Making The Field: 2022 NXS Call 811 Before You Dig 250 at Martinsville Speedway

From a fairly calm event at Richmond, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to the full-contact, high-intensity, half-mile paperclip of Martinsville Speedway for the shortest track on the schedule thus far, and one that promises to deliver tempers and crumpled fenders.

Last weekend at Richmond Raceway, John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Gibbs engaged in an intense battle for the victory at the three-quarter-mile oval, with Gibbs getting the nod for his third victory of the season.

There are a total of 43 entries for Friday’s Call 811 Before You Dig 250, meaning five drivers will be sent home before the field takes the green flag for the eighth race of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – driving the fifth entry for JR Motorsports — is among the cars entered in the 250-lap event, as the NASCAR Cup Series winner returns for his yearly contest in NASCAR’s second-tier series.

Howie DiSavino III, Chad Finchum, Natalie Decker, Harrison Rhodes, and Ronnie Bassett Jr. will all look to rebound from early-season DNQs and make their first starts of the season.

LOCKED IN:

As a result of their owner points position entering Martinsville, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, and Josh Berry are all guaranteed a spot in Friday’s Call 811 Before You Dig 250. Daniel Hemric – the series’ most recent champion — is also locked in via past champions provisional.

FEELING ALRIGHT:

Based on recent qualifying trends, as well as the number and quality of cars listed in the groups above, it’s a fairly safe assumption that drivers sitting 5th to 25th in 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series owner points are feeling good about their chances to make the field.

Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Brandon Brown, and Jeb Burton all have a past winners provisional available to them, should it be needed come Thursday’s qualifying session.

‘THE DANGER ZONE’:

Entering Martinsville, the drivers and teams that are sitting outside the top-25 in NASCAR Xfinity Series owner points are probably somewhat worried about their chances of qualifying into Friday’s event at Martinsville.

While some may be confident in their ability to post a time inside the top-33, many times this season a mechanical issue has prevented a team from posting a qualifying time. For the teams listed directly above, not posting a time, will likely result in a DNQ.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, Brennan Poole, Harrison Rhodes, Chad Finchum, and Ronnie Bassett Jr. will all have to post a time inside the top-33 in qualifying, in order to make the race.

RAINOUT PROCEDURE:

With a chance of precipitation for Thursday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying session, it is possible that time trials could be canceled due to inclement weather, which would change the way in which the 38-car field is determined.

• Positions 1 to 30 will be assigned to the top-30 vehicles in 2022 NXS OP, that are entered in the event:
  • 16 – AJ Allmendinger
  • 54 – Ty Gibbs
  • 9 – Noah Gragson
  • 8 – Josh Berry
  • 7 – Justin Allgaier
  • 1 – Sam Mayer
  • 19 – Brandon Jones
  • 11 – Daniel Hemric
  • 21 – Austin Hill
  • 39 – Ryan Sieg
  • 18 – Ryan Truex
  • 98 – Riley Herbst
  • 2 – Sheldon Creed
  • 68 – Brandon Brown
  • 26 – Derek Griffith
  • 23 – Anthony Alfredo
  • 27 – Jeb Burton
  • 10 – Landon Cassill
  • 02 – Brett Moffitt
  • 07 – Joe Graf Jr.
  • 36 – Alex Labbe
  • 44 – Howie DiSavino III
  • 91 – Mason Massey
  • 08 – David Starr
  • 66 – JJ Yeley
  • 31 – Myatt Snider
  • 51 – Jeremy Clements
  • 35 – Shane Lee
  • 48 – Jade Buford
  • 28 – Natalie Decker
• The next available positions will be assigned to team owners/drivers that have won a points-paying NASCAR Xfinity Series event in the current or previous season (Owners before Drivers, in the event more winners than spots): NONE
• The next available positions, if any, will be assigned to any drivers who have won a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship (must have competed in the series’ previous season and be running for series points)
  • 88 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
• The next available positions, if any, will be assigned to teams that are highest in NASCAR Xfinity Series owner points that have yet to be assigned a spot in the field.
  • 38 – Parker Retzlaff
  • 5 – Matt Mills
  • 4 – Bayley Currey
  • 6 – Ryan Vargas
  • 45 – Ryan Ellis
  • 99 – Stefan Parsons
  • 78 – Josh Williams
• Therefore, in the event of qualifying being canceled, Kyle Weatherman, Brennan Poole, Harrison Rhodes, Chad Finchum, and Ronnie Bassett Jr. would fail to qualify for Friday’s Call 811 Before You Dig 250.