Benefitting from Sage Karam’s crash with three laps remaining in last Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, Sammy Smith advanced to the Round of 8 despite a late pit stop because of a deteriorating right-front tire.
Karam’s caution allowed the No. 8 Chevrolet to receive service and remain on the lead lap, finishing three spots behind winner Connor Zilisch, who claimed his 10th win at the 17-turn, 2.28-mile track.
Smith, who rallied from 14 points below the elimination line, edged Taylor Gray by one playoff point and will continue his title quest at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend.
“Probably gonna go home and cry myself to sleep,” Gray sarcastically said, as reported by NASCAR.com. “It is what it is.”
Zilisch opens the third round of the playoffs 57 points above the cutoff line. Smith starts minus-seven.
Reset for a new round at @LVMotorSpeedway. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/1fd3lnRZYe
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) October 5, 2025
NASCAR National Series Weekend Schedule
Here is a list of NASCAR National Series events this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (All Times ET):
Saturday
- 2 p.m.: Xfinity Series practice
- 3:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series qualifying
- 4:30 p.m.: Cup Series practice
- 5:40 p.m.: Cup Series qualifying
- 7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Focused Health 302 race
Sunday
- 5:30 p.m.: Cup Series South Point 400 race
The #FocusedHealth302 is one week from today! There's still time to grab your tickets! ⤵️
🎟️ https://t.co/yoBMYLyxzu pic.twitter.com/0PsqUIhOfJ
— Las Vegas Motor Speedway (@LVMotorSpeedway) October 4, 2025
NASCAR Xfinity Series Focused Health 302 Entry List
NASCAR Xfinity Series officials released the entry list for Saturday’s Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
Entry, Driver, Car No.
- 1, Sheldon Creed, No. 00 Ford
- 2, Carson Kvapil, No. 1 Chevrolet
- 3, Jesse Love, No. 2 Chevrolet
- 4, Parker Retzlaff, No. 4 Chevrolet
- 5, Nick Leitz, No. 07 Chevrolet
- 6, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Chevrolet
- 7, Sammy Smith, No. 8 Chevrolet
- 8, Daniel Dye, No. 10 Chevrolet
- 9, Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Chevrolet
- 10, Garrett Smithley, No. 14 Chevrolet
- 11, Christian Eckes, No. 16 Chevrolet
- 12, Corey Day, No. 17 Chevrolet
- 13, William Sawalich, No. 18 Toyota
- 14, Aric Almirola, No. 19 Toyota
- 15, Brandon Jones, No. 20 Toyota
- 16, Austin Hill, No. 21 Chevrolet
- 17, Trevor Bayne, No. 24 Toyota
- 18, Harrison Burton, No. 25 Ford
- 19, Dean Thompson, No. 26 Toyota
- 20, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Chevrolet
- 21, Kyle Sieg, No. 28 Ford
- 22, Blaine Perkins, No. 31 Chevrolet
- 23, Austin Green, No. 32 Chevrolet
- 24, Mason Maggio, No. 35 Toyota
- 25, Kyle Sieg, No. 39 Ford
- 26, Sam Mayer, No. 41 Ford
- 27, Anthony Alfredo, No. 42 Chevrolet
- 28, Brennan Poole, No. 44 Chevrolet
- 29, Mason Massey, No. 45 Chevrolet
- 30, Nicholas Sanchez, No. 48 Chevrolet
- 31, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Chevrolet
- 32, Joey Gase, No. 53 Ford
- 33, Taylor Gray, No. 54 Toyota
- 34, Thomas Annunziala, No. 70 Chevrolet
- 35, Ryan Ellis, No. 71 Chevrolet
- 36, Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Chevrolet
- 37, Myatt Snider, No. 91 Chevrolet
- 38, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 99 Chevrolet
Mark your calendars. 📆
NASCAR returns to Las Vegas twice in 2026! pic.twitter.com/6KIm92GcF6
— Las Vegas Motor Speedway (@LVMotorSpeedway) August 20, 2025
