By: Zach Arnold

DARLINGTON, SC —- After a stressful final two weeks of the regular season, Klingerman was able to clinch the final Xfinity Series playoff spot – even if it took a couple frustrating moments to get there. 

Before Darlington, all was going well for Klingerman and the No. 48 Big Machine Racing team. The 33-year-old had a 20-point lead over Riley Herbst, who faced struggles throughout the late summer stretch. Late in the race at Darlington, things started going downhill.

With seven laps remaining, Klingerman was running in front of Mayer in 12th. Mayer followed Klingerman into turn three making contact with the No. 48’s bumper, spinning him out. With only seven circuits left around the 1.36-mile race track, Klingerman had no time to get the positions he lost back and finished 24th.

This was not the result the No. 48 team was hoping for, as they lost every point they gained on Herbst over the last few weeks. Klingerman was now one point behind Herbst with only one more regular season race.

Klingerman spoke to NEWS FROM THE PITS after the race, “He came from a mile back and ran into us. Yeah I mean, I saw the replay, I was on the bottom he had all the room up top and just ran over us.”

“Obviously the smaller detailed issues ruined our day, but it also ruined someone else’s day with Parker,” Mayer said afterwards. “I feel really bad about that, I mean, its worse case scenario, I should have probably known that they were fading more as that last run went on.”

This incident put pressure on Klingerman to deliver a strong run at Kansas. He had the opportunity to enter BMS in the playoffs for the first time in their tenure throughout the sport. Klingerman delivered, running in the top ten for most of the day, he finished fourth and grabbed stage points throughout the race. This was enough to solidify the final playoff spot.

The Xfinity Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the first playoff race. Tune into NBC Sports this Friday, September, 15th, at 7 pm to catch the action.