2022 Xfinity 500 Explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 35 of 36 in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	Xfinity 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7]
Year:	2022
Location:	Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia
Course Mi:	.526
Course Km:	.847
Distance Laps:	500
Distance Mi:	263
Distance Km:	423.5
Weather:	Clouded sky
Avg:	113.5mph
Pole Driver:	Kyle Larson
Pole Team:	Hendrick Motorsports
Pole Time:	19.709
Most Driver:	Denny Hamlin
Most Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Most Laps:	203
Car:	20
First Driver:	Christopher Bell
First Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Network:	NBC
Announcers:	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Radio:	MRN
Booth Ann:	Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Ann:	Dave Moody (Backstretch)

The 2022 Xfinity 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 30, 2022, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 500 laps on the .526 mile (.847 km) short track, it was the 35th race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, the ninth race of the Playoffs, and final race of the Round of 8.

This race, won by Christopher Bell, was noted for Ross Chastain's "Hail Melon" finish, in which Chastain rode the wall in a move described as similar to those done in racing video games to secure a fourth-place finish that locked him to the Championship 4 race. Chastain's move also set an all-new track record.

Report

Background

Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526miles in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track is also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948. Along with this, Martinsville is the only NASCAR oval track on the entire NASCAR track circuit to have asphalt surfaces on the straightaways, then concrete to cover the turns.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1		nowrap		Chevrolet
2	Austin Cindric (R)		Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
5			Chevrolet
6			Ford
7			Chevrolet
8			Chevrolet
9			Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
14			Ford
15	J. J. Yeley (i)		Ford
16	nowrap	A. J. Allmendinger (i)		Chevrolet
17			Ford
18			Toyota
19			Toyota
20			Toyota
21	Harrison Burton (R)		Ford
22			Ford
23	Ty Gibbs (i)		Toyota
24			Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
34			Ford
38	Todd Gilliland (R)		Ford
41			Ford
42			Chevrolet
43			Chevrolet
45			Toyota
47			Chevrolet
48	Noah Gragson (i)		Chevrolet
51			Ford
77	Landon Cassill (i)		Chevrolet
78	B. J. McLeod (i)		Ford
99			Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 19.916 seconds and a speed of 95.079mph.^[8]

Practice results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	11				19.916	95.079
2	12				19.917	95.075
3	9				19.949	94.922
Official practice results

Qualifying

Kyle Larson scored the pole for the race with a time of 19.709 and a speed of 96.078mph.^[9]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	5			Chevrolet	19.733	19.709
2	9			Chevrolet	19.683	19.721
3	14			Ford	19.659	19.721
4	12			Ford	19.814	19.740
5	41			Ford	19.718	19.780
6	6			Ford	19.754	19.783
7	99			Chevrolet	19.774	19.810
8	4			Ford	19.752	19.822
9	1			Chevrolet	19.753	19.828
10	21	Harrison Burton (R)		Ford	19.742	19.933
11	11			Toyota	19.763	—
12	22			Ford	19.766	—
13	34			Ford	19.788	—
14	7			Chevrolet	19.825	—
15	10			Ford	19.829	—
16	3			Chevrolet	19.839	—
17	48	Noah Gragson (i)		Chevrolet	19.845	—
18	18			Toyota	19.849	—
19	38	Todd Gilliland (R)		Ford	19.861	—
20	20			Toyota	19.882	—
21	16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)		Chevrolet	19.888	—
22	17			Ford	19.891	—
23	43			Chevrolet	19.898	—
24	45			Toyota	19.924	—
25	24			Chevrolet	19.942	—
26	23	Ty Gibbs (i)		Toyota	19.943	—
27	19			Toyota	19.958	—
28	8			Chevrolet	19.980	—
29	31			Chevrolet	19.987	—
30	2	Austin Cindric (R)		Ford	19.998	—
31	47			Chevrolet	20.086	—
32	42			Chevrolet	20.103	—
33	77	Landon Cassill (i)		Chevrolet	20.210	—
34	78	B. J. McLeod (i)		Ford	20.247	—
35	15	J. J. Yeley (i)		Ford	20.356	—
36	51			Ford	20.840	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Heading into the finish, Ross Chastain clinched his spot into the Championship 4 by the way of a last-ditch wall-ride that has been described as a "video game-like move" in the final lap.^[10] Chastain's move also set a new Cup Series lap record on the track at 18.845 seconds.^[11] The move has been dubbed the Hail Melon by many in the sport. Christopher Bell's race victory also placed him into the championship race, with Joey Logano (who won a race in the Round of 8) and Chase Elliott also advancing.

