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  • Hamlin rebounds with a dramatic Cup victory at Richmond

    Hamlin rebounds with a dramatic Cup victory at Richmond

    In a season that has been mired with on-track difficulties and misfortunes for Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, all three responded back with vengeance after emerging victorious in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 3, with Hamlin delivering in the late stages.

    The 41-year-old Hamlin for Chesterfield, Virginia, executed a pit strategy by pitting with less than 50 laps remaining to methodically carve his way to the front before overtaking William Byron, who was contending for the win through a different pit strategy as he pitted earlier than Hamlin, with five laps remaining. From there, Hamlin then fended off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick to grab his elusive first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2022 season and to become the seventh different winner through the first seven scheduled events. 

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Ryan Blaney captured his third pole in four races with a pole-winning lap at 119.782 mph. Joining him on the front row was William Byron, who posted a qualifying speed at 119.585 mph.

    Prior to the main event, rookie Austin Cindric dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang. In addition, Greg Biffle and Justin Haley were assessed drive-through penalties through pit road at the start of the event and had a crew member of their respective teams ejected from Sunday’s main event due to their respective cars failing Saturday’s inspection three times, which prevented them from recording a qualifying lap.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Blaney jumped ahead with an early advantage as he went on to lead the first lap and break away ahead of Byron, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and the field. Shortly after, Martin Truex Jr. battled and overtook Erik Jones for fifth place.

    With a series of battles ensuing around the three-quarter mile short track, the first caution of the event flew on the ninth lap when Kurt Busch fell off the pace through the frontstretch a lap earlier due to a fuel pump issue. As he was trying to limp his No. 45 Embrace Home Loans Toyota TRD Camry back to pit road, he then came to a stop on the backstretch as he was lapped by the field.

    Under caution, some like Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track. By then, Kurt Busch, who needed a push from a wrecker, took his car to the garage,

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 15, Blaney took off with another strong start as he retained the lead while Byron and Kyle Busch battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Ross Chastain, winner of last weekend’s event at Circuit of the Americas who restarted in sixth place, marched his way into third place after overtaking Truex and Kyle Busch before Busch reassumed third. Busch then tried to overtake Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the runner-up spot, but the latter was able to retain the spot as the run progressed. 

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Blaney was the leader by approximately six-tenths of a second over Byron and Kyle Busch while Chastain and Truex were in the top five. Briscoe was in sixth followed by Christopher Bell, Erik Jones, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick. 

    By Lap 50, Blaney continued to lead as he stretched his advantage to more than a second over Byron while third-place Kyle Busch trailed by more than three seconds. Chastain and Truex remained in the top five followed by Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin. Brad Keselowski was in 11th place ahead of Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson while Aric Almirola Chris Buescher, Cindric, Ty Dillon and rookie Harrison Burton occupied the top 20. Briscoe, who started towards the front, was falling back in 21st ahead of Daniel Suarez, Stenhouse, Cole Custer and rookie Todd Gilliland while Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Justin Haley, AJ Allmendinger and Cody Ware were in the top 30.

    Nearing the Lap 65 mark, Blaney stabilized his strong start and advantage to more than a second over Byron while Chastain was in third place ahead of Kyle Busch and Truex. By then, Hamlin was back in 11th while Keselowski marched his way into ninth place after overtaking Harvick. In addition, names like Cole Custer, Allmendinger, Corey LaJoie and Michael McDowell were lapped

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 70, Blaney, who had never led a lap at Richmond prior to Sunday’s event and whose best result at Richmond was 10th place that occurred during last September, captured his third stage victory of the 2022 season after leading all scheduled laps. Byron settled in second ahead of Chastain, Truex, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Bell, Logano, Keselowski and Harvick.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for their first round of adjustments and Blaney retained the lead after exiting pit road with the lead ahead of Chastain, Elliott, Bell, Kyle Busch and Truex while Byron fell back to eighth. During the pit stops, Alex Bowman was penalized for pitting outside of his pit box. 

    The second stage started on Lap 80 as Blaney’s No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang and Chastain’s No. 1 iFly Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out after Elliott, who restarted on the second row, spun the tires. While Blaney maintained the lead ahead of Chastain, Kyle Busch moved his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry into fourth place ahead of Elliott’s No. 9 A SHOC Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Bell was in third place. Behind, Logano and Byron battled for seventh place in front of Keselowski, Harvick and Hamlin while Truex retained fifth place. 

