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  • Harvick Gets to Keep His Pole Position at Richmond

    Harvick Gets to Keep His Pole Position at Richmond

    Kevin Harvick earned the pole for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 in Friday night’s Busch Pole Qualifying at Richmond Raceway, and he gets to keep it.

    Why’s that?

    Four of the top 10 qualifiers will have to start from the rear of the field after failing pre-race inspection Saturday afternoon — Erik Jones (qualified second), Chase Elliott (seventh), Daniel Suarez (ninth) and Jimmie Johnson (10th). They all will have to start from the rear of the field for Saturday’s race.

    “Eyes forward and let’s get to work,” said Johnson on Twitter after being asked his thoughts on starting from the rear.

    But the drama of failed inspections didn’t stop there. Aric Almirola (qualified 15th), Denny Hamlin (18th), Matt Tifft (20th), and Joey Gase (36th) all failed inspection and will have their cars moved to the back of the pack when the green flag waves later tonight.

    Additionally, Elliott, Hamlin and Tifft all failed a second time, resulting in a crew member ejected from each team. All eight drivers that failed inspection will start between 30th and 37th positions.

    Since Richmond is a night race, NASCAR impounds all the Monster Energy Cup Series cars until the garage is opened again on Saturday for inspection. Single failures result in disallowed qualifying times, and the team is set to start at the end of the field for the race. Multiple failures result in increased penalties against the team.

    So the updated results from qualifying are as follows. Harvick is still on pole with a time of 21.722 seconds. Kurt Busch is now the new face on the front row and will start second, 0.075 seconds off the pace. Joey Logano, last weekend’s short track winner, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. with his best start of the season, round out the top five. Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard and Kyle Larson complete the updated top 10 qualifying results.

    The green flag is set to wave shortly after 7:30 p.m ET tonight.

  • Cole Custer claims Dash 4 Cash prize, wins the ToyotaCare 250

    Cole Custer claims Dash 4 Cash prize, wins the ToyotaCare 250

    Cole Custer set a dominating pace by leading the most laps and earning his second win of the 2019 season in Friday night’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

    Custer briefly lost the lead to Austin Cindric on a restart with 26 laps remaining, but would not be denied. He reclaimed the lead just seven laps later to win his first career short track race in the Xfinity Series, and also claim the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize.

    “We had a great car,” Custer said. “Mike Shiplett made great adjustments as it went. This one means a lot. We hadn’t had a short-track win yet. We’ve struggled a lot at short tracks, but this helps.

    “A lot of my friends give me crap for being bad at this place, but I finally won, so I’ve got a little bit of bragging rights there. I’m just so happy. Two wins—that’s pretty awesome.”

    Cindric was playing the weather game as rain threatened the finish of the race, but wasn’t able to have mother nature on his side. With his runner-up finish, he qualifies himself for the next Dash 4 Cash race at Talladega Superspeedway. His primary sponsor, MoneyLion, will also be sponsoring that race.

    “Congrats to Cole and those guys,” Cindric said. “I tried my best on that restart to hold him off, but they were obviously the class of the field, him and the 7 (Allgaier). We had some fun and got some points and now we will move on to Talladega for the MoneyLion 300.

    “That will be a big one for me. I would love to win that race and the Dash for Cash at Talladega.”

    Justin Allgaier finished third in his JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet. He led 86 laps throughout the night and won the first stage. Similar to Cindric, Allgaier was trying to have pit strategy fall in his favor, but by the time he charged to the front, he ran out of both car and time.

    “The pit call we made at the end of the (second) stage there, it worked out, obviously, in our favor,” said Allgaier. “But I pushed really hard to get back up to the front, and I just didn’t quite have enough there at the end to really do anything.

    “I made a mistake on that restart. It really burns me up that I made the mistake, but all in all, a great day. I hope we got the monkey off our back.”

    Allgaier’s former teammate Tyler Reddick came home fourth with Ryan Sieg rounding out the top five. Zane Smith running in the No. 8 JR Motorsports car is running a limited schedule in the Xfinity Series, but continues to impress many with another strong sixth place finish at Richmond. John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, pole sitter Riley Herbst and Justin Haley completed the top 10.

    Elliott Sadler finished in the 12th position at his home track after making the first of his two planned starts for the 2019 season.

