NASCAR at Martinsville live updates: Bell wins, Chastain’s gutsy pass highlights finish

LIVE UPDATES HAVE CONCLUDED. FOR RESULTS AND ANALYSIS, CLICK HERE.

After today, there will only be four drivers remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series championship chase. Who will it be?

Alex Zietlow of The Charlotte Observer is on-site at Martinsville Speedway to answer this question (and to pass along other updates) during Sunday’s Cup race.

Those updates will be posted in the section below and will be published frequently during the race. Refresh this page for latest news. Full results will be posted after the race.

Live updates from Martinsville Speedway

Stage 3

Lap 500: Race over! What a finish! Ross Chastain, with an amazing video-game style move on the final lap, vaults into the final four! Bell will get in because he won the race! More to come soon!

Lap 495: Hamlin now in fourth overall as the cars are making contact everywhere now. Christopher Bell now into second as he tries to run down Briscoe! And Bell makes the pass!

Lap 485: Chase Briscoe has a comfy lead at the front, and with a win HE’S into the final four. Elliott would still be in right now, but the biggest loser on that pit stop madness was Bell. Meanwhile, Hamlin now in front of Chastain, but neds a couple more spots to supplant him in fourth place overall.

Lap 473: Chase Briscoe stays out from ninth, Cole Custer from 10th with all others pitting. Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Joey Logano take two tires with all others taking four, Denny Hamlin has a 15 second stop when the left side is hard to get off. Chase Briscoe now the leader. Christopher Bell back to 6th.

Lap 466: Caution is out! Landon Cassill into the wall in Turn 3. Now, who pits? Two tires or four? How much fuel. Strategy time!

Lap 455: Some jostling near the front, and this finish is going to be wild. That said, very little action with 45 to go. No one wants to be the first to make that move too early. Bell, as the leader, would advance into the final four now. Elliott is the most comfortable of the rest of the field at the moment.

Lap 440: Christopher Bell maintains his advantage with Blaney, Elliott, Larson and Hamlin on his 6. It’s a who’s who of playoff drivers all vying for an important win here at Martinsville. Buckle up for this finish.

Lap 396: JJ Yeley spin-out means another caution. Christopher Bell maintains the lead spot out of pit road; Ryan Blaney is behind him, and Chase Elliott is behind Blaney. Denny Hamlin has another not-great showing on pit road, starting fifth on this restart.

Lap 330: We’re green again! After the caution and drivers cycle through their trips down pit road, the field jumbles: Christopher Bell leads, with Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin making up the rest of the Top 5.

Lap 319: Austin Dillon drills into the wall on a turn. The car’s brakes appeared to fail — a “right-front rotor problem,” per owner Richard Childress over the radio — and prompts a caution. Dillon climbs out of the car and heads to the infield care center.

Lap 280: We’re green after a Brad Keselowski spin-out, courtesy of a bump from Ross Chastain. Hamlin has a great restart again. The No. 11 car is still leading Chase Elliott by 0.4 seconds, and that lead is only growing.

Lap 264: Hamlin’s dominating, but his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Busch, is struggling. He’s six laps down as Stage 3 begins. Another important update: Tyler Reddick was evaluated and released from the infield care center but did not speak to media. The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi reported that Reddick did not feel well after his crash at Homestead and elected to take himself out of the race.

Stage 2

Lap 260: Denny Hamlin takes another stage win! That should, in theory, be enough to secure his spot in the Championship 4. The No. 11 car is thriving at one of his favorite racetracks. Others behind him (in order): Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Cole Custer, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez. (Not a ton of passing in Stage 2.)

Lap 191: The No. 8 car is headed to the garage with a mechanical issue. Tyler Reddick’s day is done. Reddick said he hasn’t felt OK since the restart over the radio and that he wasn’t feeling well. He’s heading to the infield care center.

Lap 181: Checking in. Hamlin, Elliott, Larson, Custer and Bell make up Top 5. No pit stops under green just yet.

Lap 140: And we’re green again!

Lap 135: Daniel Suarez picks up a few spots on the last fuel stop. Chase Briscoe was running inside the Top 5 before his gas can skidded out of his pit stall. Penalty incoming. He will start at the tail end at the longest line. That means he’ll be the last car on the lead lap.

