1. Kyle Larson: Larson charged early at Martinsville, and was into the top 10 by lap 20 after starting 19th. Larson surged again in the latter part of the race, holding off Joey Logano while leading.
“I was just in a hurry to get to Ryan Preece,” Larson said, “to see if he was for real after winning the pole and to get some payback for his treatment of me at Bristol. But as soon as I got near the front, he started dropping like a fly, proving that instead of running with the big dogs, he runs from them.”
2. Joey Logano: Logano started at the back of the field
“I have mostly fond memories of Martinsville,” Logano said, “and one not-so-fond memory. That’s thanks to Matt Kenseth. But I’ve mostly gotten over that situation, through therapy and positive imagery, in which I picture Matt Kenseth as himself, and I picture myself as Carl Edwards bullying him.”
3. Christopher Bell: Bell started 22nd and finished 16th in the NOCO 400.
“Every driver dreams of raising the grandfather clock trophy at Martinsville,” Bell said. “Now, Kyle Larson has his, and he’s won two of the last three races. He looks like the favorite to win the championship. Larson may have the clock, but everybody knows what time it is.”
4. William Byron: Byron finished 23rd in the NOCO 400 at Martinsville.
“Chase Elliott returned after missing the last six weeks recovering from a broken leg suffered while snowboarding,” Byron said. “Now, every time Chase vows to do something, he’ll hear the same three words from everyone at Hendrick: no, not ‘Break a leg.’ I’m talking about ‘Don’t go snowboarding.’”
5. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished third in the NOCO 400 at Martinsville.
“That’s my first top-five of the season,” Truex said. “Except for Christopher Bell, it’s been a pretty slow start for everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. With Kyle Busch gone, I’d say Christopher is JGR’s top driver. The rest of us, we’re the B-team. In short, with Kyle gone, Christopher’s taken over the job of ‘A’-hole.”
6. Ross Chastain: Chastain led 31 laps and finished 13th at Martinville, and is second in the points standings, 13 behind Christopher Bell.
“I feel pretty good about finishing 13th,” Chastain said, “especially since I started the race 34th. So, much like Denny Hamlin’s championship-less career, I feel like I won the battle, even though I didn’t win the war.”
7. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished seventh at Martinsville.
“It’s amazing that Chase Elliott was able to return so quickly after breaking his leg,” Blaney said. “Kudos to the doctors who performed the surgery. Heck, there’s no telling what kind of hardware Chase has in his leg. It’s the same thing NASCAR inspectors say about Hendrick cars.”
8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick won Stage 2 at Martinsville but faded late and came home 20th.
“We were in contention,” Harvick said, “but we blew that when I had to return to the pits to tighten a lug nut. Seeing your chances evaporate like that is tough to swallow and hard to digest, much like a famous Martinsville hot dog.”
9. Kyle Busch: Busch finished a disappointing 21st at Martinsville.
“To make things even more frustrating,” Busch said, “I had to deal with Corey LaJoie. Corey’s earned a reputation as a real douchebag in this sport. So, he’s like a less-talented, less-successful version of me.”
10. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 36 laps and finished 4th at Martinsville, posting his first top-five result of the season.
“I’m pleased,” Hamlin said, “but the real story here for me is Bubba Wallace bumping me during the race. Did he forget that I’m his team owner? Ironically, it was a totally ‘boss’ move by Bubba.”
Ryan Preece won his first NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Award in 124 starts Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway with an impressive lap of 19.979 seconds at 94.780 mph in his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford.
He was the only driver to post a speed under 20 seconds during the qualifying session.
“I was fighting loose that first lap,” Preece said, “It’s a pole. Not a race. So I guess from a company standpoint, it makes us all very optimistic for tomorrow, and [we] can just be smart and we can have good days. It certainly shows that our short track program is really good, and I know our superspeedway program has been extremely good too, and we’ll keep working on that.”
Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez was second fastest with a lap of 94.298 mph and will join Preece on the front row to lead the field to green Sunday afternoon.
Stewart-Haas Racing brought the speed with all four drivers starting in the top 10. Aric Almirola and Chase Briscoe will start third and fourth while Kevin Harvick starts in seventh.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. qualified fifth to round out the top five.
It was a disappointing day for Hendrick Motorsports. While William Byron qualified in eighth, Kyle Larson will start 19th and Alex Bowman will begin the race in 23rd.
Chase Elliott, in his return to competition after missing six weeks due to a snowboarding incident, will also have work to do, after qualifying 24th.
“I actually feel pretty good,” he said. “I had a dismal qualifying lap, but I can’t blame my leg on that one. I had a pretty good first lap and then I really messed up the exit of [turn] two there ]on the second lap. Judging off of practice, starting in the back is going to be a lot of fun, so looking forward to that in the No. 9 NAPA Chevy. We’ll try to go forward there tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I felt fine in the car,” he continued. “Like I said, the entire practice run, I felt fine. Once you kind of get out there on the track and you start focusing on the little things that you need to be doing to hit your marks, I feel like some of that goes away, so that’s a good thing. Again, my qualifying lap wasn’t because of that, it was just a poor effort.”
The Cup Series NOCO 400 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET and will be televised on FS1 with radio coverage provided by MSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Two weeks after having a victory at Richmond Raceway slip out of his grasp in the late stages, John Hunter Nemechek doubled down with resilience and rose to the occasion after scoring a dominant victory in the Call811.com Before You Dig. 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, April 15.
The 25-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led three times for a race-high 198 of 250-scheduled laps, including the final 33, as he also capitalized on the final restart with 18 laps remaining to beat teammate Sammy Smith and Cole Custer by more than a second to claim his second checkered flag of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season in an event where he swept both stages. As an added bonus, Nemechek claimed the second Dash 4 Cash bonus with his victory at the Paperclip-shaped short track.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Cole Custer notched his second Xfinity pole of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 94.411 mph in 20.057 seconds. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 94.331 mph in 20.074 seconds.
Prior to the event, names that included Sheldon Creed, Jeremy Clements, Kaden Honeycutt, Anthony Alfredo and Alex Labbe dropped to the rear due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Custer launched ahead with a strong jump on the inside lane as he cleared Nemechek and assumed the lead for a full circuit, where he proceeded to lead the first lap. Behind, the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes as rookie Parker Retzlaff, who qualified fourth, was getting shuffled out of the racing groove while rookie Sammy Smith and Samy Mayer moved up and battled for third in front of Riley Herbst and Josh Berry.
Three laps later, Nemechek launched his bid for the lead as he drew his No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Supra beneath Custer’s No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang through Turns 1 and 2. After dueling with Custer amid a tight side-by-side battle during the following lap, Nemechek became the new leader of the event on the sixth lap after clearing Custer in Turns 3 and 4 while Sammy Smith trailed behind in close distance.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by more than half a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst while Berry, rookie Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Parker Retzlaff were in the top 10. Behind, Austin Hill was in 11th over Brandon Jones, Ryan Sieg, Brett Moffitt and Derek Kraus in the top 15 while Ryan Truex, Connor Mosack, Parker Kligerman, Kaz Grala and Josh Williams occupied the top 20.
Fifteen laps later, Nemechek continued to lead by half a second over Custer while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by more than a second. With Herbst and Mayer remaining in the top five, Berry also remained in sixth followed by Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Hemric and Retzlaff.
Another 11 laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Moffitt got loose while battling Austin Hill through Turns 3 and 4 as he spun without getting hit by the oncoming field. By then, Nemechek and Custer had reignited their early battle for the lead amid lapped traffic while 30 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. During the caution period, some like Josh Berry, Hill, Jeb Burton, Brennan Poole, Dawson Cram, Kaden Honeycutt, Gray Gaulding and Anthony Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track.
During the following restart on Lap 43, Nemechek retained the lead and pulled ahead of Custer after receiving a bump and shove from teammate Sammy Smith on the inside lane amid a stacked-up restart. With Nemechek out in front, teammate Sammy Smith battled and fended off Custer to assume second while the field behind jostled amid tight-quarter lanes for positions.
