The 2024 Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina was the 29th stock car race of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series, the third race of the playoffs, the final race of the Round of 12, and the 7th iteration of the event. The race was held on October 12, 2024, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval layout in Concord, North Carolina, a permanent road course. The race was originally scheduled to be contested over 67 laps, but was extended to 72 laps due to an overtime finish. In an action-packed event that sparked late-race controversy, Sam Mayer, driving for JR Motorsports, would take away the lead from Parker Kligerman in a fierce battle on the final restart, and cruised the rest of the way to earn his seventh career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his third of the season. Mayer would also claim a spot in the next round of the playoffs. Although there were numerous lead changes, A. J. Allmendinger led a race-high 18 laps, finishing second behind eventual winner Mayer. To fill out the podium, Shane van Gisbergen, driving for Kaulig Racing, would finish 3rd, respectively.
Following the race, Gisbergen, Sheldon Creed, Riley Herbst, and Kligerman were eliminated from playoff contention. Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, Mayer, Jesse Love, Allmendinger, and Sammy Smith would advance into the Round of 8.
Report 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.
On May 26, 2024, it was announced that the Charlotte Roval would get a redesign, featuring an updated infield road course which includes an extension of the straightaway after turn 5, a new turn 6, and a sharper hairpin for turn 7, in addition the apex for turn 16 on the final chicane was made tighter.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points. (P) denotes playoff driver. (OP) denotes owner's playoff car.
#DriverTeamMake00Cole Custer (P)Stewart–Haas RacingFord1Sam Mayer (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet2Jesse Love (R) (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet5Anthony AlfredoOur MotorsportsChevrolet07Sage KaramSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet7Justin Allgaier (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet8Sammy Smith (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet9Brandon JonesJR MotorsportsChevrolet11Josh WilliamsKaulig RacingChevrolet14Nathan ByrdSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet15Dylan LuptonAM RacingFord16A. J. Allmendinger (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet18Sheldon Creed (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota19Josh BilickiJoe Gibbs RacingToyota20Aric Almirola (OP)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota21Austin Hill (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet26Ed JonesSam Hunt RacingToyota27Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet28Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord29Blaine PerkinsRSS RacingFord31Parker RetzlaffJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet32Austin GreenJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet35Thomas AnnunziataJoey Gase MotorsportsToyota38Matt DiBenedettoRSS RacingFord39Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord42Leland Honeyman (R)Young's MotorsportsChevrolet43Ryan EllisAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet44Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet45Brad PerezAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet48Parker Kligerman (P)Big Machine RacingChevrolet50Preston PardusPardus RacingChevrolet51Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet81Chandler Smith (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota88Connor Mosack (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet91Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet92Dawson Cram (i)DGM RacingChevrolet97Shane van Gisbergen (R) (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet98Riley Herbst (P)Stewart–Haas RacingFordOfficial entry list
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, October 12, at 10:00 AM EST, and would last for 50 minutes. Shane van Gisbergen, driving for Kaulig Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:25.221, and a speed of .
Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed197Shane van Gisbergen (R) (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet1:25.22196.31421Sam Mayer (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:25.64095.84332Jesse Love (R) (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet1:25.83295.629Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying will be held on Saturday, October 12, at 11:00 AM EST. 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.
Under a 2021 rule change, the timing line in road course qualifying is "not" the start-finish line. Instead, the timing line for qualifying will be set at the exit of Turn 13. Shane van Gisbergen, driving for Kaulig Racing, would win the pole after advancing from the preliminary round and setting the fastest time in Round 2, with a lap of 1:24.523, and a speed of .
