Entry List

The official 2023 Henry 180 NASCAR XFINITY Series entry list features top NASCAR drivers set to compete at Road America, highlighting the full lineup of race participants and teams.

Henry 180

Saturday, July 29th, 2023

Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI

  • 25 Chevrolet
  • 7 Ford
  • 6 Toyota

  • Pole Winner: AJ Allmendinger
  • Age: 41
  • Team : No. 10 - LeafHome Water Solutions Chevrolet
  • Owner: Matthew Kaulig
  • Crew Chief: Alex Yontz
  • AJ Allmendinger won the Pole Award for the Road America 180 with a lap of 130.574 seconds, 111.606 mph.
  • This is his 10th pole in 97 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
  • This is his second pole and third top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his third pole in six races at Road America.
  • Cole Custer (second) posted his 17th top-10 start of 2023 and his fourth in five races at Road America.
  • Justin Allgaier (third) posted his sixth top-10 start at Road America. It is his 15th in 20 races this season.
  • Sammy Smith (10th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Saturday, July 29th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Wisconsin native Sam Mayer wins first career NASCAR Xfinity Series race at home track

Sam Mayer took a dramatic double overtime victory in Saturday’s Road America 180 at the iconic Elkhart Lake, Wisc. road course – the 21-year old hometown favorite claiming his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at his home race track; rolling into victory lane, climbing onto his driver’s side window and pulling apart his drivers suit like Superman to a happy and familiar crowd.

The JR Motorsports driver was certainly super in the closing laps on Saturday.

Mayer’s win in the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet makes him the 14th different driver to take the trophy at Road America in as many NASCAR Xfinity Series races there. He is the sixth different driver to earn his first career win at the 4.048-mile road course and the fourth different driver to claim his first series trophy in 2023.

“It was just about getting track position," a grinning Mayer said of the frantic second overtime start that featured door-to-door racing among the top four cars and multiple leaders on a single lap before Mayer emerged out front and was able to drive away to a .368-second win over Parker Kligerman that has landed him an automatic position in the 2023 Playoffs.

“We got it there at the end, I lost it for a second and then all hell broke loose there at the end and we ended up on top," Mayer continued. “This team, it’s so special to get that first win, that monkey off your back. It feels so good. I felt it all day. I felt like if I can do this one, I can do anything and we came here today and did that.

“It’s so cool to get it done," the Franklin, Wisc. native added with a smile.

Four of the top-five drivers on the final overtime restart had never hoisted a series trophy before and pursued then-race leader Justin Allgaier with all the zeal and motivation that you would expect of the situation. Allgaier, Mayer’s JR Motorsports teammate, led a dominating 42 of the 49 laps on the day and swept both stage wins.

But not too-surprisingly that last restart resulted in a manic push among those drivers racing for that coveted first trophy. The racing was three-wide, four-wide, high energy, back-and-forth with so much on the line.

“Second’s not fun," said Kligerman, the driver of the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet who is just on the outside of the playoff bubble, now 22 points behind Sheldon Creed for that 12th and final transfer points position with six regular season races remaining.

“When I got the lead, I just played it a little safer than I should have, I didn’t think the 1 (Mayer) would get to me like that. Then I tried to get to him and just couldn’t get to him.

“But I know here in Wisconsin that’s huge for him and his family," he added. “And our day is coming."

Last week’s race winner, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill rallied for a third-place finish after a busy day navigating dicey action mid-pack. And former open-wheel standout Sage Karam, finished fourth in the No. 24 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota.

“It was a great race all around," said Karam, who earned his first career Top-5 in his seventh start of the season. “The last restart was very aggressive. I just had to get to the lead and had a good move on Allgaier, it was really aggressive and got three-wide.

“I can’t thank Sam Hunt Racing enough.”

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst turned in arguably the most persevering performances of the day, finishing fifth in the No. 98 SHR Ford after being collected in multiple incidents throughout the day.

Another of Mayer’s JR Motorsports teammate, Josh Berry rallied to a sixth place finish with Kaz Grala, Josh Bilicki, polesitter A.J. Allmendinger and JRM driver Brandon Jones rounding out the Top-10.

Allmendinger won the pole position and as one of the sports’s all-time best road course racers – even opting to have Derek Kraus qualify his NASCAR Cup Series car at Richmond, Va. so that he could compete on the iconic Wisconsin track Saturday. But Allmendinger struggled from nearly the drop of the green flag. Allgaier passed him for the lead six laps into the race and he was never able to challenge for the top spot with issues essentially all day.