At the Lap 50 mark, Nemechek was leading by half a second over teammate Sammy Smith while third-place Custer trailed by more than a second along with Mayer and Herbst.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Nemechek captured his second stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season after fending off teammate Sammy Smith by more than six-tenths of a second. Custer trailed the two Joe Gibbs Racing competitors in third while Mayer, Herbst, Allgaier, Hemric, Chandler Smith, Retzlaff and Brandon Jones were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Nemechek pitted while others led by Hill and Berry, both of whom pitted on Lap 39, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited pit road first followed by Sammy Smith, Hemric, Chandler Smith and Herbst.
The second stage started on Lap 71 as Hill and Berry occupied the front row followed by Dawson Cram and Jeb Burton. At the start, Hill rocketed with the lead on the inside lane followed by Berry as the field fanned out and stacked up through the turns and the straightaways. With Berry trying to close back towards Hill’s rear bumper for the lead, Nemechek shoved his way up to fourth on fresh tires behind Jeb Burton while Cram was shuffled out and falling below the leaderboard. In the process, Hemric carved his way up into the top five while Sammy Smith was mired in sixth as he battled Custer to retain the spot.
Three laps later, Berry moved his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro into the lead as the front-runners settled in a single-file line. This kept Nemechek in fourth behind Jeb Burton while Hemric was in fifth ahead of Custer and Sammy Smith. By Lap 78, however, Nemechek navigated his way into second as Hemric and Custer joined the battle while Berry continued to lead.
Nearing the Lap 85 mark, the second caution of the event flew when smoke billowed out of the No. 74 entry piloted by Kaden Honeycutt exiting the frontstretch and entering Turn 1, with the driver proceeding to park his car towards the outside wall in Turn 1 as he became the first retiree of the event. During the pit stops, names that included Moffitt, Parker Kligerman, Josh Williams, Joe Graf Jr., Ryan Ellis and Brennan Poole pitted while the rest led by Nemechek opted to remain on the track.
Following an extensive caution period amid Honeycutt’s mechanical issue, the race restarted on Lap 100. At the start, Berry and Nemechek dueled for the lead entering Turn 1 before the former managed to pull ahead of the latter. Then entering Turn 3, Sammy Smith vaulted his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra past Nemechek as he challenged Berry for the lead on the outside lane, which he succeeded. During the following lap, Berry made contact with Smith in Turn 1, but Smith returned the favor entering Turn 3 as he bumped and moved Berry out of his path, which moved Smith back into the lead after Berry got loose and slipped up. In the process, teammate Nemechek moved into second while Berry fell back to third in front of Custer and Hemric. Meanwhile, Hill, who was stuck on the outside lane, was also locked in a side-by-side battle with Brandon Jones for sixth.
Not long after, a side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between teammates Nemechek and Sammy Smith as Nemechek, who drew himself beneath Smith, peeked ahead to lead Lap 107. Nemechek then managed to pull ahead of Smith and assume full control of both lanes with the top spot while Berry tried to close in on Smith for second.
Just past the Lap 110 mark, Berry and Sammy Smith were locked in a tight side-by-side battle for second in front of Custer through every corner and straightaway. This, however, allowed Nemechek to pull away by nearly a second with the lead.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Nemechek, who extended his advantage to more than two seconds, claimed the second stage victory of the night and the third of this season. Berry muscled his way into second followed by Custer, Sammy Smith and Hemric while Brandon Jones, Ryan Truex, Herbst, Chandler Smith and Derek Kraus were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Nemechek pitted while Brennan Poole remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited first followed by teammate Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Custer, Berry and Hemric.
With 119 laps remaining, the final stage started as teammates Nemechek and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek, who restarted on the outside lane, rocketed ahead with a strong start entering Turn 1 while Sammy Smith, who restarted on the inside lane, engaged in a side-by-side duel with Custer, who battled Smith hard on the outside lane, for second. In the process, JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones and Berry battled for fourth in front of Kaulig Racing’s Hemric and Chandler Smith. It would only take three laps, however, for the caution to return when Joe Graf Jr. and Ryan Ellis made contact and wrecked up against the Turn 1 outside wall. During the caution period, Berry, who initially reported his spoiler was delaminated pitted as his pit crew later determined he had a right-front tire going down.
During the following restart with 108 laps remaining, Nemechek, who restarted on the inside lane on this occasion, muscled away from teammate Sammy Smith with the lead while Custer drew himself alongside Sammy Smith in his bid for second. It would only take one lap for the caution to return for a multi-car wreck that erupted on the backstretch that involved Dawson Cram, Ryan Ellis, Alex Labbe and Kyle Sieg.
At the start of the following restart with 95 laps remaining, Nemechek retained the lead on the inside lane while Sammy Smith and Custer reignited their side-by-side battle for second in front of Hemric and Brandon Jones. Following a heated side-by-side battle for second for two laps, Custer made contact with Smith and moved him up the track as he managed to peek ahead and grab second place. Sammy Smith, however, came under attack from Hemric and Herbst for third while Nemechek was pulling away with the lead. Then as Hemric battled and cleared Sammy Smith for third place with Herbst joining the battle, the caution returned with 89 laps remaining when Josh Williams spun between Turns 1 and 2 after cutting a right-rear tire.
During the following restart with 82 laps remaining, Nemechek pulled ahead of Custer on the inside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns. In the process, Custer, who restarted on the outside lane, fended off Hemric for second while Sammy Smith trailed in fourth in front of Chandler Smith and Herbst.
With less than 75 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by six-tenths of a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Hemric and Herbst while Chandler Smith, Brandon Jones, Kraus, Jeb Burton and Mayer were in the top 10. Behind, Creed, Retzlaff, Ryan Truex, Grala and Ryan Sieg were in the top 15 while Berry and Hill were mired back in 17th and 19th.
Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Nemechek continued to lead by a second over Custer while Sammy Smith Hemric and Brandon Jones trailed in the top five. By then, Creed cracked the top 10 in 10th, Berry moved his way up in 12th and Hill had fallen back to 20th.
Ten laps later, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Custer while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by more than two seconds.
Then with 42 laps remaining, the caution flew when Jeremy Clements, who nearly made contact with the wall a few laps earlier, slapped the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2. By then, Nemechek retained the lead by a second over Custer despite encountering lapped traffic while Berry had worked his way up to eighth, though he had no fresh sets of tires for another pit stop for the remainder of the event. During the pit stops, the leaders led by Nemechek pitted and Nemechek retained the lead after exiting first followed by Custer, Hemric, Sammy Smith and Berry, who pitted for scuffed tires. Back on the track, however, a handful of competitors led by Patrick Emerling and Allgaier, who was also out of fresh tires, remained on the track. While Emerling would eventually surrender the lead to pit, Allgaier remained on the track alongside Labbe while Nemechek lined up in third place and as the first competitor on fresh tires.
During the following restart with 33 laps remaining, Allgaier, Nemechek and Custer launched ahead on the inside lane while Labbe, who restarted on the front row and on the outside lane, struggled to launch ahead of Hemric on old tires as the field stacked up. With the field fanning out to three lanes amid a stacked-up restart, Nemechek dueled and overtook Allgaier during the following lap. Sammy Smith quickly followed suit in second while Custer battled Allgaier for third. Then as Sammy Smith tried to close in on teammate Nemechek for the lead, the caution returned with 29 laps remaining when Ryan Truex turned and sent Mayer into Herbst as the latter two spun. While Herbst backed his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang into the Turn 1 outside wall, Mayer came back down the track and collided with Jeb Burton as he emerged with extensive nose damage. The incident prompted Mayer to display an obscene gesture to Truex after emerging from his wrecked car.
Following an extensive caution period for the wreckage to be cleared, the race restarted with 18 laps remaining. At the start, Nemechek, who restarted alongside Custer on the front row, rocketed away with the lead as teammate Sammy Smith quickly vaulted himself into second. Behind, Custer battled and fended off Allgaier for third with Berry joining the battle.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Nemechek was leading by six-tenths of a second over Custer, who overtook Sammy Smith for the runner-up spot four laps earlier, while Berry moved his way up to fourth. Meanwhile, Allgaier settled in fifth as he was locked in a battle with teammate Brandon Jones for the spot while Creed, Hemric, Kraus and Moffitt were mired back in the top 10.
