“It hurts”: Dale Jr.’s JRM star reflects on second straight Championship 4 disappointment at Martinsville   

JRM's Sammy Smith has shared his thoughts on what was a tragic repeat of events from last season during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 8 cutoff race this Saturday (October 25). The No. 7 Chevy driver for JR Motorsports, which is co-owned by NASCAR legend Dale Jr., had a runner-up finish but fell two points shy of advancing into the Championship 4 at Martinsville.

Smith qualified 15th and finished behind Taylor Gray, who earned his first Xfinity win. Gray pulled away after an overtime restart on Lap 252 and crossed the line 0.344 seconds ahead of him.

Smith reflected on the disappointment in a post on social media after the race. The 21-year-old JRM driver also finished second at Martinsville's Round of 8 playoff race last season.

"It hurts. One spot short of fighting for the championship for the second year in a row. Gave it everything I had, we fought until the very end, and I couldn't be more proud of this team for everything we've done this season. Back to work. I’ll be back better. 💪🏼," Sammy Smith wrote on X.

Smith was eliminated alongside Brandon Jones and Sheldon Creed, who finished in third and fourth. Sam Mayer also fell short while Jesse Love and Carson Kvapil advanced.

Meanwhile, JRM's rookie and defending Cup champion Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier finished in ninth and 26th. The two had already secured their spots in the Xfinity Series Championship 4 via points ahead of the elimination race.

The championship race at Phoenix Raceway is set to start at 7:30 pm ET on Saturday, November 1. The final stage of the race will have zero commercials as a thank you from title sponsor Xfinity.

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"I'm going to get blackballed and get thrown out" - JRM's Sammy Smith on not repeating spring Martinsville mistake

Sammy Smith chose a measured approach and avoided risking a wreck this weekend at Martinsville. He said he did not feel he had the position to execute a hard move and implied that his spring-season actions would have brought penalties.

"I wasn't close enough to move him the right way. And if I move him like I did this spring, I'm going to get blackballed and get thrown out of the playoffs anyway, so I'm probably parked. Obviously, I didn't want to do it that way anyway, and he was the better car today," Smith said (via NASCAR).

During the spring race at Martinsville Speedway, the JRM driver was involved in a controversial last-lap incident. He slammed into race-leader Taylor Gray entering Turn 3 in overtime, which caused the latter to spin and allowed Austin Hill to sneak by and take the win. Smith's move also triggered a pile-up. NASCAR later penalized him $25,000 and docked 50 driver points.

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Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar