The Xfinity Series will set the championship field Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. Two places remain in the four-driver title field.
Before that race happens, the Cup teams will practice and qualify on Saturday, setting the lineup for Sunday’s playoff race. Seven drivers are competing for the last three places in the Cup field. With critical track position, qualifying takes on extra importance at Martinsville. USA Network coverage begins Saturday at 12:30 pm ET.
Martinsville circuit
The weather
Saturday: Mostly cloudy with a high of 63 degrees.
Saturday, October 29
open garage
- 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — Cycle of drinks
- Noon — Xfinity Series
Activity monitoring
- Noon – 12:45 pm – Cup Practice (NBC Sports App, USA Network coverage begins at 12:30 pm, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- 12:45 – 2:00 p.m. — Series Cup Standings (USA Network, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- 3 p.m. – Xfinity Series Race (250 laps, 131 miles; NBC, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Facing a must-win situation in the Xfinity Series championship race, Brandon Jones earned the pole for Saturday’s race at Martinsville Speedway.
“Man, that’s big,” Jones told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch. “We showed up here to do one thing … it’s just win the race.
Jones won at Martinsville in April.
Jones took the pole with a lap of 95.482 mph. Sheldon Creed (95.333 mph) will start alongside Jones on the front row. Sammy Smith (95.314) placed third, Ty Gibbs (95.165) fourth and Noah Gragson (95.079) rounded out the top five.
Josh Berry and Gragson have secured spots in the Nov. 5 championship race in Phoenix. Gibbs is 30 points above the cut line. AJ Allmendinger is five points above the cut line.
Drivers below the cut line are Justin Allgaier (-5 points), Austin Hill (-7), Sam Mayer (-28) and Jones (-38).
Allgaier qualified sixth, Allmendinger ninth, Mayer 22nd and Hill will start 36th in the 38-car field. He did not make a qualifying attempt due to a mechanical problem after practice.
Saturday’s race airs at 3 pm ET on NBC and Peacock.
Austin Hill will look to compete in six Cup races next season for Beard Motorsports, the team announced Friday.
Hill’s first Cup race next year is scheduled to be the Daytona 500 on February 19. The #62 car is not guaranteed a place in the race and will have to earn a place in the field.
Hill is also scheduled to compete in the following Cup races: April 23 at Talladega, July 2 at Street Chicago, August 6 at Michigan, August 26 at Daytona and August 1 October in Talladega. Sponsorship for each race will be announced at a later date.
Hill made his Cup debut at Michigan this season, finishing 18th.
“From the time I started in fourth midgets back home in Georgia, competing in the NASCAR Cup Series has always been my goal,” Hill said in a team statement. “I’m incredibly grateful to Richard Childress for giving me the platform to run and win in my first season in the Xfinity Series, and for the opportunity the Beard family has given me to run more Cup races.”
Hill competes full-time in the Xfinity Series for Richard Childress Racing. He is vying for a spot in the Nov. 5 Xfinity Championship race at Phoenix.
“We are a family-owned and proud race team and these six races in 2023 are moments we are very much looking forward to,” Amie Beard, executive vice president of Beard Motorsports, said in a statement. “No job is too small here at Beard Motorsports, and if anyone can appreciate that, it’s Austin. He’s raced and run his own team and been successful. It’s helped make him a very good driver and an even better person and we are delighted to have him as part of our team.”
Saturday at Martinsville Speedway is the last chance for playoff drivers to earn a spot in the Nov. 5 Xfinity Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway.
JR Motorsports drivers Josh Berry and Noah Gragson secured spots with wins in the Round of 16. That leaves six drivers competing for the final two spots in Saturday’s race at Martinsville (3 p.m. ET on NBC).
Ty Gibbs (30 points above the cut line) and AJ Allmendinger (+5) hold the last two transfer spots. Those below the cut line are Justin Allgaier (-5 points), Austin Hill (-7), Sam Mayer (-28) and Brandon Jones (-38).
Details for Saturday’s Xfinity race at Martinsville Speedway
(All Eastern eras)
TO START: The order to start the engines will be given at 15:27… The green flag is scheduled to fly at 15:36
PRE-RACE: The Xfinity Garage opens at noon. … Conductor introductions are at 2:50 p.m. … William Byron will give the invocation at 3:19 p.m. … Virginia Military Institute Glee Club will perform the national anthem at 3:20 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 250 laps (131.5 miles) on the 0.526-mile speedway.
STAGES: Stage 1 ends on lap 60. Stage 2 ends on lap 120.
TV/RADIO: NBC will broadcast the race at 3:30 p.m. … Countdown to Green airs at 3pm on NBC. Motor Racing Network coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. and will also be streamed on mrn.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the MRN broadcast.
Streaming: NBCsports.com and Peacock
FORECAST: Weather Underground — Partly cloudy with a high of 60 degrees and a 1% chance of rain at the start of the race.
LAST TIME: Brandon Jones won in April. Landon Cassill finished second. AJ Allmendinger was third.
Keith Rodden will be Austin Dillon’s crew chief in 2023, Richard Childress Racing announced Friday morning.
Rodden replaces Justin Alexander, who moves to the role of director of vehicle performance at RCR.
Rodden, a former crew chief and race engineer, most recently worked in the NASCAR motorsports competition strategy group at General Motors. Rodden’s goal there was to work with the Chevy teams on how to best approach track testing, practice sessions and race events. He also worked as a General Motors wheel strength test project leader, serving as a test team crew chief.
He worked as a crew chief or engineer at Hendrick Motorsports, Evernham Motorsports, Richard Petty Motorsports, Team Red Bull and Chip Ganassi Racing. Rodden worked for more than a decade with Kasey Kahne, including as crew chief for the No. 5 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports.
“The addition of Keith Rodden to the Richard Childress Racing team highlights the ‘One Team’ approach to our racing program and the commitment our manufacturing partner has made to elevate all Chevy NASCAR teams with a shared approach to data collection and technical development,” Andy Petree, vice president of competition for Richard Childress Racing, said in a statement.
“I have known and worked with Keith Rodden since the beginning of his NASCAR career, and I can say with confidence that he will be a great matchup for Austin Dillon and our Richard Childress Racing team. We would like to thank Justin Alexander for his contributions to the #3 team and know that he will do a great job continuing to support RCR in his new role.”