With five laps remaining, Nemechek retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Custer, who continued to try and close in for his bid for the victory while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by a second. By then, fourth-place Berry trailed by two seconds while Brandon Jones was in fifth ahead of Allgaier and Hemric.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by nearly a second over Custer as Sammy Smith tried to close in on Custer for second. Amid the battles within the field, Nemechek was able to cycle his way around the Paperclip-shaped circuit for a final time and claim the checkered flag for his second victory of the season just as the caution flew when Sheldon Creed wrecked on the backstretch while vying for a top-15 finish.
With the victory, Nemechek, who delivered the third victory of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing, claimed his fourth career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, his first since winning at Auto Club Speedway in February and his second national touring series win at Martinsville after winning the Truck Martinsville race in 2018. He also became the second multi-race winner of this year’s Xfinity season as he pocketed the second Dash 4 Cash bonus of $100,000, which was also his first in the series, to go along with the race-winning grandfather clock trophy.
“I’m just grateful for [sponsor] Pye Barker Fire & Safety,” Nemechek, whose car caught on fire while performing his victorious burnout across the frontstretch wall, said on FS1. “Martinsville Speedway, actually, uses Pye Barker Fire & Safety fire extinguishers. Thank you to them for all the safety equipment, for that amazing burnout that caught on fire. I can’t say enough about this whole team. If you would’ve asked me yesterday if we would’ve won, I thought we were a 10th-place car in practice, didn’t think we were very good. Just grateful that the guys made the right adjustments and gave me a Pye Barker Toyota GR Supra as fast as Xfinity 10G. Let’s celebrate. We’ll go celebrate with [family]. [Wife] Taylor, we got another grandfather clock to bring home.”
Behind, Sammy Smith pulled a bump-and-run move on Custer on the final turn to claim second place as Custer fell back to third. Berry navigated his way through the scuffed tires to finish fourth while Brandon Jones claimed his first top-five finish of the season by finishing fifth. The top-four finishers that include Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Custer and Berry will contend for the third Dash 4 Cash bonus next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
“[I] Just a little bit more drive off,” Smith said. “Congrats to [Nemechek]. They were the best car all night. We just needed a couple more adjustments to get our Pilot Flying J Toyota GR Supra in Victory Lane, but close. We’ll get’em next week.”
Like Berry, teammate Allgaier navigated his way through worn tires to finish sixth while Hemric, Kraus, Moffitt and Chandler Smith finished in the top 10.
There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 82 laps. In total, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the eighth event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by 21 points over Austin Hill, 34 over Chandler Smith, 38 over Riley Herbst and 43 over Josh Berry.
Results.
1. John Hunter Nemechek, 198 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner
2. Sammy Smith, six laps led
3. Cole Custer, five laps led
4. Josh Berry, 27 laps led
5. Brandon Jones
6. Justin Allgaier, six laps led
7. Daniel Hemric
8. Derek Kraus
9. Brett Moffitt
10. Chandler Smith
11. Parker Retzlaff
12. Ryan Truex
13. Blaine Perkins
14. Jeb Burton
15. Kaz Grala
16. Austin Hill, eight laps led
17. Parker Kligerman
18. Ryan Sieg
19. Josh Williams
20. Jeffrey Earnhardt
21. Patrick Emerling
22. Matt Mills
23. Gray Gaulding
24. Anthony Alfredo
25. Leland Honeyman
26. Alex Labbe
27. Sheldon Creed
28. Ryan Ellis, one lap down
29. Brennan Poole, four laps down
30. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident
31. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident
32. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident
33. Connor Mosack, 45 laps down
34. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Suspension
35. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Accident
36. Dawson Cram – OUT, Accident
37. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident
38. Kaden Honeycutt – OUT, Engine
Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of the season to Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, which will serve as the site of the third Dash 4 Cash event of this season. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 22, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.
Corey Heim held on to win the NASCAR Xfinity Truck Series Long John Silver’s 200 at Martinsville Speedway Friday night in his TRICON Garage No. 11 Toyota, despite persistent race throughout the event. It was his third victory in the Truck Series in only 26 starts and his first trip to victory lane this season.
“This race was cut short and that’s definitely unfortunate, but this truck was fast all night,” Heim said after the race. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys.”
The beginning of the race was delayed by almost 2 ½ hours, finally getting underway shortly before 10 p.m. The first 25 laps were run using a weather package specifically designed for driving on a wet track. Then, after the track was deemed dry enough, a competition caution was called to allow the teams to change back to the regular dry weather slick tires.
An on-track incident with 83 laps remaining brought out the final caution and with it came more rain. At this point, NASCAR called the race official on Lap 124 of the originally scheduled 200 laps.
Kyle Busch finished a disappointing second and said, “It did not go our way today, unfortunately.”
“We just didn’t have a good enough short-run truck,” he explained. “Being a little bit loose and free that we were, we were hoping that would pay off in the long run but never had a long run. The longest run of the race was on rain tires.”
Zane Smith, Ty Majeski and Tanner Gray rounded out the top five with Ben Rhodes, Matt DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray, William Sawalich and Chase Purdy completing the top 10.
Majeski remains on top of the Truck Series driver standings by 26 points over Zane Smith, followed by Ben Rhodes (-49), Heim (-71) and Christian Eckes (-72).
The Truck Series will take some time off with its next race scheduled for Saturday, May 6 at Kansas Speedway.
Zane Smith topped the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series leader board in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford after posting a 95.651 mph lap and will lead the field to green at Martinsville Speedway for Friday night’s Long John Silver’s 200 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Smith, who won at Martinsville in 2021, said after qualifying, “Excited for tonight, Smith said, really want another clock here, so ready to go after it.”
It was the second consecutive pole for the 2022 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion after also qualifying on the pole for last week’s race at Bristol Dirt.
Kyle Busch will start on the front row beside Smith followed by Ben Rhodes, Corey Heim and Matt DiBenedetto to complete the top five. Christian Eckes, Carson Hocevar, Chase Purdy, Tanner Gray, and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top 10 in qualifying.
Josh Reaume withdrew the No. 34 Reaume Brothers Racing entry from the race and Justin Carroll did not qualify for the 36-driver field.
The green flag will wave for the Long John Silver’s 200 Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
With the 2023 NASCAR season nearing its commencement, the Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash and the Craftsman Truck Series’ Triple Truck Challenge programs will also be returning and featured in the early portions of the upcoming racing schedule.
For the Xfinity Series, the Dash 4 Cash program will launch its 15th consecutive season by hosting its qualifying event at Circuit of the Americas for a second consecutive season on March 25, where the top-four highest-finishing Xfinity regulars in the final running order will contend for the first round of bonus money. The Dash 4 Cash program will then commence at Richmond Raceway on April 1 before returning for the following three consecutive events at Martinsville Speedway on April 15, Talladega Superspeedway on April 22 and Dover Motor Speedway on April 29. The highest-finishing Xfinity competitor in each event will receive the cash-winning prize, with opportunities for the cash-winning prize to increase should a competitor achieve the bonus more than once.
This past season, Sam Mayer commenced the Dash 4 Cash program by winning the first bonus round at Richmond. Veteran AJ Allmendinger claimed the following two bonuses at Martinsville and Talladega before Noah Gragson claimed the fourth and final bonus at Dover. While Allmendinger and Gragson have moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series for this upcoming season, Mayer returns to the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports as he will contend for another round of bonus money.
For the Craftsman Truck Series, which has been renamed from the Camping World Truck Series, the Triple Truck Challenge will occupy three events for a fifth consecutive season and offer Truck regulars three opportunities to earn bonus money for themselves. The program will launch at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26 before returning at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 3 and at Nashville Superspeedway on June 23.
A year ago, Corey Heim claimed the first Triple Truck Challenge bonus after winning at World Wide Technology Raceway in Gateway. Ryan Preece went on to claim the second bonus after winning at Nashville before Parker Kligerman capped off the program by winning both the race and the bonus at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. While Preece and Kligerman have moved up to the Cup and Xfinity Series respectively, Heim will receive additional opportunities to compete for additional cash as he returns to the Truck Series as a full-time competitor for TRICON Garage.
Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.
For both initiatives, drivers who are competing for championship points in their respective series will only be eligible to compete in their respective cash-winning events (Xfinity for Dash 4 Cash and Truck for Triple Truck Challenge), thus making the Cup Series competitors ineligible for both program events.
