Justin Bonsignore will return to Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in 2025. He will pilot the organization’s No. 19 Toyota Supra entry for five NASCAR Xfinity Series events in 2025.
Bonsignore, a four-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion from Holtsville, New York, is coming off his most recent championship-winning season. He won five races and recorded 12 top-five results throughout the 16-race schedule. Bonsignore also wrapped up the title by 30 points over two-time series champion Ron Silk.
Bonsignore made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut with JGR during the 2024 season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in mid-June. During his debut, he led three laps. However, he finished in 22nd place after a multi-car wreck with 19 laps remaining in the race. He was running inside the top 10 before the incident.
“When we had the opportunity to work with the Joe Gibbs Racing team at New Hampshire last year, it was a perfect pairing,” Bonsignore said. “As soon as that weekend was over, we started looking at options to run a larger schedule in 2025 and it all came together. When you work with a team like JGR, you know you’re going to have a car in contention to win every race you run. We’re looking forward to having some fun and chasing trophies.”
Bonsignore grew up competing in go-karts. He has won four championships in the Whelen Modified Tour division with 45 career victories. Bonsignore has also won in 13 of his previous 14 seasons. His career highlights include 33 poles, 130 top-five results, 169 top-10 results and 5,442 laps led. His average finish is 7.9 through a total of 226 starts.
Bonsignore was one of nine competitors that piloted the JGR No. 19 Toyota in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity season. The entry finished in 15th place in the final owner’s standings with three top-five results and six top-10 results recorded.
“We’re excited to have Justin back in our car in 2025,” Steve de Souza, Executive Vice President of Xfinity Series and Development for JGR, said. “He has proven himself over and over again in the modifieds and he did a great job for us at New Hampshire with no track time before the race started. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do with more opportunities to adapt to the Xfinity cars and working with the same team multiple times this season.”
The 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season for Joe Gibbs Racing will commence at Daytona International Speedway on February 15. Iy will be broadcast at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) revealed its realigned driver-crew chief lineup for the organization’s No. 54 teams between the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series divisions for the 2025 season.
Tyler Allen, who was initially set to crew chief Taylor Gray and the No. 54 JGR Toyota Supra team in the Xfinity Series, has now been named crew chief for Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 JGR Toyota Camry XSE team in the Cup Series. As a result, veteran crew chief Jason Ratcliff will return atop the pit box to crew chief Gray for the latter’s first full-time Xfinity campaign in 2025.
The news comes 10 days after JGR announced that Chris Gayle, who was paired with Ty Gibbs over the previous two Cup seasons, would be paired with Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Toyota team while Chris Gabehart, Hamlin’s former crew chief, would be promoted to work as the organization’s competition director.
“We take a lot of pride in our Xfinity Series program and the depth of talent that we have been able to maintain,” Joe Gibbs, owner and founder of Joe Gibbs Racing, said. “Tyler Allen was successful at the Cup level with us while working under Adam Stevens and was impressive last season in the Xfinity Series leading that 20 team to eight wins while working with a number of different drivers. We have an exciting young and talented team on the 54 car.”
Allen, who enters the 2025 season for his first year as a full-time crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series, spent seven seasons (2017-23) working as a race engineer under crew chief Adam Stevens. During the seven-year span, he was a part of the 2019 Cup Series championship with Adams and Kyle Busch. In addition, Allen served as an interim crew chief for a single Cup race for Christopher Bell and the No. 20 JGR Toyota team at Martinsville Speedway in October 2021, where Bell finished 17th.
This past season, Allen served as a first-year crew chief in the Xfinity Series, where he worked atop the pit box of JGR’s No. 20 Toyota team for 29 races and JGR’s No. 19 Toyota team for four races. Throughout the 33-race schedule, Allen notched eight victories between four competitors (Aric Almirola, Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Truex) and led the No. 20 team to a runner-up result in the final Xfinity owner’s standings, all of which Allen strives to utilize the momentum and success from the Xfinity division over to the Cup Series that would enable both him and Ty Gibbs to contend for victories while also returning the No. 54 team back into the Playoffs.
“It’s an honor to be named crew chief for Ty Gibbs and the 54 Team as we head into the 2025 season,” Allen said. “This opportunity has been a dream of mine since starting here at JGR 10 years ago, and I’m thankful for the support and guidance I’ve received from my mentors, teammates, and everyone along the way. Ty has shown a lot of speed and potential the last two years, and I look forward to building on that experience to get the 54 car in victory lane.”
For JGR’s No. 54 team in the Xfinity Series, Ratcliff makes his return atop the pit box as a crew chief following a one-year absence. He initially retired from being a crew chief at the conclusion of the 2023 season and spent this past season working as a driver and team coordinator for JGR’s Xfinity and ARCA Menards Series operations. Since making his crew chief debut in the Xfinity Series in 2000, Ratcliff has notched 57 victories between seven competitors and the 2009 championship with Kyle Busch. He has also recorded 15 victories as a Cup Series crew chief, 14 of which occurred with Matt Kenseth and one with Joey Logano.
Overall, Gray, who was announced to drive for JGR for the 2025 Xfinity season on October 16, is set to become the 26th competitor to work at least one race with Ratcliff, the latter of whom intends to make Gray competitive for his first Xfinity campaign after he spent the previous two seasons competing in the Craftsman Truck Series for TRICON Garage.
“I’m thrilled to join Taylor and the 54 team for the 2025 season,” Ratcliff said. “After a year away from the track, I’m eager to return to the pit box every weekend. Taylor has the talent and determination to excel in NASCAR, and it’s our mission to help him achieve that success.”
“It is also exciting to have Jason Ratcliff back on the pit box in the Xfinity Series to work with Taylor Gray next season,” Gibbs added. “He has contributed so much to our organization over his career.”
Photo by Ted Seminara for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to commence with the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on February 2 that will commence at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. This event will be followed by the 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway that will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Meanwhile, Joe Gibbs Racing’s 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is set to commence at Daytona International Speedway on February 15 at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announced a new role and new team for crew chiefs Chris Gabehart and Chris Gayle, respectively, for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
For the upcoming season, Gabehart will be assuming the role as JGR’s Competition Director while Gayle will shift from JGR’s No. 54 Toyota Camry XSE team to the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE team, where he will be paired with veteran driver Denny Hamlin.
The news comes as both Gabehart and Gayle are coming off their respective roles as crew chiefs for the Nos. 11 and 54 JGR Toyota teams, the latter of which is piloted by driver Ty Gibbs, in the Cup Series.
“We have a lot of pride in the depth of talent we have throughout our organization,” Joe Gibbs, owner and founder of Joe Gibbs Racing, said. “Chris Gabehart will now be an asset across all four of our teams as competition director and we thought it was important to have him transition into his new role immediately. Chris Gayle will bring his own perspective to the 11 team while also maintaining the consistency and continuity they have developed with Denny [Hamlin] over the past several years. While we are still in the process of finalizing the new crew chief for the 54 team, we believe all these moves ultimately make our team stronger as we prepare for 2025.”
Gabehart, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, who graduated from Purdue University with a mechanical engineering degree, made his crew chief debut in the Xfinity Series in 2016, where he was paired with Erik Jones at JGR. The following season, he made his Cup Series crew chief debut on an interim role with Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Toyota team at Richmond Raceway, where Hamlin finished fifth.
After accumulating a total of nine Xfinity victories between 2016 to 2018, Gabehart was promoted to the Cup Series to serve as a full-time crew chief for Hamlin and the No. 11 team in 2019. Commencing his Cup crew chief career with his first career victory in the 61st running of the Daytona 500, Gabehart and Hamlin would accumulate a total of 22 victories through 209 events (2019-24). In addition to making the Playoffs throughout their six-year journey, they also made the Championship 4 round from 2019 to 2021, where they finished as high as third place in the final standings during the latter season.
Through 209 appearances as a Cup Series crew chief, Gabehart has also recorded 11 poles, 90 top-five results and 120 top-10 results, all while working atop the No. 11 JGR Toyota pit box and paired with Hamlin as he prepares to etch a new chapter with his new role in 2025.
“I am very thankful for the opportunities that Joe Gibbs Racing has continued to provide me for my entire tenure here and cannot say enough about how much I have enjoyed and appreciated my time with Denny and the entire 11 team,” Gabehart said. “They have all taught me so much about not only how to race at the top of the NASCAR Cup Series, but also, how to lead a great group of talented professionals. In my next opportunity, I am as excited as I have ever been to work with all our talented drivers, crew chiefs, teams and partners to help focus all our efforts towards making 2025 one of the best seasons Joe Gibbs Racing has ever had.”
Meanwhile, Gayle, a native of Little Rock Arkansas, and a graduate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Mechanical Engineering degree, made his crew chief debut in 2013, where he was paired with Elliott Sadler at JGR in the Xfinity Series. During the season, he made his Cup crew chief debut with Sadler at Kansas Speedway, where Sadler finished 40th.
Four years later, Gayle became a full-time crew chief in the Cup Series for the first time, where he was paired with Erik Jones at Furniture Row Racing. After notching the 2017 Rookie-of-the-Year title, both Gayle and Jones moved back to Joe Gibbs Racing and notched their first Cup career victory at Daytona International Speedway in July. Gayle would continue to work with Jones over the next two seasons, where they won the 2019 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, before he transitioned back down to the Xfinity Series during his next two years.
After capturing the 2022 Xfinity Series championship with Ty Gibbs, Gayle moved back up to the Cup Series and continued to work with Gibbs as his crew chief in 2023, where Gibbs captured the Rookie-of-the-Year title while piloting the No. 54 JGR Toyota entry. This past season, they qualified for the 2024 Playoffs and finished in 15th place in the final standings on the strengths of two poles, eight top-five results and 12 top-10 results.
Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Through 214 appearances as a Cup Series crew chief, Gayle has achieved a total of two victories, four poles, 43 top-five results and 81 top-10 results while working with three competitors as he now strives to pick up the torch and maintain the momentum carried forth by the No. 11 team and his new driver Denny Hamlin. Ironically, Gayle is set to become Hamlin’s fifth full-time crew chief overall as Hamlin enters his 20th consecutive season as a full-time Cup Series competitor, all with JGR, in 2025.
“Denny is obviously a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Gayle added. “I’m looking forward to working with him and the guys on the No. 11 team. He and Gabehart have established an incredible culture that is a very good barometer for our other drivers and teams to strive to match. I have all the confidence in the world we can hit the ground running and continue the success that this group is accustomed to in 2025.”
A crew chief replacement for Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team remains to be determined.
The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season for Joe Gibbs Racing is set to commence with the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on February 2 that will commence at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. This event will be followed by the 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway that will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
As Joey Logano celebrated a third NASCAR Cup Series championship by winning the 2024 season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 10, Martin Truex Jr. was left with mixed reactions on pit road as he recorded a 17th-place result in his final event as a full-time competitor in NASCAR’s premier series.
The 2017 Cup Series champion from Mayetta, New Jersey, commenced his final weekend as a full-time competitor by being the second-fastest during the finale’s lone practice session on Friday, November 8, while sporting a special red throwback scheme to his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE entry that mirrored the scheme Truex sported when he made his Cup debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October 2004. A day later, he notched his 25th and final pole position in NASCAR’s premier series after he posted a pole-winning lap at 134.741 mph in 26.718 seconds.
Leading the field to the green flag to commence the final event of the 2024 season, Truex would lead the first lap and lead the next eight under caution as teammate Ty Gibbs was eliminated in a single-car wreck just past the first lap. During the ensuing restart on the ninth lap, he lost the lead to Logano but would proceed to finish in second place at the first stage’s conclusion on Lap 60. Restarting in eighth place for the start of the second stage period on Lap 71, Truex would spend the entire stage period in the top 10 on the track before he settled in ninth place at the stage’s conclusion on Lap 185.
After restarting in the top 10 for the start of the final stage period with 118 laps remaining, Truex would drop out of the top-10 category in the ensuing laps. Despite being mired in 13th place with 100 laps remaining, Truex would climb up to 11th place more than 20 laps later. Then with 63 laps remaining, a late caution period for rookie Zane Smith wrecking resulted in Truex being one of several competitors pinned a lap down as he took the wave around to cycle back on the lead lap. Restarting in 11th place for the finale’s final restart period with 54 laps remaining, Truex would briefly break his way back into the top-10 mark before he dropped back into the top-15 mark. Ultimately, Truex would also slip out of the top-15 mark as he took the checkered flag in 17th place.
Despite concluding his final Cup Series season winless, Truex notched a total of five top-five results, 11 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 17.4, which was enough for him to settle in 10th place in the final championship standings in 2024.
Overall, Truex capped off an illustrious 19-year career in NASCAR’s premier series, where he achieved the 2017 championship, 34 race victories, 25 poles, 147 top-five results, 291 top-10 results, 12,747 laps led, 11 Playoff appearances and an average-finishing result of 15.3 through 693 starts. The organizations where Truex made his marks throughout his Cup Series career include Dale Earnhardt Inc., Chip Ganassi Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Furniture Row Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, respectively.
In addition to winning the 2017 Cup Series championship, Truex, a two-time champion in the Xfinity Series, departs from full-time Cup competition with notable accomplishments that include capturing two Coca-Cola 600s, the 2016 Southern 500 and the 2023 Busch Light Clash victory. Named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023, Truex is also one of 40 competitors to win across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series), to date.
Amid the bevy of success he achieved throughout his Cup career, however, Truex was not shy to commence his post-race thoughts by expressing his disappointment over his top-20 result after racing towards the front during the first half of the finale.
“I’m mad,” Truex said. “I wanted [the race] to go better than that. We were pretty good early and then, lost track position. The track just continued to rubber up and get hotter, at least that’s what I felt like it was doing. I kept losing the grip, I kept losing more balance, I kept losing track position. It just all magnifies with this thing. We got caught by the caution there [with 63 laps remaining] and had to stay out on old tires and get the wave around and then, we couldn’t even race to try to go forward. It was just not a good day. Not a good day to end on, but I’m proud of the effort of my team. At least we got the lead a few laps there in the beginning.”
Amid the disappointment, Truex, who received a standing ovation during the pre-race drivers meeting before the finale, was praised and greeted on pit road by NBA legend/23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan and four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon.
“It means a lot,” Truex added. “To have the respect of guys like that and what they mean to the sport and absolute legends. It makes me feel good that I’ve earned that respect over the years. It means a lot.”
With his tenure as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor officially complete, what does the future hold in store for Truex, starting with the 2025 season?
“So from here forward, just go have some fun and do a little bit of racing here and there just for fun,” Truex said. “Hopefully, it’ll be less stressful than days like today.”
AVONDALE, ARIZONA – NOVEMBER 09: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, drives during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on November 09, 2024 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images).
Truex’s part-time racing plans for the 2025 season including attempting to compete in the 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway remains to be determined. Chase Briscoe will take over Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota entry on a full-time basis next season as crew chief James Small will continue to work with the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team.
The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on February 2, 2025, for the annual Busch Light Clash. This event will be followed by the 67th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway which is scheduled to occur on February 16, 2025, and will officially commence a new season of competition.
Martin Truex Jr. will start his final NASCAR Cup Series event as a full-time competitor on the pole position for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 9.
Practice and Qualifying
The 2017 Cup Series champion from Mayetta, New Jersey, commenced the 2024 weekend finale at Phoenix as the second-fastest competitor of the series’ lone practice session on Friday, November 8. After two qualifying group rounds, he was one of 10 drivers that transferred to the final qualifying session.
Truex posted his best qualifying lap at 134.741 mph in 26.718 seconds and claimed the top-starting spot over Championship 4 contender Joey Logano.
In addition to winning the pole position, Truex will sport a special throwback scheme on his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE entry. It will mirror the scheme of his first Cup career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October 2004, notched his 25th career pole in NASCAR’s premier series, his second in a row in recent weeks after he started on pole last weekend at Martinsville Speedway and his third at Phoenix.
Sunday’s Cup Series Championship event at Phoenix is set to mark Truex’s 693rd and final start as a full-time competitor in NASCAR’s premier series. Truex is currently ranked in 10th place in the 2024 driver’s standings and will continue his pursuit of his first elusive victory of the season.
“[The pole]’s very cool,” Truex said. “Honestly, you always want to be known as the guy that can go fast in any track, in any situation. Pressure is always pretty high for qualifying. You have to go out there and nail that perfect lap. You only get one shot at it these days. It is fun to go out there and beat everyone in anything. It feels good. It’s very cool, but the big prize is tomorrow. Hopefully, we can get that one.”
Top Ten
Joining Truex on the front row will be Joey Logano, the highest-starting Championship 4 contender with his best qualifying lap occurring at 134.690 mph in 26.728 seconds as he will contend for his third Cup Series championship for Sunday’s main event.
Chevrolet competitors Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will start in the top five and they will be followed by Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell on the starting grid.
William Byron, who is contending for his first Cup title, will start in eighth place after a qualifying lap of 134.218 mph in 26.822 seconds. Championship 4 contender, Tyler Reddick, will start in 10th place. He will share the fifth row with Harrison Burton.
Reigning Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney is the fourth Championship 4 finalist. He will start in 17th place, despite being the fastest during Friday’s practice session.
All 40 competitors entered for Sunday’s finale at Phoenix earned a starting spot.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
Martin Truex Jr., 134.741 mph, 26.718 seconds
Joey Logano, 134.690 mph, 26.728 seconds
Ross Chastain, 134.268 mph, 26.812 seconds
Kyle Larson, 134.308 mph, 26.804 seconds
Chase Elliott, 134.228 mph, 26.820 seconds
Ty Gibbs, 134.273 mph, 26.811 seconds
Christopher Bell, 133.373 mph, 26.992 seconds
William Byron, 134.218 mph, 26.822 seconds
Harrison Burton, 132.188 mph, 27.234 seconds
Tyler Reddick, 134.118 mph, 26.842 seconds
Austin Cindric, 134.590 mph, 26.748 seconds
Chase Briscoe, 134.635 mph, 26.739 seconds
Justin Haley, 134.554 mph, 26.755 seconds
Denny Hamlin, 134.605 mph, 26.745 seconds
Carson Hocevar, 134.389 mph, 26.788 seconds
Alex Bowman, 134.378 mph, 26.790 seconds
Ryan Blaney, 134.263 mph, 26.813 seconds
John Hunter Nemechek, 134.078 mph, 26.850 seconds
Erik Jones, 133.834 mph, 26.899 seconds
Corey LaJoie, 134.068 mph, 26.852 seconds
Noah Gragson, 133.690 mph, 26.928 seconds
Daniel Hemric, 133.909 mph, 26.884 seconds
Jimmie Johnson, 133.531 mph, 26.960 seconds
Chris Buescher, 133.740 mph, 26.918 seconds
Kyle Busch, 133.492 mph, 26.968 seconds
Derek Kraus, 133.605 mph, 26.945 seconds
Brad Keselowski, 133.190 mph, 27.029 seconds
Zane Smith, 133.531 mph, 26.960 seconds
Bubba Wallace, 132.690 mph, 27.131 seconds
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 133.161 mph, 27.035 seconds
Kaz Grala, 132.587 mph, 27.152 seconds
Todd Gilliland, 132.251 mph, 27.221 seconds
Ryan Preece, 132.528 mph, 27.164 seconds
Daniel Suarez, 131.805 mph, 27.313 seconds
Michael McDowell, 132.086 mph, 27.255 seconds
Austin Dillon, 130.586 mph, 27.568 seconds
JJ Yeley, 129.627 mph, 27.772 seconds
Chad Finchum, 127.895 mph, 28.148 seconds
Josh Berry, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
Jeb Burton, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway is set to occur on Sunday, November 10, and air at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
William Sawalich notched his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career pole position for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 9.