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTime (R1)Speed (R1)Time (R2)Speed (R2)197Shane van Gisbergen (R) (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet1:24.65896.9551:24.52397.11021Sam Mayer (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:24.67496.9361:24.73196.871316A. J. Allmendinger (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet1:24.68096.9301:24.81496.776419Josh BilickiJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1:24.91696.6601:25.27396.256518Sheldon Creed (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1:25.17296.3701:25.28096.248621Austin Hill (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet1:24.93096.6441:25.33796.183781Chandler Smith (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1:25.07496.4811:25.39896.11582Jesse Love (R) (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet1:25.34396.1771:25.43096.07997Justin Allgaier (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:25.62295.8631:25.72295.7511088Connor Mosack (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:25.48196.0211:25.82595.636Eliminated in Round 1115Anthony AlfredoOur MotorsportsChevrolet1:25.37896.137——1298Riley Herbst (P)Stewart–Haas RacingFord1:25.70195.775——1320Aric Almirola (OP)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1:25.70895.767——1400Cole Custer (P)Stewart–Haas RacingFord1:25.77995.688——159Brandon JonesJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:25.79095.675——168Sammy Smith (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:25.79695.669——1732Austin GreenJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1:25.89295.562——1826Ed JonesSam Hunt RacingToyota1:25.90995.543——1991Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet1:25.99695.446——2031Parker RetzlaffJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1:26.05195.385——2151Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet1:26.09695.335——2248Parker Kligerman (P)Big Machine RacingChevrolet1:26.11195.319——2311Josh WilliamsKaulig RacingChevrolet1:26.20595.215——2444Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:26.29295.119——2528Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord1:26.49394.898——2638Matt DiBenedettoRSS RacingFord1:26.55294.833——2727Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1:26.60394.777——2807Sage KaramSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1:26.81294.549——2950Preston PardusPardus RacingChevrolet1:26.95294.397——3043Ryan EllisAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:26.99594.350——3145Brad PerezAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:27.08194.257——3235Thomas AnnunziataJoey Gase MotorsportsToyota1:27.17194.160——3342Leland Honeyman (R)Young's MotorsportsChevrolet1:27.43493.877——Qualified by owner's points3429Blaine PerkinsRSS RacingFord1:27.43893.872——3539Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord1:27.88993.391——3615Dylan LuptonAM RacingFord1:28.05993.210——3792Dawson Cram (i)DGM RacingChevrolet1:28.42292.828——3814Nathan ByrdSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1:30.00691.194——Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Late-race controversy During the late stages of the race, NASCAR faced heavy criticism due to an incident that occurred with two laps to go. With two to go, an incident occurred after Leland Honeyman locked his brakes up and plowed into the tire barriers in turn three, becoming stuck. NASCAR continued on with the race, with Parker Kligerman (in a must-win situation) leading over Sam Mayer. NASCAR eventually brought out the caution as Kligerman crossed the start/finish line for the white flag. It was determined that the leader did not take the white flag before the caution came out; NASCAR would rule that the caution came out just a few feet before Kligerman crossed the line, resulting in an overtime restart. Mayer would eventually pass Kligerman on the final restart to win the race, earning his spot in the next round of the playoffs. Kligerman was officially scored in the sixth position, falling back numerous spots after a tire rub ended his chances at a win.
Race results
Stage 1 Laps: 20 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts116A. J. Allmendinger (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet10297Shane van Gisbergen (R) (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet937Justin Allgaier (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet8421Austin Hill (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet752Jesse Love (R) (P)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet6618Sheldon Creed (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota5788Connor Mosack (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet0898Riley Herbst (P)Stewart-Haas RacingFord3919Josh BilickiJoe Gibbs RacingToyota21081Chandler Smith (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1 Stage 2 Laps: 20 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts17Justin Allgaier (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet10288Connor Mosack (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet031Sam Mayer (P)JR MotorsportsChevrolet8420Aric Almirola (OP)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota7542Leland Honeyman (R)Young's MotorsportsChevrolet6616A. J. Allmendinger (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet5797Shane van Gisbergen (R) (P)Kaulig RacingChevrolet4881Chandler Smith (P)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota3907Sage KaramSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet21019Josh BilickiJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1 Stage 3 Laps: 32