    At the one-quarter mark on Lap 100, Blaney, who was the only leader thus far but was experiencing brake shakes to his No. 12 Ford, was leading by nearly seventh-tenths of a second over Chastain while Bell, Kyle Busch and Elliott occupied the top five. Truex was back in sixth ahead of Logano, Keselowski, Byron and Harvick while Hamlin, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, Larson and Cindric were in the top 15. 

    Twenty-five laps later, Blaney continued to lead by nearly nine-tenths of a second over Bell, who overtook Chastain for the spot, while Elliott and Kyle Busch remained in the top five.

    Shortly after, pit stops under green ensued as Truex pitted followed by Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Buescher, Byron, Cindric, Harvick, Suarez, Reddick, Allmendinger, Bowman, Harrison Burton, Bubba Wallace, Larson and race leader Blaney. Soon after, Elliott pitted along with Logano, Chastain and Ty Dillon.

    Back on the track nearing the Lap 130 mark, Bell assumed the lead followed by teammate Hamlin, Erik Jones, Aric Almirola, Austin Dillon, Elliott, Briscoe and Gilliland, all of whom were on the lead lap but needing a pit stop. 

    By Lap 150, Bell continued to lead by more than nine seconds over teammate Truex, who was charging towards the front on fresh tires, while their third teammate, Hamlin, was back in third place. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon and Todd Gilliland had pitted while Almirola was in the top 10 and continuing to run on worn tires like Bell. 

    Shortly after, Almirola and Hamlin surrendered their spots on the track to pit along with Bell while Truex moved into the lead by Lap 155.

    At the Lap 175 mark, another round of pit stops under green commenced as Chastain pitted followed by Blaney, Harvick, Logano, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Keselowski and race leader Truex. Also pitting included Reddick, Bowman, Larson, Harrison Burton, Cindric, Ty Dillon, Suarez, Byron and Stenhouse pitted.

    Back on the track, Bell returned to the lead as he reignited his one pit stop strategy followed by teammates Hamlin and Truex, both of whom were trailing by no more than 15 seconds. Also on the same one-stop strategy with Bell and Hamlin included Erik Jones, Almirola and Austin Dillon while Truex was the first competitor on the track with four fresh tires and on a two-stop strategy.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 200, Bell continued to lead by more than six seconds over teammate Truex while Hamlin, Chastain, Blaney, Elliott, Logano, Kyle Busch, Harvick and Larson were scored in the top 10. By then, 17 competitors were scored on the lead lap.

    Eleven laps later, Truex reassumed the lead over teammate Bell with the conclusion of the second stage approaching.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 230, Truex claimed his third stage victory of the season. Behind, Bell made the one-stop strategy pay to perfection as he settled in second followed by Chastain, Logano, Blaney, Elliott, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Larson and Keselowski.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead followed by Bell, Chastain, Logano, Kyle Busch and Blaney.

    With 160 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Truex retained the lead as he took off with a strong start while teammate Bell fended off Chastain to retain the runner-up spot until Joey Logano joined the party. Not long after, Logano moved his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang to the runner-up spot over Bell’s No. 20 SiruisXM Toyota TRD Camry. Behind, Chastain got bumped by Blaney as he slipped out of the racing groove and was losing spots while Kyle Busch moved in fourth. 

    Under the final 155 scheduled laps, the caution flew due to Cody Ware getting into the Turn 2 wall after making contact with Erik Jones while Stenhouse also made contact with Ware. Under caution, some like Buescher, Suarez, Hamlin, Byron and Austin Dillon pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

    With 148 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Truex rocketed away with another strong restart while Bell issued another challenge on Logano for the runner-up spot. Behind, Kyle Busch and Blaney battled for fourth while Harvick battled with Chastain for sixth place. In addition, teammates Elliott and Bowman battled for eighth place.

    Four laps later, the caution returned when contact between Ty Dillon and Cole Custer entering Turn 2 created a chain reaction incident that resulted with Custer sending Cindric’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang spinning in a cloud of smoke. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Truex pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    With 137 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Byron maintained the lead followed by Suarez while Truex battled and overtook Austin Dillon for third place while running on four fresh tires. Teammate Hamlin and Blaney also made their march to the front while teammate Bell was being held up by Dillon. 

    Seventeen laps later, Byron was leading ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex, Hamlin and Kyle Busch while Blaney was in fifth ahead of the fourth JGR competitor, Bell. Harvick was in seventh ahead of Suarez, Larson and Austin Dillon while Chastain was back in 11th ahead of Bowman, Briscoe, Reddick and Logano.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Byron continued to lead by nearly half a second over Truex while Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Blaney remained in the top five. Harvick muscled his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang into sixth place followed by Bell, Larson, Suarez and Austin Dillon. By then, 19 competitors were scored on the lead lap.

    Nearly 10 laps later, pit stops under green commenced as Harvick pitted followed by Elliott, Bell, Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Reddick, Harrison Burton and race leader Byron. 

    Back on the track, Truex, who remained on the track, was leading followed by teammate Kyle Busch, Blaney, Larson and Suarez while Chastain, Briscoe, Logano, Bowman and Cindric were in the top 10. Byron, the first competitor with four fresh tires, was in 11th place despite being pinned a lap behind the leaders. 

    Under the final 80 laps, Blaney surrendered third place to pit along with Logano, Larson, Briscoe, Cindric, Kyle Busch, and Trackhouse Racing’s Suarez and Chastain. Then with 75 laps remaining, Byron cycled his way back to the lead as Truex pitted along with Bowman.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Byron was leading by nearly five seconds over Hamlin followed by Harvick, Truex and Bell. By then, sixth-place Kyle Busch was black-flagged for having tape on the front grille of his No. 18 Toyota, thus needing to pit to have the tape removed. In addition, Keselowski had made a pit stop under green.

    Not long after, another round of pit stops under green initiated as names like Austin Dillon, Harvick, Bell, Reddick, Elliott, Harrison Burton and Hamlin pitted. With more pitting, Byron continued to lead by nearly six seconds over Truex, both of whom were five competitors scored on the lead lap but still needing to pit.

    With 30 laps remaining, Byron continued to lead by less than three seconds over Truex while Larson, Blaney and Briscoe were in the top five. Meanwhile, Hamlin, the first competitor on four fresh tires, settled in sixth place followed by Harvick, Bowman, Logano and Bell.

    Ten laps later, Byron remained in the lead by more than two seconds over Truex and less than five seconds over third-place Larson. Meanwhile, Hamlin and Harvick, both of whom were running on fresher tires than the top-three competitors, were trailing by less than 11 seconds as they both continued to pursue the leaders.

    Another five laps later, Hamlin’s gap to Byron reduced to less than seven seconds and Harvick’s gap reduced to seven seconds while Truex, who was more than a second ahead, started to close in on Byron in a bid for the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Byron was leading by half a second over Truex while Hamlin moved into third place, trailing by less than three seconds. Soon after, Harvick overtook Larson to move into fourth place.

    With five laps remaining, Hamlin, who overtook teammate Truex to move into the runner-up spot despite being blocked by the lapped car of Harrison Burton, managed to close in and move his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry into the lead. Behind, however, Harvick made his way into the runner-up spot over Byron as Byron started to fade on worn tires while Harvick started to reel in on Hamlin for the win.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin and Harvick were running nose to tail with the former leading by four-tenths of a second over the latter. Then in Turn 1, Hamlin made a bold three-wide move on Almirola and Logano to clear himself of lapped traffic through the backstretch while Harvick was still trying to navigate himself through Almirola and Logano. With the gap stabilizing to approximately half a second, Hamlin had just enough muscle and power to cycle back to the frontstretch and beat Harvick by more than half a second to win. 

    The victory at Richmond was Hamlin’s fourth at his home track, the 47th of his Cup Series career and the 16th season where he has won at least one event. The victory was also a first of the season for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, which featured the all new Toyota TRD Camry in Victory Lane for the first time.

    Prior to Sunday’s event, Hamlin’s average-finishing result through the previous six events was 24.0 that was coupled with three DNFs, three results outside of the top 25 and no top-10 results as he was scored outside of the top 20 in the regular season standings. With the Richmond victory, Hamlin is now guaranteed a spot in the 2022 Cup Playoffs. 

    “Great strategy there,” Hamlin, who only led the final five laps, said on FOX. “[I] Just drove as hard as I could. Just so proud of this whole FedEx Camry team. Man, just never giving up. There was no doubt in my mind. Maybe just a little, but [the crew] got this car right there towards the end. Wow. Just unbelievable. We needed a data point. We needed something. A good run to balance ourselves on other tracks and obviously, I think we got it here.”

