The NASCAR Ford Xfinity Series racing teams had a relatively tame start to the 2023 season at Daytona International Speedway on February 18th, 2023, quietly securing four top 10 finishes while two Chevys and a Toyota duked it out for a photo finish.
On the last lap of a NASCAR Overtime finish, two NASCAR Chevy teammates tangled on the back stretch, sending the No. 1 Chevy Camaro of Sam Mayer end-over-end. Mayer’s No. 1 Camaro ended up skidding on its roof for a long stretch, prompting NASCAR to throw a caution flag to prevent the field from piling into him.
Because the incident occurred on the white flag lap of an Overtime finish, that caution flag ended the race. However, at the time of the caution, three Xfinity racers were neck-and-neck – and nobody was sure which car was ahead of the two others when the yellow flag flew.
Ultimately, the No. 21 Camaro of Austin Hill was determined to have been leading at the time of the caution and was credited with the win. Meanwhile, Riley Herbst guided his No. 98 Ford Mustang to a sixth-place finish, avoiding the last-lap chaos. He was followed by the NASCAR Ford racers of Joe Graf Jr.’s No. 39 Mustang, Ryan Sieg’s No. 38 Mustang and Cole Custer’s No. 00 Mustang in seventh through ninth, respectively. Interestingly, not a single Blue Oval-badged race car led any laps.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 125 | 39 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 2 | 7 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Mobil 1 Toyota | 125 | 8 | Toyota Supra |
| 3 | 5 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 125 | 36 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 4 | 16 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff # | FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 5 | 13 | 19 | Myatt Snider | Tree Top Toyota | 125 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 6 | 9 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 125 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 29 | 39 | Joe Graf Jr | Getcoverseal.com Ford | 125 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 22 | 38 | Ryan Sieg | CMRroofing.com Ford | 125 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 3 | 0 | Cole Custer | Haas Automation Ford | 125 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 19 | 10 | Justin Haley(i) | DaaBIN Store Chevrolet | 125 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 11 | 20 | 27 | Jeb Burton | State Water Heaters Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 12 | 8 | 16 | Chandler Smith # | Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 13 | 17 | 45 | Stefan Parsons | Clear Cryptos Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 14 | 11 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Swiffer Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 15 | 25 | 92 | Josh Williams | Alloy Employer/Call 811 Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 16 | 34 | 24 | Parker Chase | Ontivity Toyota | 125 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 17 | 38 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | One Stop/All South Electric Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 18 | 36 | 53 | Joey Gase | National Crime Prevention Ford | 125 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 15 | 18 | Sammy Smith # | TMC Toyota | 125 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 20 | 23 | 8 | Gray Gaulding | Panini Chevrolet | 125 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 21 | 26 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Night Owl Ford | 125 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 28 | 2 | David Starr | Special Report with Bret Baier Chevrolet | 125 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 23 | 2 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Big Machine Racing Spiked Chevrolet | 125 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 24 | 10 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | Ticket Smarter Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 25 | 12 | 5 | Jade Buford | Double Spiked Coolers Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 26 | 18 | 8 | Josh Berry | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet | 125 | 17 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 27 | 14 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet | 124 | 14 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 28 | 24 | 44 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | ForeverLawn Chevrolet | 124 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 29 | 32 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | AM Technical Solutions Ford | 124 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 30 | 37 | 34 | Jesse Iwuji | Chevrolet | 110 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 31 | 31 | 35 | CJ McLaughlin | Sci-Aps Ford | 87 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 33 | 26 | Kaz Grala | Island Coastal Lager Toyota | 82 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
| 33 | 21 | 6 | Brennan Poole | Macc Door Systems Chevrolet | 81 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 34 | 4 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Whelen Chevrolet | 41 | 5 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 35 | 35 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Heartbeat Hot Sauce Chevrolet | 41 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 36 | 6 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 20 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 37 | 27 | 7 | Blaine Perkins # | AUTOPARKit.com Chevrolet | 19 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
| 38 | 30 | 4 | Bayley Currey | Mikes Weather Page/Firman Chevrolet | 8 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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