By alley - Oct 8, 2017, 11:20 AM ET

Key moves decide Xfinity Playoff elimination spots

By a single point, the Xfinity Series trimmed its playoff field from 12 to eight Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The first round of eliminations came in a drama-filled Drive for the Cure 300. As

Alex Bowman scored his first career win

, Brendan Gaughan (No. 62, above) and Ryan Reed battled to the finish line for the last transfer spot. Gaughan outran Reed, finishing 11th. However, Reed finished 12th, picking up a valuable spot when he and Gaughan went three-wide off Turn 2 to get around William Byron.

It was a critical move as Reed gave himself a one-point buffer on Gaughan. He then chased the No. 62 to the finish line and into the second round of the playoffs.

"There's a reason why we're close in points – we've been close all year on the race track," Gaughan said of battling Reed. "Ty [Dillon] came and took those tires early and when I saw him fade quick I knew that was trouble because he'd been right in-between us all night long and when he faded I knew that was a little trouble.

"We were faster than [Reed] but unfortunately weren't fast enough to get anybody else. We were getting the 1 [Elliott Sadler] and we needed Brandon [Jones] to get in front of him. But hey, good run. We've had a decent season, I wouldn't say great. But we're going to go on and see if we can't win a couple races with the South Point Chevy."

Also eliminated were Blake Koch, Michael Annett, and Jeremy Clements.

Allgaier also had an eventful night in Charlotte. By finishing fourth in stage one and collecting seven points, Allgaier locked himself into the second round before the race's conclusion. It ended up being a blessing for the No. 7 team. A crash near the near end of the stage resulted in debris on the track and Allgaier ran over a battery sitting on the backstretch. It severely damaged the nose of his Chevrolet and he later retired from the race with an engine issue.

Matt Tifft also advanced after battling back from a penalty for an uncontrolled tire. After falling a lap down, Tifft recovered for a ninth-place finish.

Xfinity Series Round of 12 standings:

William Byron – 3,026

Justin Allgaier – 3,023

Elliott Sadler – 3,020

Daniel Hemric – 3,009

Cole Custer – 3,007

Brennan Poole – 3,006

Ryan Reed – 3,005

Matt Tifft – 3,004