All Times Eastern
NASCAR CUP SERIES
Xfinity 500
Site: Martinsville, Virginia.
Schedule: Saturday, practice, 12:35 p.m., and qualifying, 1:20 p.m.; Sunday, race, 2 p.m. (NBC).
Race distance: 500 laps, 263 miles.
Last year: Christopher Bell won after starting 20th.
Last race: Bell took the lead with 15 laps to go and held off Ryan Blaney at Homestead-Miami Speedway to clinch a spot in next month’s championship finale.
Fast facts: Bell and Kyle Larson are the only drivers locked into the Championship 4 with one race left for six drivers to vie for two spots. … Bell led only 26 of 267 laps in a chaotic race that featured 25 lead changes. … Three playoff drivers — Larson, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. — did not finish. … William Byron is third in the standings, 30 points clear of the top-four cutoff, and race runner-up Blaney is 10 points clear. Tyler Reddick is fifth, Truex and Hamlin are both 17 points back and Chris Buescher is 43 points off the pace.
Next race: Nov. 5, Avondale, Arizona.
