Alex Bowman Wins Xfinity 500 NASCAR Cup Race at Martinsville Speedway

(MARTINSVILLE, VA – OCT 31, 2021 – RIS)  Alex Bowman won the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on lap 501 after bumping and spinning Denny Hamlin to bring out the 15th and final caution while fighting for the lead on lap 493 and then holding off the new second place driver, Kyle Busch, on the overtime restart and final lap. This was Bowman’s sixth NASCAR Cup series career victory.

The remainder of the top ten finishers (3-10) after the final restart were Brad Keselowski (#2), Martin Truex, Jr. (#19), William Byron (#24), Aric Almirola (#10), Kurt Busch (#1), Erik Jones (#43), Chris Buescher (#17) and Joey Logano (#22).

Denny Hamlin went from second place in a battle for the lead and race win to a 24th place finishing position out of the 25 cars that finished on the lead lap of the race.

There were 15 cautions for a total of 91 laps of the 501 race total laps.  The first caution was the competition caution from laps 62-67.  Two cautions were for the stage ends.  Most of the remainder of the cautions were for spins that didn’t cause carnage scattered across the track.  However, the final caution was significant due to impacting the finishing order of the race and raising the ire of Denny Hamlin.

After the race, Mr. Hamlin had some of the following compliments regarding winner Alex Bowman. “He’s a hack.” “He’s terrible.” “He still can’t drive.” And for emphasis, he said again “He’s just terrible.”

From winner Bowman’s perspective, “I just got loose in. I got in too deep, knocked him out of the way and literally let him have the lead back. For anybody that wants to think I was trying to crash him, obviously wasn’t the case considering I literally gave up the lead at Martinsville to give it back to him.

He’s been on the other side of that. He’s crashed guys here for wins. I hate doing it. Obviously I don’t want to crash somebody. I just got in, got underneath him, spun him out.”

The four driver’s that proceed to race for the Championship at Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex, Jr. and Denny Hamlin.  Two of the four going for the championship are Hendrick Motorsport teammates of Alex Bowman. These are Larson and Elliott.  Hamlin was kept from the chance of a race win but he still has a chance at the championship.

The next and final race (Championship race) is November 7, 2021 at Phoenix Raceway.

Unofficial Results: 73rd Annual Xfinity 500, October 31, 2021, Martinsville Speedway, 0.526 Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 13, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 501, 8, 2, 2, 9, 5, 52, Running
2) 7, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Halloween Toyota, 501, 6, 9, , , , 42, Running
3) 6, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Dent Wizard Ford, 501, 5, 8, , , , 43, Running
4) 4, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 501, 3, 4, 3, 9, , 48, Running
5) 11, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 501, 4, 3, , , , 47, Running
6) 23, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield/IHOP Ford, 501, 10, 6, , , , 37, Running
7) 10, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 501, , 10, , , , 31, Running
8) 28, Erik Jones, No. 43 Goody's Cool Orange Chevrolet, 501, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 15, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, 501, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 5, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 501, 9, , 1, 9, , 29, Running
11) 8, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Menards/Richmond Ford, 501, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 9, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Unibet Ford, 501, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 14, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Cowboy Channel Chevrolet, 501, 7, , 1, 5, , 28, Running
14) 1, Kyle Larson (P), No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 501, 2, , 2, 77, , 32, Running
15) 21, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 501, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 2, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 501, 1, 1, 4, 289, 2, 41, Running
17) 12, Christopher Bell, No. 20 STANLEY Toyota, 501, , 7, , , , 24, Running
18) 18, Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet, 501, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 25, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet, 501, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 32, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 38 Dude Wipes Ford, 501, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 29, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 ARK.io Chevrolet, 501, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 22, Chase Briscoe #, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford, 501, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 24, Cole Custer, No. 41 Dixie Vodka Peach Cocktail Ford, 501, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 3, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 501, , 5, 3, 103, , 19, Running
25) 17, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Door Dash Toyota, 501, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 19, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 499, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 16, Ross Chastain, No. 42 Clover Chevrolet, 498, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 20, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Good Sam Chevrolet, 498, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 30, BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 Keen Parts Ford, 496, , , , , , 0, Running
30) 31, Cody Ware(i), No. 51 Nurtec ODT Chevrolet, 495, , , , , , 0, Running
31) 35, Justin Haley(i), No. 77 Spire + Chevrolet, 492, , , , , , 0, Running
32) 27, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford, 491, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 37, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 15 Boom Mobile Chevrolet, 490, , , , , , 0, Running
34) 36, Quin Houff, No. 00 Sim Seats Chevrolet, 483, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 33, Josh Bilicki(i), No. 52 Insurance King Ford, 483, , , , , , 0, Running
36) 26, * Ryan Preece, No. 37 Thomas'/Kroger Chevrolet, 414, , , , , , 1, Brakes
37) 38, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 American Dream Leasing Toyota, 206, , , , , , 0, Engine
38) 34, Joey Gase(i), No. 53 ADKINS Chevrolet, 10, , , , , , 0, Electrical
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) (Rookie), (P) Playoffs