The two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, posted his best qualifying lap at 134.168 mph in 26.832 seconds, which was enough to claim the top-starting spot over teammate Sheldon Creed, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 133.432 mph in 26.980 seconds.
With the pole position, Sawalich, who is set to make his third career start in the Xfinity circuit and in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 “all-star” Toyota Supra entry, will lead the field to the green flag for Saturday’s 2024 finale at Phoenix. He is set to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing on a full-time Xfinity basis in 2025, where he will be piloting the No. 18 Toyota Supra entry.
Speaking of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota entry, Sheldon Creed, who is making his final start with the Gibbs organization before he transitions to the Haas Factory Team in 2025, will share the front row with teammate Sawalich. The 2024 Xfinity finale is set to mark Creed’s fifth time starting on the front row this season as he aims to capture his first elusive victory in the series.
Riley Herbst and Chandler Smith will start third and fourth, respectively, while Austin Hill will be the highest-starting Championship- 4 contenders in fifth place as he strives to win his first Xfinity Series championship.
Rounding out the top-10 starting spots are rookie Jesse Love, Championship 4 finalist Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, Championship 4 finalist AJ Allmendinger and Parker Retzlaff.
Notably, Justin Allgaier, the fourth Championship 4 finalist, will start in 37th place of the 38-car field and in a backup car. This is a result of Allgaier wrecking his primary car during Friday’s practice session after he ran over spilled fluid from Brennan Poole’s entry, slid and pounded the outside wall hard against Turns 1 and 2. Aric Almirola, who is contending for the 2024 Xfinity owner’s championship for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota team, was also involved in the practice carnage as he will start in 38th place, dead last, in a backup car.
All 38 competitors entered for Saturday’s finale at Phoenix earned a starting spot.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
William Sawalich, 134.168 mph, 26.832 seconds
Sheldon Creed, 133.432 mph, 26.980 seconds
Riley Herbst, 132.989 mph, 27.070 seconds
Chandler Smith, 132.915 mph, 27.085 seconds
Austin Hill, 132.523 mph, 27.165 seconds
Jesse Love, 132.343 mph, 27.202 seconds
Cole Custer, 132.270 mph, 27.217 seconds
Sam Mayer, 132.178 mph, 27.236 seconds
AJ Allmendinger, 132.139 mph, 27.244 seconds
Parker Retzlaff, 132.042 mph, 27.264 seconds
Matt DiBenedetto, 131.868 mph, 27.300 seconds
Anthony Alfredo, 131.690 mph, 27.337 seconds
Daniel Dye, 131.651 mph, 27.345 seconds
Stefan Parsons, 131.454 mph, 27.386 seconds
Sammy Smith, 131.372 mph, 27.403 seconds
Jeb Burton, 131.324 mph, 27.413 seconds
Shane van Gisbergen, 131.081 mph, 27.464 seconds
Jeffrey Earnhardt, 130.976 mph, 27.486 seconds
Josh Williams, 130.957 mph, 27.490 seconds
Ryan Ellis, 130.785 mph, 27.526 seconds
Connor Zilisch, 130.766 mph, 27.530 seconds
Jeremy Clements, 130.657 mph, 27.553 seconds
Ryan Sieg, 130.577 mph, 27.570 seconds
Dylan Lupton, 130.572 mph, 27.571 seconds
Blaine Perkins, 130.482 mph, 27.590 seconds
Leland Honeyman, 130.359 mph, 27.616 seconds
Dawson Cram, 130.086 mph, 27.674 seconds
Brennan Poole, 129.767 mph, 27.742 seconds
Kyle Sieg, 129.534 mph, 27.792 seconds
Patrick Emerling, 129.450 mph, 27.810 seconds
Parker Kligerman, 129.231 mph, 27.857 seconds
Josh Bilicki, 128.834 mph, 27.943 seconds
Brandon Jones, 128.599 mph, 27.994 seconds
Joey Gase, Owner Points
Greg Van Alst, Owner Points
Garrett Smithley, Owner Points
Justin Allgaier, Owner Points
Aric Almirola, Owner Points
The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway is set to occur on Saturday, November 9, and air at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship hopes ended despite both notching strong top-five runs amid an eventful run and conclusion to the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, November 3.
For Elliott, he came into this weekend’s Martinsville event strapped in eighth place in the Playoff standings and 43 points below the top-four cutline to the Championship 4 round. This resulted from finishing 33rd and fifth during the Round of 8’s first two events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, respectively.
Elliott then commenced the Martinsville weekend on a high note by being the highest-starting Playoff competitor on the grid. He grabbed the second-place starting spot with a qualifying lap at 96.190 mph in 19.686 seconds.
When the green flag waved on Sunday for the main event, Elliott spent the first 40 laps trailing the pole-sitter Martin Truex Jr. before he overtook him for the lead on Lap 41. Through an early caution period that started just past the Lap 75 mark, Elliott maintained the lead and garnered ten critical stage points by winning the first stage period. Then, after spending a majority of the second stage period racing towards the front, Elliott’s event briefly went south during a caution period on Lap 183 when a slow pit service from his No. 9 NAPA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team dropped him towards the bottom of the lead lap category. He did not rack up any stage points despite climbing back to 12th place at the second stage’s conclusion.
After being mired within the top-10 mark during the first half of the final stage period, Elliott strategically pitted under green with 149 laps remaining. With his fellow teammates and Playoff contenders pitting during the proceeding laps, he would cycle to the lead with 120 laps remaining. He would retain the top spot before he pitted again during a caution period with 103 laps remaining for fresh tires. Through another late-race caution period and two restarts, including the final one with 87 laps remaining, Elliott trailed teammate Kyle Larson for the race victory and a Playoff berth while in a “must-win” situation. After being radioed by his team to take the lead, Elliott overtook Larson for the top spot with 24 laps remaining. Despite initially pulling away over the next ten laps, Elliott would be overtaken by the eventual race winner, Ryan Blaney, who was placed in a “must-win” situation like for Elliott and Larson. With Elliott unable to regain the advantage over the final 14 laps, he settled in second place for the second time in the 2024 Cup Series season.
Despite notching his 11th top-five result of the 2024 season, the result was not enough for Elliott to transfer into the Championship 4 round by 44 points, as the 2024 season marks Elliott’s fourth time being eliminated from the Playoffs following the Round of 8. Amid the disappointment, Elliott, who missed seven races and did not make the Playoffs a year ago, was left pleased with the rebound and the speed made by his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team that included an emotional return to Victory Lane amid a one-year winless drought at Texas Motor Speedway in April that enabled the driver and team to make the 2024 Playoffs. Coupled with 18 top-10 results, Elliott shifted his focus on extending the momentum into the 2025 season that would enable him to make the Championship 4 round next season and contend for a second Cup Series title.
“[I am] Just really proud of how things went these last few weeks,” Elliott said on NBC. “We’ve been working really hard and just continuing to find a good base and build to be competitive, and lead more laps and just get ourselves back in contention more often. I really felt like we did a really good job of executing that over the last few weeks. It was unfortunate what happened at Vegas [in October], but to bring the kind of cars that we brought to Homestead and then here. [Crew chief] Alan [Gustafson] called a great race, and I thought we were right there in the mix of if, and I’m proud of that. We’ll go to Phoenix and try to build a little bit more there and try again next year.”
Compared to Elliott, Denny Hamlin’s fall Martinsville weekend commenced on a rough note after he wrecked his primary car during the event’s practice session on Saturday. While his No. 11 FedEx/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE team was able to repair the car that prevented them from pulling out a backup car, Hamlin opted to not post a qualifying lap as he rolled off the starting grid in 37th place, dead last.
At the event’s start, Hamlin, who entered Martinsville 18 points below the cutline despite finishing no lower than eighth throughout the Round of 8, methodically moved his way up the leaderboard. By Lap 35, Hamlin cracked the top-30 mark on the track and he would march up into the top-25 mark by Lap 65. Following the event’s first caution period just past Lap 75 and an ensuing restart on Lap 85, Hamlin made his way up to 16th place and would end up in 15th place when the first stage period concluded on Lap 130.
Then, after spending the first stretch of the second stage period making his way into the top-10 mark, Hamlin executed a strategic call to remain on the track for track position, which moved him up to second place and restarting on the front row with Ryan Blaney for the next restart period on Lap 191. Despite not contesting with Blaney for the lead, Hamlin would retain third place as the second stage period concluded on Lap 260, which netted him eight crucial stage points in hopes of making the Championship 4 round.
Restarting in the top four at the start of the final stage period with 230 laps remaining, Hamlin could not march his way towards the lead despite racing within the top-five mark for the majority of the stage period and as the track temperatures transitioned from daytime to nighttime racing. When the checkered flag flew, Hamlin could make his way up to as high as fifth place, which was not enough to maintain his championship hopes for the 2024 season as he missed the cutline by 24 points.
Overall, the 2024 Cup Series season marks Hamlin’s 19th consecutive one as a full-time competitor and his third in a row where his Playoff hopes ended following the Round of 8. Amid his strong top-five result at Martinsville and in a season where he netted three victories and 18 top-10 results, the Virginia veteran indicated the lack of speed and handling of his car during Sunday’s main event as a decisive factor that left him out of the title hunt and setting his elusive first title hopes for another season in 2025.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[My race was] Similar to the spring,” Hamlin said. “We were just fourth, fifth best, and that’s kind of where we were. I had track position at times, but when I was at our best handling-wise, it was just good enough to keep up, and that was it. We just haven’t had it for a couple years now, and we’ll go to work on it and try to figure out what we can do to come here in the spring and win.”
Overall, Hamlin and Elliott join Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell as the four Playoff contenders who did not make the 2024 Championship 4 round for next weekend’s season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway, while Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Joey Logano, and Tyler Reddick will contend for the championship. With the points amongst the eliminated Playoff contenders being reshuffled for the third and final time, Elliott and Hamlin are currently ranked seventh and ninth, respectively, in the standings as they both strive to cap off the 2024 season on a strong note.
