A missed shift by Brandon Jones on a restart at the beginning of Stage 2 in Saturday night’s DUDE Wipes 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway stacked cars up behind him, triggering a 14-car pileup in turn one.
No one was injured in the Lap 71 accident, but five of the 14 drivers involved were eliminated from the event. Those sidelined by the multi-car crash were Austin Hill, Kyle Weatherman, Corey Heim, A.J. Allmendinger and Parker Retzlaff. That crash marks the first time Hill has finished outside the top 10 this season. His average finish entering the Martinsville race was 3.3.
Drivers involved in the accident who were able to continue in the 250-lap race were Hailie Deegan, Aric Almirola, Leland Honeyman, Jeremy Clements, Dexter Bean, Logan Bearden, Anthony Alfredo, Kyle Sieg, and Brandon Jones.
The race was briefly red flagged while the half-mile track was cleared.
Almirola went on to win the race.
Results
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – DUDE Wipes 250
Martinsville Speedway
1. (6) Aric Almirola, Toyota, 251.
2. (9) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 251.
3. (37) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 251.
4. (12) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 251.
5. (5) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 251.
6. (3) Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 251.
7. (17) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 251.
8. (2) Cole Custer, Ford, 251.
9. (11) Jesse Love #, Chevrolet, 251.
10. (23) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 251.
11. (19) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 251.
12. (18) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 251.
13. (16) Taylor Gray(i), Toyota, 251.
14. (24) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 251.
15. (7) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 251.
16. (30) Blaine Perkins, Ford, 251.
17. (8) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 251.
18. (27) Hailie Deegan #, Ford, 251.
19. (34) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 251.
20. (33) Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, 251.
21. (14) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 251.
22. (21) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 251.
23. (28) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 251.
24. (32) Dawson Cram #, Chevrolet, 251.
25. (22) Riley Herbst, Ford, Accident, 250.
26. (29) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Accident, 250.
27. (1) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, Accident, 250.
28. (36) Joey Gase, Ford, 250.
29. (31) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 249.
30. (35) Logan Bearden, Chevrolet, 247.
31. (25) Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, 244.
32. (4) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, Accident, 242.
33. (26) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, Accident, 75.
34. (10) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, Accident, 71.
35. (20) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, Accident, 70.
36. (15) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 70.
37. (13) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Accident, 70.
38. (38) Akinori Ogata, Toyota, Brakes, 41.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 61.984 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 7 Mins, 48 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds.
Caution Flags: 11 for 68 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B. Jones 0;C. Custer 1-27;A. Almirola 28-65;S. Mayer 66-69;S. Smith 70-111;J. Allgaier 112-125;J. Gase 126;A. Almirola 127-172;P. Kligerman 173-177;A. Almirola 178-203;C. Smith 204;A. Almirola 205-238;C. Smith 239-240;A. Almirola 241-242;S. Mayer 243-249;A. Almirola 250-251.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Aric Almirola 6 times for 148 laps; Sammy Smith 1 time for 42 laps; Cole Custer 1 time for 27 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 14 laps; Sam Mayer 2 times for 11 laps; Parker Kligerman 1 time for 5 laps; Chandler Smith 2 times for 3 laps; Joey Gase 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 20,18,00,1,16,5,39,21,27,31
Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,20,8,88,00,18,9,81,27,39
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.
Read the full article here