As part of the restriction process that will not allow competitors competing in additional national touring series events in major events, drivers who are not competing for Xfinity Series points will be ineligible to compete in the series’ Playoff events, elimination races and the inaugural Xfinity event at the Chicago Street Race that is scheduled to occur on July 1. In addition, Xfinity regulars will not be allowed to compete in the Truck season finale event at Phoenix Raceway on November 3 while Cup regulars are ineligible to compete in the Truck’s Playoff schedule. Cup regulars, however, are permitted to compete in a maximum of five Xfinity and Truck events that do not involve the major bonus, Playoff or championship events.
The 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is set to commence at Daytona International Speedway on February 17 with the event’s coverage to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is scheduled to occur the following day on February 18 with the event’s coverage to commence at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.
1. Joey Logano: Logano finished seventh in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville and joins Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain in the championship round.
“We’re headed to Phoenix,” Logano said, “to race for all the marbles. And to win all the marbles, you’ve got to have the biggest pair of them.”
2. Ross Chastain: Chastain blasted his way into the championship round, pinning his No. 1 Chevy to the outside all and rocketing his way past Denny Hamlin for the fourth and final playoff spot.
“It was totally worth it,” Chastain said. “One side of my car may be damaged beyond repair, but at least I’m on the ‘right side’ of the playoff field.”
3. Christopher Bell: Bell came through under pressure to win at Martinsville and advance to the championship round.
“I’ve pulled out two must-win victories in the Playoffs,” Bell said. “Can I do it one more time at Phoenix? Maybe, but I’ll need all my fans to do the pulling, and then, hopefully, I can pull through.”
4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won Stages 1 and 2 at Martinsville, but came up short and missed the championship round by one spot.
“Ross Chastain did it to me again,” Hamlin said. “Not by wrecking my car, but by wrecking his.”
5. Chase Elliott: Elliott took 11th at Martinsville, which was enough to get him into the championship round at Phoenix.
“It was too close for my liking,” Elliott said, “but I secured the last playoff spot. I was never really too worried that I wouldn’t qualify, but with it being the day before Halloween, I was a little scared.”
6. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished third at Martinsville, but it wasn’t enough to advance to the championship round.
“I didn’t win a single race this season,” Blaney said. “So, I don’t even belong in the championship round in the ‘first place.’”
7. William Byron: Byron started 25th and made his way up to an eighth-place finish, but missed the championship round.
“It looks like Ross Chastain got the last laugh in his season of confrontations with Denny Hamlin,” Byron said. “But if you think there was friction before Martinsville, then you haven’t seen what was going on between the wall and Chastain’s car.”
8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 16th at Martinsville.
“My No. 4 car had the words ‘Boosch’ on it,” Harvick said. “Ross Chastain was going so fast on that last lap, his car should have ‘Whoosh‘ on it.”
9. Kyle Larson: Larson started on the pole at Martinsville and finished second, one week after a dominant win at Homestead.
“I saved my best for last,” Larson said, “which was much later than I needed it.”
10. Daniel Suarez: Suarez finished 12th in the Xfinity 500.
“Congratulations to my Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain,” Suarez said. “His wall-riding strategy was a brilliant strategy, but will NASCAR rule in the future that such a move is illegal? Ross may have opened up a can of worms, while his team may have opened a can of paint.”
Three weeks after executing on a “must-win” situation to transfer to the Playoff’s Round of 8 by winning at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, Christopher Bell rose to the occasion once again by claiming a late dominant victory in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, October 30. Only on this occasion, the victory awarded Bell a spot to the Championship 4 round and with an opportunity to contend for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship.
The 27-year-old Bell from Norman, Oklahoma, led three times for 150 of 500-scheduled laps and benefitted during a 24-lap dash to the finish on fresh tires to overtake Chase Briscoe with five laps remaining and pull away en route to his third Cup victory of the 2022 season and with a championship finale spot all to his for next weekend’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway. As a result, Bell will square off for the 2022 title against Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain, who executed a bold “video game” move by riding his car against the outside wall on the final lap to finish in the top five and claim the final transfer spot to the finale while knocking veteran Denny Hamlin out of title contention at the last second.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Kyle Larson secured his fourth pole position of the 2022 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 96.078 mph in 19.709 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate and Playoff competitor Chase Elliott, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 96.019 mph in 19.721 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Larson took off with the advantage on the outside lane and had both lanes to his control through the first two turns while teammate Elliott and Ryan Blaney battled for second in front of Chase Briscoe and Brad Keselowski. As Larson went on to lead the first lap, Elliott and Blaney continued to duel for second as Briscoe joined the battle.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Larson was leading by nearly eight-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott followed by Blaney, Briscoe and Keselowski while Cole Custer, Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick were in the top 10. Behind, Joey Logano was in 11th ahead of Corey LaJoie, rookie Harrison Burton, Michael McDowell and Austin Dillon wile Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson and Chis Buescher. Meanwhile, William Byron was in 24th in between Bubba Wallace and Erik Jones while Martin Truex Jr. was in 26th in front of rookie Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs.
Fifteen laps later, Larson, who started to approach lapped traffic, retained the lead nearly a second over teammate Elliott while Blaney, Briscoe and Keselowski remained in the top five. By then, five of eight Playoff competitors were running in the top 10 on the track while remaining Playoff competitors that included Logano, Bell and Byron were mired back in 11th, 18th and 24th, respectively.
Another 25 laps later on the Lap 50 mark, Larson continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott followed by Briscoe, who battled hard against Blaney and bumped him for third place earlier. Meanwhile, Cole Custer battled Keselowski for fifth place while Chastain, Suarez, Hamlin and Harvick were scored in the top 10.
On Lap 71, Elliott muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead over teammate Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as Briscoe and Blaney started to close in on Larson for the runner-up spot. By then, Kyle Busch, who was making his penultimate Cup start for Joe Gibbs Racing, was lapped by the leaders.
Nineteen laps later, Elliott was leading by more than a second over teammate Larson followed by a two-car battle between Custer and Hamlin for third place while Briscoe was in fifth ahead of Keselowski, Blaney, Chastain, Suarez and Harvick.
At the Lap 100 mark, Elliott continued to lead by less than a second over a hard-charging Hamlin, who overtook Larson and Custer a few laps earlier, while Briscoe remained in fifth. Meanwhile, Blaney was back in seventh behind Keselowski as he was losing ground of the leaders with his tires wearing out. By then, big names that included Cindric, Reddick, Allmendinger and Truex were lapped by Elliott.
Ten laps later, a heated battle for the lead ignited between Elliott and Hamlin as Hamlin drew his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry alongside Elliott’s Chevrolet and tried to clear him for the lead through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1. Despite Elliott’s attempt to stall his momentum, Hamlin prevailed during the following lap through Turns 3 and 4 as he became the third different leader of the event with the clean air to his advantage.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 130, Hamlin, who came into Martinsville five points below the top-four cutline to advance to the Championship 4 round, claimed his fourth stage victory of the 2022 season as he received critical stage points to keep his title hopes alive. Elliott settled in second while Custer, Larson, Briscoe, Keselowski, Bell, Blaney, Chastain and Suarez were scored in the top 10. By then, six of eight Playoff competitors were scored in the top 10 and received the first wave of stage points while the remaining Playoff competitors that included Logano and Byron were in 13th and 18th, respectively. By then, Byron had been lapped by Hamlin as only 17 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, the field led by Hamlin pitted for the first time of the event. Following the pit stops, Hamlin retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Elliott, Larson, Custer, Keselowski and Bell. In addition, Briscoe, who came into the event 44 points below the cutline and in a “must-win” situation, was penalized for his gas can out of his pit box while Playoff competitors Blaney and Bell made slight contact on pit road.
The second stage started on Lap 139 as Hamlin and Elliott occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead over Elliott and Larson as the field behind jostled for positions. In the process, Bell, who came into the event 33 points below the cutline and in a “must-win” situation, moved his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry into the top five in fifth behind Custer and in front of Keselowski.
Twenty-one laps later, Hamlin was out in front by more than a second over Elliott followed by Larson, Custer and Bell while Keselowski, Blaney, Suarez, Logano and Chastain were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Harvick was in 11th ahead of teammate Almirola, Burton, Wallace and rookie Todd Gilliland while McDowell, Byron and Briscoe rounded out the competitors running on the lead lap. By then, LaJoie and Austin Dillon, both of whom were the first two competitors a lap behind the leaders, rounded out the top 20.