Chase Elliott’s and Denny Hamlin’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series seasons will conclude next Sunday, November 10, at Phoenix Raceway with the Cup Series Championship Race, which will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
Amid a whirlwind of emotions among the remaining playoff contenders battling for the final two Championship 4 spots, Ryan Blaney emerged triumphant with a thrilling late-race victory in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, November 3. This hard-fought win not only brought him a sense of elation and redemption but also secured his place in the championship fight for the final race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The reigning Cup Series champion from High Point, North Carolina, led three times for 32 of the 500-scheduled laps after starting in 14th place and methodically marching up the leaderboard. He then racked up six crucial stage points by finishing fifth following the first stage period. Blaney would then lead his first 16 laps and accumulate an additional nine stage points during the second stage period where he finished second behind Brad Keselowski. He also survived the stage’s four caution periods and executing a pit strategy for track position towards the front in the closing stages of the second stage.
Blaney restarted in the top 10 for the start of the final stage period with 230 laps remaining and spent the majority of the period racing toward the front. He endured back-to-back restarts amid back-to-back cautions within the final 100 laps and used the final restart period with 87 laps remaining to march his way to the front.
After outdueling Playoff contender Chase Elliott for the lead with 14 laps remaining, Blaney stormed away and cruised to his third checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season. The victory all but punched Blaney’s ticket back to the Championship 4 round and awarded him an opportunity to defend his series title against teammate Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and William Byron. Byron was awarded the final Playoff berth after Christopher Bell’s Playoff berth was revoked due to “wall-riding” the final corner that initially enabled him to gain the final upper hand to the finale.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, November 2, Martin Truex Jr., the fastest competitor during the event’s practice session on Saturday, notched his first Cup pole position of the 2024 season in his penultimate start as a full-time competitor with a pole-winning lap at 96.190 mph in 19.686 seconds. Joining Truex on the front row was Playoff contender Chase Elliott, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 95.840 mph in 19.758 seconds.
Before the event, the following names that included Austin Cindric, Corey LaJoie and Playoff contender Denny Hamlin dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. By then, Hamlin was already scheduled to start in 37th place, dead last, after he opted not to qualify due to repairs made to his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry after he crashed due to a stuck throttle during Saturday’s practice session.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Martin Truex Jr. rocketed his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE ahead from the inside lane through the frontstretch as he led the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field behind jostled for early spots through two stacked lanes, Truex cycled back to the frontstretch and led the first lap while Chase Elliott maintained the runner-up spot ahead of Playoff teammate William Byron, Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe.
Over the next four laps, Truex maintained a steady advantage over Elliott despite getting bumped by the latter through every corner. Behind, Byron retained third place ahead of Gibbs and Briscoe while Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton, Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and Playoff contender Kyle Larson followed suit in the top 10.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Truex was leading by four-tenths of a second over Elliott while Byron, Gibbs, Briscoe, Preece, Burton, Bowman, Austin Dillon and Larson continued to follow suit in the top 10. With three of eight Playoff contenders racing in the top 10 on the track in the event’s early stages, Playoff contender Ryan Blaney was mired in 11th place while his Playoff teammate Joey Logano was in 13th place ahead of Playoff contender Christopher Bell. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin was mired in 34th place as he was racing behind Playoff contender and his 23XI Racing competitor Tyler Reddick.
Fifteen laps later, Truex stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Elliott while third-place Byron trailed by more than a second. With Briscoe and Preece racing in the top five, Larson retained 10th place ahead of Blaney while Logano and Bell retained 13th and 14th, respectively. Towards the rear of the field, Hamlin was up to 31st place while Reddick was back in 34th place.
Another 10 laps later, Truex, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over runner-up Elliott and by more than a second over third-place Byron. Behind, Blaney and Larson swapped spots as Blaney was in 10th place while Logano and Bell remained in 13th and 14th, respectively. Meanwhile, Hamlin cracked the top-30 mark as he was in 30th place while Reddick was strapped in 34th place.
Then on Lap 41, Elliott and Truex dueled for the lead, starting from the first two turns, as Elliott made his move beneath Truex. After dueling with him through the backstretch, Elliott then muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 past Truex for the lead through Turns 3 and 4 as he assumed the lead for the following lap. With Elliott leading, Truex retained second over Byron as Briscoe and Preece started to close in.
At the Lap 50 mark, Elliott slightly grew his lead by four-tenths of a second over Truex while teammate Byron trailed in third place by more than a second. As Briscoe and Preece followed suit in the top five, Blaney made his way up to eighth place while Larson was in 11th place. With Logano and Bell remaining in the top 15, Hamlin was up to 28th place while Reddick, who was lapped, retained 34th place.
Ten laps later, Byron, who overtook Truex for the runner-up spot three laps earlier, was racing in second place in his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as he trailed teammate Elliott by one-and-a-half seconds. As both Briscoe and Preece overtook Truex to move up to third and fourth, respectively, Hamlin, who was still racing in the top five, was up to 27th place and he would proceed to overtake Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for 26th place during the following lap.
On Lap 65, Truex pitted his No. 19 Toyota under green from fifth place. By then, Reddick had also pitted despite losing two laps as Elliott stretched his lead to more than three seconds over teammate Byron. Not long after, Truex was assessed a drive-through penalty for driving too fast while entering pit road prior to his pit service. As Hamlin marched his way up to 23rd place behind Erik Jones on the track, Elliott stabilized his lead to two seconds over Byron at the Lap 75 mark as both Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher pitted under green.
Shortly after, the event’s first caution period flew when Playoff contender Christopher Bell made contact with Corey LaJoie in between Turns 1 and 2 as both spun through the turns, though both managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage to their respective cars. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Eliott pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Elliott exited pit road first ahead of teammate Byron as Briscoe, Preece, Todd Gilliland, Blaney, Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Larson and Joey Logano followed suit in the top 10.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 85, teammates Elliott and Byron dueled for the lead for a full lap as Byron led the next lap by a fender from the outside lane. Elliott would continue to duel with Byron during the next lap until he used the inside lane to motor ahead of Byron through the frontstretch and have both lanes under his control. With Elliott leading Byron, Briscoe followed suit ahead of Preece and Gilliland while Blaney and Larson were in sixth and eighth by the Lap 90 mark. Behind, Hamlin was up to 16th place, where he was four spots ahead of teammate Bell, while Logano was in 11th place.
At the Lap 100 mark, Elliott was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while Briscoe, Preece and Gilliland continued to race in the top five ahead of Blaney, Larson, Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and Logano. By then, Hamlin cracked the top 15 as he was in 15th place behind Daniel Hemric and teammate Bell was back in 21st place behind Bubba Wallace while Reddick, who was still a lap down, was strapped in 34th place.
Ten laps later, Elliott stretched his advantage to more than a second over Byron as Briscoe and Preece continued to follow suit in third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Blaney cracked the top five as he was in fifth place while Larson was also up to sixth place. Over the next 10 laps, Bell was locked in a heated battle with Noah Gragson for 20th place as both raced in front of Michael McDowell and Hamlin retained 15th place while Logano was up to ninth place. By then, Elliott retained the lead by more than a second over Byron.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 130, Elliott, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic and came into Martinsville 43 points below the top-four cutline in his efforts to make the Championship 4 round, captured his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season after fending off a last-lap bump from teammate Byron. Byron followed suit in second ahead of Briscoe, Preece and Blaney while Larson, Bowman, Austin Dillon, Logano and Brad Keselowski were scored in the top 10. With five of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Hamlin, Bell and Reddick were mired in 15th, 21st and 35th, respectively, with Reddick falling two laps behind.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Elliott returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Elliott retained the lead as he exited pit road first ahead of Byron while Briscoe, Blaney, Preece, Bowman, Larson, Logano, Keselowski and Austin Dillon followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Austin Dillon was penalized for speeding on pit road.
The second stage period started on Lap 141 as teammates Elliott and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, the two Hendrick Motorsports teammates dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Byron used the outside lane to assume the lead from Elliott through the backstretch. With Byron proceeding to clear Elliott entering Turn 3 and lead the following lap, Blaney dueled with Briscoe for third place, but the latter retained the spot as Preece, Larson and Bowman followed suit. The caution would then return on Lap 144 when Daniel Suarez, who was racing towards the top-15 mark, got clipped by Hemric, who got bumped and boxed in between rookie Josh Berry and Austin Cindric, as Suarez spun his No. 99 Jockey Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through Turn 2. The incident occurred just behind Hamlin, who was up to 12th place, while Bell barely squeezed his way through the incident.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 151, Byron retained the lead from teammate Byron and proceeded to lead the following lap while having both lanes under his control. Behind, Larson, who attempted to make a bold move beneath Preece for additional spots, was in sixth place ahead of Logano and Blaney retained fourth place behind Briscoe while Hamlin continued to race in 12th place. With Bell mired in 16th place, Byron stabilized his lead to six-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott by Lap 155.
The caution would then return on Lap 156 when Harrison Burton, who was in the top 20, got bumped by rookie Carson Hocevar entering Turn 3 as Burton spun the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse in Turn 4 as he barely made contact with Austin Dillon in the process. During the caution period, some led by Hemric pitted while the rest led by Byron, including the Playoff contenders, remained on the track.
With the race restarting under green on Lap 164, teammates Elliott and Byron dueled for the lead for a third consecutive restart period and they remained dead even for the lead for a full lap while Larson got sideways and nearly turned by Preece exiting the frontstretch as Larson cracked the top five. Byron would proceed to muscle ahead of Elliott to lead under authority as Briscoe followed suit while Blaney, Larson, Preece, Logano, Bowman, Ross Chastain and Hamlin were in the top 10.
By Lap 175, Byron was leading by six-tenths of a second over Elliott while Briscoe, Blaney and Larson followed suit in the top five. Behind, Preece was back in sixth place ahead of Bowman, Chastain, Logano and Hamlin while Keselowski, Cindric, Berry, Bell and Gilliland were in the top 15 ahead of Gilliland, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Hocevar and Ty Gibbs. Meanwhile, Reddick was strapped two laps down in 35th place as Byron stabilized his lead to six-tenths of a second over Elliott by Lap 180. By then, Blaney dueled and overtook Briscoe for third place as he trailed the lead by two seconds while Larson also trailed the lead by two seconds in fifth place.