    All cars passed post-race tech, so Custer was declared the official winner. Reddick’s car was caught with one lug nut unsecure, so potential fines will be announced next week by the sanctioning body.

  • Cole Custer wins Xfinity Series race at Richmond, Dash 4 Cash prize

    Cole Custer wins Xfinity Series race at Richmond, Dash 4 Cash prize

    Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    RICHMOND, Va. – Cole Custer said on Friday afternoon that his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing NASCAR Xfinity Series team might be ready to peak in time for the Playoffs.

    Clearly, Custer is ahead of schedule, after a convincing victory in Friday night’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway.

    After losing the lead to Austin Cindric on a restart with 26 laps left, Custer regained the top spot on Lap 231 of 250 and pulled away for his second victory of the season. In a race that dodged a persistent threat of rain, Custer crossed the finish line 2.639 seconds ahead of Cindric.

    Not only did Custer win for the fourth time in his career—and for the first time on a short track—but he also claimed the $100,000 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus that goes to the highest finisher of four eligible contenders.

    RELATED: Race results | Dash 4 Cash field set for Talladega

    “We had a great car,” Custer said. “(Crew chief Mike Shiplett) made great adjustments as it went… This one means a lot. We hadn’t had a short-track win yet. We’ve struggled a lot at short tracks, but this helps

    “A lot of my friends give me crap for being bad at this place, but I finally won, so I’ve got a little bit of bragging rights there, so that’s night. I’m just so happy. Two wins—that’s pretty awesome.”

    Custer also served notice that he expects the team to get even better as the season progresses.

    “I think we’re in a great place,” Custer said. “We’re going to get better and better. I think we’ve started to figure out our cars later in the race, and I think the second time we go back (to the same tracks), we’re going to be even better—just me and Mike working together at these tracks for the first time.

    “We’re just going to be a team that gets better and better as the year goes on.”

    Custer led three times for a race-high 122 laps. Third-place finisher Justin Allgaier led 86 and won the first stage but had to charge to the front after contrarian pit strategy left him 16th for a Lap 161 restart.

    Allgaier was second by the time caution slowed the race for the sixth time on Lap 212, but he spun his tires on the subsequent restart on Lap 219 and fell back to fifth before recovering to third at the finish.

    “The pit call we made at the end of the (second) stage there, it worked out, obviously, in our favor,” said Allgaier, who had crashed out of last week’s Bristol race after leading 138 laps. “But I pushed really hard to get back up to the front, and I just didn’t quite have enough there at the end to really do anything.

    “I made a mistake on that restart. It really burns me up that I made the mistake, but all in all, a great day. I hope we got the monkey off our back.”

    Cindric was hoping rain would halt the race when he was in the lead, but that didn’t happen. He did, however, qualify for the Dash 4 Cash two weeks hence at Talladega, where his sponsor, MoneyLion, also holds the entitlement for the race.

    “Congrats to Cole and those guys,” Cindirc said. “I tried my best on that restart to hold him off, but they were obviously the class of the field. Him and the 7 (Allgaier). We had some fun and got some points and now we will move on to Talladega for the MoneyLion 300.

    “That will be a big one for me. I would love to win that race and the Dash for Cash at Talladega.”

    Tyler Reddick came home fourth, followed by Ryan Sieg, who has finished no worse than 12th in the first eight races of the season. Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, Riley Herbst and Justin Haley completed the top 10.

    Making the first of two planned starts this season, Elliott Sadler ran 12th in an emotional return to his home track.

    Note: The No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Reddick had one lug nut found to be unsecure. Any potential fine will be announced next week by the sanctioning body.

  • Kevin Harvick wins unofficial Busch Pole at Richmond Raceway

    Kevin Harvick wins unofficial Busch Pole at Richmond Raceway

    Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    RICHMOND, Va. – Where the short tracks are concerned, Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team appeared to have turned a corner.

    And on Friday afternoon at Richmond Raceway, Harvick got through the corners better than everyone else in winning the unofficial pole position for Saturday’s Toyota Owners 400 at the .75-mile track (7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

    The unofficial Busch Pole Award was Harvick’s third at Richmond, his second of the season and the 27th of his career, setting up a showdown with the Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske cars that have monopolized Victory Lane in the first eight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events of the season.

    RELATED: Unofficial qualifying results

    Harvick posted a lap at 124.298 mph (21.722 seconds) to edge Erik Jones (124.081 mph) for the top starting spot by .038 seconds. The front-row start will be Jones’ first of the season.