Another 10 laps later and by Lap 175, Hamlin continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Elliott while Larson, Custer and Bell remained in the top five. By then, all eight Playoff competitors continued to run no lower than 18th place and on the lead lap, with six scored in the top 10 on the track.
Just past the Lap 190 mark, Tyler Reddick took his No. 8 3Chi Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the garage due to feeling under weather as he was transported to the infield care center.
At the Lap 200 mark, Hamlin retained the lead by more than two seconds over Elliott while Larson, Custer and Bell continued to run in the top five. By then, Playoff competitors Hamlin, Elliott, Bell, Blaney, Logano and Chastain were scored in the top 10 while Byron and Briscoe were mired back in 17th and 18th.
By Lap 225, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over runner-up Elliott and more than five seconds over Larson. By then, Byron and Briscoe, both of whom remained in 17th and 18th, were lapped by the leaders.
At the halfway mark on Lap 250, Hamlin continued to lead by more than four seconds over followed by Larson, Custer and Bell while Blaney, Keselowski, Logano, Suarez and Chastain were in the top 10. Behind, Wallace was in 11th ahead of Almirola, Harvick, Burton and Gilliland wile McDowel, Byron, Briscoe, Austin Dillon and LaJoie rounded out the top 20. Meanwhile, Erik Jones, Truex, Stenhouse, Gibbs and Buescher occupied the top 25 in front of Gragson, Cindric was mired in 29th and Kyle Busch was back in 34th and six laps down while dealing with an ill-handling No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 260, Hamlin captured his fifth stage victory of the 2022 season as he swept both stages and earned another round of critical stage points to his championship hopes. Elliott settled in second while Larson, Custer, Bell, Blaney, Keselowski, Logano, Suarez and Chastain were scored in the top 10. By then, 13 competitors were scored on the lead lap. In addition, six of eight Playoff competitors earned a second wave of Playoff points while Byron and Briscoe were not on the lead lap and mired back in the top 20.
Under the stage break, the field led by Hamlin pitted for the second time of the event. Following the pit stops, Hamlin retained the lead after exiting pit road first with a large advantage followed by Larson, Elliott, Blaney, Custer and Logano.
With 229 laps remaining, the final stage started as Hamlin and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin rocketed with the lead and Elliott challenged teammate Larson for the runner-up spot after Larson struggled to come up to speed at the start. Behind, Custer and Blaney battled for fourth in front of Bell while Logano battled Keselowski and Chastain for seventh.
Two laps later, the first caution not related to a stage break flew when Chastain got into Keselowski as Keselowski, who was vying for eighth place, spun and made light contact with the outside wall. During the caution period, names that included Logano, Byron, Chastain and Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track. Logano would return to pit road for a second time to address a fire to the left front of his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang.
When the race restarted under green with 220 laps remaining, Hamlin retained the lead over Elliott and the field.
With 200 laps remaining, Hamlin was out in front by seven-tenths of a second over Elliott followed by Bell, Custer and Blaney while Larson, Suarez, Wallace, Almirola and Burton were scored in the top 10. Behind, Harvick, Keselowski, Chastain, Logano and Byron rounded out the top 15 and as the last round of competitors scored on the lead lap while Playoff competitor Briscoe was mired a lap down in 16th in front of Gilliland, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Gibbs, Erik Jones, Truex, LaJoie, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Haley.
Nineteen laps later, the caution flew when Austin Dillon got loose and pounded the outside wall entering Turn 4 hard due to a front rotor issue, though he emerged uninjured. During the caution period, the leaders led by Hamlin pitted. Following the pit stops, Bell emerged as the new leader after exiting first just ahead of Blaney and Elliott while Hamlin exited in fourth place ahead of Larson and Custer.
During the following restart with 171 laps remaining, Bell took off with the lead followed by a side-by-side battle against Blaney and Elliott for the runner-up spot while Larson and Hamlin dueled for fourth place. Not long after, Elliott cleared Blaney for second while Larson moved into fourth over Hamlin as Custer joined the battle.
With 150 laps remaining, Bell was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Elliott followed by Blaney, Hamlin and Larson while Suarez, Custer, Wallace, Almirola and Logano occupied the top 10. By then, all eight Playoff competitors were scored on the lead lap and no lower than 16th place, which was occupied by Briscoe, while Chastain and Byron were in 13th and 14th.
Twenty-five laps later, Bell, who remained in a “must-win” situation to maintain his title hopes, continued to lead by two-and-a-half seconds over Elliott while Blaney, Hamlin and Larson remained in the top five.
Then with 107 laps remaining, the caution flew when JJ Yeley spun in Turn 3. Under caution, the leaders led by Bell returned to pit road. Following the pit stops, Bell retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Blaney, Elliott, Larson, Wallace and Hamlin.
Down to the final 97 laps of the event, the race proceeded under green as Bell and Blaney, both of whom were placed in a “must-win” situation to transfer to the championship finale round, occupied the front row. At the start, Bell and Blaney dueled for the lead in front of Elliott, Larson and Hamlin while Logano and Keselowski marched to the front on the outside lane as they challenged Wallace for sixth. As the field jostled for late spots, Bell managed to clear Blaney and retain the lead.
With 75 laps remaining, Bell retained the lead by a second over Blaney followed by Elliott, Larson and Hamlin while Wallace, Keselowski, Logano, Custer and Briscoe were scored in the top 10. By then, all eight Playoff competitors were running no lower than 13th, which was occupied by Chastain as Byron was in 11th.
Twenty-five laps later and with 50 laps remaining, Bell continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Blaney while Elliott, Larson and Hamlin remained in the top five. The remaining Playoff competitors that included Logano, Briscoe, Byron and Chastain were running eighth, 10th, 11th and 12th, respectively, as a total of 17 of 36 starters were currently scored on the lead lap.
Then with 34 laps remaining, the caution flew when Landon Cassill pounded the outside wall hard in Turn 3 as his damaged No. 77 Nations Guard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 came to a halt with the driver emerging uninjured. During the caution period, the majority of the field led by Bell returned to pit road and Larson exited first following a two-tire pit stop followed by Keselowski, Byron, Bell, Blaney and Elliott. Bacon the track, however, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Briscoe and Custer remained on the track as they emerged as the new leaders. During the pit stops, Hamlin endured a slow pit stop as he was mired back in 12th behind Chastain.
Down to the final 24 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Briscoe retained the lead while teammate Custer was able to fend off Larson and Keselowski to hold the runner-up spot ahead of a hungry pack of competitors running through two tight lanes.
A few laps later, a heated side-by-side battle for a spot for the Championship 4 round ensued between Hamlin and Chastain as both made contact and refused to give an inch to one another. With Hamlin eventually prevailing for 11th and needing to finish within four spots ahead of Chastain to transfer to the finale, Briscoe continued to lead by half a second over teammate Custer. Soon after, Keselowski, Bell, Larson and Blaney began to challenge one another for third place as both Blaney and Bell were placed in deficits of not transferring to the finale along with Byron and Hamlin.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Briscoe was leading by half a second over Keselowski and eight-tenths of a second over third-place Bell. Behind, Hamlin overtook Logano for eighth place, which made him above the cutline by a single point over Chastain, who was in 12th.
Two laps later, Bell rocketed past Keselowski for the runner-up spot as he had his sights on Briscoe for the lead and a spot to the championship finale. Another three laps later, Bell shoved his No. 20 Toyota beneath Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford with contact ensuing as he reassumed the lead and moved back into the cutline, thus kicking Briscoe back below the cutline. Meanwhile, Chastain challenged Elliott for 11th, which he prevailed as he moved back into the cutline in a tie-breaker over Hamlin. Hamlin, however, responded back by overtaking Logano, Briscoe and Byron to move into fifth place, which put him back into the cutline by two points.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bell remained as the leader by eight-tenths of a second over Larson. Having four fresh tires to his advantage and executing when it mattered most, Bell was able to cycle his way back to the frontstretch and claim his spot for the championship finale with his third checkered flag of the 2022 season.
Just then, Chastain, who was running in 10th place and on the verge of being eliminated from title contention by two points, floored his No. 1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 against the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4, which he rode and scraped his car against the wall at full speed as he gained five spots in the process. In addition, Chastain also overtook Hamlin as he finished in fifth place, which was more than enough for the Floridian to grab the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 round by four points over Hamlin.
With his bold move and the spots gained on the final lap and final corner, Chastain will make his first career appearance in the Championship 4 round as he will contend for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship along with Trackhouse Racing, which is in its second year of NASCAR competition. Hamlin, meanwhile, ended up being the first competitor to be eliminated from title contention as he still pursues his first elusive Cup title.
“[I] Played a lot of NASCAR 2005 on the game cube with [brother] Chad growing up and you could get away with it,” Chastain said on NBC. “I never knew if [the move] would actually work. I did that [move] when I was eight years old. I grabbed fifth gear. I asked off of [Turn] 2 on the last lap if we needed it and we did. I couldn’t tell who was leading. I made my choice, I grabbed fifth gear down the [backstretch] and full committed. Once I got up against the wall, I basically let go of the [steering] wheel and just hoped that it didn’t catch the Turn 4 access gate or something crazy, but I was willing to do it for this Trackhouse group. Today for our Moose Chevy, we didn’t have what we needed. Just glad we could do whatever we could do. All we asked for is a chance…To be here fighting for a championship now, it’s just so surreal. I just cannot believe that we have a chance to fight for a championship. We kept our world small today and this year so far. We’ll do the same thing going into Phoenix.”
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“You gotta execute all day,” Hamlin, who finished sixth, said. “We just didn’t control the race when we had control of it. Each caution, we just kept losing some spots. It’s the way it is, but thank [crew chief] Chris Gabehart and [the] whole FedEx Camry team for giving me a really fast car today. It was just unbelievable when it was out front. [I] Couldn’t quite hang on to it there on pit road. Hopefully, [Bell] can carry the [championship] banner for us…It’s what racing is here at Martinsville. [I’m] Actually pretty happy with how somewhat clean it was there towards the end as crazy as it was with guys on different tires. [I] Can’t say enough for my team to give us a shot. We were in the 20s for most of this season in points just because of our up-and-down execution, but we’re gonna end up fifth in points. It is what it is. Great move [for Chastain]. When you have no other choice, it certainly is easy to do that, but well-executed.”
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
While Chastain celebrated on pit road, Bell celebrated his race victory on the track as he claimed his fourth Cup Series career victory and first at Martinsville. In the process, Bell recorded the 200th NASCAR Cup career win for Joe Gibbs Racing as he also will make his first appearance in the Championship 4 round as a title contender.
“Mom and dad, we did it!” Bell, who fought back tears of joy, exclaimed. “I can’t believe it, man. To come here to Martinsville. This place has always been so tough on me. [During] pre-race, I was looking up and seeing all the fans. This place is packed. I don’t even know what to say. Thank you so much to DeWalt, Rheem, Toyota, everyone on this Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 team. They believe in me since day one. Very appreciative to be here. I don’t even know what to say…This entire No. 20 group. They never give up. [When] Our backs [are] against the wall and it looks like it’s over, they show up and give me the fastest car out here. Words can’t describe this feeling.”
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Also transferring to the Championship 4 round was Chase Elliott, who finished 11th as he will square off against Joey Logano, Bell and Chastain for his second Cup title.
“We just got back a little further than we had been throughout the day,” Elliott, who transferred by four points, said. “Track position was everything unless you were just a couple of guys. I thought it was really a solid day. We did what we needed to do, I guess, on the driver’s side. Nice to have a shot at the driver’s championship next weekend. Nonetheless, [I’m] Excited to get out there [to Phoenix] and give it our best shot to try to get another big trophy. We’ll be ready to go come next weekend. I don’t have any doubt about that.”
Hamlin joins William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe as the remaining four competitors to be eliminated from title contention and not moving past the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.
“We didn’t start off very good,” Blaney, who rallied to finish third but missed the cutline by 26 points, said. “I think we kind of faded at the end of the first stage. We got better and better all night, which is good. We had a shot to grab the lead there before the last caution. I just couldn’t get around [Bell] and kind of burned my stuff off trying to pass [Bell]. Then, just a wild restart and just didn’t get through the traffic as quickly as Bell did and he ended up winning the race. Proud of the Discount Tire guys. I put us in a bad spot the first two races of this round and we almost had a really good night to where we could move on. Appreciate their support. It stinks not making it to the Final Four, but we’ll learn and hopefully apply the good things next year.”
“I needed probably eight less laps,” Briscoe, who fell back to 10th and missed the cutline by 61 points, added. “That would’ve been nice. If I would have known that move that Ross did worked, I would have just done that for eight more laps. I just fell off a cliff pretty hard. Just couldn’t hold them guys off with new tires. I just didn’t have the forward-drive or getting the side bite to hold them off. Proud of our team. We were in position there at the end to potentially capitalize on it. Win as a team, lose as a team. [We’ll] Go to Phoenix next week and see if we can win.”
“We just didn’t have it, unfortunately,” Byron, who ended up 11th and missed the cutline by 21 points, said. “[We] Put a lot of effort in and it just wasn’t anything like we had here in the spring. Just struggled. The first couple stages, I knew it was gonna be a grind. The best thing we could do was try to put ourselves in a position in the top five late where, hopefully, the leaders get together. Just unfortunately not enough all day. That’s just the way it goes sometimes…Just got to learn from it. It’s been a good run for us. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our best.”
Larson, who will contend for an owners’ title next weekend at Phoenix, came home in second place on the track behind Bell while Blaney, Keselowski and Chastain finished in the top five. Hamlin, Logano, Byron, Wallace and Briscoe completed the top 10 while Elliott settled in 11th. Following the race and the post-race inspection process, Keselowski was disqualified due to his car failing to meet minimum weight as he was demoted to 36th place, dead last.
There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 53 laps.
Results.
1. Christopher Bell, 150 laps led
2. Kyle Larson, 68 laps led
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Ross Chastain
5. Denny Hamlin, 203 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner
6. Joey Logano
7. William Byron
8. Bubba Wallace
9. Chase Briscoe, 25 laps led
10. Chase Elliott, 54 laps led
11. Harrison Burton
12. Daniel Suarez
13. Todd Gilliland
14. Cole Custer
15. Aric Almirola
16. Kevin Harvick
17. Michael McDowell
18. Erik Jones, two laps down
19. Ty Gibbs, two laps down
20. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down
21. Corey LaJoie, two laps down
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps down
23. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down
24. Chris Buescher, three laps down
25. Noah Gragson, three laps down
26. Austin Cindric, three laps down
27. Justin Haley, three laps down
28. Cody Ware, five laps down
29. Kyle Busch, six laps down
30. JJ Yeley, 12 laps down
31. Ty Dillon – OUT, Brakes
32. Landon Cassill – OUT, Accident
33. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident
34. BJ McLeod – OUT, Fire
35. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident
36. Brad Keselowski – Disqualified
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings
1. Joey Logano – Advanced
2. Christopher Bell – Advanced
3. Chase Elliott – Advanced
4. Ross Chastain – Advanced
5. Denny Hamlin – Eliminated
6. William Byron – Eliminated
7. Ryan Blaney – Eliminated
8. Chase Briscoe – Eliminated
With the Championship 4 field set, the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to conclude at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 6, where a champion will be crowned. The event is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
With the championship finale looming over the NASCAR Xfinity Series competition and spots to battle for the title up for grabs, Ty Gibbs spoiled teammate Brandon Jones’ opportunity to compete for this year’s title by wrecking him on the final lap before proceeding to claim a controversial victory in the Dead on Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 29.
The 20-year-old Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, led seven times for a race-high 102 of 269 over-scheduled laps and took care of business for the majority of the event to secure a spot for the Championship 4 round based on points. Under the final 10 laps and pushing his car for more, however, Gibbs found himself squared off against teammate Brandon Jones, who was placed in a “must-win” situation to maintain his title hopes through a series of late restarts and incidents that sent the event into overtime three times.
During the third and final overtime attempt, Jones, who traded paint with Gibbs throughout a series of late restarts, managed to navigate his way around Gibbs and the field for the lead, but Gibbs delivered the final blow on the final lap by bumping and sending his teammate backward into the wall. The incident netted Gibbs an unpopular victory from the grandstands while Jones was one of four competitors to have their championship hopes for this season come to a late end.