On Lap 183, the caution flew when the pole-sitter Martin Truex Jr., who was racing towards the rear of the field, got bumped and spun in front of Hemric and John Hunter Nemechek in Turn 4 as he would lose a lap to Byron. The incident occurred as Larson had overtaken Briscoe for fourth place. During the caution period, mixed strategies ensued as some led by Byron and including Larson, Elliott and Logano pitted while the rest led by Blaney and including Hamlin and Bell remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Elliott endured a slow pit service as the rear tire changer was slow to tighten the right-rear tire.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 191 featured Blaney muscling his No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead with the lead from the inside lane while Hamlin dueled with Keselowski for the runner-up spot. Blaney would proceed to lead the next lap ahead of Keselowski, Hamin, Austin Dillon and Bell while Larson was making bold moves entering the corners to charge back to the front on his four fresh tires. With Byron also trying to march back to the front, Blaney retained the lead over Keselowski and Hamlin before the caution returned on Lap 195 as Hocevar, who was trying to race back into the top 15, bumped Hemric into Gilliland as the latter two spun towards the outside wall in Turn 2 while the field behind scattered to avoid the incident.
During the next restart period on Lap 202, Blaney and Keselowski dueled for the lead in front of Hamlin and Ausitn Dillon until Keselowski led the next lap by a hair at the next lap period. Keselowski would continue to fight with Blaney for the lead amid a heated duel through every corner and straightaway before he cleared Blaney through the backstretch on Lap 204. Behind, Hamlin was in third place while Bell motored his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE into fourth place. Behind Ausitn Dillon and Gragson, Byron powered his way into seventh place as teammate Larson followed suit. As the field continued to jostle for on-track spots, Keselowski retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Blaney by Lap 210.
Then on Lap 220, the battle for the lead ignited as Blaney bumped and was trying to navigate his way past Keselowski for the top spot through every corner and straightaway. Keselowski, however, would retain the top spot in his No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang Dark Horse while Hamlin, Bell and Larson followed suit in the top five. Behind, Byron battled Austin Dillon for sixth place while Elliott motored his way back up to 13th place in front of Logano. Keselowski would stabilize his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Blaney, who was beginning to become aggravated, by Lap 230 while Blaney’s Playoff rivals Hamlin, Bell, Larson and Byron followed suit in the top six as Hamlin trailed Blaney by a second. By then, Elliott was battling Briscoe for 12th place while Logano continued to follow suit in 14th place.
Towards the Lap 240 mark, Keselowski retained the lead by within two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Blaney while third-place Hamlin followed suit by more than a second. Behind, Bell, Larson and Byron retained fourth through sixth, respectively, on the track as both Elliott and Logano retained 12th and 14th, respectively, on the track. Meanwhile, Reddick was strapped two laps down in 35th place as Keselowski proceeded to lead the event’s halfway mark on Lap 250.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 260, Keselowski, who had not pitted in 126 laps, fended off Blaney to capture his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Blaney followed suit in second along with Hamlin while Larson, Byron, Bell, Austin Dillon, Bowman, Gragson and Preece were scored in the top 10. With five of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Elliott, Logano and Reddick were scored in 12th, 13th and 35th, respectively. By then, Bell and Byron occupied the two vacant spots to the Championship 4 round while Larson, Hamlin, Blaney and Elliott trailed below the cutline.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Keselowski exited pit road first as he was followed by Larson, Byron, Hamlin, Bowman, Blaney, Austin Dillon, Preece, Logano and Elliott. Amid the pit stops, Bell endured a slow pit service and he would pit a second time to have a loose lug nut addressed. In addition, Blaney nearly clipped one of Hocevar’s pit crew members while trying to exit his pit stall while both Larson and Hamlin nearly made contact with one another.
With 230 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Keselowski and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Keselowski motored ahead from the inside lane as teammates Larson and Byron battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Hamlin battled Bowman for fourth place in front of Blaney and Austin Dillon as Blaney would then use the outside lane to duel with Bowman for fifth place. As Hamlin challenged Larson for third place, Keselowski retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Byron with 225 laps remaining.
Down to the final 220 laps of the event, Keselowski maintained the lead by within three-tenths of a second over Byron as Larson, Hamlin and Blaney all followed suit in the top five. With Elliott and Logano racing in 10th and 12th, respectively, Bell was mired in 28th place and trying to navigate through tight traffic following his slow pit service during the previous caution period.
Ten laps later, Keselowski’s lead stabilized to three-tenths of a second over Byron while third-place Larson followed suit by six-tenths of a second. Behind, Blaney and Hamlin battled fiercely for fourth place while Elliott and Logano continued to race in 10th and 12th, respectively. Meanwhile, Bell carved his way up to 25th place, which currently placed him in a tie with Larson for the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 round in the Playoff standings.
Another 10 laps later, Bell moved back above the top-four cutline over Larson by a single point as the former assumed 24th place on the track. Bell would then pick up 23rd place during the following lap as Keselowski continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Byron while Larson, Blaney and Hamlin all trailed by within less than three seconds. Not long after, Elliott, who ran into the rear of Buescher through the backstretch as Buescher pitted under green, was scored in the top 10 as he continued without sustaining any significant front-nose damage.
With 175 laps remaining, Keselowski slightly stretched his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Byron as Larson, Blaney and Hamlin continued to trail in the top five. Meanwhile, Bell, who was racing within the Playoff cutline, was up in 21st place while Elliott and Logano were mired in 10th and 13th, respectively. Keselowski’s lead would decrease to six-tenths of a second over Byron as Blaney started to close in on Byron with 160 laps remaining.
Then with 155 laps remaining, Blaney bumped the lapped competitor of Shane van Gisbergen, who then slid up and made contact with Byron through the first two turns. This allowed Blaney to move into the runner-up spot over Byron while Keselowski retained the lead by above half a second. Meanwhile, Bell was in 20th place after he rubbed fenders with Austin Cindric while Larson and Hamlin remained in the top five.
Six laps later, Elliott strategically pitted his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the top 10, which resulted in him losing a lap as Blaney started to close in on Keselowski for the lead. Over the following 14 laps, Keselowski, who navigated his way through lapped traffic, fended off Blaney to retain the lead as Bell, who was in 19th place, was scored the final competitor on the lead lap. Blaney then tried to use the lapped competitor of Zane Smith to overtake Keselowski for the lead with 133 laps remaining, but the move did not work as Keselowski retained the top spot. Keselowski then lapped Bell with 130 laps remaining as Hamlin pitted from fourth place.
With 128 laps remaining and as more competitors started to peel off the track to pit under green, teammates Byron and Larson would pit their respective Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets as Blaney then pitted during the following lap. The leader Keselowski would pit one lap after Blaney. Following the pit stops, Byron managed to cycle ahead of Keselowski and Blaney on the track. With 120 laps remaining, Bell pitted under green as Elliott, who was in 10th place prior to the pit stops and had pitted nearly 30 laps ago, strategically cycled into the lead.
Down to the final 110 laps of the event, Elliott, who continued to remain on the track and stretching his fuel tank to the furthest, was leading by more than a second over teammate Byron. Meanwhile, Keselowski trailed in third place by two seconds while Blaney, Larson and Hamlin followed suit in the top six. Meanwhile, Bell, who was scored a lap down, was in 23rd place while Logano was back in 13th place.
Then with 103 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Hocevar, who was racing in 14th place, spinning in Turn 2 after he got hit by Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. During the caution period, some led by Elliott and including Keselowski, Blaney, Hamlin and Logano pitted while the rest led by Byron and including teammate Larson remained on the track. Bell would also pit despite being trapped a lap down.
The start of the ensuing restart period with 94 laps remaining did not last long as a wheel rolled off of the right front of Kyle Busch’s No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 just as the field entered Turns 3 and 4. At the moment of caution, Larson had managed to muscle ahead of teammate Byron and was ruled the leader.
The start of the next restart period with 87 laps remaining was successful as Larson fended off teammate Byron to lead the field for a full cycle. As Larson led the following lap over Byron and Cindric, teammate Elliott dueled with Preece for fourth place while Hamlin was in sixth place in front of Briscoe, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Blaney. Shortly after, Bell moved into the free pass position in 19th place as Larson retained a steady lead over a four-car battle involving Byron, Cindric, Elliott and Hamlin with 80 laps remaining.
Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Larson was leading by nine-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott, who overtook teammate Byron for the runner-up spot a few laps earlier. With Larson leapfrogging up above the cutline by leading the race, Byron currently occupied the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 round over Bell, who was still strapped in 19th place while scored a lap down. Elliott, however, would slowly begin to close in on teammate Larson with fresher tires as the latter retained the top spot by seven-tenths of a second with 70 laps remaining.
With 60 laps remaining, Larson stabilized his late advantage to more than a second over Elliott as both were placed in a “must-win” situation to make the Championship 4 field. Behind, teammate Byron trailed by three seconds as he was ahead of Cindric, Blaney and Hamlin while Bell retained 19th place. Despite getting mired in lapped traffic over the next 10 laps, Larson stabilized his lead to eight-tenths of a second over Elliott.
Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Larson, who lapped 18th-place Bubba Wallace, continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott. By then, Bell, who was still in 19th place, was not in the free pass position as he was currently scored three points behind Byron, who lost third place to Blaney two laps earlier. Not long after, Reddick, who is already guaranteed a spot to the Championship 4 despite running towards the rear of the field while multiple laps down, took his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE to the garage due to a mechanical issue.
With 25 laps remaining, Larson maintained the top spot in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Elliott, who was told to commence his charge for the lead several laps earlier. In the process, Blaney, who was placed in a “must-win” situation, closed in as he trailed the lead by six-tenths of a second while Byron lost fourth place to Cindric. This decreased Byron’s points advantage to two to Bell as both Austin Dillon and Hamlin slowly closed in on him for positions.
