Only one race remains in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 8, and only two spots remain in the Championship 4 after JR Motorsports did just enough on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.
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Neither Connor Zilisch nor Justin Allgaier won at the 2.66-mile Alabama track — Austin Hill swept the race — but they pointed their way into the Championship 4. One driver just had a much smoother day than the other.
Allgaier scored 18 stage points, kept out of trouble, and crossed the finish line in third place. This helped him lock up 52 points, the second-most in the field. He had entered Talladega Superspeedway with a 44-point cushion to the cutline, so this performance gave him enough points to lock up a spot in Phoenix.
Now, Allgaier has an opportunity to defend his title in his final race with crew chief Jim Pohlman, who moves to the Cup Series and Kyle Busch next season.
The last chance to make the #Championship4 comes at @MartinsvilleSwy. pic.twitter.com/cYMnOzy9Xq
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) October 18, 2025
Zilisch, for comparison, started the day well. He headed to the grid with an 82-point cushion to the cutline and then he pushed that number well over 100 after finishing fourth in the opening stage.
However, his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet sustained damage in an incident that also collected William Sawalich, Connor Mosack, Blaine Perkins, and Leland Honeyman.
Zilisch continued in the race, but he dealt with tires issues. The right-front damage on his Chevrolet led to multiple trips down pit road, including once with 23 laps left in the race. Zilisch crossed the line in 23rd place and three laps behind the leader in what was his first finish worse than fifth since a crash at Talladega in the spring.
The series win leader still left the playoff race at Talladega with an 83-point cushion to the cutline. The maximum number of points available in any race is 60 — 61 if a driver gets the Xfinity Fastest Lap — so it would be impossible for Zilisch to fall below the cutline at Martinsville Speedway.
With two JR Motorsports drivers taking two spots, only two spots remain in the Championship 4. Richard Childress Racing driver Jesse Love currently sits in the best position at 40 points above the cutline. JR Motorsports driver Carson Kvapil is 11 points to the good.
Sammy Smith, the fourth JR Motorsports driver in the playoffs, is the first driver below the cutline. He is 11 points out of a Championship 4 spot after finishing ninth at Talladega.
The other three drivers below the cutline are Brandon Jones (-20), Sam Mayer (-22), and Sheldon Creed (-41). All three drivers were involved in a stage 1 crash that brought out the first red flag of the day.
Creed and Mayer could not continue while Jones finished 26th and 16 laps behind the leaders after extensive time on pit road for repairs.
"Just a product of this racing unfortunately," Jones said after the race. "We'll go to Martinsville. I think it's got to be our top three best tracks that the 20 team can compete at, and I can compete at. I like our chances going into it.
"I wish Las Vegas and this one would've gone a little bit differently, but there's going to be a storyline at the end of this thing and there's going to be somebody that gets in off of a win. I feel like our team is capable of doing it."