By claiming his sixth victory of the 2022 Xfinity Series season, Gibbs is set to square off against JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Justin Allgaier for this year’s Xfinity title that will determine a champion next weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Playoff competitor Brandon Jones scored his fifth pole position of the 2022 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 95.482 mph in 19.832 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Sheldon Creed, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 95.333 mph in 19.863 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following competitors that included Playoff competitor Austin Hill, Derek Griffith and Kyle Weatherman dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Daniel Hemric also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during the practice session on Friday.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Brandon Jones rocketed with an early advantage through the first two turns ahead of Creed and Sammy Smith while Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson dueled for fourth place. As the field battled through two lanes for a full circuit, Jones went on to lead the first lap.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Jones was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Creed followed by Smith, Gibbs and Gragson while Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, Anthony Alfredo and Jeb Burton were running in the top 10. Jeremy Clements, Joe Graf Jr., Josh Berry, Ryan Sieg and Landon Cassill occupied the top 15 while Sam Mayer was back in 16th.
Ten laps later, Jones continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Gibbs while Creed, Smith and Gragson were all scored in the top five. By then, six of eight Playoff competitors were running in the top 10 on the track, minus Mayer and Hill.
On Lap 32, the first caution of the event flew when Patrick Emerling got into the rear of Joe Graf Jr. entering Turn 1 as Graf backed his car hard into the outside wall while Emerling also spun in front of Jeremy Clements and Howie Disavino III. During the first caution period, some led by Gragson pitted while the rest led by Jones remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Gragson was penalized for speeding while entering pit road.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 41, Jones retained the lead over teammate Gibbs and the field. As the field jostled for positions, Jones was able to maintain the top spot for the duration of the first stage as he went on to claim his third stage victory of the 2022 season on Lap 60, which marked the first stage’s conclusion. Teammate Gibbs settled in second followed by Allgaier, Berry and Smith while Herbst, Creed, Allmendinger, Mayer and Hill claimed top-10 spots and the first round of stage points.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Jones pitted while Gragson and Rajah Caruth remained on the track. During the pit stops, Kyle Weatherman and Alex Labbe were both penalized for safety violations.
The second stage started on Lap 70 as Gragson and Caruth occupied the front row. At the start, Gragson took off with the lead and managed to cross over from the outside lane to the inside lane entering the first turn. Behind, the field fanned out to three lanes as Jones muscled his way into the runner-up spot while Berry and Gibbs were also scored in the top five. Behind, Allgaier battled Smith for sixth place while racing on the outside lane as the field continued to duel and rub against one another for spots.
Eighteen laps later, Gibbs emerged as the third different leader of the event after he overtook Gragson.
On Lap 106, the caution flew when Landon Cassill wheel-hopped his No. 10 StormX Chevrolet Camaro entering Turn 3 and smacked the outside wall hard while locking up his front tires. During the caution period, some led by Gibbs remained on the track while the rest led by Jones pitted.
With nine laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green as Gibbs and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier gained momentum on the outside lane to move his No. 7 iRacing/BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro into the lead. Five laps later, however, Allgaier slipped up the track entering Turn 3, which allowed Gibbs to reassume the top spot. As Gibbs maintained his ground with the lead, Berry and Hill rubbed fenders while battling for sixth place.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Gibbs claimed his eighth stage victory of the 2022 season. Allgaier settled in second while Allmendinger, Gragson, Sanchez, Berry, Hill, Jeb Burton, Ryan Sieg and Alfredo were scored in the top 10. By then, six of eight Playoff competitors were scored in the top 10 and were awarded a second round of stage points while Brandon Jones and Mayer were mired back in 11th and 18th.
Under the stage break, some led by Gibbs pitted while the rest led by Berry remained on the track.
With 122 laps remaining, the final stage started as Berry and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Berry retained the lead and had both lanes to his control with clean air while Hill intimidated Smith for the runner-up spot by bumping him and trying to move him up entering the turns. Smith, however, retained his ground and the runner-up spot while Creed and Jones battled for fourth in front of Herbst and Hemric. A few laps later, Hill prevailed over his battle with Smith as he moved into the runner-up spot while Jones tried to issue a challenge on teammate Smith for third place.
Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Berry was leading by more than a second over Jones, who battled and overtook Hill for the runner-up spot, while Herbst and Gibbs were scored in the top five. Smith, Mayer, Allmendinger, Gragson and Creed were running in the top 10 ahead of Allgaier, Sanchez, Hemric, Perkins and Snider while Alfredo, Labbe, Sieg, Weatherman and Derek Griffith occupied the top 20.
Eleven laps later, the caution returned when Yeley wrecked in Turn 3 after wheel-hopping entering the turn and sustaining significant rear-end damage to his car. During the caution periods, the leaders returned to pit road and Jones managed to reassume the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Berry, Gibbs, Gragson and Herbst.
When the race restarted under green with 81 laps remaining, Jones rocketed with the lead entering the first turn while Berry settled in the runner-up spot behind Jones and in front of Gibbs before Gibbs assumed Berry’s spot during the following lap. Behind, Herbst was in fourth while Allmendinger and Gragson battled for fifth place in front of Hill.
Then with 72 laps remaining, Gibbs muscled his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra into the lead over teammate Jones’ No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra through Turns 3 and 4 as Jones was placed back into a “must-win” situation to maintain his title hopes.
Sixteen laps later, the caution flew when Kris Wright got bumped by Disavino III as both spun in Turn 3. During the caution period, some that included Allmendinger and Hill pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.
With 48 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as teammates Gibbs and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs, who restarted on the outside lane, rocketed away from the field entering Turn 1 before he crossed over to the inside lane entering the backstretch to block Jones, who was being challenged by Gragson for more. Not long after, however, the caution returned when Ryan Sieg spun towards the outside wall in Turn 1 after getting hit by Hemric’s No. 11 AG1 Chevrolet Camaro.
As the race restarted with 40 laps remaining, Gibbs took off with another strong start while Jones and Gragson dueled for second in front of Smith, Berry, Mayer and Allgaier. Three laps later, however, the caution was displayed when Hill, Clements and Parsons came together as all three wrecked entering the backstretch. The incident prompted Hill to pit his No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro from the top 20 during the caution period as his hopes of advancing to the Championship 4 round were placed in jeopardy.
When the race restarted with 32 laps remaining, Gibbs and Gragson dueled for the lead for nearly a full lap before Gibbs, who officially clinched his spot for the Championship 4 finale, cleared the field and had both lanes to his control through Turn 4. It did not take long, however, for the caution to return for a multi-car stack-up that struck entering Turn 4 when Snider got turned and collected Hill, Emerling, CJ McLaughlin, Disavino, Kris Wright, Stefan Parsons and Mason Massey. During the caution period, Berry surrendered seventh place to pit along with Labbe, Hill and Josh Williams while the rest of the competitors remained on the track.
During the following restart with 23 laps remaining, Gibbs took off with the lead while Jones battled Gragson for second place in front of Smith, Mayer, Herbst and Allgaier. Jones prevailed over Gragson during the following lap as he moved into second place while Allgaier and Allmendinger dueled and rubbed fenders for seventh place.
With less than 20 laps remaining, the battle for seventh place on the track and for a championship finale spot ignited between Allgaier and Allmendinger as Allgaier, who got moved up the track following a bump by Allmendinger a few laps earlier, ran into the rear of Allmendinger in Turn 3 as both dueled against one another. Then with 17 laps remaining, Allgaier, who got moved up the track again by Allmendinger in Turn 1, delivered the final blow as he pounded into Allmendinger’s rear bumper twice entering Turn 3. With Allmendinger moving up the track, Allgaier seized his opportunity and made contact into the side of Allmendinger as Allmendinger nearly got loose in Turn 4 before falling off the pace after cutting a left-rear tire amid the contact. With the caution flying, Allmendinger pitted his No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro for fresh tires as his hopes of transferring to the finale were placed in jeopardy. The incident also erased Gibbs’ steady advantage over teammate Jones.
Down to the final nine laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Gibbs and Gragson squared off against one another on the front row. At the start, Jones, who restarted behind teammate Gibbs, made his move for the lead after getting into the rear of Gibbs. Just as Jones started to pull ahead of Gibbs with the lead, the caution flew due to Weatherman wrecking in Turn 1 along with Brandon Brown and Jeb Burton. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime.
During the first overtime attempt, Jones, who restarted on the inside lane alongside teammate Smith and in front of Gibbs, dueled against Smith for the lead entering Turn 1 before Gibbs shoved his nose beneath Jones entering the backstretch. This resulted in all three Joe Gibbs Racing competitors racing three wide for the lead entering Turn 3. That was when Smith got rubbed by Jones as Smith went for a spin as the caution flew and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt. At the moment of caution, NASCAR ruled that Jones was the leader followed by teammate Gibbs as Herbst, Gragson and Creed completed the top five.
At the start of the second overtime attempt, Jones briefly pulled away from the field entering the first turn until he barely slipped up the track, which allowed Gibbs to stick his car beneath Jones and challenge him for the lead through the backstretch. By then, however, the caution returned when Berry got turned in Turn 2 by teammate Allgaier after he got bumped by teammate Mayer. At the moment of caution, Gibbs was scored as the leader ahead of Jones, who fell back to a “must-win” situation as Allgaier, who continued to run towards the front, moved back up into contention to make the finale.
The start of the third overtime attempt favored Jones, who made his move beneath Gibbs and Gragson in Turn 1 before all three competitors fanned out to three lanes in a battle for the win through the backstretch. Jones then managed to pull ahead with the lead with a push from Creed through Turns 3 and 4 as he commenced the final lap followed by a hard-charging Gibbs. Then entering Turn 1, Gibbs ran into the rear bumper of Jones, which caused Jones to spin as he backed his No. 19 Toyota into the outside wall in Turn 1. With the caution being displayed, the event was deemed official as Gibbs hustled his way back to the frontstretch and claim the victory.
By winning for the sixth time in 2022 and for the first time at Martinsville, Gibbs claimed his 10th career win in the Xfinity circuit as he will be making his first appearance in the Championship 4 round as a championship contender, all of which will come in his first full-time Xfinity campaign.
Gibbs’ victory was met with mixed results as he received a chorus of boos from the grandstands with the winning driver saluting them before claiming the checkered flag.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I definitely didn’t want to wreck [Jones],” Gibbs said on NBC. “I wanted to get him out of the groove. I felt like we lost here earlier in the spring race just in the same way. I’m just pumped to get this win. It’s so awesome, especially at a track I feel like I’ve been coming to forever. It’s super cool to win here.”
The last lap incident involving Jones knocked Jones out of the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs as his hopes of competing for this year’s title evaporated along with the hopes of Allmendinger, Mayer and Hill, who was involved in a post-race altercation with Snider on pit road. On the contrary, the incident fell in the favor of Allgaier, who ended up in fifth place and managed to secure the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 Round. This season will mark Allgaier’s fifth appearance in the final round as a title contender, where he will contend for his first NASCAR national touring series championship alongside Gibbs and teammates Berry and Gragson.
“I had the race won, I think,” Jones, who ended up 23rd, said. “I love my guys. I love everyone on this No. 19 group. I’m excited to make my move to [JR Motorsports] next year and be a part of that organization. A little bit more respect over there, probably, given next year. We got one race left at Phoenix. I know we can go out there and win that, shake this [title fight] a little bit still yet and try to steal a little thunder there. I have no words. I know that we had some fun beating and banging back and forth a little bit, but I’ve never wrecked [Gibbs] or done anything for a win. It kind of shows where that level was there. I think [racing Gibbs earlier] opened up the opportunity to get moved, but I don’t know about dumped, destroyed and finished dead last. At the end of the day, I needed to win the race. Second and last, it is what it is. [I] Just expected to, maybe, have a little bit more of a shot at it there. To me, that’s what’s fun about this sport is having a duel, not just completely destroying somebody’s day.”
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“It was definitely a long day,” Allgaier, who finished fifth, said. “We just didn’t have the handling that we wanted to on our iRacing/BRANDT Camaro. We were OK. We were a top-five car all day. Obviously, AJ and I battled a lot today. We were both pushing each other really hard. I hate having to use the bumper, but our team has done such a good job this year and gave themselves a shot to go for a championship. I had to make the most of it today. Proud of our team at JR Motorsports. To put three cars in the final four. We got a long work this week to be ready for Phoenix, but it’s a great racetrack for us. We’re gonna go there. We’re gonna lay it all on the line. It’s gonna be a battle, for sure.”
“[The battle with Allgaier]’s all fair,” Allmendinger, who settled in 16th, said. “We knew it was gonna be a battle. Thank you to everybody at Kaulig Racing. Our Action Industries Chevy, we were making the best of it. It’s disappointing to end it like that, but still a great year. [We] Did everything we could.”
In addition to this year’s driver’s championship battle, the final four title contenders (Berry, Gragson, Gibbs and Allgaier) will contend for the 2022 Xfinity owners’ championship next weekend at Phoenix.
There were 18 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured 14 cautions for 91 laps.
Results.
1. Ty Gibbs, 102 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Sheldon Creed
3. Riley Herbst
4. Noah Gragson, 23 laps led
5. Justin Allgaier, five laps led
6. Sam Mayer
7. Nicholas Sanchez
8. Daniel Hemric
9. Blaine Perkins
10. Austin Hill
11. Jeb Burton
12. Alex Labbe
13. Rajah Caruth
14. Myatt Snider
15. AJ Allmendinger
16. Derek Griffith
17. Sammy Smith, one lap led
18. Jeremy Clements
19. Brandon Brown
20. Josh Berry, 40 laps led
21. Anthony Alfredo
22. Josh Williams
23. Brandon Jones, 98 laps led, Stage 1 winner
24. CJ McLaughlin, one lap down
25. Mason Massey, four laps down
26. Kris Wright, eight laps down
27. Joe Graf Jr., nine laps down
28. Howie Disavino III, 10 laps down
29. Ryan Vargas, 21 laps down
30. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident
31. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident
32. Patrick Emerling – OUT, Accident
33. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident
34. JJ Yeley – OUT, Brakes
35. Matt Mills – OUT, Engine
36. Chad Finchum – OUT, Brakes
37. Landon Cassill – OUT, Accident
38. Bayley Currey – OUT, Accident
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings
1. Noah Gragson – Advanced
2. Ty Gibbs – Advanced
3. Josh Berry – Advanced
4. Justin Allgaier – Advanced
5. AJ Allmendinger – Eliminated
6. Austin Hill – Eliminated
7. Sam Mayer – Eliminated
8. Brandon Jones – Eliminated
The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is set to conclude at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 5, where a champion will be crowned. The finale is set to commence at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.
This week the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series travel to Martinsville Speedway. After the race, only four drivers from each series will move on to compete for the 2022 championship trophy at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 6.
The Camping World Truck Series championship contenders were set last week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Drivers Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes, Chandler Smith and Zane Smith made the final cut.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour takes center stage Thursday afternoon with practice (3 p.m.) and qualifying (6 p.m.) in preparation for Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at 8 p.m. on floracing.com and MRN.
All times are Eastern.
NASCAR Press Pass Live will be available for post-qualifying (Xfinity) and post-race (Xfinity and Cup).
Friday, Oct. 28
4 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice (Group 1 & 2) USA 4:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound-Single Vehicle/2 Laps/All Entries) USA
Saturday, Oct. 29
12 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (Group – A & B) USA at 12:30 p.m. 12:45 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound)-Group A & B/Single Vehicle/2 Laps/2 Rounds) USA/MRN/SiriusXM 3 p.m.: Xfinity Dead On Tools 250 Distance: 250 Laps = 131.5 Miles Stage1 ends on Lap 60, Stage 2 ends on Lap 120, Final Stage ends on Lap 250 NBC/Peacock/MRN/SiriusXM The Purse: $1,339,357
Sunday, Oct. 30
2 p.m.: Cup Series Xfinity 500 Distance: 500 Laps = 263 Miles Stage 1 ends on Lap 130, Stage 2 ends on Lap 260, Final Stage ends on Lap 500 NBC/MRN/SiriusXM The Purse: $8,132,735