Then a lap later, Elliott bumped and overtook teammate Larson for the lead. Blaney would then bump and overtake Larson for the runner-up spot through the frontstretch during the following lap before Larson returned the favor with another bump. Amid their bumps, Blaney assumed the runner-up spot, which allowed Elliott to move above the cutline while Larson dropped below the cutline.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Blaney while third-place Larson trailed by more than two seconds. With Cindric in fourth place, Byron maintained fifth place over both Hamlin and Austin Dillon while Bell was still strapped in 19th place and a lap down. A lap later, however, Blaney dueled with Elliott for the lead through the frontstretch and he would muscle ahead of Elliott entering the backstretch. This moved Blaney above the cutline and dropped Elliott below the cutline while Byron’s points advantage decreased to one over Bell as Hamlin overtook Byron for fifth place in his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE on the track.
With 10 laps remaining, Blaney grew his advantage to more than a second over Elliott while Byron was trying to fend off Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain, the latter two dueling dead even before Byron, for sixth place. As Blaney proceeded to add another second to his advantage with five laps remaining, Byron was left to fend off Dillon, Chastain and Keselowski for sixth place in his hopes to maintain his Playoff hopes for the finale over Bell.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained in the lead by more than two seconds over Elliott. With a clear racetrack in front of him and both Elliott and Larson unable to close back the deficit, Blaney was able to cycle back to the frontstretch victorious for his third checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.
With the victory, Blaney, who came into Martinsville 38 points below the top-four cutline in the Playoff standings, notched his 13th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series division, his second in a row in the fall Martinsville event and his first since winning at Pocono Raceway in July. The Martinsville victory was also the 11th of the 2024 season for the Ford nameplate and the seventh for Team Penske as Blaney redeemed himself following last weekend’s last-lap defeat from Tyler Reddick at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Above all, Blaney, who is in his ninth consecutive season as a full-time competitor in NASCAR’s premier series, punched his ticket into the 2024 Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season as he will strive to defend his series title in next weekend’s finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I don’t know, man,” Blaney, who was emotional, said on the frontstretch on NBC. “I tried to save my rear tires early. I started struggling with my rears when I would get [into] traffic the run before. I think it kind of paid off for us. So proud of the effort by everybody on the No. 12 group for never giving up and to have another shot at a championship is really special. [I’ll] Try to go back-to-back next week. I’m worn out. I got nothing left [today]. Good battle. The car hung on longer than most and [I] could really make some ground. [The No. 12 team] just worked on the car all night, so I really appreciate them. Let’s go.”
Meanwhile, drama unfolded on the final lap as Bell overtook Wallace, who had fallen off the pace over the last several laps as he radioed a potential flat tire to his No. 23 Xfinity Toyota Camry XSE, through the backstretch for 18th place. Bell then got loose entering Turn 3 as he made the pass and hit the outside wall, where he would proceed to drive and throttle up his car while scraping the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 to cycle back to the frontstretch and cross the finish line ahead of Wallace while Byron managed to fend off Dillon, Chastain, Keselowski and Logano for sixth place. In the change of events, Bell overtook Byron in the Playoff standings to claim the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 round in a tiebreaker over Byron due to achieving a higher result of second place throughout the Round of 8 compared to Byron.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Following an extensive review of the final-lap actions made between Byron and Bell while also evaluating the radio conversations between Wallace, Chastain and Austin Dillon as all three were racing with both Byron and Bell for positions in the closing laps, NASCAR levied Bell a safety violation for using the outside wall to accelerate and scrape his way into the Championship 4 round. Despite Bell’s move being similar to the move Ross Chastain made, where the latter throttled up against the Turns 3 and 4 outside wall to gain spots and make the Championship 4 round in 2022, NASCAR had banned the wall-ride maneuver from competitors prior to the start of the 2023 season.
As a result, Bell was demoted from 18th to 22nd in the final running order, which left him four points out of the Championship 4 field and not reaching the final Playoff round for a third consecutive season. Bell’s demotion allowed Byron to claim the final Championship 4 berth for a second consecutive season as he will compete for his first Cup Series championship next weekend at Phoenix.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I’m not happy for anything, but the rule is what it is for the crossover gate over [in Turns 3 and 4] and riding the wall,” Byron said. “It is what it is. I will go race and just proud of my team. We had a really, hard-fought day, overall. Proud of that.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Bell said. “I understand that the rule was made to prevent people from riding the wall, but my move was completely different than what Ross’s [Chastain] was. I got loose getting into the corner and slid right into the fence. I don’t know what else to say.”
With Byron and race winner Blaney joining Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick as the four finalists who will contend for the 2024 Cup Series championship, Bell joins teammate Denny Hamlin and Byron’s Hendrick teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott as the bottom four contenders whose championship hopes came to an end. The outcome also eliminated Joe Gibbs Racing’s hopes of claiming this year’s title with both Bell and Hamlin out of the Playoffs.
There were 15 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 66 laps. In addition, 17 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Ryan Blaney, 32 laps led
2. Chase Elliott, 129 laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Kyle Larson, 71 laps led
4. Austin Cindric
5. Denny Hamlin
6. William Byron, 51 laps led
7. Austin Dillon
8. Ross Chastain
9. Brad Keselowski, 170 laps led, Stage 2 winner
10. Joey Logano
11. Noah Gragson
12. Shane van Gisbergen
13. Alex Bowman
14. Ryan Preece
15. Chase Briscoe
16. Josh Berry
17. Daniel Hemric
18. Bubba Wallace, one lap down, six laps led
19. Erik Jones, one lap down
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down
21. Zane Smith, one lap down
22. Christopher Bell, one lap down
23. Daniel Suarez, two laps down
24. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down, 41 laps led
25. Carson Hocevar, two laps down
26. Todd Gilliland, two laps down
27. Kaz Grala, three laps down
28. Kyle Busch, three laps down
29. Justin Haley, three laps down
30. Chris Buescher, three laps down
31. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down
32. Ty Gibbs, five laps down
33. Michael McDowell, 10 laps down
34. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Brakes
35. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Oil Pressure
36. Harrison Burton – OUT, Engine
37. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Brakes
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings
1. Ryan Blaney – Advanced
2. Tyler Reddick – Advanced
3. Joey Logano – Advanced
4. William Byron – Advanced
5. Christopher Bell – Eliminated
6. Kyle Larson – Eliminated
7. Denny Hamlin – Eliminated
8. Chase Elliott – Eliminated
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to conclude next Sunday, November 10, at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, where a champion will be crowned. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
With two vacant spots to this year’s Championship 4 round on the line amongst eight NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff contenders, Aric Almirola motored his way to a dominant victory for his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team in the National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, November 2.
The 40-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led five times for a race-high 150 of 250-scheduled laps in an event where he started in ninth place and muscled through four early caution periods to claim the first stage victory in a photo finish over Playoff contender Cole Custer. Then after racing his way to win the second stage period, Almirola survived a bevy of caution periods and ensuing restart periods, including the final one with 16 laps remaining where he was leading, to fend off Playoff contenders Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith to capture his third Xfinity victory of the 2024 season and clinch a spot to this year’s Xfinity owner’s championship battle for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 team for next weekend’s finale at Phoenix Raceway.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, November 1, Parker Retzlaff notched his second Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season and his career with a pole-winning lap at 95.151 mph in 19.901 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Anthony Alfredo, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 95.094 mph in 19.913 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that include Parker Kligerman, William Sawalich and Kyle Sieg dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Parker Retzlaff and Anthony Alfredo briefly dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Retzlaff muscled his No. 31 The Visual Pak Companies Chevrolet Camaro ahead with both lanes under his control through the backstretch. As the field slowly began to fan out to three lanes, Retzlaff led the first lap as Playoff contender Chandler Smith overtook Alfredo for the runner-up spot. Behind, Aric Almirola made a bold three-wide move beneath Playoff contenders Sammy Smith and Austin Hill as he made his way up to sixth place.
Over the next four laps, Retzlaff would proceed to stabilize his early advantage to four-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith as Playoff contender Justin Allgaier, Alfredo and Playoff rookie Jesse Love followed suit in the top five. Behind, Almirola retained sixth place ahead of Playoff contender Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed while Playoff contenders AJ Allmendinger and Sammy Smith pursued in the top 10.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps and amid a series of early jostling for spots within the field, Retzlaff retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith while Allgaier and Alfredo followed suit. Behind, Almirola made his way into fifth place over Love and Hill while Creed, Allmendinger and Playoff contender Cole Custer were in the top 10. As both Custer and Allmendinger bumped one another while battling for 10th place, Riley Herbst, Playoff contender Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Bubba Pollard were in the top 15.
On Lap 12, the event’s first caution flew after Allmendinger, who had fiercely bumped and rubbed with Custer for a top-10 spot over the last few laps, blew a right-front tire amid another round of contact with Custer entering the backstretch and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 3. The incident was enough to end Allmendinger’s event early, but it did not affect his secured spot to this year’s Championship 4 round after he had won the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two weeks earlier.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 18, Chandler Smith dueled with Retzlaff for the lead through the first two turns before he muscled ahead and cleared Retzlaff through the backstretch. Smith would proceed to lead the following lap as Allgaier followed suit in third place. Behind, Almirola muscled his way up to fourth place while Alfredo was pinned in a tight three-wide battle for a top-10 spot that involved Herbst and Creed as both Custer and Sammy Smith joined the battle. With Love and Hill moving up to fifth and sixth on the track, Chandler Smith retained the lead just past the Lap 20 mark.
At the Lap 25 mark, Chandler Smith was leading by six-tenths of a second over Retzlaff while Allgaier, Almirola and Love followed suit in the top five ahead of Hill, Herbst, Custer, Alfredo, and Creed. Over the next five laps, Allgaier and Almirola dueled fiercely for third place while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Herbst and Custer battled for seventh place in front of Sam Mayer. In the process, Almirola stabilized his lead to nearly eight-tenths of a second.