    Kurt Busch qualified third at 123.870 mph, a dramatic improvement over his 2019 average starting position of 20.1. Joey Logano and Kyle Busch completed the top five.

    “The cars definitely had a little fall-off,” Harvick said. “I was just really just managing the fall-off and just trying to be consistent with the laps, but stickers (new tires) were definitely faster in the first round than they were in the second and third round.”

    Harvick was sixth in the first round, second to Kyle Busch in the second round and first with the pole at stake. Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez and Jimmie Johnson earned positions six through 10 on the grid, respectively.

    For the first time, NASCAR limited each round to five minutes, with seven minutes between, condensing the entire qualifying session to 29 minutes. For Jones, who had a pit stall near the exit from pit road, the time limits weren’t an issue.

    “Short tracks, I think it’s fine,” Jones said. “It’s a little hectic in the first round and even in the second round, but it’s easy for me to say. We had a great pit stall being first out. I could just roll out, and here it doesn’t benefit you to wait so you just roll out and get your lap in.”

    RHarvick was fast last week at Bristol, only to have his prospects crushed by a pre-race penalty for multiple inspection failures and an early loose wheel that forced an unplanned pit stop. But at Richmond on Saturday, he’ll be leading the field to green.

    Nevertheless, there are plenty of unknowns, including a new Goodyear tire combination.

    “As you look at this place, this is really one of those places where you kind of have to go off of what happened last time,” Harvick said. “New tire, so you don’t really know exactly what the cars are going to do deep into runs as far as how bad they will push, will the get looser.

    “What conditions will you be fighting? We wind up guessing a number of times when they change the tires like this, because you don’t know what to anticipate.”

  • Weekend schedule for Richmond

    Weekend schedule for Richmond

    From one short track to another, the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series and Xfinity Series take to the 3/4-mile track, Richmond Raceway, in Richmond, Virginia. Here is how you can watch all of the action, below.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, April 12:
    8:05-9:55 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, NASCAR.com/Live
    11:05-11:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, NASCAR.com/Live
    1:05-1:55 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NASCAR.com/Live
    3:40 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (MULTI-VEHICLE / THREE ROUNDS), FS1
    5:40 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying (MULTI-VEHICLE / THREE ROUNDS), FS1
    7 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 (STAGES 75/150/250 LAPS = 187.5 miles)
    TV: FS1 – Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

    Saturday, April 13:
    7:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 (Stages 100/200/400 LAPS = 300 Miles)
    TV: FOX – Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

  • Christopher Bell wins at Richmond, advances to next round of playoffs

    Christopher Bell wins at Richmond, advances to next round of playoffs

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series held their first race of the championship Playoffs at Richmond International Raceway Saturday night for the Go Bowling 250, and one driver got one step closer to the championship trophy.

    Christopher Bell, piloting his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, captured the win and earned that first Playoff spot moving him on to the second round. Bell took the lead from fellow championship contender Matt Tifft late in the race on what was the final restart of the night.

    “It’s not very often you get to win with a car that’s not a winning car, so we’ll take it,” Bell commented. “Just thank you to my pit crew for the awesome pit stops tonight. I’m just pumped. I couldn’t be happier.”

    Last week’s winner, Ross Chastain, had another great run in his final race driving the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. He finished the night in the runner-up spot.

    “I just wanted to come in and do my job, I hope I did enough. That’s the scariest thing not knowing where this leads, but I know I’ve got a great group of people behind me in Florida,” Chastain stated. “I’ll let them keep guiding me through this crazy NASCAR world.”

    Coming in third place was fan favorite driver Daniel Hemric in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

    “I’m proud of how I executed here in the first race, first round Playoffs,” Hemric said, “We had a ton of speed from the time we unloaded it. We knew this was a really good opportunity race track for us, it’s one of my favorite race tracks if not the favorite race track I get to come to.”

    Making the night of racing even more exciting was the return of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the track. Earnhardt Jr. came out of retirement to run tonight and dominated much of the race, even capturing his first Xfinity stage win in Stage 2 of the event. He brought his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet home in fourth.

