Race Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Brad Keselowski of RFK Racing (Ford)
SHR Finish:
● Noah Gragson (Started 25th, Finished 11th / Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
● Ryan Preece (Started 8th, Finished 14th / Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 4th, Finished 15th / Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
● Josh Berry (Started 11th, Finished 16th / Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
SHR Points:
● Chase Briscoe (14th with 2,176 points)
● Noah Gragson (24th with 587 points)
● Ryan Preece (26th with 583 points)
● Josh Berry (27th with 566 points)
Gragson Notes:
● Gragson earned his 15th top-15 of the season and his first top-15 in four career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville.
● This was Gragson’s third straight top-20. He finished 18th Oct. 20 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and 19th last Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
● Gragson’s 15th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Martinsville – 20th, earned in April.
● Gragson finished ninth in Stage 2 to earn two bonus points.
Preece Notes:
● Preece earned his 12th top-15 of the season and his third top-15 in 11 career NASCAR Cup Series start at Martinsville.
● This was Briscoe’s second straight top-15. He finished 10th last Sunday at Homestead.
● This was Preece’s fourth straight top-20 at Martinsville. He finished 15th in April 2023, 20th last October and ninth in his prior visit to the track in April.
● Preece finished fourth in Stage 1 to earn seven bonus points and 10th in Stage 2 to earn one more bonus point.
Briscoe Notes:
● Briscoe earned his 16th top-15 of the season and his sixth top-15 in eight career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville.
● This was Briscoe’s second straight top-15. He finished 12th last Sunday at Homestead.
● This was Briscoe’s sixth straight top-15 at Martinsville. In his five prior NASCAR Cup Series starts at the .526-mile oval, Briscoe finished ninth, ninth, fifth, fourth and 10th.
● Briscoe finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points.
Berry Notes:
● Berry earned his 14th top-20 of the season and his first top-20 in two career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville.
● This was Berry’s second straight top-20. He finished 11th last Sunday at Homestead.
● Berry’s 16th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Martinsville – 25th, earned in April.
● Berry was the highest finishing rookie.
Race Notes:
● Ryan Blaney won the Xfinity 500 to score his 13th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his second at Martinsville. His margin of victory over second-place Chase Elliott was 2.593 seconds.
● This was Ford’s 739th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its 11th of the season.
● This was Ford’s 32nd all-time NASCAR Cup Series win at Martinsville. Ford won its first race at the track on April 9, 1961 with NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen.
● There were nine caution periods for a total of 66 laps.
● Only 17 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● This was the last race in the penultimate Round of 8 of the NASCAR Playoffs. Blaney, Tyler Reddick and Joey Logano secured their spots in the Championship 4 via their respective wins while William Byron earned his place on points. Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Elliott did not advance to the final, winner-take-all Championship 4 next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
Sound Bites:
“We came up one spot short from a top-10. I really wanted that but, overall, a good day for the No. 10 team and Stewart-Haas. The 41 and 14 ran up front for a good majority of the day and for us to come home 11th, we started 25th. We need to get our qualifying a little better, but I think we know what we need to work on. I’m just super proud of the determination and focus out of our group this weekend. We’ve got one more.” – Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Bed Bath & Beyond Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“We had a really solid car. Felt like a top-five, top-10 car, but once we lost track position, we just fought the entire time to get it back. We just got stuck on the wrong end of the stick with the strategy. It seemed like the cautions came out at unnecessary times for us and put us in position to have to make a decision, and I think when that caution came out and put us fourth, it actually put us in a bad spot and, ultimately, we ended up 14th. Still a good fight. I’m proud of Chad (Johnston, crew chief) and proud of everybody.” – Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“Our car started pretty good and we just continued on, but it just got worse as the day went on. We never really made it better. It’s frustrating, for sure.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The NASCAR Cup Series season finale is Sunday, Nov. 10 at Phoenix Raceway. The championship race starts at 3 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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