On Lap 36, the event’s second caution flew after Myatt Snider, who was racing in 18th place, was bumped and sent for a spin by Ryan Sieg entering Turns 3 and 4. During the caution period, some led by Chandler Smith and including Allgaier, Hill, Love and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by Retzlaff and including Custer and Sam Mayer remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Ryan Ellis was penalized for vehicle interference while Hill endured a slow pit service after he had to reverse to avoid hitting Dawson Cram while exiting his pit stall.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 43, Retzlaff and Custer dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Custer used the outside lane to assume the lead through the backstretch. Behind, Retzlaff fended off rookie Shane van Gisbergen through Turns 3 and 4 to retain second place before the latter crossed over and reignited his challenge for the spot. Behind, a series of jostles for spots between competitors with fresh tires versus those with worn tires ensued as Custer continued to lead. The caution, however, would return on Lap 47 after Leland Honeyman spun in Turn 2 from the top 20 after getting hit by Blaine Perkins.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 53 did not last long as Retzlaff, who restarted on the front row with Custer, was shoved dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 1 by Mayer as Retzlaff emerged with significant front-end damage to his pole-winning car. The incident was enough to knock Retzlaff out of contention while Mayer continued.
With the event restarting under green with a single lap remaining to the first stage period, Custer and Almirola dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. They continued to battle dead even against one another through Turns 3 and 4 as they crossed the start/finish line in a photo finish to complete the first stage. At the line, Almirola emerged with the stage victory by a nose for the fifth time in the 2024 Xfinity Series season. Custer settled in second followed by Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Love, Herbst, Josh Williams, Sammy Smith, Creed and Jeb Burton. By then, five of seven remaining Playoff contenders on the track recorded the event’s first round of stage points as the list did not include Mayer or Hill.
Under the stage break, some led by Custer and including Williams, Jeremy Clements, Patrick Emerling, Mason Maggio and Logan Bearden pitted while the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 70 as teammates Almirola and Chandler Smith started on the front row. At the start, Almirola gained the advantage from the inside lane as he muscled away with the lead entering the backstretch. Almirola proceeded to lead the following lap while Chandler Smith fended off Allgaier for the runner-up spot. Allgaier would then be challenged by Love and Herbst for third place as Smith started to close in on Almirola for the lead.
Towards the Lap 80 mark, Almirola retained a steady advantage over teammate Chandler Smith, with the latter bumping and intimidating his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammate through every corner and straightaway. Smith would then make his way beneath Almirola’s No. 20 He Gets Us Toyota Supra through the first two turns and muscle his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra into the lead through the backstretch on Lap 81. With Smith leading, Allgaier trailed in third place by six-tenths of a second while Love, Sammy Smith and Herbst trailed by more than two seconds.
On Lap 85, Herbst bumped and nearly turned Love’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro in a fierce battle for fifth place in Turn 3. The contact dropped Love to ninth place as Herbst proceeded to fend off Sheldon Creed for fifth place. In the process, Chandler Smith continued to lead by within a tenth of a second over teammate Almirola. Almirola, however, would gain a run beneath Smith through the first two turns and reassume the lead on Lap 94.
At the Lap 100 mark, Almirola stretched his advantage to a second over teammate Chandler Smith as Sammy Smith would proceed to overtake Chandler Smith for the runner-up spot during the following lap. Behind, Allgaier trailed in fourth place by two seconds while Herbst, Creed, Sawalich, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Jeb Burton followed suit in the top 10.
Following a caution period on Lap 102 as Mason Maggio spun in Turn 1 just in front of the leaders, some led by Ryan Sieg and including Myatt Snider, Brennan Poole and Garrett Smithley remained on the track while the rest led by Almirola pitted. Amid the pit stops, Chandler Smtih endured a slow pit service.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 110, Ryan Sieg and Poole dueled for the lead in front of a stacked field as Sieg proceeded to muscle ahead through the backstretch. By the following lap, Almirola, who was racing on fresh tires, had carved his way up to third place. Almirola would proceed to duel and overtake Poole for the runner-up spot during the next lap as teammate Sheldon Creed was also muscling his way towards the top five.
Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, Almirola caught and made his move beneath Ryan Sieg for the lead entering the first two turns. Almirola and Sieg would then duel for the lead through the backstretch as Sieg refused to surrender the spot. With both continuing to battle dead even for the lead during the following lap, Almirola would muscle ahead of Sieg through Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 118.
During the final lap of the second stage period, Ryan Sieg tried to execute a crossover move beneath Almirola through the frontstretch, but Almirola muscled away with his fresh tires and teammate Creed began to challenge Sieg for the runner-up spot. Amid the battles within the field, Almirola proceeded to capture his sixth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and second of the day. Sieg fended off Creed for the runner-up spot while Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Custer, Herbst, Sawalich and Poole were scored in the top 10. With four of seven Playoff contenders on the track racking up the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders including Mayer and Hill did not achieve points.
During the stage break, Logan Bearden was the only competitor who pitted as the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.
With 120 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as teammates Almirola and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Almirola rocketed away with the lead through the first two turns and he would retain the lead for the following lap. Behind, a series of on-track battles ensued as Allgaier made his way to fourth place behind Ryan Sieg while Custer fended off Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith for fifth place. The caution would return with 117 laps remaining as William Sawalich spun and slapped into the outside wall in Turn 1 amid contact with Alfredo.
During the start of the next restart period with 110 laps remaining, Almirola dueled with teammate Creed for the lead for a full lap as Creed managed to lead the first lap by a hair from the outside lane. Creed would then clear Almirola to have both lanes under his control entering the first two turns while Allgaier was trying to fend off Custer and Ryan Sieg for third place. Shortly after, Custer moved his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang into third place over Allgaier and Chandler Smith followed in close pursuit in fifth place.
Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Creed continued to lead by a tenth of a second over teammate Almirola, who spent the last several laps dueling and challenging Creed for the top spot through every corner. Almirola would then prevail in the heated battle with teammate Creed with 96 laps remaining as he bumped and muscled ahead of the latter with the top spot. Meanwhile, third-place Custer trailed by a second. Creed then went wide entering Turn 1 during the following lap, which allowed Custer to battle him for the runner-up spot as Almirola stretched his advantage to more than a second.
With 85 laps remaining, Almirola retained the lead over both Custer and Creed as Logan Bearden pitted with his right-front hub on fire. Amid Bearden’s incident, the event remained under green flag conditions. The caution would then fly with 77 laps remaining due to Preston Pardus spinning in Turn 3. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Almirola pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Almirola retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Creed, Custer, Allgaier, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Mayer, Burton, Alfredo and Sammy Smith. Amid the pit stops, Creed was penalized for speeding on pit road.
The start of the next restart period with 68 laps remaining featured Almirola fending off Custer through the first two turns to lead the field through the backstretch. Just before Almirola could reach the start/finish line to lead the following lap, the caution returned when Dawson Cram, who was racing outside the top 20, received a bump from Love that sent him spinning and backing into the outside wall in Turn 3.
As the race restarted under green with 60 laps remaining, Almirola used the inside lane to fend off Custer through the first two turns as he retained a steady lead through the backstretch, Despite getting bumped in the rear by Custer through Turns 3 and 4, Almirola led the following lap ahead of Custer as he had Allgaier, Herbst, Chandler Smith and Jeb Burton all following in close pursuit. With the latter four bumping and dueling against one another for position, Allgaier would retain third place ahead of Chandler Smith and Burton over the next four laps while Mayer and Sammy Smith made their way past Herbst for sixth and seventh, respectively. The caution would then return with 54 laps remaining as Creed bumped Blaine Perkins into Josh Williams, all of whom were battling for a top-15 spot, which sent the latter for a spin towards the outside wall in Turn 2.
The start of the next restart period with 48 laps remaining featured Almirola muscling ahead with a slight advantage over Custer as he proceeded to motor past him through the first two turns and retain the top spot through the backstretch. With Almirola leading the following lap, Custer retained second as Allgaier and Chandler Smith dueled for third place in front of Burton. Behind, teammates Mayer and Sammy Smith dueled for sixth place in front of Herbst, Alfredo and Kligerman as Almirola proceeded to lead with 45 laps remaining.
With less than 40 laps remaining, Almirola stretched his advantage to more than a second over Custer, who had Chandler Smith and Allgaier pressuring him for the runner-up spot through every corner and straightaway. Custer would retain the runner-up spot from both Smith and Allgaier over the next five laps as Almirola’s advantage also stabilized to more than a second.
Not long after, the caution returned with 31 laps remaining when Brandon Jones slid and wrecked his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro against the Turn 1 outside wall from 13th place after he got bumped by Creed entering the turn. The incident occurred shortly after Chandler Smith had bumped Custer out of the racing groove for the runner-up spot in Turn 1.
Just as the event was restarting under green with 24 laps remaining, a stack-up ensued from the front of the field that left Mayer, who restarted in seventh place, with a dented hood and Burton attempting to fan out beneath Mayer. Then entering Turns 1 and 2, Custer returned the favor to Chandler Smith by bumping the latter into the turn as both went up the racetrack through the first two turns. Despite Smith managing to remain in front of Custer, both dropped to fifth and seventh, respectively, through the backstretch. In the process, Mayer, who had a tire rub, continued in sixth place with a dented hood while Almirola pulled away with the lead ahead of Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Herbst.
On the following lap, the caution returned as both Ryan Sieg and van Gisbergen wrecked in Turn 4. During the caution period, Mayer, who pitted to have the damage addressed, had his No. 1 10X Health Chevrolet Camaro pushed behind the wall as his event came to a late end. Mayer’s retirement also ended his hopes of returning to the Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season.
Down to the final 16 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Almirola and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Almirola muscled away from Smith’s No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro and the field to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Almirola led the following lap, Smith followed suit in second while Allgaier was trying to fend off Herbst, Chandler Smith, Custer and Jeb Burton for third place. During the following lap, Chandler Smith got Herbst loose entering Turn 3, which allowed Smith to draw himself alongside Allgaier for third place as Custer tried to follow suit. Custer would then grab fifth place from teammate Herbst while Almirola continued to lead over Sammy Smith with 14 laps remaining.
