Justin Allgaier enters the race three points out of a transfer spot to the Championship 4. He has an easier path forward than the three other drivers below the cutline. Allgaier also has the most experience out of this group.

The Xfinity veteran has six career starts at Martinsville. The track was not part of the Xfinity schedule between 2006 and 2020. Allgaier has finished top 10 in five of these races and top five in three of them. This includes last season’s playoff race when he scored 17 stage points before finishing fifth.

--Austin Hill enters the race three points ahead of Allgaier and the cutline. He has an opportunity to reach the Championship 4 for the first time in his Xfinity career but will have to do so with a different person calling the shots.

Crew chief Andy Street will miss the race while serving a suspension for loose lug nuts at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In his place will be Mike Shiplett, Richard Childress Racing’s Xfinity competition director. Shiplett has considerable success in the series with 24 wins. This includes a seven-win season with Cole Custer in 2019.

Sammy Smith will lead the field to the green flag on Saturday afternoon at Martinsville.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver will start from pole for the first time in his national series career as he seeks a win that will put him in the Championship 4.

Justin Allgaier, who is three points below the cutline, will start the playoff race second. Cole Custer, who is three points above Allgaier, will line up third. Riley Herbst and John Hunter Nemechek (+44) will round out the top five.

Chandler Smith in seventh, Sheldon Creed in eighth, and Austin Hill in ninth are other playoff drivers inside of the top 10.

Sam Mayer in 17th is the only playoff driver starting outside the top 10. Mayer is the only driver with a spot in the Championship 4.