2024 Xfinity 500

The 2024 Xfinity 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on November 3, 2024, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 500 laps on the 0.526 mile (0.847km) paperclip-shaped short track, it was the 35th race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, the ninth race of the Playoffs, and final race of the Round of 8. Ryan Blaney won the race. Chase Elliott finished 2nd, and Kyle Larson finished 3rd. Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five, and William Byron, Austin Dillon, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano rounded out the top ten.

Report

Background

Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track on the NASCAR circuit since its beginning in 1948.

Entry list

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

Practice

Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 19.918 seconds and a speed of 95.070mph (153.000km/h).

Practice results

Qualifying

Martin Truex Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 19.686 and a speed of 96.190mph (154.803km/h).

Qualifying results

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage One Laps: 130

Stage Two Laps: 130

Final Stage results

Stage Three Laps: 240

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 15 among 7 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 6 for 66
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 28 minutes, and 31 seconds
• Average speed: 75.677 miles per hour (121.790km/h)

Late-race controversy

The ending to the race was shrouded in controversy, as Christopher Bell attempted to do a wall ride move, similar to a move Ross Chastain did in 2022's running. NASCAR however deemed the move was a safety violation (the move had been banned at the beginning of the 2023 season) and was removed from the Championship 4 in Phoenix; William Byron entered the Championship 4 as a result. The move was dubbed as "Fail Melon" by fans and media after the controversial move.

Further controversy surrounded allegations of intra-manufacturer team orders involving Austin Dillon and Chastain, both driving Chevrolets, on behalf of Byron. NASCAR would later announce that they would further investigate the actions of the No. 1, 3, and 23 teams. The investigation of the No. 23 team included the car being torn down in order to search for Wallace's car supposed late-race mechanical issues, as his car slowed down prior to Bell's wall ride.

NASCAR announced the penalties on November 5, with each driver (Dillon, Chastain, and Wallace) being fined, as well as a loss of driver points, each teams' team executives, crew chiefs and spotters being suspended from Phoenix. 2 members of RCR's team, Josh Sobecki and Michael Russell, were also suspended from next season's race at Bowman Gray.

Media

Television

NBC covered the race on the television side. Leigh Diffey, 1997 race winner Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman 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, Mike Bagley 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. MRN Lead Pit Reporter Steve Post, Jacklyn Drake, and Chris Wilner covered the action for MRN from pit lane.

Standings after the race

Notes