Blaney Wins after Hamlin Dominates Martinsville

Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Discount Tire Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 29, 2023 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

(MARTINSVILLE, VA - OCT29, 2023 - RIS) Ryan Blaney led 145 laps after following Denny Hamlin for most of the race to capture another checkered flag for a young race fan and punch his ticket into the championship four racing for the NASCAR Cup Series crown next weekend at Phoenix.

Joining Blaney in contention for the year-end crown will be Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and Wliliam Byron, whose thirteenth-place finish is good enough to put him in the final slot with a chance at the title.

Ron Fleshman will be back soon with a longer report.

Unofficial Results: Xfinity 500, Martinsville Speedway, October 29, 2023
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1)11, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Discount Tire Ford, 500, 2, 1, 4, 145, 6, 59, Running
2)12, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 500, , , 1, 66, , 35, Running
3)4, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Toyota, 500, 1, 2, 4, 156, 1, 53, Running
4)3, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford, 500, 4, 3, , , , 48, Running
5)15, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 500, 9, 4, , , , 41, Running
6)5, Kyle Larson (P), No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 500, , , , , , 31, Running
7)7, Christopher Bell (P), No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 500, 6, 10, , , , 36, Running
8)18, Chris Buescher (P), No. 17 Nexletol Ford, 500, , , , , , 29, Running
9)21, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford, 500, , , , , , 28, Running
10)17, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Quincy Compressor Ford, 500, , 8, , , , 30, Running
11)6, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Xfinity Toyota, 500, , , , , , 26, Running
12)1, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 500, 3, , 1, 47, , 33, Running
13)16, William Byron (P), No. 24 PODS Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 24, Running
14)13, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 23, Running
15)28, Harrison Burton, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 499, , , , , , 22, Running
16)8, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford, 499, 10, 9, , , , 24, Running
17)14, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 499, , , 2, 83, , 20, Running
18)2, Ty Gibbs #, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 499, 7, 6, , , , 28, Running
19)20, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Reese's Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 18, Running
20)9, Ryan Preece, No. 41 United Rentals Ford, 499, 8, 7, , , , 24, Running
21)29, Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Allways Rewards Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 16, Running
22)30, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 499, , , 1, 3, , 15, Running
23)26, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 14, Running
24)34, Ty Dillon, No. 77 Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 13, Running
25)23, Michael McDowell, No. 34 StageFront.VIP Ford, 499, , , , , , 12, Running
26)19, Tyler Reddick (P), No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota, 498, , , , , , 11, Running
27)31, Kyle Busch, No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet, 498, , , , , , 10, Running
28)25, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet, 498, , , , , , 9, Running
29)33, Ryan Newman(i), No. 51 Biohaven/Jacob Co Ford, 497, , , , , , 0, Running
30)24, Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 497, , , , , , 7, Running
31)32, Carson Hocevar(i), No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet, 496, , , , , , 0, Running
32)22, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 496, , , , , , 5, Running
33)10, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 King's Hawaiian Ford, 306, 5, 5, , , , 16, Running
34)27, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Jockey Outdoors By Luke Bryan Chevrolet, 274, , , , , , 3, DVP
35)35, JJ Yeley(i), No. 15 IFCJ.org Ford, 271, , , , , , 0, Accident
36)36, BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 Falk'd Up Garage Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 0, Overheating
(i)Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#)Rookie, (P)Playoffs

Race Length:500 Laps, 263. Miles
Time of Race:3 Hrs, 29 Mins, 43 Secs.
Average Speed:75.244 MPH
Margin of Victory:0.899 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10:11, 12, 19, 14, 6, 20, 54, 41, 22, 4
Stage 2 Top 10:12, 11, 14, 22, 6, 54, 41, 38, 4, 20

Comments:Ryan Blaney won the Xfinity 500 at Martinveills Speedway, his 10th NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Cautions:7 for 61 laps;
Laps: 105-111 (No. 3, 48, 21, 7 Incident Backstretch [99]);
132-140(Stage 1 Conclusion [15]);
217-225(No. 20, 51 Incident Turn 4 [45]);
262-270(Stage 2 Conclusion [77]);
274-284(No. 22, 54, 6, 1, 38, 2, 34, 99 Incident Turn 3 [47]);
304-310(No. 42, 54 Incident Turn 2 [21]);
324-332(No. 34 Spin Turn 2 [77]).

Lead Changes:12 among 6 drivers;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 1-47;
D. Hamlin (P) 48-193;
R. Blaney (P) 194-218;
D. Hamlin (P) 219-226;
R. Blaney (P) 227-228;
D. Hamlin (P) 229;
R. Blaney (P) 230-324;
D. Hamlin (P) 325;
C. Elliott (P) 326-331;
C. LaJoie 332-334;
C. Elliott (P) 335-411;
A. Almirola 412-477;
R. Blaney (P) 478-500.

