In the first Dash 4 Cash race of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, the incentive for JR Motorsports drivers is clear. They will be competing for the victory, not the $100,000 prize that goes to the Dash 4 Cash winner, in Saturday’s DUDE Wipes 250 at Martinsville Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
No JRM driver finished high enough last Saturday at Richmond to qualify for the initial Dash 4 Cash bonus, which is available to four eligible drivers: Richmond winner Chandler Smith and runner-up Aric Almirola, both of Joe Gibbs Racing; Sunoco rookie leader Jesse Love of Richard Childress Racing; and Parker Kligerman of Big Machine Racing.
Though out of the running for the bonus, JRM’s Justin Allgaier and teammate Brandon Jones are the only former Martinsville winners in the field for Saturday’s race. Allgaier won the 2023 fall race at the 0.526-mile short track.
“It’s great to be returning to Martinsville this weekend,” Allgaier said. “We showed last fall that we were capable of getting to Victory Lane there, and I feel just as confident that we will have a fast Jarrett Chevrolet when we hit the track on Friday (for practice and qualifying).
“(Crew chief) Jim (Pohlman) and this entire No. 7 team has been fighting hard all year long and I know that we will give it everything we have to get a solid finish and be in position for the win come Saturday night.”
Jones hopes to reverse his fortunes after an early engine failure knocked him out of last Saturday’s Richmond event.
“We had great speed in Richmond last weekend, but just had some bad luck come our way,” Jones said. “Martinsville has always been a strong track for me, so I am ready to get there and try to turn our luck around.
“I trust this Menards/Atlas Roofing team will give me a fast car like they have all season, so it’s time to get it done.”
One word of caution: there have been 13 different winners in the last 13 Xfinity races at Martinsville, which didn’t host the series between 1994 and 2006 and experienced another gap between 2006 and 2020.
Kenny Wallace was the last repeat winner at the track (1992 and 1994).
Source: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