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 130

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	8
4	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	6
6	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	4
8	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	3
9	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	2
10	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 130

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	8
4	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	7
5	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	6
6	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	5
7	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	4
8	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	3
9	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	2
10	45	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 240

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	20	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	500	51
2	1	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	50
3	4	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	500	43
4	9	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	500	39
5	11	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	500	52
6	12	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	500	35
7	25	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	30
8	24	45	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	500	30
9	3	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	500	34
10	2	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	45
11	10	21	Harrison Burton (R)	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	500	26
12	7	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	500	29
13	19	38	Todd Gilliland (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	500	24
14	5	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	500	38
15	15	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	500	23
16	8	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	500	21
17	13	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	500	20
18	23	43	Erik Jones	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	498	19
19	26	23	Ty Gibbs (i)	23XI Racing	Toyota	498	0
20	27	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	498	17
21	14	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	498	16
22	31	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	498	15
23	21	16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	498	0
24	22	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	497	13
25	17	48	Noah Gragson (i)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	497	0
26	30	2	Austin Cindric (R)	Team Penske	Ford	497	11
27	29	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	497	10
28	36	51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	495	9
29	18	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	494	8
30	35	15	J. J. Yeley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	488	0
31	32	42	Ty Dillon	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	466	6
32	33	77	Landon Cassill (i)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	460	0
33	16	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	316	4
34	34	78	B. J. McLeod (i)	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford	225	0
35	28	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	2
DSQ	6	6	Brad Keselowski		RFK Racing	Ford	500	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 8 among 5 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 6 for 53
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 24 minutes and 18 seconds
• Average speed: 77.239mph

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, 1997 race winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and 2014 race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Dillon Welch handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

Radio

MRN covered the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and 7 time Martinsville winner Rusty Wallace had the call for MRN when the field raced down the front straightaway. Dave Moody covered the action for MRN when the field raced down the backstraightway into turn 3. Steve Post, Winston Kelley, Brienne Pedigo and Kim Coon covered the action for MRN from pit lane.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Joey Logano	5,000
5	2	Christopher Bell	5,000 (–0)
1	3	Ross Chastain	5,000 (–0)
1	4	Chase Elliott	5,000 (–0)
	5	Denny Hamlin	2,350 (–2,650)
2	6	William Byron	2,339 (–2,661)
2	7	Kyle Larson	2,316 (–2,684)
2	8	Ryan Blaney	2,300 (–2,700)
1	9	Daniel Suárez	2,259 (–2,741)
2	10	Chase Briscoe	2,244 (–2,756)
	11	Austin Dillon	2,204 (–2,796)
1	12	Austin Cindric	2,198 (–2,802)
1	13	Tyler Reddick	2,197 (–2,803)
	14	Kyle Busch	2,194 (–2,806)
	15	Alex Bowman	2,104 (–2,896)
	16	Kevin Harvick	2,085 (–2,915)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Chevrolet	1,290
	2	Ford	1,210 (–80)
	3	Toyota	1,158 (–132)

• Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2022 schedule . Jayski.com. . September 26, 2022.
2. Web site: Martinsville Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. September 26, 2022. January 3, 2013. April 25, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170425205616/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/martinsville-speedway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 24, 2022. October 24, 2022.
4. Web site: Practice Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 29, 2022. October 29, 2022.
5. Web site: Qualifying Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 29, 2022. October 29, 2022.
6. Web site: Xfinity 500 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 30, 2022. October 30, 2022.
7. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 30, 2022. October 30, 2022.
8. Web site: Utter. Jim. Denny Hamlin tops Ryan Blaney in Martinsville Cup practice. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. October 29, 2022. Martinsville, Virginia. October 29, 2022.
9. Web site: Utter. Jim. Kyle Larson beats teammate Elliott to Martinsville Cup pole. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. October 29, 2022. Martinsville, Virginia. October 29, 2022.
10. Web site: Ross Chastain's bold wall-riding move seals title berth; Christopher Bell wins race . ESPN.com . 31 October 2022 . 31 October 2022.
11. Web site: Long . Dustin . October 31, 2022 . Long: Ross Chastain's frenzied finish divides competitors . October 31, 2022 . NBC Sports.