{"id":51008,"date":"2025-04-19T23:43:34","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T04:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=51008"},"modified":"2025-04-21T14:58:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T19:58:42","slug":"sammy-smith-wins-wild-return-to-rockingham-speed-after-jesse-loves-dq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/19\/sammy-smith-wins-wild-return-to-rockingham-speed-after-jesse-loves-dq\/","title":{"rendered":"Sammy Smith wins wild return to Rockingham Speed after Jesse Love\u2019s DQ"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jesse Love, driver of the #2 Whelen Chevrolet, celebrates with crew chief Danny Stockman Jr., in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black’s Tire at Rockingham Speedway on April 19, 2025 in Rockingham, North Carolina. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

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By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

ROCKINGHAM, N.C.\u2014Long after the checkered flag waved in the NASCAR Xfinity Series\u2019 long-awaited return to Rockingham Speedway, Sammy Smith\u2019s fortunes improved dramatically.<\/p>\n

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Jesse Love, driver of the #2 Whelen Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black’s Tire at Rockingham Speedway on April 19, 2025 in Rockingham, North Carolina. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Smith was awarded the victory in the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 after the No. 2 Chevrolet of ostensible race winner Jesse Love was deemed to have violated Rule 14.14.2.I-5.h which covers trailing arm spacers and pinion angle shims.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll mating surfaces of those parts need to be in complete contact with each other, and unfortunately they violated that rule and were disqualified,\u201d said series director Eric Peterson.<\/p>\n

The disqualification of Love\u2019s car gave Smith his first victory of the season and the third of his career, as well as a $100,000 bonus as the winner of the final Xfinity Dash 4 Cash race of the season.<\/p>\n

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Jesse Love, driver of the #2 Whelen Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black’s Tire at Rockingham Speedway on April 19, 2025 in Rockingham, North Carolina. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough way to win that, but I feel like we\u2019ll take \u2018em any way we can get \u2018em,\u201d Smith said after learning of Love\u2019s disqualification. \u201cWe waited here to see what happens, but overall, it was a good day, and I\u2019m very happy with the progress we\u2019ve made recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m kind of speechless, to be honest with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Love climbed from his car at the finish line, the No. 2 Camaro rolled away from him down the banking and into the infield grass. Perhaps that was an omen of problems to come.<\/p>\n

Love had just done a celebratory burnout after a magnificent restart in overtime propelled him to the apparent victory. He finished 0.691m seconds ahead of Smith, but the margin was negated by the infraction, and the win went to the driver of the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

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Jesse Love, driver of the #2 Whelen Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black’s Tire at Rockingham Speedway on April 19, 2025 in Rockingham, North Carolina. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Before the infraction was discovered, Love was ecstatic to win at \u201cThe Rock.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, my gosh, these fans are amazing,\u201d said Love, who was all but drowned out by the cheers from the onlookers, who celebrated the return of the Xfinity Series to Rockingham for the first time since 2004. \u201cWhat an amazing race track. Man, this race track\u2019s right in my alley. It\u2019s hammer down\u2014you\u2019ve got to be in the gas good today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had such an incredible car\u2026 (On the final restart) I don\u2019t know if I hit him (Smith) or if he stumbled\u2026 I had to get it done\u2014we had too good of a piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

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William Sawalich, driver of the #18 Soundgear Toyota, Jesse Love, driver of the #2 Whelen Chevrolet, and Kasey Kahne, driver of the #33 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black’s Tire at Rockingham Speedway on April 19, 2025 in Rockingham, North Carolina. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Unfortunately, the fastest car on Saturday couldn\u2019t pass post-race inspection.<\/p>\n

In a race that featured 14 cautions for 83 laps\u2014with nine yellows occurring in the final stage\u2014Parker Retzlaff ran second, a career best; Harrison Burton was third, giving AM Racing its best-ever Xfinity Series finish; and Brennan Poole came home fourth, scoring his second top five in the last four races.<\/p>\n

Sunoco rookie Taylor Gray completed the top five. Austin Hill, Josh Williams, Jeb Burton, Daniel Dye and Jeremy Clements finished sixth through 10th respectively.<\/p>\n

Ryan Sieg led a race-high 77 laps, battling Love for the lead in the final stage, but was collected in a massive Lap 241 crash when Christian Eckes ran short of fuel on a restart and backed up the field behind him.<\/p>\n

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Kasey Kahne, driver of the #33 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, and Brandon Jones, driver of the #20 Menards\/Barracuda Toyota, lead the field during the NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black’s Tire at Rockingham Speedway on April 19, 2025 in Rockingham, North Carolina. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

That wreck ruined the Dash 4 Cash hopes of the three other contenders for the bonus, Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil and Brandon Jones.<\/p>\n

Nick Sanchez was out front for 52 circuits, including the first 44 of the race, but he, too, fell victim to the Lap 241 crash, which forced the first of two red-flag periods.<\/p>\n

Carson Kvapil led 47 laps in the second stage as he and Love fought for the lead. Sanchez won Stage 1, and Dean Thompson scored the first-ever stage win for Sam Hunt Racing in Stage 2.<\/p>\n

Fans who came to Rockingham anticipating a show weren\u2019t disappointed. A workable second groove opened above the bottom lane, and drivers were even able to roll three-wide through the corners on occasion, though some of the attempts to do so produced regrettable outcomes.<\/p>\n

