The 2023 Xfinity 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 29, 2023, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 500 laps on the .526 mile (.847 km) short track, it was the 35th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, the ninth race of the Playoffs, and final race of the Round of 8.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 35 of 36 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | October 29, 2023 | ||
| Location | Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility .526 mi (.847 km) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 263 mi (423.5 km) | ||
| Average speed | 75.244 miles per hour (121.093 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 20.112 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 156 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBC | ||
| Announcers | Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace | ||
| Turn Announcers | Dave Moody (Backstretch) | ||
Report
editBackground
editMartinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track is also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948. Along with this, Martinsville is the only NASCAR oval track on the entire NASCAR track circuit to have asphalt surfaces on the straightaways, then concrete to cover the turns.
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
- (P) denotes playoff driver.
- (OP) denotes owner's playoffs car.
Practice
editDenny Hamlin was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 20.160 seconds and a speed of 93.929 mph (151.164 km/h).[10]
Practice results
edit| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 20.160 | 93.929 |
| 2 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 20.199 | 93.747 |
| 3 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 20.210 | 93.696 |
| Official practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
editMartin Truex Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 20.112 and a speed of 94.153 mph (151.525 km/h).[11]
Qualifying results
editRace
editRace results
editStage results
editStage One Laps: 130
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 54 | Ty Gibbs (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 130
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 54 | Ty Gibbs (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final Stage results
editStage Three Laps: 240
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 500 | 59 |
| 2 | 12 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 500 | 35 |
| 3 | 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 500 | 53 |
| 4 | 3 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 500 | 48 |
| 5 | 15 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 500 | 41 |
| 6 | 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 | 31 |
| 7 | 7 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 500 | 36 |
| 8 | 18 | 17 | Chris Buescher (P) | RFK Racing | Ford | 500 | 29 |
| 9 | 21 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 500 | 28 |
| 10 | 17 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 500 | 30 |
| 11 | 6 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 500 | 26 |
| 12 | 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 500 | 33 |
| 13 | 16 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 499 | 24 |
| 14 | 13 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 499 | 23 |
| 15 | 28 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 499 | 22 |
| 16 | 8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 499 | 24 |
| 17 | 14 | 9 | Chase Elliott (OP) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 499 | 20 |
| 18 | 2 | 54 | Ty Gibbs (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 499 | 28 |
| 19 | 20 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 499 | 18 |
| 20 | 9 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 499 | 24 |
| 21 | 29 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 499 | 16 |
| 22 | 30 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 499 | 15 |
| 23 | 26 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 499 | 14 |
| 24 | 34 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 499 | 13 |
| 25 | 23 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 499 | 12 |
| 26 | 19 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 498 | 11 |
| 27 | 31 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 498 | 10 |
| 28 | 25 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 498 | 9 |
| 29 | 33 | 51 | Ryan Newman | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 497 | 8 |
| 30 | 24 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 497 | 7 |
| 31 | 32 | 42 | Carson Hocevar (i) | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 496 | 0 |
| 32 | 22 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 496 | 5 |
| 33 | 10 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 305 | 16 |
| 34 | 27 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 274 | 3 |
| 35 | 35 | 15 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 271 | 0 |
| 36 | 36 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet | 148 | 0 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
edit- Lead changes: 12 among 6 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 7 for 61 laps
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 29 minutes, and 43 seconds
- Average speed: 75.244 miles per hour (121.093 km/h)
Media
editTelevision
editNBC covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, 1997 race winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and 2014 race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.
| NBC | |
|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Dave Burns Kim Coon Parker Kligerman Marty Snider |
Radio
editMRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and 7 time Martinsville winner Rusty Wallace have the call for MRN when the field raced down the front straightaway. Dave Moody covers the action for MRN when the field races down the backstraightway into turn 3. Steve Post, Jacklyn Drake, and Chris Wilner covered action for MRN from pit lane.
| MRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace |
Backstretch: Dave Moody | Steve Post Jacklyn Drake Chris Wilner |
Standings after the race
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References
edit- ^ "2023 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
- ^ "Martinsville Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ^ Taranto, Steven (September 14, 2022). "NASCAR releases 2023 Cup Series schedule highlighted by new Chicago, All-Star race stops". CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- ^ "NASCAR unveils 2023 schedule for its national series". National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. September 14, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- ^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 23, 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
- ^ "Practice Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. October 28, 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
- ^ "Qualifying Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. October 28, 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
- ^ "Xfinity 500 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 29, 2023. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
- ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 29, 2023. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
- ^ Utter, Jim (October 28, 2023). "Hamlin tops the speed charts in Martinsville Cup practice". Motorsport.com. Martinsville, Virginia: Motorsport Network. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
- ^ Utter, Jim (October 28, 2023). "Truex earns Martinsville Cup pole for critical playoff race". Motorsport.com. Martinsville, Virginia: Motorsport Network. Retrieved October 28, 2023.