Allmendiger’s Kaulig Racing teammate Chandler Smith also had a rough day. The Xfinity Series rookie - last year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion - was travelling at high speed on a straightaway headed to Turn 1 when his car suffered a massive brake rotor failure. Fortunately the young driver smartly turned the car to the left immediately after hearing parts break and was able to slow it down against a side retaining wall instead of going full-speed head-on into the Turn 1 run off area. He was fine afterward, grateful for the solid construction of the cars.

“I was definitely having some brake fade throughout the run, but I didn’t think I was abusing them by any means to make them fail," Smith said. “I was going up the hill on the front straight and I heard something snap and I felt something come off the car and the whole front nose just dropped and when that happened, I was like, ‘what in the world was was that.’

“I went to pump the brakes but there was nothing there," he added, “I was just trying to scrub speed at that point."

That was certainly part of a dramatic Saturday afternoon with incidents involving several of Playoff drivers – and several close to the Playoff cutoff.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek, who was leading the championship at the drop of the green flag was not at the wave of the checkered flag. He took a wild ride off track with 14 laps remaining. His No. 20 JGR Toyota suffered enough damage going off-track in T13 he had to retire landing Nemechek only his second DNF of the season and costing him those valuable points in the standings.

Interviewed afterward, Nemechek was clearly frustrated, “Who needs enemies when you have teammates."

  • Drivers Entered: 38
  • Laps Scheduled: 45
  • Laps Actual: 49 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
  • Margin of Victory: 0.368 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 2 Minutes 21 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 65.265
  • Cautions: 8 for 15 laps
  • Lead Changes: 2
  • Green Flag Passes: 870 (25.6 passes per green flag lap)