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A general view of racing during the NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black’s Tire at Rockingham Speedway on April 19, 2025 in Rockingham, North Carolina. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Katherine Legge\u2019s sixth Xfinity Series start\u2014and her first since 2023 at Road America\u2014came to an early end on Lap 52, when hard contact from William Sawalich turned her No. 53 Chevrolet sideways in Turn 1.<\/p>\n

Unable to avoid Legge\u2019s spinning car, Kasey Kahne, making his first start in the series since 2017, sustained damage to the right front of his No. 33 Chevrolet, with the blow sending Legge\u2019s Camaro up the track into the outside wall, eliminating her from the race.<\/p>\n

Legge had failed to qualify during time trials earlier in the day, but she arranged to take over JJ Yeley\u2019s ride and started from the rear because of the driver change. She had already been lapped by then-leader Jesse Love when the accident occurred.<\/p>\n

Kahne had to pit for repairs to the nose of his car and lost a lap in the process, but he recovered to finish 14th.<\/p>\n

The No. 19 Toyota of Justin Bonsignore also was disqualified for lug nuts not installed in a safe and secure manner. Bonsignore had finished 36th of 38 drivers before the disqualification.<\/p>\n

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black\u2019s Tire<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rockingham Speedway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rockingham, North Carolina<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday, April 19, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

                1. (13)  Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 256.<\/p>\n

                2. (2)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 256.<\/p>\n

                3. (29)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 256.<\/p>\n

                4. (28)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 256.<\/p>\n

                5. (15)  Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 256.<\/p>\n

                6. (10)  Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 256.<\/p>\n

                7. (21)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 256.<\/span><\/p>\n

                8. (22)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 256.<\/span><\/p>\n

                9. (27)  Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 256.<\/span><\/p>\n

                10. (16)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 256.<\/span><\/p>\n

                11. (18)  Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 256.<\/span><\/p>\n

                12. (6)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 256.<\/span><\/p>\n

                13. (1)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 256.<\/span><\/p>\n

                14. (4)  Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 256.<\/span><\/p>\n

                15. (34)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 256.<\/span><\/p>\n

                16. (25)  Carson Kvapil #, Chevrolet, 256.<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>17. (26)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 256.<\/p>\n

                18. (12)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 256.<\/p>\n

                19. (37)  Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 256.<\/p>\n

                20. (35)  Kyle Sieg, Ford, 256.<\/p>\n

                21. (8)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 254.<\/p>\n

                22. (33)  Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 253.<\/p>\n

                23. (9)  Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 252.<\/span><\/p>\n

                24. (36)  Vicente Salas, Chevrolet, 251.<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>25. (5)  William Sawalich #, Toyota, 248.<\/p>\n

                26. (11)  Sam Mayer, Ford, Accident, 247.<\/p>\n

                27. (14)  Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, Accident, 247.<\/p>\n

                28. (30)  Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Accident, 247.<\/p>\n

                29. (20)  Thomas Annunziata, Chevrolet, Suspension, 246.<\/span><\/p>\n

                30. (32)  Austin Green, Chevrolet, Accident, 241.<\/span><\/p>\n

                31. (3)  Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, Accident, 240.<\/span><\/p>\n

                32. (24)  Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, Accident, 226.<\/span><\/p>\n

                33. (23)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Accident, 180.<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>34. (38)  Greg Van Alst, Chevrolet, Brakes, 171.<\/p>\n

                35. (17)  Sheldon Creed, Ford, Accident, 109.<\/p>\n

                36. (31)  Katherine Legge(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 50.<\/p>\n

                37. (7)  Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 256.<\/span><\/p>\n

                38. (19)  Justin Bonsignore, Toyota, Accident, 157.<\/span><\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  80.377 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 59 Mins, 38 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.691 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  14 for 83 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  17 among 8 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   C. Zilisch # 0;N. Sanchez # 1-44;J. Love 45-56;N. Sanchez # 57-64;C. Kvapil # 65-102;J. Love 103;C. Kvapil # 104-112;D. Thompson # 113-123;B. Jones 124-128;J. Love 129-133;B. Jones 134;J. Love 135-160;R. Sieg 161-187;C. Eckes # 188;R. Sieg 189-238;J. Love 239-245;S. Smith 246-254;J. Love 255-256.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Ryan Sieg 2 times for 77 laps; Jesse Love 6 times for 53 laps; Nick Sanchez # 2 times for 52 laps; Carson Kvapil # 2 times for 47 laps; Dean Thompson # 1 time for 11 laps; Sammy Smith 1 time for 9 laps; Brandon Jones 2 times for 6 laps; Christian Eckes # 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 48,4,39,42,27,28,1,99,51,20<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 26,27,51,99,42,20,1,28,54,41<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service ROCKINGHAM, N.C.\u2014Long after the checkered flag waved in the NASCAR Xfinity Series\u2019 long-awaited return to Rockingham Speedway, Sammy Smith\u2019s fortunes improved dramatically. Smith was awarded the victory in the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 after the No. 2 Chevrolet of ostensible race winner Jesse Love was deemed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":51011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[16,181,1003,1004],"class_list":["post-51008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-xfinity-series","tag-rockingham-speedway","tag-sammy-smith"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2211054065-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1706&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-dgI","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51008"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51023,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51008\/revisions\/51023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}