Multicar pileup eliminates contenders in Xfinity race at Atlanta

A flat left-rear tire on Riley Herbst’s No. 98 Ford triggered a multicar melee down the backstretch during the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Herbst, the Stage 1 winner, suffered the cut tire at the exit of Turn 2 just ahead of a three-wide battle. On the outside of that three-abreast situation, Brandon Jones swerved left to avoid the slowing No. 98 car, clipping the right-rear of Ryan Sieg’s car, sending the No. 39 RSS Racing Ford sideways in front of the field and nose-first into the outside SAFER barrier.

MORE: Unofficial results | At-track photos

“Got off of Turn 2 there, and by the time I saw the 98 struggling up top and going under 100 (mph), we were all probably double his speed and just nowhere to go when you’re up top,” Jones said. “You can’t fade to the bottom, and I tried a little bit and it probably ended up collecting more people than it could’ve, but you’re getting pushed from behind. Just a lot of stuff going on and it happens way too quick to be able to avoid something.

“Really nothing that Riley could have done differently. He’s in a bad position there obviously. It looked like he had a flat tire to me and just couldn’t get down.”

Also involved in the scrap were Stage 2 winner Sheldon Creed, Anthony Alfredo, Sam Mayer, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Josh Williams, Kyle Weatherman, Blaine Perkins and Brennan Poole.

After starting from the rear with transmission troubles in qualifying, Creed led 24 laps Saturday before getting collected in the pileup. The No. 2 Richard Childress Racing team had trouble fueling the vehicle on its prior pit stop, dropping Creed to the rear of the field for the subsequent restart. Sieg also led 15 laps Saturday, his second-most of the season.

Herbst led three circuits, including the final lap of Stage 1 which netted him 10 regular-season points and a playoff point. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver entered the contest holding the final spot in the 12-driver playoff field, 26 points ahead of 13th-place Parker Kligerman.

RELATED: Xfinity standings

After the checkered flag flew, that gap dwindled to just six points at the elimination line after Kligerman registered an eighth-place finish.

The series heads next to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Ambetter Health 200 on July 15 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).