Sammy Smith left Martinsville sixth in points after a 10th-place finish Saturday night. However, the 50-point penalty that was levied to him Tuesday has changed things significantly.
The penalty has dropped Smith from sixth to 13th in points. Since Aric
Almirola in seventh is ineligible for the playoffs due to not being full-time, he is still in the playoffs on points at the moment. However, he is on the bubble and is only one point ahead of former teammate Brandon Jones.
In the alternate point standings, the penalty would hurt Smith even more. In the old, pre-stage point standings, he would fall down to 16th. In the
Winston Cup points, he would drop to 20th. In both of those standings, he would have been sixth prior to the penalty.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 293, 2) Sam Mayer -41, 3) Austin Hill -47, 4) Sheldon Creed
-71, 5) Jesse Love -74, 6) Connor Zilisch -100, 7) Aric Almirola -107, 8) Ryan Sieg -108, 9) Carson Kvapil -117, 11) Jeb Burton -124, 12) Daniel Dye -125, 12) Taylor Gray
-127, 13) Sammy Smith -128, 14) Brandon Jones -129, 15) Harrison Burton -135, 16) Nick Sanchez -145.
Playoff Points: 1) Austin Hill 14, 2) Justin Allgaier -2, 3) Connor
Zilisch -7, 4) Aric Almirola -8, 5) Jesse Love -9, t-6) Sammy Smith -11, t-6) Harrison Burton -11.
Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman would be tied for sixth in playoff points.
Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 83, 2) Austin Hill -22, 3) Connor Zilisch -27, t-4) Sammy Smith -30, t-4) Sam Mayer -30, t-4) Aric Almirola -30, 7) Sheldon Creed
-38, 8) Carson Kvapil -44, 9) Jesse Love -50, 10) Taylor Gray -51, 11) Ryan Sieg -58, 12) Nick Sanchez -60, 13) Brandon Jones -61, 14) Jeb Burton -62, 15) Daniel Dye -67, 16) Harrison Burton -70.
Note: If they were eligible for NASCAR Xfinity Series points, Alex Bowman would be 15th and Kyle Larson 16th in stage points.
Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 241, 2) Sam Mayer
-12, 3) Austin Hill -24, 4) Jesse Love -25, 5) Sheldon Creed -34, 6) Ryan Sieg -52, 7) Daniel Dye -63, 8) Jeb Burton
-64, 9) Harrison Burton -65, 10) Connor Zilisch -70, 11) Brandon Jones -71, 12) Carson Kvapil -74, 13) Taylor Gray -77, 14) Brennan Poole
-78, 15) Josh Williams -81, 16) Sammy Smith -85.
WC Points (1-16): 1) Justin Allgaier 1060, 2) Sam Mayer -34, 3) Austin Hill -74, 4) Jesse Love
-95, 5) Sheldon Creed -123, 6) Ryan Sieg -195, 7) Daniel Dye -236, 8) Harrison Burton -237, 9) Jeb Burton -242, 10) Connor Zilisch -243, 11) Brandon Jones -248, 12) Carson Kvapil -263, 13) Taylor Gray
-264, 14) Brennan Poole -282, 15) Josh Williams -300, t-16) Dean Thompson -310, t-16) Nick Sanchez -310.
Outside of the top 16, but still in the Playoffs: 20) Sammy Smith -337.
Race Winners: Jesse Love (Daytona), Austin Hill (Atlanta, Martinsville), Connor Zilisch (COTA), Aric Almirola (Phoenix), Justin Allgaier (Las Vegas, Homestead)
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