    “It got my expectations all messed up,” Earnhardt said after the race. “Man, I’m like, ‘Dang, I’ve got to win now.’ But we didn’t have the car at the end. We started on the outside (on the final restart), which was kind of tough. Just didn’t have what we needed at the end. But I’m glad that we got to lead a lot of laps. We ran really good for all the people that came down to watch us.”

    Rounding out the top five was Tifft as Elliott Sadler, Tyler Reddick, Brandon Jones, Shane Lee, and Reed finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

    Stage 1 ran flag to flag without any cautions. Regular season champion Justin Allgaier proved strong as he, Hemric, and Bell all battled for the lead. Bell would come out on top and win the stage.

    Stage 2 slowed the pace for one caution period when Ryan Reed got into the bumper of teammate Ty Majeski sending him hard into the wall. Bell and Hemric fought each other for the lead, however, late in the stage, Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Bell to score the stage win. The driver on the move was Chastain after his pit crew told him that it was time to go.

    The final stage had a few caution periods, most of which were minor. However, the race end came a little early for Allgaier after Cole Custer got into the back of him and spun him around. Earnhardt Jr. saw his win slip away when he lost the lead on the final pit stop of the night. Bell took the lead with 13 laps to go and didn’t look back until he took the checkered flag.

    The Playoff leaderboard has Bell in first place with 2090 points, and moving on to round two with his win. Hemric is in second with 2062 points, Allgaier is third (2056) and Chastain is fourth with 2053 points. Elliott Sadler (2051), Tifft (2047), Tyler Reddick (2046) and Brandon Jones (2035) round out the top eight Playoff contenders.

    The Xfinity Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway next week on Saturday, Sept. 29.

    NASCAR Xfinity Series Race
    Unofficial Race Results for the 38Th Annual Gobowling 250 – Friday, September 21, 2018
    Richmond Raceway – Richmond, VA – .75 Mile Paved

    1 1 20 Christopher Bell # (P) Rheem Toyota
    2 3 42 Ross Chastain (P) DC Solar Chevrolet
    3 6 21 Daniel Hemric (P) South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet
    4 2 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr Hellmann’s Camaro Chevrolet
    5 10 2 Matt Tifft (P) Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup Chevrolet
    6 13 1 Elliott Sadler (P) OneMain Financial Chevrolet
    7 14 9 Tyler Reddick # (P) Nationwide Children’s Chevrolet
    8 9 19 Brandon Jones (P) Juniper Toyota
    9 8 3 Shane Lee Childress Vineyards Chevrolet
    10 21 16 Ryan Reed (P) Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford
    11 7 11 Ryan Truex (P) LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet
    12 16 23 Spencer Gallagher Allegiant Chevrolet
    13 11 22 Austin Cindric # (P) MoneyLion Ford
    14 17 5 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet
    15 4 00 Cole Custer (P) Go Bowling Ford
    16 20 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicales.com Chevrolet
    17 18 39 Ryan Sieg Larry’s Hard Lemonade Chevrolet
    18 12 18 Ryan Preece Craftsman Toyota
    19 22 90 Mason Diaz Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet
    20 27 52 David Starr Extreme Kleaner Chevrolet
    21 19 36 Alex Labbe # sticky-stuff.com/James Carter Attorney Chevrolet
    22 23 35 Joey Gase Donate Life Virginia Chevrolet
    23 26 8 Ray Black II  ISOKERN Chevrolet
    24 29 0 Garrett Smithley teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet
    25 28 38 JJ Yeley RSS Racing Chevrolet
    26 34 40 Chad Finchum # Smithbilt Homes Toyota
    27 25 78 Matt Mills # JF Electric Chevrolet
    28 32 15 Katherine Legge BUBBA burger Chevrolet
    29 31 55 Bayley Currey Rollin Smoke Barbeque/Touched by Pros Toyota
    30 39 45 Josh Bilicki # Prevagen Toyota
    31 24 4 Quin Houff BEATINCANCERWITHDUKE.ORG Chevrolet
    32 5 7 Justin Allgaier (P) BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
    33 30 76 Spencer Boyd # Grunt Style Chevrolet
    34 15 60 Ty Majeski Ford
    35 38 74 Mike Harmon The Journey Home Project Chevrolet
    36 40 66 Carl Long CrashClaimsR.Us Dodge
    37 37 01 Vinnie Miller # JAS Expedited Trucking Chevrolet
    38 36 13 Timmy Hill CrashClaimsR.Us Toyota
    39 35 93 Jeff Green RSS Racing Chevrolet
    40 33 89 Morgan Shepherd Visone RV Chevrolet
  • Full weekend schedule for Richmond

    Full weekend schedule for Richmond

    Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will be in action at Richmond Raceway while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is off. The Monster Energy Series continues the Round of 16 of the NASCAR Playoffs, while the Xfinity Series Playoffs begin. Check out the full schedule below, which is subject to change.

