2022 Drive for the Cure 250

2022 Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina

Race details
Race 29 of 33 of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series
Date	October 8, 2022
Official name	50th Annual Drive for the Cure 250
Location	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.280 mi (3.669 km)
Distance	72 laps, 167.04 mi (268.824 km)
Scheduled Distance	67 laps, 152.760 mi (245.843 km)
Average speed	70.771 mph (113.895 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing
Time	1:21.694
Most laps led
Driver	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing
Laps	25
Winner
No. 16	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte
Radio in the United States
Radio	Performance Racing Network

The 2022 Drive for the Cure 250 presented by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina was the 29th stock car race of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series, the final race of the Round of 12, and the 50th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, October 8, 2022, in Concord, North Carolina at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, a 2.280 miles (3.669 km) permanent road course. The race was increased from 67 laps to 72 laps, due to several NASCAR overtime finishes. A. J. Allmendinger, driving for Kaulig Racing, held off Ty Gibbs in the final few laps to earn his 15th career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his fifth of the season.^[1] To fill out the podium, Noah Gragson, driving for JR Motorsports, would finish 3rd, respectively. Allmendinger and Gibbs would mostly dominate, leading 25 and 24 laps.

Eight drivers would advance into the next round of the playoffs: Noah Gragson, A. J. Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, and Sam Mayer. Ryan Sieg, Daniel Hemric, Riley Herbst, and Jeremy Clements would fail to advance.^[2][3]

This was the debut race for the former F1 driver, Daniil Kvyat,^[4] and the current IndyCar driver, Marco Andretti.^[5]

Since 2018, deviating from past NASCAR events at Charlotte, the race will utilize a road course configuration of Charlotte Motor Speedway, promoted and trademarked as the "Roval". The course is 2.280 miles (3.669 km) in length and features 17 turns, utilizing the infield road course and portions of the oval track.

During July 2018 tests on the road course, concerns were raised over drivers "cheating" the backstretch chicane on the course. The chicanes were modified with additional tire barriers and rumble strips in order to encourage drivers to properly drive through them, and NASCAR will enforce drive-through penalties on drivers who illegally "short-cut" parts of the course. The chicanes will not be used during restarts. In the summer of 2019, the bus stop on the backstretch was changed and deepened, becoming a permanent part of the circuit, compared to the previous year where it was improvised.

If a driver fails to legally make the backstretch bus stop, they must skip the front-stretch chicane and make a complete stop by the dotted line on the exit, before being allowed to continue. A driver who misses the front-stretch chicane, must also stop before the exit.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

The only 20-minute practice session was held on Saturday, October 8, at 10:00 AM EST.^[6] A. J. Allmendinger, driving for Kaulig Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:23.147, and an average speed of 100.449 mph (161.657 km/h).

Qualifying was held on Saturday, October 8, at 10:30 AM EST.^[6] Since the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval is a road course, the qualifying system used is a two group system, with two rounds. Drivers will be separated into two groups, Group A and Group B. Each driver will have a lap to set a time. The fastest 5 drivers from each group will advance to the final round. The fastest driver to set a time in the round will win the pole.^[7] A. J. Allmendinger, driving for Kaulig Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 1:21.694, and an average speed of 102.235 mph (164.531 km/h) in the second round.^[8]

Stage 1 Laps: 20

Stage 2 Laps: 20

Stage 3 Laps: 32*

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Noah Gragson 3,056 1 2 A. J. Allmendinger 3,044 (-12) 3 Ty Gibbs 3,038 (-18) 2 4 Justin Allgaier 3,033 (-23) 5 Josh Berry 3,022 (-34) 2 6 Austin Hill 3,018 (-38) 4 7 Brandon Jones 3,011 (-45) 1 8 Sam Mayer 3,005 (-51) 1 9 Ryan Sieg 2,098 (-958) 1 10 Daniel Hemric 2,089 (-967) 1 11 Riley Herbst 2,080 (-976) 12 Jeremy Clements 2,046 (-1,010) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.