The official 2023 Call 811 Before You Dig 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series entry list features top NASCAR drivers set to compete at Martinsville Speedway, highlighting the full lineup of race participants and teams.
Saturday, April 15th, 2023
Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway, VA
John Hunter Nemechek led a dominating 198 of 250 laps to win Saturday night's Call811.com Before You Dig 250 – besting his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sammy Smith by 1.518-seconds to earn his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2023 season and first win in his first series-start at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
The 25-year-old Nemechek, of Mooresville, N.C., took the lead for good on a race restart with 32 laps remaining after winning the first two stages of the race. He, Smith and third place finisher Cole Custer were easily the class of the field all night running some version of 1-2-3 for most of the race.
Smith was able to nudge his way past Custer on the final lap for that runner-up showing.
As Nemechek took his No. 20 JGR Toyota to the front stretch to do a traditional burnout celebration, he literally set the track on fire briefly – perhaps a fitting finale to his hot night behind the wheel. Not only did he win the race, he won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash incentive prize awarded by series sponsor Xfinity.
"I can't say enough about this whole team, if you would have asked me yesterday if we would have won, I thought we were a 10th place car in practice," said Nemechek, whose car was ironically sponsored by a fire extinguisher company (Pye Barker Fire & Safety). "Just grateful the guys made the right adjustments.
"Let's celebrate."
While Nemechek's car was so good on the night, there was still a lot of compelling wheel-to-wheel competition behind him. Fourth place finisher Josh Berry, for example, led the next highest number of laps (27) – his No. 8 JR Motorsport Chevrolet looking especially strong until a tire situation forced a long pit stop midway through the race. He rallied back through the field, however, to take his seventh-consecutive top-10 finish on the year tying the the longest stretch of his career.
Berry's JR Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones finished fifth – his first top 10 of the season in the No. 9 JRM Chevrolet – followed by another teammate, Justin Allgaier, who was able to keep his No. 7 JRM Chevy in the lead group of cars despite not feeling well himself and finishing the race on much older tires than the rest of the lead group.
Nemechek – who swept both stage wins – Smith, Custer and Berry are now eligible for the next installment of the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash $100,000 award – next week at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The top finishing driver from among that four gets the big check.
"Congrats to them, they were the best car all night," Smith said.
Kaulig Racing teammates Daniel Hemric and Derek Kraus, AM Racing's Brett Moffitt and Kaulig's Chandler Smith rounded out the top 10.
Austin Hill – who leads all drivers with three wins this season – finished 16th and with Nemechek's win the second-generation driver takes over the points lead by 21 points over Hill.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 19 | Ryan Truex | Mayetta, NJ | Mar 18, 1992 | 31 | Toyota | Toyota Outfitters | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |
2 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Riverton, IL | Jun 6, 1986 | 36 | Chevrolet | Chevy Truck Season | JR Motorsports | Jim Pohlman |
3 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Westport, CT | Aug 8, 1990 | 32 | Chevrolet | Big Machine Racing Spiked | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
4 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | Grimes, IA | Aug 7, 1992 | 30 | Ford | AM Technical Solutions | AM Racing | Joe Williams |
5 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Halifax, VA | Aug 6, 1992 | 30 | Chevrolet | J.E. Burton Construction | Jordan Anderson Racing | Shane Whitbeck |
6 | 44 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Mooresville, NC | Jun 22, 1989 | 33 | Chevrolet | SQRL / Gas POS | Alpha Prime Racing | TBA |
7 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Torrence, CA | Nov 29, 1989 | 33 | Chevrolet | Costa Oil | Alpha Prime Racing | Michael Brandt |
8 | 08 | Gray Gaulding | Colonial Heights, VA | Feb 10, 1998 | 25 | Ford | Panini NFT | SS-Green Light Racing | Jason Miller |
