2023 4EVER 400 explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 34 of 36 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9]
Year:	2023
Location:	Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida
Course Mi:	1.5
Course Km:	2.4
Distance Laps:	267
Distance Mi:	400.5
Distance Km:	640.8
Avg:	125.221mph
Pole Driver:	Martin Truex Jr.
Pole Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Pole Time:	32.256
Most Driver:	Kyle Larson
Most Team:	Hendrick Motorsports
Most Laps:	96
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 Todd Gordon
Turn Ann:	Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Mike Bagley (3 & 4)

The 2023 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 22, 2023, at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) oval, it was the 34th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, the eighth race of the Playoffs, and the second race of the Round of 8.

Report

Background

Homestead-Miami Speedway is a motor racing track located in Homestead, Florida. The track, which has several configurations, has promoted several series of racing, including NASCAR, the NTT IndyCar Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

From 2002 to 2019, Homestead-Miami Speedway has hosted the final race of the season in all three of NASCAR's series: the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series; due to Ford Motor Company sponsoring all three races the weekend was known as the 'Ford Championship Weekend'. The track has since held races on different dates in 2020 (June) and 2021 (February), which were both effected by the COVID-19 pandemic, before being moved back into the Playoffs as the second race of the Round of 8 in 2022, with the date being kept for 2023.

In 2023, it was announced that Mobil 1 would be replacing Dixie Vodka as the race's sponsor after two years. Mobil 1 would then proceed to name the race after Kevin Harvick, who has Mobil 1 as one of his sponsors, and his 4EVER appreciation campaign, as he is set to retire from NASCAR after the 2023 season.^[10]

This race would be the second year straight in a row John Hunter Nemechek will make his one-off Cup start at the same track.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
• (P) denotes playoff driver.
• (OP) denotes owner's playoffs car.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
5	Kyle Larson (P)		Chevrolet
6			Ford
7			Chevrolet
8			Chevrolet
9	Chase Elliott (OP)		Chevrolet
10			Ford
11	Denny Hamlin (P)		Toyota
12	Ryan Blaney (P)		Ford
14			Ford
15	J. J. Yeley (i)		Ford
16			Chevrolet
17	Chris Buescher (P)		Ford
19	Martin Truex Jr. (P)		Toyota
20	Christopher Bell (P)		Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
23			Toyota
24	William Byron (P)		Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
34			Ford
38			Ford
41			Ford
42	nowrap	John Hunter Nemechek (i)		Chevrolet
43			Chevrolet
45	Tyler Reddick (P)		Toyota
47			Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51	Ryan Newman (i)		Ford
54	Ty Gibbs (R)		Toyota
77			Chevrolet
78	Josh Bilicki (i)		Chevrolet
99			Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

Bubba Wallace was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 31.936 seconds and a speed of 169.088mph.^[11]

Practice results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	23				31.936	169.088
2	2				32.143	167.999
3	12	Ryan Blaney (P)			32.188	167.764
Official practice results

Qualifying

Martin Truex Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 32.256 and a speed of 167.411mph.^[12]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	19	Martin Truex Jr. (P)		Toyota	31.999	32.256
2	23			Toyota	31.888	32.313
3	45	Tyler Reddick (P)		Toyota	32.003	32.334
4	6			Ford	32.104	32.417
5	5	Kyle Larson (P)		Chevrolet	32.258	32.510
6	3			Chevrolet	32.109	32.551
7	24	William Byron (P)		Chevrolet	32.193	32.559
8	1			Chevrolet	32.285	32.563
9	54	Ty Gibbs (R)		Toyota	32.106	32.566
10	12	Ryan Blaney (P)		Ford	32.135	32.594
11	11	Denny Hamlin (P)		Toyota	32.146	—
12	48			Chevrolet	32.169	—
13	20	Christopher Bell (P)		Toyota	32.184	—
14	99			Chevrolet	32.221	—
15	34			Ford	32.256	—
16	9	Chase Elliott (OP)		Chevrolet	32.318	—
17	17	Chris Buescher (P)		Ford	32.341	—
18	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	32.345	—
19	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	32.357	—
20	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	32.359	—
21	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	32.389	—
22	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	32.392	—
23	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	32.395	—
24	42	John Hunter Nemechek (i)	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	32.399	—
25	16			Chevrolet	32.427	—
26	2			Ford	32.445	—
27	31			Chevrolet	32.468	—
28	21			Ford	32.474	—
29	41			Ford	32.513	—
30	10			Ford	32.537	—
31	15	J. J. Yeley (i)		Ford	32.584	—
32	38			Ford	32.594	—
33	77			Chevrolet	32.820	—
34	51	Ryan Newman (i)		Ford	32.850	—
35	78	Josh Bilicki (i)		Chevrolet	33.364	—
36	22			Ford	0.000	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage OneLaps: 80

