April 19, 2025 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Sammy Smith handed Xfinity Series win at Rockingham after Love DQ

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Long after the checkered flag waved in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ long-awaited return to Rockingham Speedway, Sammy Smith’s 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 have violated Rule 14.14.2.I-5.h which covers trailing arm spacers and pinion angle shims.

“All mating surfaces of those parts need to be in complete contact with each other, and unfortunately they violated that rule and were disqualified,” said series director Eric Peterson.

The disqualification of Love’s 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.

“It’s a tough way to win that, but I feel like we’ll take ‘em any way we can get ‘em,” Smith said after learning of Love’s disqualification. “We waited here to see what happens, but overall, it was a good day, and I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made recently.

“I’m kind of speechless, to be honest with you.”

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.

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.

Before the infraction was discovered, Love was ecstatic to win at “The Rock.”

“Oh, my gosh, these fans are amazing,” 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. “What an amazing race track. Man, this race track’s right in my alley. It’s hammer down—you’ve got to be in the gas good today.

“I had such an incredible car… (On the final restart) I don’t know if I hit him (Smith) or if he stumbled… I had to get it done—we had too good of a piece.”

Unfortunately, the fastest car on Saturday couldn’t pass post-race inspection.

In a race that featured 14 cautions for 83 laps—with nine yellows occurring in the final stage—Parker 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.

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

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.

That wreck ruined the Dash 4 Cash hopes of the three other contenders for the bonus, Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil and Brandon Jones.

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.

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.

Fans who came to Rockingham anticipating a show weren’t 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.

Katherine Legge’s sixth Xfinity Series start—and her first since 2023 at Road America—came to an early end on Lap 52, when hard contact from William Sawalich turned her No. 53 Chevrolet sideways in Turn 1.

Unable to avoid Legge’s 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’s Camaro up the track into the outside wall, eliminating her from the race.

Legge had failed to qualify during time trials earlier in the day, but she arranged to take over JJ Yeley’s 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.

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.

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.


NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 10
Race Results for the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by
Black?s Tire - Saturday, April 19, 2025
Rockingham Speedway - Rockingham, NC - 0.94 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 256 Laps - 240.64 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 4/19/2025 @ 10:20 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 13 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 256   40 Running 1 9 5
2 2 4 Parker Retzlaff Scentsy Chevrolet 256 2  44 Running 
3 29 25 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 256   34 Running 
4 28 44 Brennan Poole Macc Door Systems Chevrolet 256   33 Running 
5 15 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 256  9 34 Running 
6 10 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 256   31 Running 
7 21 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 256   30 Running 
8 22 27 Jeb Burton CELSIUS Chevrolet 256 5 2 44 Running 
9 27 10 Daniel Dye # Champion Container Chevrolet 256   28 Running 
10 16 51 Jeremy Clements Harrison's Chevrolet 256 9 3 37 Running 
11 18 26 Dean Thompson # Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 256  1 36 Running 1 11 1
12 6 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Barracuda Toyota 256 10 6 31 Running 2 6
13 1 88 Connor Zilisch # WeatherTech Chevrolet 256   24 Running 
14 4 33 Kasey Kahne HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 256   23 Running 
15 34 42 Anthony Alfredo Randco Chevrolet 256 4 5 35 Running 
16 25 1 Carson Kvapil # Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet 256 7 7 29 Running 2 47
17 26 91 Josh Bilicki Insurance King Chevrolet 256   20 Running 
18 12 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 256 3  27 Running 2 77
19 37 07 Patrick Emerling Firman Power Equipment Chevrolet 256   18 Running 
20 35 28 Kyle Sieg Night Owl Companies Ford 256 6 8 25 Running 
21 8 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 254   16 Running 
22 33 14 Garrett Smithley Molly Strong Chevrolet 253   15 Running 
23 9 16 Christian Eckes # Black's Tire Chevrolet 252   14 Running 1 1
24 36 45 Vicente Salas Miramar Financial Group Chevrolet 251   13 Running 
25 5 18 William Sawalich # Soundgear Toyota 248   12 Running 
26 11 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Ford 247  10 12 Accident 
27 14 99 Matt DiBenedetto Viking Motorsports Chevrolet 247 8 4 20 Accident 
28 30 5 Kris Wright First National Bank Corp Chevrolet 247   9 Accident 
29 20 70 Thomas Annunziata Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet 246   8 Suspension 
30 32 87 Austin Green OVERPLAY Chevrolet 241   7 Accident 
31 3 48 Nick Sanchez # Big Machine Vodka Spiked Chevrolet 240 1  16 Accident 2 52 1
32 24 31 Blaine Perkins Opti-Coat/KSDT CPA Chevrolet 226   5 Accident 
33 23 71 Ryan Ellis Southern Elevator Chevrolet 180   4 Accident 
34 38 35 Greg Van Alst CB Fabricating Chevrolet 171   3 Brakes 
35 17 00 Sheldon Creed Road Ranger Ford 109   2 Accident 
36 31 53 Katherine Legge(i) Ace Hardware Rock Hill Chevrolet 50   0 Accident 
37 7 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 256   2 Running 6 53
38 19 19 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Toyota 157   1 Accident 

Fastest Lap Bonus:  # lap 156 / 23.267
2                                                                   

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 59 Mins, 38 Secs. Average Speed: 80.377 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.691 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 48, 4, 39, 42, 27, 28, 1, 99, 51, 20
Stage 2 Top 10: 26, 27, 51, 99, 42, 20, 1, 28, 54, 41

Race Comments: Jesse Love has won the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black?s Tire at Rockingham Speedway, his third career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: No. 35: engine change, No. 42:?unapproved adjustment, No. 53:?Driver Change, No. 88:?Unapproved adjustments.

Failed to Qualify: (2) 32 Katherine Legge(i), 74 Dawson Cram.

Caution Flags: 14 for 83 laps; Laps: 14-17 (#45 Incident Backstretch [None]); 53-58 (#18, 33, 53 Incident Turn 1 [14]); 62-70 (Stage 1 Conclusion [35]); 110-117 (#00, 19 Incident Turn 4 [14]); 122-128 (Stage 2 Conclusion [39]); 130-134 (#11, 18 Incident Turn 4 [33]); 139-143 (#35 Spin Turn 2 [88]); 149-153 (#07 Incident Backstretch [88]); 159-164 (#19 Incident Backstretch [07]); 182-188 (#28, 51, 71 Incident Backstretch [14]); 228-232 (#31 Incident Turn 4 [07]); 236-240 (#10, 33, 91 Incident Turn 3 [28]); 242-246 (#1, 7, 16, 20, 39, 48 Incident Turn 1 [Red Flag: 2:59] [28]); 249-254 (#27, 88 Incident Turn 2 [Red Flag: 5:38] [39]).

Lead Changes: 17 among 8 drivers; 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.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: April 26, 2025 - Talladega Superspeedway

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875


NASCAR Xfinity Series Points Report
Rockingham Speedway
North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black?s Tire

UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 4/19/2025 @ 10:21 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL

Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Justin Allgaier 7 10 0 411 0 0 2 3 13
2. Sam Mayer 41 10 0 324 -87 87 0 1 1
3. Austin Hill 21 10 -1 311 -100 13 2 4 14
4. Jesse Love 2 10 1 288 -123 23 1 0 5
5. Carson Kvapil # 1 10 -1 286 -125 2 0 0 0
6. Brandon Jones 20 10 -1 284 -127 2 1 0 5
7. Connor Zilisch # 88 10 2 284 -127 0 1 2 7
8. Sammy Smith 8 10 -2 281 -130 3 1 1 6
9. Ryan Sieg 39 10 0 277 -134 4 0 0 0
10. Sheldon Creed 00 10 2 254 -157 23 0 0 0
11. Jeb Burton 27 10 -2 251 -160 3 0 0 0
12. Harrison Burton 25 10 0 243 -168 8 0 2 2
13. Daniel Dye # 10 10 2 240 -171 3 0 0 0
14. Taylor Gray # 54 10 -2 223 -188 17 0 0 0
15. Dean Thompson # 26 10 -3 220 -191 3 0 1 1
16. Christian Eckes # 16 10 2 218 -193 2 0 0 0
17. Nick Sanchez # 48 10 2 218 -193 0 0 1 1
18. Brennan Poole 44 10 -1 200 -211 18 0 0 0
19. Jeremy Clements 51 10 -2 197 -214 3 0 0 0
20. Josh Williams 11 10 0 193 -218 4 0 0 0
21. Aric Almirola  4 4 186 -225 7 1 1 0
22. Parker Retzlaff 4 9 0 185 -226 1 0 0 0
23. Anthony Alfredo 42 10 -3 155 -256 30 0 0 0
24. Matt DiBenedetto 99 10 0 147 -264 8 0 0 0
25. William Sawalich # 18 10 2 143 -268 4 0 0 0
26. Kyle Sieg 28 10 -2 136 -275 7 0 0 0
27. Ryan Ellis 71 10 2 126 -285 10 0 0 0
28. Blaine Perkins 31 10 1 124 -287 2 0 0 0
29. Josh Bilicki 91 7 -1 101 -310 23 0 0 0
30. Kris Wright 5 10 1 93 -318 8 0 0 0
31. Garrett Smithley 14 9 0 93 -318 0 0 0 0
32. Leland Honeyman  5 0 65 -346 28 0 0 0
33. Joey Gase  5 0 59 -352 6 0 0 0
34. Patrick Emerling 07 4 -2 58 -353 1 0 0 0
35. Justin Bonsignore 19 4 1 54 -357 4 0 0 0
36. Mason Massey  5 1 45 -366 9 0 0 0
37. Nick Leitz  3 0 32 -379 13 0 0 0
38. Greg Van Alst 35 7 -2 31 -380 1 0 0 0
39. Jordan Anderson  1 1 30 -381 1 0 0 0
40. Alex Labbe  2 1 30 -381 0 0 0 0
41. Thomas Annunziata 70 4 -5 26 -385 4 0 0 0
42. Caesar Bacarella  1 1 24 -387 2 0 0 0
43. Kasey Kahne 33 1 43 23 -388 1 0 0 0
44. Brad Perez  2 2 23 -388 0 0 0 0
45. Patrick Staropoli  1 2 21 -390 2 0 0 0
46. Mason Maggio  4 2 21 -390 0 0 0 0
47. Ryan Truex  1 2 20 -391 1 0 0 0
48. Austin Green 87 3 -1 19 -392 1 0 0 0
49. Corey Day  1 2 16 -395 3 0 0 0
50. Cj Mclaughlin  2 2 16 -395 0 0 0 0
51. Vicente Salas 45 1 51 13 -398 3 0 0 0
52. Carson Ware  2 2 12 -399 1 0 0 0
53. David Starr  1 2 11 -400 1 0 0 0
54. Myatt Snider  2 2 11 -400 0 0 0 0
55. Dawson Cram  2 2 7 -404 4 0 0 0
56. Sage Karam  1 2 5 -406 2 0 0 0
57. Preston Pardus  1 2 1 -410 4 0 0 0
58. Baltazar Leguizam?n  1 2 1 -410 0 0 0 0
59. Kyle Larson(i)  2 2 0 -411 1 1 2 0
60. William Byron(i)  1 2 0 -411 0 0 1 0
61. Alex Bowman(i)  1 2 0 -411 0 0 1 0
62. Chase Elliott(i)  1 2 0 -411 0 0 0 0
63. Ross Chastain(i)  2 2 0 -411 0 0 0 0
64. Corey Heim(i)  3 2 0 -411 0 0 0 0
65. Riley Herbst(i)  1 2 0 -411 0 0 0 0
66. Christopher Bell(i)  1 2 0 -411 0 0 0 0
67. Katherine Legge(i) 53 1 67 0 -411 0 0 0 0
68. Carson Hocevar(i)  1 3 0 -411 0 0 0 0
69. Tyler Tomassi  0 3 0 -411 0 0 0 0
70. Jj Yeley(i)  0 3 0 -411 0 0 0 0

-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series