Sammy Smith triumphs in historic return to Rockingham after technical disqualification

A competition day that appeared to belong to Jesse Love ultimately ended with Sammy Smith being declared the official winner of the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway, after NASCAR officials discovered technical irregularities in the apparent winner's vehicle.

Love's Chevrolet No. 2 was disqualified post-race for violating rule 14.14.2.I-5.h, concerning rear arm spacers and pinion angle shims, as series director Eric Peterson explained: "All mating surfaces of these components must be in full contact with each other, and unfortunately they were found in violation of this rule."

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The victory marked Smith's first win of the season and third of his career, along with a $100,000 bonus for winning the season's final Xfinity Dash 4 Cash race.

Incident-filled race marks historic track return

The Xfinity Series' return to Rockingham for the first time since 2004 featured numerous cautions, with 14 yellow flags covering 83 laps total, including nine in the final stage alone.

Ryan Sieg, who led the most laps (77), saw his chances dashed when he was caught in a major crash on lap 241 after Christian Eckes ran out of fuel during a restart, triggering a multi-car pileup behind him.

Nick Sanchez, who dominated the early stages by leading for 52 laps including the race's first 44 circuits, also fell victim to the lap 241 multi-car crash that brought out the first of two red flag periods.

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Fans at Rockingham witnessed a memorable show. A second racing line developed above the bottom groove, with drivers even running three-wide through the turns at times.

Katherine Legge's participation, her sixth in the Xfinity Series and first since 2023 at Road America, ended early on lap 52 after heavy contact with William Sawalich.

Kasey Kahne, making his first series start since 2017, was also involved in the incident with Legge but recovered to finish 14th.

The Toyota No. 19 of Justin Bonsignore was also disqualified for unsafe wheel nut installation.

Final tally from a historic day

The North Carolina Education Lottery 250 marked NASCAR's long-awaited return to this historic venue. The winner's average speed was 80.377 mph, with a total race time of 2 hours, 59 minutes and 38 seconds.

The race saw 17 lead changes among 8 different drivers, showcasing the event's competitiveness. Ryan Sieg led the most laps (77), followed by Jesse Love (53), Nick Sanchez (52) and Carson Kvapil (47).

The return to "The Rock" delighted fans, who enjoyed an intense race full of passing that brought back excitement to one of American motorsport's historic venues.