Copyright yardbarker
Taylor Gray erased the heartbreaks over his previous two outcomes at Martinsville Speedway by scoring redemption in the form of a first NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory in the IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250 on Saturday, October 25. The 20-year-old Gray from Artesia, New Mexico, led the final 52 of 253 over-scheduled laps. After qualifying in 13th place, he methodically carved his way to the front. While battling a bevy of Playoff competitors and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Gray assumed the lead for the first time during a late-race restart with 49 laps remaining. Despite having his steady advantage stalled three times for the duration of the event, including a late-race caution with four laps remaining that sent the event into overtime, Gray executed with a strong launch during the overtime attempt. He then had enough horsepower to both steer and maintain his entry ahead of the competition for two laps to achieve his first breakthrough victory across NASCAR’s top-three national touring series. With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Harrison Burton notched his first Xfinity career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 95.429 mph in 19.843 seconds. Joining Burton on the front row was rookie Carson Kvapil, the highest-starting Playoff contender and the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 95.405 mph in 19.848 seconds. Prior to the event, Championship 4 finalist Connor Zilisch and Anthony Alfredo dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Harrison Burton used the inside lane to launch ahead of Carson Kvapil and the field entering the first turn. Through the first two turns, Aric Almirola made a move beneath Kvapil and challenged the latter for the runner-up spot. As Almirola dueled with Kvapil before he muscled ahead of the latter for the runner-up spot in Turn 4, Burton proceeded to lead the first lap. Over the next four laps, Burton maintained a lead that stood to two-tenths of a second over Almirola. Justin Allgaier, Kvapil and Sheldon Creed followed suit in the top five, respectively. Behind, Ryan Sieg, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones and Taylor Gray trailed in the top 10, respectively, as Burton retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Almirola on the 10th lap. Through the first 25-scheduled laps, Almirola, who assumed the lead from Burton on Lap 17, was leading by more than a second over Allgaier while Burton dropped to third place. Ryan Sieg and Queen followed suit in the top five ahead of Creed, Jones, Gray, Kvapil and Sammy Smith, while Justin Bonsignore, Jeb Burton, Austin Hill, Christian Eckes and Brennan Poole pursued in the top 150, respectively. Playoff contenders Jesse Love and Sam Mayer were racing in 17th and 19th, respectively, while Connor Zilisch was mired in 29th. Six laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Myatt Snider spun in Turn 2. During the caution, some led by Almirola and including Allgaier, Burton, Ryan Sieg, Creed, Brandon Jones, Gray, Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Hill and Love pitted their respective entries for the first time while the rest led by Queen remained on the track. During the pit stops, Love and Nick Sanchez were sent to the tail end of the field for speeding on pit road. The start of the next restart on Lap 38 featured Queen leading the field while Mayer bumped and moved Jeb Burton up the racing groove entering Turn 1, which enabled Mayer to move into the runner-up spot. Queen proceeded to extend his lead to a second by Lap 45 while Mayer, Allgaier, Eckes and Daniel Dye trailed in the top five. Following the event’s second caution that flew on Lap 45 when Connor Mosack spun through Turns 3 and 4, the event restarted under green with eight laps remaining in the first stage period. At the start, Queen maintained the lead over Mayer while Allgaier, Eckes and Jones followed suit. Queen proceeded to lead the next lap before Mayer overtook the latter and assumed the top spot. Mayer proceeded to lead through Lap 57 before Allgaier assumed the lead. When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Allgaier captured his 14th Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Almirola followed suit in second ahead of Queen, Jones and Mayer. Zilisch, Harrison Burton, Eckes, Creed and Corey Day completed the top 10. With five of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points by finishing in the top 10 on the track, the remaining three, which included Kvapil, Sammy Smith and Love, were mired in 11th, 15th and 25th, respectively. Under the first stage break period, a handful of competitors led by the leader Queen and including Eckes, Mayer, Dye, Parker Retzlaff and Garrett Smithley pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. The second stage period started on Lap 72 as Allgaier and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier used the inside lane to muscle ahead of Jones through the first two turns. As Allgaier proceeded to lead just past the Lap 75 mark, Jones fiercely fended off teammate Almirola for the runner-up spot while Zilisch and Harrison Burton battled for fourth place in front of Corey Day, Creed, Kvapil and Anthony Alfredo. At the Lap 80 mark, Allgaier was leading by a tenth of a second over Jones while Almirola, Harrison Burton and Zilisch followed suit in the top five ahead of Creed, Kvapil, Gray, Corey Day and Ryan Sieg, respectively. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith, Love and Mayer were mired in 12th, 19th and 29th, respectively. Ten laps later, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Almirola, the latter of whom overtook teammate Jones for the spot. Another lap later, the caution flew when Jeb Burton spun through the first two turns. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier pitted for service while the rest led by Kvapil and including Mayer remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Love received a second penalty, this time for an equipment interference. When the race restarted under green on Lap 98. Kvapil fended off Queen to lead the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field behind jostled and fanned out for positions, Kvapil, who was pursuing stage points to maintain his advantage above the top-four cutline to make the Championship 4 round, proceeded to lead the next lap and the Lap 100 mark. By Lap 110, Kvapil continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Queen as Eckes, Mayer, Allgaier, Anthony Alfredo, Gray, Sanchez, Jones and Almirola followed suit in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Creed was scored in 11th place and racing three spots ahead of Sammy Smith, while Zilisch was mired in 18th place. In addition, Love, who was trying to rally from his second pit road penalty, was mired in 31st place. When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Kvapil captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Kaulig Racing’s Queen and Eckes settled in second and third while Mayer, Gray, Allgaier, Jones, Almirola, Creed and Alfredo were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, five of eight Playoff contenders racked up the event’s second round of stage points while Sammy Smith, Zilisch and Love were mired outside the top 10 in 12th, 17th, and 30th, respectively. During the second stage break period, some led by Kvapil and including Queen, Eckes, Alfredo, Sanchez, Zilisch, Justin Bonsignore, Retzlaff, Austin Green, Ryan Ellis, Jeb Burton, Jeremy Clements and Love pitted while the rest led by Mayer remained on the track. Before those who pitted, pit road was closed for an extensive period of time due to dropped fluid all across the circuit and from Thomas Annunziata’s entry. With 113 laps remaining, the third and final stage period commenced as Mayer and Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Mayer fended off Gray for nearly a full lap before he cycled back to the frontstretch and led the next lap. Mayer then proceeded to lead with 110 laps remaining as the field behind jostled for spots. Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Mayer stretched his advantage to more than a second over runner-up Allgaier, third-place Almirola, and fourth-place Gray while Jones, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Harrison Burton, Creed and Patrick Staropoli trailed in the top 10. Meanwhile, Kvapil, who had fresh tires, was mired in 21st as Love was mired in 25th behind Zilisch. Ten laps later, Mayer had his advantage decreased to two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Almirola. Another two laps later, Almirola assumed the lead from Mayer and teammate Gray followed suit. This dropped Mayer to third place in front of Allgaier and Ryan Sieg as Jones, Sammy Smith, Harrison Burton, Staropoli and Creed pursued in the top 10. Meanwhile, teammates Kvapil and Zilisch climbed to 17th and 18th, respectively, while Love was mired in 30th. Then, within the final 80 laps, the battle for the lead between teammates Almirola and Gray crescendoed as the latter drew himself alongside the former in a side-by-side battle through every turn and straightaway. Amid Gray’s challenges, Almirola managed to retain the top spot as his lead stood to less than two-tenths of a second with 70 laps remaining. With 60 laps remaining, teammates Almirola and Gray, both of whom had been battling for the lead over the previous 10 laps, continued to do so as Almirola led by a tenth of a second over Gray and amid Gray’s repeated challenges. Meanwhile, teammate Justin Bonsignore trailed in third place by five seconds while Mayer, Jones, Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Creed and Staropoli all pursued in the top 10. Meanwhile, Love was a lap down in 32nd while Zilisch and Kvapil battled within the top-15 mark. Two laps later, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck that erupted in Turn 4 when Brennan Poole bumped Queen into Josh Williams, which sent the latter two spinning. Amid Queen’s spin, Poole then got hit by Zilisch and both along with Corey Day and Queen, came to a rest towards the inside wall while Kvapil barely dodged the carnage. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Almirola pitted for service while the rest led by Sanchez remained on the track. The start of the next restart, with 49 laps remaining, featured Sanchez and Gray dueling for the lead for nearly a full lap. Gray, who was racing on the outside lane, gained an advantage entering the frontstretch to lead the next lap and clear Sanchez while Almirola assumed the runner-up spot during the following lap. During the next lap, Jones assumed third place while Sanchez retained fourth ahead of Sammy Smith, Bonsignore, Creed and Mayer. Meanwhile, and amid a flurry of on-track battles and contacts, Gray retained the lead with 45 laps remaining. Down to the final 35 laps of the event, Gray was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Almirola while his other teammate and Playoff contender Jones followed suit in third place by half a second. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith occupied fourth place, two spots ahead of Creed, while Mayer and Kvapil trailed in eighth and 10th, respectively. Meanwhile, Allgaier was back in 14th, Zilisch was mired in 20th and Love was strapped a lap down in 32nd. Three laps later, and as Gray’s lead grew to nine-tenths of a second, the caution returned due to Retzlaff and Brad Perez both spinning in Turn 2. During the next restart with 25 laps remaining, the caution returned two laps later when Kvapil, who was racing within the top-10 mark, spun in Turn 4 after he got hit by Ryan Sieg as Sieg locked up his tires. Amid the incident, Gray retained the lead over teammate Almirola. In addition, Kvapil’s incident moved fourth-place Brandon Jones above the cutline while Kvapil, who fell back to 30th amid his spin, dropped below the cutline. As the event restarted with 17 laps remaining, Gray retained the lead over Almirola while Sammy Smith, Jones, Creed, and Mayer followed suit. Behind Gray, Smith overtook Almirola for second place a lap later. Smith’s move moved him into a tie with Jones for the final transfer spot in the Playoff standings as Jones was in fourth on the track in front of Creed and Mayer. With 10 laps remaining, Gray maintained the lead by six-tenths over Sammy Smith while Jones was in third. With Kvapil mired in 22nd, he and Jones were scored tied for the final transfer berth with Smith trailing by a single point. Over the next five laps and as Gray stretched his lead, Kvapil moved up to 19th. This then allowed Kvapil to move back above the cutline by three points over Jones while Jones battled and overtook Smith for second. Then, with five laps remaining, a caution was flown due to Daniel Dye stalling on the track. Dye’s incident sent the event into overtime. At the start of overtime, Gray executed a strong launch from the inside lane to muscle ahead of Smith, Jones and the rest of the field through the first two turns. As Gray led through the backstretch, Smith managed to muscle ahead of Jones from the outside lane and commenced his pursuit of Gray for the lead and a potential berth to the Championship 4 round while Jones was locked in a battle with Creed and Almirola for third place. When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gray remained in the lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Smith and a bevy of competitors jostling for late positions. Through the first two turns, Smith slowly reeled in on Gray’s rear bumper, but he could not get to the latter’s rear bumper through the backstretch. With Smith unable to draw himself back to Gray’s rear bumper through Turns 3 and 4, Gray was able to cycle back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed his first career checkered flag by three-tenths of a second. With the victory, Gray, who won in his 45th career start, became the 181st competitor overall to win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the first competitor to record a first career win at Martinsville since Josh Berry made the previous achievement in 2021. Gray’s first career victory also marked the first win for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota team since Ty Gibbs won both the 2022 season finale and the championship at Phoenix Raceway. It was also the first for former championship-winning crew chief Jason Ratcliff since he won with Denny Hamlin at Darlington Raceway in September 2023.
