As the series winds down the 2023 season, the NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers will now be heading to Martinsville Speedway for the penultimate race – the Dead On Tools 250 on Saturday, October 28 at 3:30 p.m. ET (USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR radio).
This will be the 41st NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway. The previous 40 races have produced 26 different race winners and 21 different pole winners. Only six races have been won from the pole or first starting position, but it’s been over 35 years since a driver was able to accomplish the feat – most recently by Jimmy Hensley in 1987.
This season will be the fourth consecutive year that Martinsville Speedway serves as the penultimate, or sixth race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, the elimination race of the Round of 8 (2020 – 2023). The track was not on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule from 2007 to 2019.
A few drivers have been able to etch their names in the Martinsville Speedway record books – Sam Ard (most wins – five), Brett Bodine (most poles – five), Dale Jarrett (most top fives – 11), Jimmy Hensley and Tommy Houston (tied for most top 10s – 17), and Tommy Ellis (most laps led – 713).
Three drivers in the field have already taken the checkered flag at the 0.526-mile track, one of which is a Playoff contender – John Hunter Nemechek (2023), along with Brandon Jones (2022) and Josh Berry (2021).
Although he hasn’t won a race at Martinsville Speedway. JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier could also be a favorite to win this weekend as he knows what it takes to win the penultimate race of the season. In 2019, he won the final race in the Round of 8 when it was held at Phoenix Raceway.
| Track | Race Winners | Season | Race Number | Date |
| Phoenix | Kyle Busch | 2016 | 32 | Saturday, November 12, 2016 |
| Phoenix | William Byron | 2017 | 32 | Saturday, November 11, 2017 |
| Phoenix | Christopher Bell | 2018 | 32 | Saturday, November 10, 2018 |
| Phoenix | Justin Allgaier | 2019 | 32 | Saturday, November 9, 2019 |
| Martinsville | Harrison Burton | 2020 | 32 | Saturday, October 31, 2020 |
| Martinsville | Noah Gragson | 2021 | 32 | Saturday, October 30, 2021 |
| Martinsville | Ty Gibbs | 2022 | 32 | Saturday, October 29, 2022 |
Drivers will hit the track on Friday, October 27 for practice at 5 p.m. ET followed by qualifying at 5:35 p.m. ET on the USA Network and on the NBC Sports App.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Dead On Tools 250
The Place: Martinsville Speedway
The Date: Saturday, October 28
The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,380,935
TV: USA, 3 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 131.5 miles (250 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 60),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 120), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 250)
Time’s up: One last shot to race for the Championship
There’s one race to go before the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Phoenix Raceway. With only one driver clinched into the Championship 4 Round, the other seven Playoff drivers will be competing for the remaining three spots.
As the series heads to Martinsville, let’s take a look at what it’ll take for drivers to clinch their spot:
Already Clinched
The following driver has clinched a spot in the 4-driver field of the next round: Sam Mayer.
Can Clinch Via Points
If there is a repeat winner or a win by a driver who cannot advance to the next round, the following drivers could clinch by being ahead of the 4th winless driver in the standings. The same point requirements listed below would hold true if a new win comes from among John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer or Austin Hill.
- John Hunter Nemechek: Would clinch with 10 points (11 points if Custer or Hill win)
- Cole Custer: Would clinch with 52 points (53 points if Hill wins)
- Austin Hill: Would clinch with 52 points (53 points if Custer wins)
- Justin Allgaier: Would clinch with 55 points
- Sammy Smith: Could only clinch with help
- Chandler Smith: Could only clinch with help
If there is a new winner from Justin Allgaier or another winless driver lower in the standings but still eligible to advance to the next round, the following drivers could clinch by being ahead of the 3rd winless driver in the standings.
- John Hunter Nemechek: Would clinch with 12 points
- Cole Custer: Would clinch with 54 points
- Austin Hill: Would clinch with 54 points
- Justin Allgaier: Would clinch with 55 points
- Sammy Smith: Could only clinch with help
- Chandler Smith: Could only clinch with help
Can Clinch Via Win
The following drivers would clinch on their win alone: John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed
Scouting the field: Playoff contenders to give it their all in Martinsville
If there’s ever a time to be all gas and no brakes, it’s this weekend at Martinsville Speedway as this race will set our NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Championship 4 field.