9 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Tucker, GA | Jun 20, 1987 | 35 | Ford | CMRroofing.com | RSS Racing | Mike Scearce |
10 | 96 | Kyle Weatherman | Wentzville, MO | Aug 28, 1997 | 25 | Chevrolet | Fanttik/BrewHaha | FRS Racing | Matt Weber |
11 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kannapolis, NC | Jan 27, 1991 | 32 | Chevrolet | AG1 by Athletic Greens | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
12 | 6 | Brennan Poole | Sacramento, CA | Apr 11, 1991 | 32 | Chevrolet | JD Motorsports | JD Motorsports | Kase Kallenbach |
13 | 00 | Cole Custer | Ladera Ranch, CA | Jan 23, 1998 | 25 | Ford | Haas Automation | Stewart-Haas Racing | Jonathan Toney |
14 | 4 | Garrett Smithley | Ligonier, PA | Apr 27, 1992 | 30 | Chevrolet | Morooka USA / Black Draft | JD Motorsports | Wayne Carroll Jr |
15 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Mooresville, NC | Jun 11, 1997 | 25 | Toyota | Pye Barker Fire & Safety | Joe Gibbs Racing | Ben Beshore |
16 | 26 | Kaz Grala | Boston, MA | Dec 29, 1998 | 24 | Toyota | Island Coastal Lager | Sam Hunt Racing | Allen Hart |
17 | 91 | Alex Labbe | Saint-Albert, Canada | Apr 29, 1993 | 29 | Chevrolet | Parking Guidance Systems | DGM Racing | Mario Gosselin |
18 | 21 | Austin Hill | Winston, GA | Apr 21, 1994 | 28 | Chevrolet | Bennett Transportation | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
19 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Atlanta, GA | Feb 18, 1997 | 26 | Chevrolet | Menards / Atlas Roofing | JR Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
20 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Spartanburg, SC | Jan 16, 1985 | 38 | Chevrolet | First Pacific Funding | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
21 | 38 | Joe Graf Jr | Mahwah, NJ | Jul 12, 1998 | 24 | Ford | Lefcourt Brothers | RSS Racing | Steve Addington |
22 | 92 | Josh Williams | Port Charlotte, FL | Aug 3, 1993 | 29 | Chevrolet | Call 811 / Alloy Employer | DGM Racing | Bryan Berry |
23 | 53 | Matt Mills | Lynchburg, VA | Nov 14, 1996 | 26 | Ford | J.F. Electric | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Rick Bourgeois |
24 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Las Vegas, NV | Feb 24, 1999 | 24 | Ford | Monster Energy | Stewart-Haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
25 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | Ridgefield, CT | Mar 1, 1999 | 24 | Chevrolet | DUDE WIPES | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Pat Tryson |
26 | 35 | Patrick Emerling | Orchard Park, NY | Sep 19, 1992 | 30 | Toyota | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Paul Clapprood |
27 | 07 | Stefan Parsons | Cornelius, NC | Jun 15, 1998 | 24 | Chevrolet | Sokal | SS-Green Light Racing | Mark Hillman |
28 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Alpine, CA | Sep 30, 1997 | 25 | Chevrolet | Whelen | Richard Childress Racing | Jeff Stankiewicz |
29 | 8 | Josh Berry | Hendersonville, TN | Oct 22, 1990 | 32 | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats | JR Motorsports | Taylor Moyer |
30 | 02 | Blaine Perkins | Bakersfield, CA | Feb 28, 2000 | 23 | Chevrolet | Ollie's Bargain Outlet | Our Motorsports | Dan Stillman |
31 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Tucker, GA | Apr 16, 2001 | 21 | Ford | Night Owl | RSS Racing | Brad Parrott |
32 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Franklin, WI | Jun 26, 2003 | 19 | Chevrolet | Accelerate Pros Talent | JR Motorsports | Mardy Lindley |
33 | 10 | Derek Kraus | Stratford, WI | Sep 1, 2011 | 11 | Chevrolet | Intl. Order of T. Roosevelt | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
34 | 16 | Chandler Smith | Talking Rock, GA | Jun 26, 2002 | 20 | Chevrolet | Quick Tie Products, Inc. | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
35 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff | Rhinelander, WI | May 21, 2003 | 19 | Chevrolet | FUNKAWAY | Jordan Anderson Racing | Joshua Graham |
36 | 74 | Kaden Honeycutt | Willow Park, TX | Jun 23, 2003 | 19 | Chevrolet | Service Master Restore | CHK Racing | Ryan Bell |
37 | 24 | Connor Mosack | Charlotte, NC | Jan 20, 1999 | 24 | Toyota | Toyota Racing Development | Sam Hunt Racing | Kris Bowen |
38 | 18 | Sammy Smith | Johnston, IA | Jun 4, 2004 | 18 | Toyota | Pilot Flying J | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |
39 | 45 | Leland Honeyman Jr | Phoenix, AZ | Feb 23, 2005 | 18 | Chevrolet | Eighth Order | Alpha Prime Racing | Frank Kerr |