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	5	Kyle Larson (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	10
2	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney (P)	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	24	William Byron (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	19	Martin Truex Jr. (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	6
6	11	Denny Hamlin (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	45	Tyler Reddick (P)	23XI Racing	Toyota	4
8	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	3
9	20	Christopher Bell (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 80

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	12	Ryan Blaney (P)	Team Penske	Ford	10
2	24	William Byron (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	5	Kyle Larson (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	8
4	11	Denny Hamlin (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	6
6	19	Martin Truex Jr. (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	45	Tyler Reddick (P)	23XI Racing	Toyota	4
8	54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage results

Stage ThreeLaps: 107

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	13	20	Christopher Bell (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	42
2	10	12	Ryan Blaney (P)	Team Penske	Ford	267	53
3	3	45	Tyler Reddick (P)	23XI Racing	Toyota	267	42
4	7	24	William Byron (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	49
5	25	16	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	267	32
6	2	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	267	31
7	9	54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	34
8	36	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	267	30
9	30	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	28
10	6	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	267	32
11	20	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	26
12	26	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	267	25
13	29	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	24
14	18	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	267	23
15	16	9	Chase Elliott (OP)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	22
16	14	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	267	21
17	23	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	20
18	22	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	267	19
19	12	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	18
20	19	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	17
21	17	17	Chris Buescher (P)	RFK Racing	Ford	267	16
22	15	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	267	15
23	27	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	267	14
24	33	77	Ty Dillon	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	266	13
25	32	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	266	12
26	34	51	Ryan Newman (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	265	0
27	24	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	263	10
28	4	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	262	24
29	1	19	Martin Truex Jr. (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	237	19
30	11	11	Denny Hamlin (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	236	19
31	8	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	221	6
32	21	42	John Hunter Nemechek (i)	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	218	0
33	31	15	J. J. Yeley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	218	0
34	5	5	Kyle Larson (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	214	21
35	35	78	Josh Bilicki (i)	Live Fast Motorsports	Chevrolet	201	0
36	28	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	165	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 25 among 9 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 5 for 35 laps
• Red flags: 1 for 12 minutes, and 35 seconds
• Time of race: 3 hours, 11 minutes, and 54 seconds
• Average speed: 125.221mph

Media

Television

NBC covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Kim Coon and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and former NASCAR crew chief Todd Gordon called the action of the race for MRN when the field raced down the front straightaway. Dave Moody covered the action for MRN in turns 1 & 2, and Mike Bagley had the call of the action from turns 3 & 4. Steve Post, Brienne Pedigo, and Jason Toy covered the action of the race for MRN on pit road.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
1	1	William Byron	4,126
3	2	Christopher Bell	4,110 (–16)
4	3	Ryan Blaney	4,106 (–20)
3	4	Kyle Larson	4,105 (–21)
1	5	Tyler Reddick	4,096 (–30)
3	6	Martin Truex Jr.	4,089 (–37)
3	7	Denny Hamlin	4,089 (–37)
	8	Chris Buescher	4,063 (–63)
	9	Brad Keselowski	2,262 (–1,864)
	10	Ross Chastain	2,219 (–1,907)
1	11	Bubba Wallace	2,216 (–1,910)
1	12	Kyle Busch	2,210 (–1,916)
	13	Joey Logano	2,198 (–1,928)
	14	Kevin Harvick	2,170 (–1,956)
	15	Michael McDowell	2,145 (–1,981)
	16	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	2,136 (–1,990)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Chevrolet	1,258
	2	Toyota	1,184 (–74)
	3	Ford	1,165 (–93)

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2023 schedule . Jayski.com. . September 11, 2023.
2. Web site: Homestead-Miami Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. September 25, 2022. April 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170428050310/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/homestead-miami-speedway.html. dead.
3. News: NASCAR releases 2023 Cup Series schedule highlighted by new Chicago, All-Star race stops . Taranto, Steven . September 14, 2022 . March 29, 2023 . CBS Broadcasting Inc.
4. News: NASCAR unveils 2023 schedule for its national series . September 14, 2022 . March 29, 2023 . National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC.
5. Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 16, 2023. October 16, 2023.
6. Web site: Practice Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. October 21, 2023. October 21, 2023.
7. Web site: Qualifying Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. October 21, 2023. October 21, 2023.
8. Web site: 4EVER 400 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 22, 2023. October 22, 2023.
9. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 22, 2023. October 22, 2023.
10. Web site: Homestead honoring Kevin Harvick with entitlement sponsor of Cup race . . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC . October 9, 2023.
11. Web site: Utter. Jim. Bubba Wallace leads NASCAR Cup practice at Homestead; Logano wrecks. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. October 21, 2023. Homestead, Florida. October 21, 2023.
12. Web site: Utter. Jim. Truex beats Wallace to Homestead NASCAR Cup pole. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. October 21, 2023. Homestead, Florida. October 21, 2023.