One driver, Sam Mayer (four starts, two fop fives, three top 10s at Martinsville), has already clinched his spot and will cruise into the weekend stress-free, but let’s take a look at how our seven remaining Playoff contenders have run at the Martinsville, Virginia track.
John Hunter Nemechek: Second in the Playoff standings, Nemechek is the only Playoff driver with a win at Martinsville, a victory he snagged earlier this season in his series debut at the track. He led 198 of the 250 laps.
Cole Custer: Currently third in the Playoff standings, Custer has made one start at Martinsville Speedway (2023), where he won the pole, led five laps and finished third.
Austin Hill: Currently in the final Champ 4 spot, Hill has made three starts at the 0.526-mile track, posting one top five, two top 10s. He’s led a total of eight laps.
Justin Allgaier: Sitting just under the cutline (-3), Allgaier heads to the track with six starts under his belt, posting three top fives, five top 10s and with 12 laps led.
Sammy Smith: Forty-nine points under the cutline is Sammy Smith. He’s made two starts at Martinsville, posting one top five and one top 10. In the Martinsville race earlier this season, he posted a runner-up finish.
Chandler Smith: Seventh in the Playoff standings (-54) is Chandler Smith. He made his series debut at Martinsville Speedway earlier this season where he posted a 10th-place finish.
Sheldon Creed: Rounding out our Round of 8 is Sheldon Creed who has made three starts at Martinsville. In those three starts, he’s posted one top five and one top 10. He’s come extremely close to victory at the track, posting a runner-up finish in last year’s Martinsville Playoff race.
NASCAR Xfinity Series, Etc.
Chevrolet clinches Xfinity Series manufacturer championship – With a win by Chevrolet driver Sam Mayer last weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Chevrolet has clinched the manufacturer championship in the Xfinity Series.
Chevrolet has won 16 of the 31 Xfinity Series races this season thus far. It is the 25th time that Chevrolet has won the championship in the series, and the seventh in a row.
“It is a tremendous honor earning, the Bill France Performance Cup in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the seventh consecutive year,” said Jim Campbell, General Motors U.S. Vice president of Performance and Motorsports.
Akinori Ogata to run at Martinsville – Japanese driver Akinori Ogata will be joining Emerling-Gase Motorsports this weekend at Martinsville Speedway to pilot the No. 53 Chevrolet.
This will be Ogata’s second Xfinity Series start of the season and seventh overall. His first start in 2023 came in Atlanta where he didn’t make it to the end of the race and finished 29th.
He’s made one other start in the series at Martinsville, back in 2021 where he finished 26th.
ARCA Menards Series champion Jesse Love joins Richard Childress Racing in Xfinity Series – Richard Childress Racing announced this week that reigning ARCA Menards Series champion Jesse Love will join the organization’s NASCAR Xfinity Series stable in 2024. Love will compete for RCR’s Championship-winning Xfinity Series program on a full-time basis, beginning with the 2024 season-opener at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 17. The 18-year-old Menlo Park, Calif., native won half of the races on the series schedule this year enroute to the championship.
“We’ve been watching Jesse for a while now and his breakout performance in the ARCA Menards Series was impressive this season,” said Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of RCR. “We know that he has the talent and determination to win races and compete for championships within RCR’s NASCAR Xfinity Series program. We are looking forward to welcoming Whelen back for another year on the No. 2 program and feel confident that Jesse will be a strong ambassador for Whelen.”
Love began his racing career at the age of five driving quarter-midgets throughout the San Franscisco Bay area before advancing to full midget and sprint cars, accumulating six United States Automobile Club (USAC) Championships in the USAC Speed 2 Ford Focus division. He made his stock car debut in a Late Model at just 10 years old.
“I’ve been fortunate to gain a lot of racing experience at a young age, but nothing compares to the opportunity to race for a legendary team like Richard Childress Racing,” said Love. “I have so much respect for Richard Childress and am extremely grateful to be able to race and learn with one of the most successful teams in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. I’ve dreamed of racing at the highest levels of the sport since I was a young kid, and the path to the NASCAR Cup Series seems more clear with this opportunity. It’s even more special to be able to represent a company like Whelen who has a long-standing involvement in motorsports and strong focus on building American-made products.”