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 42 Mins, 48 Secs.
Race Length: 501 Laps, 263.526 Miles
Average Speed: 70.968 MPH
Margin of Victory: .472 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 9, 5, 19, 24, 2, 18, 3, 48, 22, 10
Stage 2 Top 10: 9, 48, 24, 19, 11, 10, 20, 2, 18, 1

Comments: Alex Bowman has won the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, his sixth career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: No. 11 (Multiple Inspection Failures).

Cautions: 15 for 91 laps;
Laps: 62-67 (Competition [37]);
73-76 (No. 6, 34, 99 Incident Turn 4 [41]);
132-140 (Stage 1 Conclusion [41]);
198-203 (No. 3 Incident Turn 2 [14]);
262-269 (Stage 2 Conclusion [8]);
311-319 (No. 7, 34, 52 Incident Turn 3 [3]);
324-329 (No. 00, 52 Incident Turn 3 [41]);
340-345 (No. 6, 41, 42 Incident Turn 2 [None]);
359-362 (No. 3, 41 Incident Turn 4 [21]);
379-384 (No. 99 Spin Turn 2 [38]);
437-443 (No. 3 Incident Turn 2 [8]);
456-460 (No. 2, 9 Incident Turn 3 [41]);
462-466 (No. 5, 47 Incident Turn 4 [None]);
473-477 (No. 37 Incident Turn 2 [7]);
495-499 (No. 11, 48 Incident Turn 3 [23]).

Lead Changes: 15 among 7 drivers;
K. Larson (P) 1-55;
C. Elliott (P) 56-62;
K. Larson (P) 63-84;
C. Elliott (P) 85-199;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 200-204;
C. Elliott (P) 205-341;
J. Logano (P) 342-350;
C. Elliott (P) 351-380;
A. Dillon 381-385;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 386-388;
D. Hamlin (P) 389-437;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 438;
D. Hamlin (P) 439-477;
A. Bowman 478;
D. Hamlin (P) 479-493;
A. Bowman 494-501.

Busch Pole Award: Kyle Larson, No. 5

Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Anthony Alfredo, No. 38

Unofficial Points:
Pos)   Driver        Car   Starts        GL     Points        Ldr    Nxt    Race Wins  Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1)      Kyle Larson (P)      No. 5  35     0       5000  0       0       9       17     65
2)      Chase Elliott (P)     No. 9  35     0       5000  0       0       2       6       22
3)      Martin Truex Jr. (P)         No. 19         35     3       5000  0       0       4       5       29
4)      Denny Hamlin (P)  No. 11         35     -1      5000  0       0       2       10     30
5)      Brad Keselowski (P)       No. 2  35     2       2323  -2677 2677  1       2       8
6)      Kevin Harvick       No. 4  35     3       2318  -2682 5       0       0       2
7)      Ryan Blaney (P)    No. 12         35     -2      2308  -2692 10     3       4       24
8)      Joey Logano (P)     No. 22         35     0       2308  -2692 0       1       5       13
9)      Kyle Busch (P)      No. 18         35     -5      2285  -2715 23     2       7       23
10)    William Byron       No. 24         35     1       2280  -2720 5       1       4       14
11)    Kurt Busch  No. 1  35     -1      2274  -2726 6       1       3       8
12)    Christopher Bell    No. 20         35     0       2251  -2749 23     1       0       5
13)    Tyler Reddick       No. 8  35     0       2232  -2768 19     0       3       3
14)    Alex Bowman       No. 48         35     0       2221  -2779 11     4       0       15
15)    Aric Almirola         No. 10         35     0       2184  -2816 37     1       0       5
16)    Michael McDowell No. 34         35     0       2139  -2861 45     1       0       5
17)    Austin Dillon         No. 3  35     0       913    -4087 1226  0       0       0
18)    Chris Buescher     No. 17         35     0       759    -4241 154    0       2       1
19)    Matt DiBenedetto   No. 21         35     0       749    -4251 10     0       1       0
20)    Ross Chastain      No. 42         35     0       706    -4294 43     0       0       0
21)    Bubba Wallace     No. 23         35     0       698    -4302 8       1       2       6
22)    Ricky Stenhouse Jr         No. 47         35     0       665    -4335 33     0       0       0
23)    Chase Briscoe #    No. 14         35     0       653    -4347 12     0       0       0
24)    Erik Jones   No. 43         35     1       626    -4374 27     0       0       0
25)    Daniel Suarez       No. 99         35     -1      618    -4382 8       0       0       0