With 10 laps remaining, Almirola retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Sammy Smith while Chandler Smith trailed the lead by more than a second. By then, both of the Smith competitors were placed in “must-win” situations to maintain their Playoff hopes. Behind, Custer, who currently occupied the fourth and transfer spot to the Championship 4 round, made his way up to fourth place over Allgaier, who held the other vacant spot to the final Playoff round, while Creed was up to sixth place.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Almirola continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Sammy Smith as third-place Chandler Smith followed suit by a second. Over the next four laps, Almirola would stabilize his advantage over both Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith, with the latter two unable to close in despite charging their respective cars through every corner and straightaway.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Almirola remained in the lead by half a second over Sammy Smith and by more than a second over Chandler Smith. With the two Smiths unable to narrow the deficit for a final lap charge, Almirola coasted his No. 20 Toyota smoothly around the Martinsville circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and for his third Xfinity checkered flag of the 2024 season.
With the victory, Almirola, who won at Martinsville in April, notched his seventh career win in his 117th start in the Xfinity circuit and 13th of the 2024 season. The victory was the 11th of the season for both the Toyota nameplate and Joe Gibbs Racing, with the organization’s No. 20 team winning for the ninth time overall.
As a result of the victory, Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota team will contend for the 2024 Xfinity Series owner’s championship as Almirola will compete against Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier for the title during next weekend’s season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Wow, what an amazing race car,” Almirola said on the CW Network. “So proud of [crew chief] Tyler [Allen] and all the guys on this team. We had an amazing car here in the spring. We made a few tweaks to it because I wasn’t totally happy with it, honestly, in the spring. We showed up yesterday and we were awful. I was like, ‘Oh no. What did we do?’ [The team] went to work last night and came up with a lot of changes to make to the car. It was so hooked up today. It would just do everything I wanted it to. Man, this is such a special place, This is, by far, my favorite racetrack and I’m just so thankful to Coach [Gibbs], everybody at Toyota. There’s so much more to it than just me and this race team. I’m just so lucky and blessed to have this opportunity with so many great partners. What an amazing race car. Just so proud, so, so proud and we’re going to go race for an owner’s championship in Phoenix.”
As Almirola celebrated the Martinsville race victory, teammate Chandler Smith, who settled in third place on the track was left heated over Custer, who finished fourth, following their pair of bumps and on-track contact that took them both out of contention for the race victory as Smith also failed to make the Championship 4 field by 28 points. Once Smith parked his car on pit road at the event’s conclusion, he confronted Custer and both exchanged words before Smith attempted to throw a punch across Custer’s face before both were separated by NASCAR officials and their respective crew members.
Ironically, this marks the second run-in and post-race confrontation between Custer and Chandler Smith after the former had confronted the latter during the Playoff opener at Kansas Speedway in late September, where he criticized Smith for costing both the victory from Almirola following a late duel on the track.
“I was planning to do a lot more than [throwing a punch], to be completely frank with you,” Smith, whose racing status for 2025 remains unknown, said. “I was extremely pissed off. I gave him five laps before that caution came out and beat his bumper off and never shipped him or anything like that. Then finally, it’s like all right, the laps are winding down, I’m in a must-win [situation]. [Almirola]’s starting to drive away. He was really good all day. I can’t waste any more time with [Custer], so I finally had a good enough run and pushed him up the racetrack and went on our way, but I gave him a chance for five laps before that…He didn’t even give me a chance to make the corner when we got to Turn 1. It is what it is. He can think we’re even and all, but he’s the one that’s got more stakes than I do next weekend.”
Meanwhile, Custer, who was initially left frustrated with Smith, was also left pleased on pit road as he claimed a Championship 4 berth to next weekend’s finale at Phoenix as he will attempt to defend his title before moving back up to the Cup Series with the rebranded Haas Factory Team in 2025.
“[Chandler Smith]’s not happy, but at the end of the day, he’s put us in the wall a few times this year and his mistakes caught up with him,” Custer said. “He used the bumper on me, I used the bumper on him. What comes around goes around in this deal. I’m so proud of this team. We brought out everything we had today. [The team] Kept us in the fight, but [crew chief Jonathan Toney] and the guys did a great job all year maximizing everything we had. [I] Can’t wait to go to Phoenix now and see what we can do.”
Overall, Custer joins AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier, the latter of whom finished fifth at Martinsville, as the four Playoff contenders who will contend for the 2024 Xfinity Series championship next weekend at Phoenix. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith joins Martinsville runner-up finisher Sammy Smith, rookie Jesse Love and Sam Mayer as the bottom four Playoff contenders in the standings who did not make the Championship 4 round.
There were 12 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 13 cautions for 84 laps. In addition, 26 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is set to conclude at Phoenix Raceway, where a champion will be crowned. The finale is set to occur next Saturday, November 9, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
In his penultimate start as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor, Martin Truex Jr. notched his first Busch pole position of the 2024 season and for this weekend’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, November 2.
The 2017 Cup Series champion from Mayetta, New Jersey, commenced the weekend by being the fastest during the series’ lone practice session earlier on Saturday. He then was one of 10 from a total of 37-entered competitors to transfer to the final qualifying round following two qualifying group rounds. During the final qualifying round, he posted his best qualifying lap at 96.190 mph in 19.686 seconds, which was enough to claim the top-starting spot over Playoff contender Chase Elliott, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 95.840 mph in 19.758 seconds.
With this accomplishment, Truex is currently ranked in 10th place in the standings by notching his 24th career pole in NASCAR’s premier series. Additionally, it was his third at Martinsville and his first since he started on the pole in the fall Martinsville event in late October 2023. Overall, the 2024 season marks Truex’s 11th season where he has achieved a pole position in the Cup Series as he strives to record a victory while down to his final two races as a full-time Cup competitor with Joe Gibbs Racing.
“I felt great about our car on stickers [tires],” Truex said. “You never want to get too optimistic, but [the car] fired off really good in practice, especially that second run with the track rubbered in. I was like, ‘Alright, if we can just hit the balance here for qualifying, it should be really fast.’ Proud of [crew chief] James [Small] and all the guys. We haven’t had a whole lot of good going for us lately. This feels awesome. Anytime you’re first in anything in this series, it’s special and it’s exciting. We got some work to do for tomorrow, but hopefully, we can make a gain on it and have a good day.”
Highlights
Joining Truex on the front row will be Chase Elliott, who emerged as the highest-starting Playoff contender in the field. This weekend’s event at Martinsville is the third and final race in the Round of 8, Elliott is currently ranked in eighth place in the Playoff standings and is 43 points below the top-four cutline to make the Championship 4 round and contend for his second Cup title.
William Byron, Elliott’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, will start in third place ahead of Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs. Rounding out the top-10 starting spots are Harrison Burton, Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, Playoff contender Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon. With three of eight Playoff contenders starting in the top 10 for Sunday’s main event, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin will start 12th, 14th, 16th, 31st and 37th, respectively.
Notably, Hamlin will start in 37th place, dead last, after opting not to post a qualifying lap due to wrecking his primary car during Saturday’s practice session. Despite Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team managing to repair the car, Hamlin, who is 18 points below the top-four cutline, will have to navigate his way through the field from the rear to maintain his title hopes.
Currently, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick are the only two Playoff contenders to be guaranteed berths to the Championship 4 field after winning the Round of 8 events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, respectively. Christopher Bell and William Byron occupy the remaining two vacant spots above the cutline while Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott trail.
All 37 competitors entered for Sunday’s event at Martinsville earned a starting spot.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
Martin Truex Jr., 96.190 mph, 19.686 seconds
Chase Elliott, 95.840 mph, 19.758 seconds
William Byron, 95.951 mph, 19.735 seconds
Chase Briscoe, 95.796 mph, 19.767 seconds
Ty Gibbs, 95.912 mph, 19.743 seconds
Harrison Burton, 95.603 mph, 19.807 seconds
Alex Bowman, 95.908 mph, 19.744 seconds
Ryan Preece, 95.487 mph, 19.831 seconds
Kyle Larson, 95.593 mph, 19.809 seconds
Austin Dillon, 95.367 mph, 19.856 seconds
Josh Berry, 95.752 mph, 19.776 seconds
Joey Logano, 95.661 mph, 19.795 seconds
Todd Gilliland, 95.738 mph, 19.779 seconds
Ryan Blaney, 95.656 mph, 19.796 seconds
Daniel Hemric, 95.670 mph, 19.793 seconds
Christopher Bell, 95.632 mph, 19.801 seconds
Michael McDowell, 95.593 mph, 19.809 seconds
Brad Keselowski, 95.622 mph, 19.803 seconds
Bubba Wallace, 95.492 mph, 19.830 seconds
Daniel Suarez, 95.612 mph, 19.805 seconds
Erik Jones, 95.487 mph, 19.831 seconds
Ross Chastain, 95.516 mph, 19.825 seconds
Kyle Busch, 95.434 mph, 19.842 seconds
Austin Cindric, 95.237 mph, 19.883 seconds
Noah Gragson, 95.362 mph, 19.857 seconds
Chris Buescher, 95.036 mph, 19.925 seconds
Carson Hocevar, 95.319 mph, 19.866 seconds
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 95.032 mph, 19.926 seconds
Shane van Gisbergen, 95.180 mph, 19.895 seconds
Justin Haley, 94.680 mph, 20 seconds
Tyler Reddick, 95.146 mph, 19.902 seconds
John Hunter Nemechek, 94.354 mph, 20.069 seconds
Kaz Grala, 94.237 mph, 20.094 seconds
Corey LaJoie, 94.162 mph, 20.110 seconds
Josh Bilicki, 93.299 mph, 20.296 seconds
Zane Smith, 93.947 mph, 20.156 seconds
Denny Hamlin, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
The 2024 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway is set to occur on Sunday, November 3, and air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
