By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Not only did Taylor Gray have plenty of reason to celebrate his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway, but he also made Carson Kvapil’s day.

Driving the No.54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Gray pulled away from former nemesis Sammy Smith after an overtime restart on Lap 252 and held on to win the IAA & Ritchie Bros. 250 at the 0.526-mile short track.

When Gray took the checkered flag, keeping Playoff contenders Smith and Brandon Jones behind him, Kvapil had a place in next Saturday’s Championship 4 Race at Phoenix Raceway.

After a frenetic drive from 30th place in the final 17 laps of regulation, Kvapil advanced to the Xfinity title race by four points over Jones and five over Smith. Kvapil joins Jesse Love, Justin Allgaier and rookie Connor Zilisch in the championship event.

Eliminated along with Jones and Smith were Sam Mayer, who took out his frustrations on Jeb Burton’s car after the race, and fourth-place finisher Sheldon Creed, who couldn’t prevail in a must-win situation entering the event.

The Playoff drama, however, did nothing to diminish the effort of Gray, who surged into the lead after a restart on Lap 202 and held it the rest of the way.

Gray was driving toward a probable victory in regulation when Daniel Dye’s Chevrolet began spewing sparks and stopped on the track to cause the ninth caution of the evening and force overtime.

With a great launch on the overtime restart, Gray pulled away to win by 0.344 seconds over Smith and 0.650 seconds over Jones.

“(Crew chief) Jason Ratcliff, all these guys—the pit crew did an awesome job tonight,” exulted Gray, who led a race-high 52 laps in his 45th start in the series. “They give me opportunities to win every time I walk through the gates to this race track.

“I knew I needed to get a good enough launch so that I wouldn’t have anyone in reach of me heading into Turn 1. At that point, I knew we had a good enough car to drive away from the guys behind me.”

Last spring, Gray was in a similar position before Smith knocked him out of the way in the closing laps with such aggression that NASCAR penalized the driver of the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

In Saturday’s race, Smith drove with more restraint in his pursuit, and Gray had his maiden victory in the series.

“I feel like we’re good enough to be in the final four,” Smith said. “We weren’t good enough in the Playoffs to do that. It really sucks, so we’ll just regroup and keep digging.”

Love, who came to Martinsville with a 40-point cushion above the elimination line, suffered through an evening fraught with errors, including a pair of pit road penalties, and finished 23rd. Nevertheless, he advanced by 18 points over Jones.

Kvapil seemed secure in points until a chain-reaction collision involving Ryan Sieg and Harrison Burton sent his No.1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet spinning on Lap 227.

Kvapil restarted 30th and drove frantically through the field to finish 18th and preserve his spot in the Championship 4.

“That was probably the most nerve-wracking racing I’ve done in my career,” Kvapil said. “Obviously, we were sitting in a pretty good spot before we got turned around there…

“I think the sky’s the limit for these guys. Our season hasn’t been the flashiest … but you never know. It all comes down to one race, and we’ve got a 25-percent chance of winning.”

Aric Almirola, who will battle for the Xfinity owners’ championship next Saturday against Allgaier, Zilisch and Austin Hill, finished fifth behind Creed. Jeb Burton, Mayer, Dean Thompson, Connor Zilisch and Justin Bonsignore completed the top 10.

Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images