    Note: All times are ET

    FRIDAY, Sept. 21
    8:30-9:15 a.m.: Xfinity Series first practice, NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    10:10-10:55 a.m.: Xfinity Series final practice, NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    11:35 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    1:30-2:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    4:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    6:05 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series GoBowling 250 (250 laps, 187.5 miles), NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)

    PRESS PASS (Watch live)
    10:15 a.m.: Alon Day
    10:30 a.m.: Brad Keselowski
    10:45 a.m.: Chase Elliott
    12:30 p.m.: Justin Allgaier, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain
    2:30 p.m.: Elliott Sadler
    2:45 p.m.: Kyle Busch
    6:45 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying
    9:30 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Xfinity Series race

    SATURDAY, Sept. 22
    7:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 (400 laps, 300 miles), NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)

    PRESS PASS (Watch live)
    10:45 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race

  • Austin Dillon battles for Round of 12 Spot

    Austin Dillon battles for Round of 12 Spot

    Austin Dillon is seeking to advance to the Round of 12 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs following a challenging race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Starting from the tail of the field was a setback for a driver confident in the speed of his car.

    “We definitely had a No. 3 DOWFROST Camaro ZL1 that was capable of running in the top five today at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We gave up a lot of track position throughout the day, not just from starting in the back, but we really struggled on pit stops. I felt like I got all I could out of it,” Dillon said.

    Dillon surely benefited after several of the Playoff drivers were involved in various issues all day long.

    Following an 11th place finish, Richmond Raceway can be the setting stone is determining his advancement into the next round. Despite all the silly season chatter surrounding his team, his focus is on making a deep run in this year’s Playoffs.

    Of course, a win would seal the deal, but a great run can give him some space to breathe going into the Roval at Charlotte.

    The driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Dow Camaro ZL1 locked himself into the Playoffs early in the year with a thrilling Daytona 500 victory. Since then, he has been positioning himself as the dark horse of this year’s edition of the Playoffs.

    The confidence is there for the young driver to surprise many in the next nine weeks.

    “I will take the dark horse role. Anything can happen. We show up at times and people least expect it,” Dillon said.

    Richmond will certainly be a battle. Qualifying is important in Richmond as Dillon looks to improve in that aspect. Starting 23rd in the spring showed his struggle all weekend with the car.

    Dillon currently sits in 10th place in the Playoff standings with 9 points above the cutoff.

    Competition is starting to heat up as the Playoffs continue. A disastrous race can end the young driver’s run to capture the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.

  • Kyle Busch Captures Third Consecutive Win of the Season

    Kyle Busch Captures Third Consecutive Win of the Season

    Kyle Busch scored his third straight victory of the year winning the Toyota Owners 400 in overtime at Richmond Raceway Saturday night. He dominated the field in the closing 30 laps of the race to capture his 46th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win.

    It was his fifth triumph at the .75-mile short track and may have been his most challenging win at Richmond. Busch started in 32nd place but was able to maneuver his way to a sixth-place finish in both Stage 1 and Stage 2. It wasn’t until the closing laps of the third stage, however, that Busch began to make his presence known. He led three times (Lap 273, Laps 371-390, and Laps 392-402) for 32 laps) on his drive to Victory Lane.

    He spoke about his winning streak and the possibility of four in a row as the series travels to Talladega Superspeedway next week and the unpredictability of restrictor plate racing.

    “It’s definitely cool we’ve won three in a row,” Busch said. “We did it a couple years ago, and now I don’t know if you can shoot for four in a row. It’s hard to go to Talladega with that much of a winning streak and think that you can go to Victory Lane, but we’re going to go there anyway and give it a shot.

    “We’ll see what we can do … I think it’s easier to win the Power Ball than to win at Talladega.”

    Chase Elliott finished second, after taking advantage of the late-race cautions to gradually work his way to the front of the field for the final restart in overtime but he was unable to overtake Busch.

