By: Zach Arnold

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Saturday’s Drive For The Cure 250 at Charlotte Motor Speedway ended in dramatic fashion, caused by a controversial call by NASCAR. The race had a total of 67 laps, the last ten of those 2.28-mile circuits is where all the drama took place.

Parker Klingerman took the lead from Shane van Gisbergen with 10 laps to go, which was a surprise to many as SVG was the favorite for the event. Of note, both Klingerman and SVG needed to win to advance to the next round of the playoffs.

A late race call from the crew chief of the No. 48 elected to stay out and aim for a win, rather than going for stage points. This appeared as if it was going to pay off, as Klingerman would wind the laps down as the leader; it looked like the only thing that would stop him was a late race yellow flag. 

Unfortunately, that yellow flag did come out, and it was for Leland Honeyman in the No. 42, who was stopped in a barrier of tires, a clear caution. Honeyman would sit there for around 10-15 seconds before NASCAR elected to throw the yellow flag – just happened to be a foot or two before Klingerman took the white flag.

There was a minute or so with lots of confusion in the air, as nobody knew if the race was over or if Klingerman was the winner. Reports went out saying Klingerman won, and some saying the No. 48 did not take the white flag in time. Looking at the replay, it showed the yellow lights turn on just before the nose of the No. 48 crossed the finish-line.

“I saw on the big screen Patrick celebrating, then I started tearing up, and then they were like oh no, we have to refocus,” Klingerman shared his view of the call post-race.

This set up an overtime restart, with lots of playoff-drama to be settled within two laps. Klingerman prevailed on the restart, however, Mayer passed him in the new turn 7 and cruised to the checkered flag. This marked Mayer’s third win on the 2024 season.

There were six cautions due to incident in the 67-lap event. Stage two held the largest wreck, with nine cars involved. This ended the playoff hopes for at least two drivers, Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed. The wreck began with contact between Herbst and Anthony Alfredo on the frontstretch chicane, a pile-up of cars followed.

A.J Allmendinger led the most laps in the Drive For The Cure 250, a total of 18. There were eight different leaders throughout the race.

SVG, Klingerman, Creed, and Herbst were eliminated from the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs, the round of eight begins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next Saturday at 7:30 pm.