2023 Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina

Race details
Race 29 of 33 of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series
Date	October 7, 2023
Official name	42nd Annual Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina
Location	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.28 mi (3.67 km)
Distance	67 laps, 155 mi (250 km)
Scheduled Distance	67 laps, 155 mi (250 km)
Average speed	77.387 mph (124.542 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Sam Mayer	JR Motorsports
Time	1:22.045
Most laps led
Driver	Sam Mayer	JR Motorsports
Laps	50
Winner
No. 1	Sam Mayer	JR Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Radio in the United States
Radio	PRN

The 2023 Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina was the 29th stock car race of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series, the final race of the Round of 12, and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, October 7, 2023, in Concord, North Carolina at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval layout, a 2.28 miles (3.67 km) permanent road course. The race took the scheduled 67 laps to complete. Sam Mayer, driving for JR Motorsports, would put on a blistering performance, winning the pole and leading a race-high 50 laps, earning his third career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his third of the season. He would also earn a spot in the next round of the playoffs. ^[1] To fill out the podium, Cole Custer, driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, and Josh Berry, driving for JR Motorsports, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

The eight drivers that would advance into the next round are John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Cole Custer, Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed, and Sammy Smith. Daniel Hemric, Parker Kligerman, Josh Berry, and Jeb Burton would be eliminated from championship contention. ^[2]

Background

Since 2018, deviating from past NASCAR events at Charlotte, the race will utilize a road course configuration of Charlotte Motor Speedway, promoted and trademarked as the "Roval". The course is 2.28 miles (3.67 km) in length and features 17 turns, utilizing the infield road course and portions of the oval track. The race will be contested over a scheduled distance of 109 laps, 400 kilometres (250 mi).

During July 2018 tests on the road course, concerns were raised over drivers "cheating" the backstretch chicane on the course. The chicanes were modified with additional tire barriers and rumble strips in order to encourage drivers to properly drive through them, and NASCAR will enforce drive-through penalties on drivers who illegally "short-cut" parts of the course. The chicanes will not be used during restarts. In the summer of 2019, the bus stop on the backstretch was changed and deepened, becoming a permanent part of the circuit, compared to the previous year where it was improvised.

If a driver fails to legally make the backstretch bus stop, the driver must skip the frontstretch chicane and make a complete stop by the dotted line on the exit before being allowed to continue. A driver who misses the frontstretch chicane must stop before the exit.

Entry list

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

Practice

The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, October 7, at 10:00 AM CST, and would last for 20 minutes. ^[3] Justin Allgaier, driving for JR Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:23.043, and an average speed of 100.574 mph (161.858 km/h). ^[4]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, October 7, at 10:30 AM CST. ^[3] Since the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval layout is a road course, the qualifying system is a two group system, with two rounds. Drivers will be separated into two groups, Group A and Group B. Each driver will have multiple laps to set a time. The fastest 5 drivers from each group will advance to the final round. The fastest driver to set a time in the final round will win the pole. ^[5]

The final round of qualifying was cancelled due to the cleanup of fluid on the track from Boris Said's car. Sam Mayer, driving for JR Motorsports, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 1:22.045, and an average speed of 101.798 mph (163.828 km/h) in the first round. ^[6] Andy Lally, Preston Pardus, Boris Said, and Devin Jones would fail to qualify.

Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 20

Stage 2 Laps: 20

Stage 3 Laps: 27

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 John Hunter Nemechek 3,055 2 2 Austin Hill 3,039 (-16) 1 3 Justin Allgaier 3,035 (–20) 8 4 Sam Mayer 3,020 (–35) 2 5 Cole Custer 3,018 (–37) 1 6 Chandler Smith 3,009 (–46) 7 Sheldon Creed 3,008 (–47) 2 8 Sammy Smith 3,006 (–49) 1 9 Daniel Hemric 2,103 (–952) 1 10 Parker Kligerman 2,100 (–955) 11 Josh Berry 2,062 (–993) 2 12 Jeb Burton 2,041 (–1,014) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.

References