    “Yeah, just very fortunate circumstances there at the end for us, with the way the restarts went,” Elliott said. “Having a short run there at the end was definitely in our favor. So it was nice to be on the good end of things for the first time in a while.

    “Looking forward, we have to be realistic about how we ran tonight. I think the result shouldn’t weigh into how hard we worked this week because we have some work to do. I think that we have to keep that in mind.”

    Denny Hamlin took third place followed by a disappointed Joey Logano who finished fourth after winning Stage 1 and 2,

    “You know, we had a really good Shell Pennzoil Ford early in the race and got a couple stage wins early which was great. We maxed out those points which is awesome. We just lost the handle on the car and fell back to sixth or so. We had a bad pit stop and lost a bunch of spots and then had a really good pit stop and got them all right back and were able to come home with a top-five. I wish I could re-run that. I feel like we can do better if we tried again. I am sure the whole field would say that. I am proud of the speed we showed at Richmond. Just want to be a little better.”

    Kevin Harvick rounds out the top five finishers in the Toyota Owner’s 400.

    Busch retains the points lead after Richmond followed by Logano (-56), Clint Bowyer (-86), Harvick (-91) and Brad Keselowski in fifth (-112).

    Next week the action continues when the Monster Energy Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the Geico 500.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Richmond-Raceway-MENCS-Unofficial-Race-Results-Toyota-Owners-400-4-21-18.pdf” title=”Richmond Raceway MENCS Unofficial Race Results Toyota Owners 400 4-21-18″]

     

  • Bell Holds Off Gragson for Richmond Win, Sadler Wins Dash 4 Cash Prize

    Bell Holds Off Gragson for Richmond Win, Sadler Wins Dash 4 Cash Prize

    Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    RICHMOND, Va. – In a long green-flag run fraught with spellbinding tension, Christopher Bell held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Noah Gragson to win Friday night’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway.

    Bell spoiled Gragson’s prospects for a victory in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut, passing his teammate for the lead on Lap 172 of 250 and staying in front — if only just barely — the rest of the way.

    RELATED: Race results | Sadler receives Dash 4 Cash check

    Bell crossed the finish line .423 seconds ahead of Gragson, after the driver of the No. 18 Toyota got to the bumper of Bell’s No. 20 in the closing laps.

    Virginia native Elliott Sadler ran third and claimed a $100,000 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus, though he remained winless and frustrated at his home track. It was Sadler’s fourth career win under the Dash 4 Cash program.

    “I had to work for it,” Bell said of his second career victory, his first of the season and his first at Richmond. “My teammate was really good. I knew throughout both practices that both of our cars were going to be really strong.

    “Joe Gibbs Racing has been producing really, really fast Camrys for the last couple weeks, and it’s really shown … All in all, it was enough to stay in front of him at the end.”

    During the final 79-lap run, Gragson fell behind by as much as 1.5 seconds, but when Bell hit traffic, Gragson closed in, trimming his deficit to a half-second with 20 laps left. At the 18-to-go mark, Gragson turned up the pressure and closed up to Bell’s rear bumper in the final laps but couldn’t get in position to make a clean winning move.

    “It’s tough,” Gragson said of his first Xfinity start. “I found a little something in the track, a little speed there at the end of the second stage on old tires, and I kept it in my memory banks till the end, and I told my team, ‘I’ve got something when it’s time to go — just tell me when.’

    “And about 18 to go, I told them, ‘I can’t wait any longer; I don’t have any more patience.’ And I ran Christopher down about two or three car lengths.”

    Matt Tifft ran fourth in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, followed by Austin Cindric with a career-best fifth. Bell, Sadler, Tifft and Cindric earned eligibility for the Dash 4 Cash bonus next Saturday at Talladega.

    Sadler won the second stage, got the bonus and retained the series lead by 29 points over Bell but said he would trade the cash for a win at Richmond.

    “I had a real strong run in that second stage,” Sadler said. “I was just a little bit tighter (handling) than I wanted to be at the end of the race. We can’t hang our heads. We won the Dash 4 Cash, and we’re part of the Dash 4 Cash going to Talladega next week, too.

    “But we always want to win at this race track, and it’s a shame to come up short tonight.”

    Pole winner Cole Custer ran sixth, followed by Ryan Truex, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Reed and Brandon Jones.