Xfinity 500 Unofficial Points: Martinsville Speedway
Rank  Driver      Car   Starts      GL    Points      Ldr   Nxt   Race Wins   Stage Wins  Playoff Pts
1) Ryan Blaney (P)      12    35    2     5000  0     0     3     6     14
2) Christopher Bell (P)20    35    0     5000  0     0     2     4     16
3) Kyle Larson (P)      5     35    1     5000  0     0     4     8     24
4) William Byron (P)    24    35    -3    5000  0     0     6     8     41
5) Denny Hamlin (P)     11    35    2     2354  -26462646  3     8     32
6) Tyler Reddick (P)    45    35    -1    2329  -267125    2     6     16
7) Brad Keselowski      6     35    2     2278  -272251    0     6     11
8) Chris Buescher (P)   17    35    0     2263  -273715    3     1     21
9) Ross Chastain  1     35    1     2242  -275821    1     5     11
10)Bubba Wallace23    35    1     2242  -27580     0     0     0
11)Joey Logano   22    35    2     2239  -27613     1     3     8
12)Martin Truex Jr (P)19    35    -6    2228  -277211    3     6     36
13)Kyle Busch    8     35    -1    2220  -27808     3     2     19
14)Kevin Harvick4     35    0     2194  -280626    0     1     4
15)Michael McDowell    34    35    0     2157  -284337    1     2     7
16)Ricky Stenhouse Jr  47    35    0     2154  -28463     1     0     5
17)Chase Elliott (P)   9     28    0     799   -42011355  0     2     1
18)Ty Gibbs #    54    35    1     755   -424544    0     0     0
19)Daniel Suarez99    35    -1    730   -427025    0     0     0
20)AJ Allmendinger     16    35    0     687   -431343    1     0     5
21)Alex Bowman   48    32    0     681   -43196     0     0     0
22)Aric Almirola10    35    0     651   -434930    0     1     0
23)Austin Cindric      2     35    0     624   -437627    0     1     0
24)Ryan Preece   41    35    0     614   -438610    0     1     0
25)Corey LaJoie  7     35    0     597   -440317    0     0     0
26)Justin Haley  31    35    0     585   -441512    0     0     0
27)Erik Jones    43    35    0     557   -444328    0     0     0
28)Todd Gilliland      38    35    0     547   -445310    0     0     0
29)Chase Briscoe14    35    1     521   -447926    0     0     0
30)Austin Dillon3     35    -1    520   -44801     0     0     0
31)Harrison Burton     21    35    0     441   -455979    0     0     0
32)Ty Dillon     77    35    0     355   -464586    0     0     0
33)Noah Gragson        21    0     199   -4801156   0     0     0
34)Cody Ware           7     0     65    -4935134   0     0     0
35)Jenson Button       3     0     45    -495520    0     0     0
36)Mike Rockenfeller         3     0     39    -49616     0     0     0
37)Travis Pastrana           1     0     26    -497413    0     0     0
38)Brodie Kostecki           1     0     15    -498511    0     0     0
39)Jimmie Johnson            3     0     12    -49883     0     0     0
40)Kimi Raikkonen            1     0     8     -49924     0     0     0
41)Jonathan Davenport        1     0     1     -49997     0     0     0
42)Shane Van Gisbergen(i)          2     0     0     -50001     1     0     0
43)Josh Berry(i)       10    0     0     -50000     0     0     0
44)JJ Yeley(i)   15    25    0     0     -50000     0     0     0
45)Riley Herbst(i)           4     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
46)Zane Smith(i)       8     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
47)Chandler Smith(i)         3     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
48)Carson Hocevar(i)   42    8     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
49)Austin Hill(i)            5     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
50)BJ McLeod(i)  78    22    0     0     -50000     0     0     0
51)Josh Bilicki(i)           10    0     0     -50000     0     0     0
52)Cole Custer(i)            6     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
53)Jordan Taylor(i)          1     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
54)Andy Lally(i)       5     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
55)Ryan Newman(i)      51    7     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
56)Grant Enfinger(i)         1     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
57)Brennan Poole(i)          7     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
58)Conor Daly(i)       2     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
59)Gray Gaulding(i)          1     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
60)Sheldon Creed(i)          1     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
61)John Hunter Nemechek(i)         1     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
62)Anthony Alfredo(i)        2     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
63)Kamui Kobayashi(i)        1     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
64)Matt Crafton(i)           1     0     0     -50000     0     0     0
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series