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 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. 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.
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 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, .
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.
#DriverTeamMake00Cole Custer (P)Stewart-Haas RacingFord1Sam Mayer (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet02Blaine Perkins (R)Our MotorsportsChevrolet2Sheldon Creed (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet4Kyle WeathermanJD MotorsportsChevrolet6Brennan PooleJD MotorsportsChevrolet07Josh BilickiSS-Green Light RacingFord7Justin Allgaier (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet08Stefan ParsonsSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet8Josh Berry (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet9Brandon JonesJR MotorsportsChevrolet10Daniel Hemric (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet11Jordan TaylorKaulig RacingChevrolet16Chandler Smith (R) (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet17Boris SaidHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet18Sammy Smith (R) (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota19Myatt SniderJoe Gibbs RacingToyota20John Hunter Nemechek (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota21Austin Hill (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet24Connor Mosack (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota25Brett MoffittAM RacingFord26Kaz GralaSam Hunt RacingToyota27Jeb Burton (P)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet28Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord31Parker Retzlaff (R)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet35Alex GuenetteEmerling-Gase MotorsportsToyota38Joe Graf Jr.RSS RacingFord39Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord43Ryan EllisAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet44Rajah Caruth (i)Alpha Prime RacingChevrolet45Leland HoneymanAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet48Parker Kligerman (P)Big Machine RacingChevrolet50Preston PardusPardus RacingChevrolet51Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet53Conor Daly (i)Emerling-Gase MotorsportsChevrolet66Sage KaramMBM MotorsportsFord74Devin JonesCHK RacingChevrolet78Anthony AlfredoB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet87Andy Lally (i)Peterson Racing GroupChevrolet91Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet92Josh WilliamsDGM RacingChevrolet98Riley HerbstStewart-Haas RacingFordOfficial entry list
Practice The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, October 7, at 10:00 AM CST, and would last for 20 minutes. 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 . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed17Justin Allgaier (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:23.043100.574291Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet1:23.263100.309326Kaz GralaSam Hunt RacingToyota1:23.275100.294Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday, October 7, at 10:30 AM CST. 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.
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 in the first round. Andy Lally, Preston Pardus, Boris Said, and Devin Jones would fail to qualify. Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed11Sam Mayer (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:22.045101.79827Justin Allgaier (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:22.083101.75138Josh Berry (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:22.509101.225410Daniel Hemric (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet1:22.548101.17752Sheldon Creed (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet1:22.645101.059648Parker Kligerman (P)Big Machine RacingChevrolet1:22.698100.994700Cole Custer (P)Stewart-Haas RacingFord1:22.743100.939821Austin Hill (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet1:22.794100.877998Riley HerbstStewart-Haas RacingFord1:22.828100.8351091Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet1:22.939100.701119Brandon JonesJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:23.080100.5301211Jordan TaylorKaulig RacingChevrolet1:23.135100.463134Kyle WeathermanJD MotorsportsChevrolet1:23.223100.3571426Kaz GralaSam Hunt RacingToyota1:23.249100.3261551Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet1:23.333100.2241624Connor Mosack (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota1:23.340100.2161716Chandler Smith (R) (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet1:23.384100.1631807Josh BilickiSS-Green Light RacingFord1:23.426100.1131927Jeb Burton (P)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1:23.456100.0772066Sage KaramMBM MotorsportsFord1:23.61199.8912178Anthony AlfredoB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet1:23.62299.8782218Sammy Smith (R) (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1:23.65299.8422331Parker Retzlaff (R)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1:23.67299.8182402Blaine Perkins (R)Our MotorsportsChevrolet1:23.74199.7362539Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord1:23.75299.7232645Leland HoneymanAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:23.77599.6962725Brett MoffittAM RacingFord1:23.78699.6832844Rajah Caruth (i)Alpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:23.81999.6432908Stefan ParsonsSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1:23.84999.6083043Ryan EllisAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:23.89499.5543119Myatt SniderJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1:24.01699.410326Brennan PooleJD MotorsportsChevrolet1:24.22299.1663392Josh WilliamsDGM RacingChevrolet1:24.28599.092Qualified by owner's points3453Conor Daly (i)Emerling-Gase MotorsportsChevrolet1:24.64998.6663538Joe Graf Jr.RSS RacingFord1:24.65298.6633628Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord1:25.57997.5943735Alex GuenetteEmerling-Gase MotorsportsToyota1:25.92097.2073820John Hunter Nemechek (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota––Failed to qualify3987Andy Lally (i)Peterson Racing GroupChevrolet1:24.36998.9944050Preston PardusPardus RacingChevrolet1:24.68598.6244117Boris SaidHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1:26.29696.7834274Devin JonesCHK RacingChevrolet1:33.47189.354Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results Stage 1 Laps: 20 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts17Justin Allgaier (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet10210Daniel Hemric (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet932Sheldon Creed (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet8448Parker Kligerman (P)Big Machine RacingChevrolet7521Austin Hill (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet6616Chandler Smith (R) (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet5718Sammy Smith (R) (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota481Sam Mayer (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet3927Jeb Burton (P)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet21007 Josh BilickiSS-Green Light RacingFord1 Stage 2 Laps: 20 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts120John Hunter Nemechek (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota10210Daniel Hemric (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet9348Parker Kligerman (P)Big Machine RacingChevrolet842Sheldon Creed (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet7591Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet6618Sammy Smith (R) (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota571Sam Mayer (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet4816Chandler Smith (R) (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet3907 Josh BilickiSS-Green Light RacingFord21008Stefan ParsonsSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1 Stage 3 Laps: 27 Pos.St#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts111Sam Mayer (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet6750Running472700Cole Custer (P)Stewart-Haas RacingFord674Running35338Josh Berry (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet670Running344998Riley HerbstStewart-Haas RacingFord670Running3351426Kaz GralaSam Hunt RacingToyota670Running326648Parker Kligerman (P)Big Machine RacingChevrolet670Running467410Daniel Hemric (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet670Running4883820John Hunter Nemechek (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota672Running399821Austin Hill (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet670Running341052Sheldon Creed (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet670Running42112218Sammy Smith (R) (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota670Running35121716Chandler Smith (R) (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet670Running33132539Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord670Running24143119Myatt SniderJoe Gibbs RacingToyota670Running23151091Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet670Running28161211Jordan TaylorKaulig RacingChevrolet670Running2117326Brennan PooleJD MotorsportsChevrolet670Running20182908Stefan ParsonsSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet670Running20192844Rajah Caruth (i)Alpha Prime RacingChevrolet670Running0203392Josh WilliamsDGM RacingChevrolet670Running17212645Leland HoneymanAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet670Running16222331Parker Retzlaff (R)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet670Running15231551Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet670Running14241624Connor Mosack (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota670Running13251807Josh BilickiSS-Green Light RacingFord670Running1526134Kyle WeathermanJD MotorsportsChevrolet670Running11272066Sage KaramMBM MotorsportsFord670Running10282402Blaine Perkins (R)Our MotorsportsChevrolet670Running929119Brandon JonesJR MotorsportsChevrolet670Running8302178Anthony AlfredoB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet670Running7313538Joe Graf Jr.RSS RacingFord670Running6323628Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord670Running5333735Alex GuenetteEmerling-Gase MotorsportsToyota670Running4341927Jeb Burton (P)Jordan Anderson RacingChevrolet661Running5353453Conor Daly (i)Emerling-Gase MotorsportsChevrolet660Running0363043Ryan EllisAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet630Accident13727Justin Allgaier (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet6010Accident11382725Brett MoffittAM RacingFord400Ignition1Official race results
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