  • Road America
  • Road America 180
  • Race Winner: Sam Mayer
  • Age: 20
  • Team : No. 1 - Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet
  • Owner: L.W. Miller
  • Crew Chief: Mardy Lindley
  • Sam Mayer won the Road America 180, his first victory in 72 Xfinity Series races.
  • This is his first victory and 12th top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in four races at Road America.
  • Parker Kligerman (second) posted his third top-10 finish in four races at Road America. It is his ninth top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Austin Hill (third) posted his second top-10 finish in three races at Road America.
  • Parker Retzlaff (14th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Austin Hill leads the point standings by 14 points over John Hunter Nemechek.
Ty Gibbs celebrates in victory lane
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin - July 2, 2022 : Ty Gibbs, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Henry 180 at Road America.
Sean GardnerGetty Images
Henry 180 at Road America Entry List
ENTRY # DRIVER HOMETOWN DOB AGE MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 10 AJ Allmendinger Los Gatos, CA Dec 16, 1981 41 Chevrolet TBA Kaulig Racing Alex Yontz
2 35 Stanton Barrett Bishop, CA Dec 1, 1972 50 Chevrolet Stanton Barrett Family Wines Emerling Gase Motorsports Wayne Carroll Jr
3 7 Justin Allgaier Riverton, IL Jun 6, 1986 37 Chevrolet BRANDT JR Motorsports Jim Pohlman
4 48 Parker Kligerman Westport, CT Aug 8, 1990 32 Chevrolet Spiked Light Coolers Big Machine Racing Patrick Donahue
5 25 Brett Moffitt Grimes, IA Aug 7, 1992 30 Ford AM Technical Solutions AM Racing Joe Williams
6 27 Jeb Burton Halifax, VA Aug 6, 1992 30 Chevrolet Puryear Tank Lines Jordan Anderson Racing Shane Whitbeck
7 43 Ryan Ellis Torrence, CA Nov 29, 1989 33 Chevrolet TBA Alpha Prime Racing Michael Brandt
8 39 Ryan Sieg Tucker, GA Jun 20, 1987 36 Ford CMRroofing.com RSS Racing with Jeff Lefcourt Mike Scearce
9 4 Kyle Weatherman Wentzville, MO Aug 28, 1997 25 Chevrolet TBA JD Motorsports Rob Goodman
10 11 Daniel Hemric Kannapolis, NC Jan 27, 1991 32 Chevrolet Cirkul Kaulig Racing Jason Trinchere
11 6 Brennan Poole Sacramento, CA Apr 11, 1991 32 Chevrolet TBA JD Motorsports Kase Kallenbach
12 00 Cole Custer Ladera Ranch, CA Jan 23, 1998 25 Ford HAAS Automation Stewart-Haas Racing Jonathan Toney
13 91 Josh Bilicki Menomonee Falls, WI Jun 3, 1995 28 Chevrolet TRIM-TEX Drywall Solutions DGM Racing Bryan Berry
14 20 John Hunter Nemechek Mooresville, NC Jun 11, 1997 26 Toyota TBA Joe Gibbs Racing Ben Beshore
15 26 Kaz Grala Boston, MA Dec 29, 1998 24 Toyota Fire Department Coffee Sam Hunt Racing Allen Hart
16 08 Alex Labbe Saint-Albert, Canada Apr 29, 1993 30 Ford TBA SS-Green Light Racing Jason Miller
17 21 Austin Hill Winston, GA Apr 21, 1994 29 Chevrolet Bennett Transportation Richard Childress Racing Andy Street
18 9 Brandon Jones Atlanta, GA Feb 18, 1997 26 Chevrolet Menards/Pennington Grass Seed JR Motorsports Jason Burdett
19 51 Jeremy Clements Spartanburg, SC Jan 16, 1985 38 Chevrolet Whitetail Smokeless Jeremy Clements Racing Mark Setzer
20 38 Joe Graf Jr Mahwah, NJ Jul 12, 1998 25 Ford TBA RSS Racing with Jeff Lefcourt Steve Addington
21 92 Josh Williams Port Charlotte, FL Aug 3, 1993 29 Chevrolet Alloy Employer Services DGM Racing Mario Gosselin
22 98 Riley Herbst Las Vegas, NV Feb 24, 1999 24 Ford Monster Energy Stewart-Haas Racing Davin Restivo
23 78 Anthony Alfredo Ridgefield, CT Mar 1, 1999 24 Chevrolet DUDE WIPES BJ McLeod Motorsports Pat Tryson
24 53 Patrick Emerling Orchard Park, NY Sep 19, 1992 30 Chevrolet TBA Emerling Gase Motorsports Paul Clapprood
25 2 Sheldon Creed Alpine, CA Sep 30, 1997 25 Chevrolet Whelen Richard Childress Racing Jeff Stankiewicz
26 8 Josh Berry Hendersonville, TN Oct 22, 1990 32 Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats JR Motorsports Taylor Moyer
27 02 Blaine Perkins Bakersfield, CA Feb 28, 2000 23 Chevrolet Gratis Our Motorsports Dan Stillman
28 28 Kyle Sieg Tucker, GA Apr 16, 2001 22 Ford TBA RSS Racing with Jeff Lefcourt Teddy Brown
29 1 Sam Mayer Franklin, WI Jun 26, 2003 20 Chevrolet Accelerate Pros Talent JR Motorsports Mardy Lindley
30 24 Sage Karam Nazareth, PA Mar 5, 1995 28 Toyota Carousel Online Sam Hunt Racing Kris Bowen
31 66 Dexter Stacey Kahnawake, Canada Nov 9, 1992 30 Toyota ReCap Recovery Drink Motorsports Business Management Carl Long
32 16 Chandler Smith Talking Rock, GA Jun 26, 2002 21 Chevrolet Quick Tie Products, Inc. Kaulig Racing Bruce Schlicker
33 07 Katherine Legge Guilford, England Jul 12, 1980 43 Chevrolet TBA SS-Green Light Racing Daniel Johnson
34 31 Parker Retzlaff Rhinelander, WI May 21, 2003 20 Chevrolet FUNKAWAY Jordan Anderson Racing Joshua Graham
35 44 Brad Perez Hollywood, FL Jan 21, 1997 26 Chevrolet TBA Alpha Prime Racing TBA
36 19 Connor Mosack Charlotte, NC Jan 20, 1999 24 Toyota Porter Pipe and Supply Joe Gibbs Racing Jason Ratcliff
37 18 Sammy Smith Johnston, IA Jun 4, 2004 19 Toyota Allstate Peterbilt Joe Gibbs Racing Jeff Meendering
38 45 Leland Honeyman Jr Phoenix, AZ Feb 23, 2005 18 Chevrolet TBA Alpha Prime Racing Frank Kerr