2023 Road America 180


The 2023 Road America 180 was the 20th stock car race of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 14th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, July 29, 2023, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin at Road America, a permanent road course. The race was originally scheduled to be contested over 45 laps, but was extended to 49 laps due to a NASCAR overtime finish. In an incredible overtime finish that saw the leaders make numerous mistakes, Sam Mayer, driving for JR Motorsports, would take advantage of those mistakes, and held off Parker Kligerman on the final lap to earn his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win. Justin Allgaier would dominate the entire race, winning both stages and leading a race-high 42 laps, before he spun in turn 8 with two laps to go. To fill out the podium, Kligerman, driving for Big Machine Racing, and Austin Hill, driving for Richard Childress Racing, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Background

Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club of America GT World Challenge America and Trans-Am Series and the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.

Entry list

' denotes rookie driver.
  • ' denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Practice

The first and only practice session was held on Friday, July 28, at 4:00 PM CST, and would last for 50 minutes. Justin Allgaier, driving for JR Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:12.360, and an average speed of.

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, July 28, at 5:00 PM CST. Since Road America is a road course, the qualifying system is a two group system, with two rounds. Drivers will be separated into two groups, Group A and Group B. Each driver will have multiple laps 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 that round will win the pole. A. J. Allmendinger, driving for Kaulig Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 1:10.574, and an average speed of.

Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 22
Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts
17Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet10
200Cole CusterStewart-Haas RacingFord9
310A. J. Allmendinger 'Kaulig RacingChevrolet0
420John Hunter NemechekJoe Gibbs RacingToyota7
524Sage KaramSam Hunt RacingToyota6
698Riley HerbstStewart-Haas RacingFord5
726Kaz GralaSam Hunt RacingToyota4
821Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet3
91Sam MayerJR MotorsportsChevrolet2
1018Sammy Smith 'Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1

Stage 2 Laps: 12
Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts
17Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet10
200Cole CusterStewart-Haas RacingFord9
324Sage KaramSam Hunt RacingToyota8
410A. J. Allmendinger 'Kaulig RacingChevrolet0
51Sam MayerJR MotorsportsChevrolet6
626Kaz GralaSam Hunt RacingToyota5
78Josh BerryJR MotorsportsChevrolet4
848Parker KligermanBig Machine RacingChevrolet3
918Sammy Smith 'Joe Gibbs RacingToyota2
1091Josh BilickiDGM RacingChevrolet1

Stage 3 ''Laps: 15''

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings