The NASCAR Xfinity Series isn’t lacking for stories heading into Friday night’s race at Martinsville Speedway.
The first $100,000 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus is up for grabs between Atlanta winner Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Harrison Burton and Noah Gragson.
Eyes will be on Gragson and Daniel Hemric, who came to blows at Atlanta after Gragson backed into Hemric’s car during a mid-race pit stop. Gragson said this week that he planned to talk to Hemric before the race about the incident.
Then there’s Ty Gibbs, who returns to Xfinity competition after winning his inaugural start at the Daytona road course and finishing runner-up at Phoenix in his second start.
Burton and Allgaier will lead the field to green.
Details for Friday’s Martinsville Xfinity race:
(All times are Eastern)
START: Command to start engines given by Abby, Max and Moo Reaves at 8:02 p.m. … Green flag is scheduled to wave at 8:11 p.m.
PRERACE: Xfinity garage opens at 1:30 p.m. … Drivers report to their vehicles at 7:35 p.m. … Driver introductions are at 7:40 p.m. … Invocation given by Father Jonathan Goertz, Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Danville, Va.), at 7:54 p.m. ... National anthem performed by TSgt. Matthew Scollin - Official Chorus of the U.S. Air Force at 7:55 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 250 laps (131.5 miles) on the 0.526-mile speedway.
COMPETITION CAUTION: Lap 25
STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 60. Stage 2 ends at Lap 120.
TV/RADIO: FS1 will broadcast the race at 8 p.m. Its pre-race coverage begins at 7 p.m. … Motor Racing Network’s radio coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. and will stream at MRN.com; SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the broadcast.
STREAMING: FS1
FORECAST: The wunderground.com forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with a high of 70 degrees and a 16% chance of rain at the start of the race.
LAST YEAR: Last November, Harrison Burton won the first Xfinity race held at Martinsville since 2006.
STARTING LINEUP: Martinsville Xfinity starting lineup