Stage 1

Lap 130: Denny Hamlin takes the Stage 1 win, rising from outside the Top 10 to begin the race. He laps William Byron in the process. Weird day for Joe Gibbs Racing: Hamlin takes the Stage 1 win while his longtime teammate Kyle Busch is last and four laps down. Others earning stage points (in order of stage finish): Chase Elliott, Cole Custer, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez.

Lap 119: Chase Elliott gets bumped by Denny Hamlin, signaling that he’s coming for his spot. And then the No. 11 car does it. Hamlin, in his home state in one of his favorite racetracks, is leading with seven laps to go. Huge for stage points and his championship chances.

Lap 96: Denny Hamlin! The No. 11 car passes Cole Custer and Kyle Larson in one lap. The five-time winner at Martinsville has settled into a groove. Hamlin is P2, just over a second behind Chase Elliott and closing in.

Lap 69: Chase Elliott takes the top spot, passing Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson on the inside. Elliott weaving by Ty Gibbs to lap him with ease and knocking on Tyler Reddick’s proverbial door.

Lap 48: One of the best features of short-track racing? There’s always hard racing. Even lapped cars. Kyle Larson, the pole-winner who has led every lap of the race thus far, got under Landon Cassill and lapped him. There are now four cars not on the lead lap: The 78, the 15, the 51 and the 77.

Lap 20: Not much passing through the first 20 laps. Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe and Brad Keselowski running in the Top 5.

Green flag! 2:11 p.m.: And away we go!

1:24 p.m.: Martinsville Speedway has sold out for the Xfinity 500, per the racetrack. That includes the grandstands, suites and campgrounds. This is the first Xfinity 500 sell-out since 2006.

12:56 p.m.: Alex Bowman visited the Martinsville media center pre-race and opened up about his experience going through concussion protocols the last few weeks. The Hendrick Motorsports Cup driver of the No. 48 announced earlier this week that he’ll return inside the car at Phoenix Raceway next weekend.

Bowman said he’s talked to Kurt Busch, who still hasn’t fully recovered from his own concussion, and other drivers a lot since Texas: “I’ve talked to Kurt a lot. You know, a lot of the guys throughout the garage have been super helpful, and that’s been really cool. Whether it’s been Kurt or Jeff Burton. Obviously I’ve talked to Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) a lot. Kevin Harvick actually reached out a lot throughout the process and was really cool. It was cool to see the support from the rest of the drivers, and obviously we don’t want to see any of our peers in this situation, and you know, I think there is a lot to be learned from everything that’s happened, and hopefully nobody else has to go through it.”

Bowman also spoke on his Phoenix return and trying to end his tenure on a high note with crew chief Greg Ives, who is retiring from his role as crew chief of the No. 48 car after this season: “I didn’t want to go out with how Texas went with Greg (Ives). And I don’t want to sit all offseason questioning it. I want to get back in the racecar. So when the doctor said I was 100%, I trust them, I’m going off of what they say. I don’t think there was any hesitation there.”

12:48 p.m.: Race-day scheduling: driver introductions at 1:35 p.m.; green flag at 2:08 p.m.

12:41 p.m.: It’s a bit overcast and chilly (57 degrees) in the infield of the 0.526-mile racetrack, but no rain is expected today. Life abounds. Traffic has consumed the town of Ridgeway for hours, and the ferris wheel that sits just outside the racetrack has been spinning for days. Cup drivers have finished up their pre-race interviews with fans in the infield. Green flag in just about two hours.

What to know about the race at Martinsville

• Race: Xfinity 500
• Place: Martinsville Speedway
• Date: Sunday, October 30
• Time: 2 p.m. ET
• Purse: $8,132,735
• TV: NBC, 1:30 p.m. ET
• Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
• Distance: 263 miles (500 Laps)
• Stages: Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 130), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 260), Third Stage (Ends on Lap 500)

Xfinity 500 starting lineup

No cars dropped to the rear.

This story was originally published October 30, 2022 at 12:41 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Charlotte Observer

Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the Pro Football Writers Association, the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned six APSE Top 10 distinctions for his coverage on a variety of topics, from billion-dollar stadium renovations to the small moments of triumph that helped a Panthers kicker defy the steepest odds in sports. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22. Support my work with a digital subscription