    Meanwhile, Harvick, who was seeking his first victory since winning at Bristol Motor Speedway in September 2020, settled in second place for his best result of the 2022 season thus far while Byron, who led 122 laps, finished in third place for his career-best result at Richmond.

    “Yeah, just really proud of everyone on our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for just staying in there, having a great strategy and doing everything that they did all day,” Harvick said. “It was really the first clean day that we’ve had all year. [Our] Cars have been fast. [I] Had a shot there at the end. I wanted to be close enough with the white [flag] to just take a swipe at [Hamlin], but the lapped cars there got in the way and I lost a little bit of ground. Still a great day for us and just hopefully, a little momentum in a positive direction.”

    Truex, who initially launched a challenge on Byron for the win, slipped back to fourth place despite leading 80 laps while Larson completed the top five on the track.

    “It’s frustrating, but it’s part of it here,” Truex said. “It’s part of the whole day. Obviously, we did good there for a while. [Crew chief] James [Small] did a great job all day with strategy, getting us upfront, getting us the lead. Our Auto-Owners Camry TRD was just super fast out front. Super fast in clean air. At the end there, I think we just tried to gamble and tried to gamble on beating [Byron]. He ended up doing our strategy, which we both screwed up. Obviously, heads up the other way, I think we had the best car, but it doesn’t matter. Overall, just really proud of our guys. A big step in the right direction from Phoenix. Completely different mindset coming here and after today, what we can do going forward. Excited about that.”

    Bell, Blaney, Bowman, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon finished in the top 10.

    There were 13 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 35 laps. Sixteen of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With their top-15 results, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott are tied for the lead in the regular season standings as they both lead by 19 points over Martin Truex Jr., 23 over William Byron, 26 over Joey Logano, 27 over Ross Chastain and 29 over Alex Bowman.

    Results.

    1. Denny Hamlin, five laps led

    2. Kevin Harvick

    3. William Byron, 122 laps led

    4. Martin Truex Jr., 80 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Kyle Larson

    6. Christopher Bell, 63 laps led

    7. Ryan Blaney, 128 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Alex Bowman

    9. Kyle Busch, one lap led

    10. Austin Dillon

    11. Chase Briscoe

    12. Tyler Reddick

    13. Brad Keselowski

    14. Chase Elliott

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Daniel Suarez

    17. Joey Logano, one lap down, one lap led

    18. Harrison Burton, one lap down

    19. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    20. Austin Cindric, one lap down

    21. Aric Almirola, two laps down

    22. Cole Custer, two laps down

    23. Erik Jones, two laps down

    24. Ty Dillon, two laps down

    25. Todd Gilliland, three laps down

    26. Bubba Wallace, three laps down

    27. AJ Allmendinger, four laps down

    28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., four laps down

    29. Justin Haley, four laps down

    30. Michael McDowell, five laps down

    31. Corey LaJoie, eight laps down

    32. Landon Cassill, 10 laps down

    33. JJ Yeley, 10 laps down

    34. BJ McLeod, 14 laps down

    35. Kurt Busch, 109 laps down

    36. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident

    37. Greg Biffle – OUT, Suspension

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first Saturday night event of the season at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, on April 9. The event is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Three Camaro ZL1’s qualify in the top-10 at Richmond Raceway

    Three Camaro ZL1’s qualify in the top-10 at Richmond Raceway

    William Byron will lead the field to the green Sunday afternoon from the front row after qualifying second.  

    FOX will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway live at 3:30 p.m. ET tomorrow, Sunday, April 3. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

    TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:

    2nd WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1
    5th ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1
    8th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ONX HOMES / IFLY CAMARO ZL1
    14th DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1
    15th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 A SHOC CAMARO ZL1
    16th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 GUARANTEED RATE CAMARO ZL1
    21st KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1
    23rd LANDON CASSILL, NO. 77 VOYAGER: CRYPTO FOR ALL CAMARO ZL1
    25th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1
    26th AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 ACTION INDUSTRIES CAMARO ZL1
    28th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
    30th TY DILLON, NO. 42 CHEVYLINERS.COM CAMARO ZL1
    31st COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 NATIONS GUARD CAMARO ZL1
    32nd RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 SUNNYD CAMARO ZL1
    36th JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1
    37th GREG BIFFLE, NO. 44 NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1

    TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:

    1st Ryan Blaney (Ford)
    2nd William Byron (Chevrolet)
    3rd Kyle Busch (Toyota)
    4th Chase Briscoe (Ford)
    5th Erik Jones (Chevrolet)

    FOX will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway live at 3:30 p.m. ET tomorrow, Sunday, April 3. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

  • RCR NXS Post Race Report: Richmond

    RCR NXS Post Race Report: Richmond

    Sheldon Creed Shows Never-Give-Up Attitude at Richmond Raceway in the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet

    Finish: 22nd

    Start: 13th

    Points: 12th

    “I really thought we were going to have a strong No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet today at Richmond Raceway. We started the race 13th and fired off decent at the beginning of the run. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay that way. We struggled for most of the day with handling issues and a lack of drive, but this Richard Childress Racing team never gave up. I’m so proud of them for all of their hard work. We’ve got some work to do in the shop and I will go back and study my notes for this track. We’ve got a lot of fight left in this team. On to Martinsville.”  Sheldon Creed

    Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Team Battle Hard at Richmond Raceway

    Finish: 18th

    Start: 4th

    Points: 9th

    “I thought we were pretty decent at the start of the race. Our Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet was free on entry and a little tight in the center. The main thing I needed at the beginning of Stage 1 was forward drive. It fired off better on that next run, but toward the end of Stage 2, I thought something happened to the left front. We were keeping up with the No. 7 car and then we suddenly got really tight. It was like a light switch. We pitted for tires and adjustments and got back inside the top 10 but with about 40 laps to go the same thing happened with the left front. It’s frustrating but we’ll bounce back next week at Martinsville Speedway.” Austin Hill

  • Herbst Scores Strong Fifth-Place Finish at Richmond

    Herbst Scores Strong Fifth-Place Finish at Richmond

    Monster Energy Driver Earns Third Top-Five of 2022

    Overview:

    Riley Herbst wheeled his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang to a strong fifth-place finish in the Richmond 250 Saturday at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The 23-year-old from Las Vegas started 24th in the 250-lap race around the .75-mile oval, but he didn’t stay there long. Herbst was 13th at the end of the first stage and thanks to quick pit work by his Stewart-Haas Racing crew, Herbst was among the top-10 for the start of the second stage, ultimately finishing ninth to pick up two valuable bonus points. The third and final stage consisted of 100 laps and Herbst was methodical on every tour of the track as the race stayed green through to the finish, with Herbst rising to fifth when the checkered flag waved to earn his third top-five of the season.

    Event: Richmond 250 (Round 7 of 33)

    Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series

    Location: Richmond (Va.) Raceway (.75-mile oval)

    Format: 250 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/75 laps/100 laps)

    Start/Finish: 24th / 5th (Running, completed 250 of 250 laps)

    Point Standing: 11th (179 points, 124 out of first)

    Race Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

    Stage 1 Winner: John Hunter Nemechek of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

    Stage 2 Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

    Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

    “That was good from qualifying so far back to finishing fifth. It’s just frustrating. I feel like we need to fire off better on runs and then start up front and we can win some races. We’ve just been coming from behind the whole year and it’s frustrating. All in all, though, fifth is better than a DNF (Did Not Finish).”

    Notes:              

    ● Ty Gibbs won the Richmond 250 to score his seventh career Xfinity Series victory, his third of the season and his first at Richmond. His margin over second-place John Hunter Nemechek was .116 of a second.

    ● There were three caution periods for a total of 24 laps.

    ● Nineteen of the 38 drivers in the Richmond 250 finished on the lead lap.

    ● AJ Allmendinger leaves Richmond as the championship leader with a 20-point advantage over second-place Ty Gibbs.

    Next Up:          

    The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Call 811 Before You Dig 250 Powered by Call 811.com on Friday, April 8 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.  

  • Ford Performance NASCAR: Blaney Wins Third Straight Pole, Takes Top Spot at Richmond 

    Ford Performance NASCAR: Blaney Wins Third Straight Pole, Takes Top Spot at Richmond 

    Ford Performance Notes and Quotes

    NASCAR Cup Series

    Toyota Owners 400 Qualifying

    Saturday, April 2, 2022

    Ford Qualifying Results:

    1st – Ryan Blaney

    4th – Chase Briscoe

    7th – Kevin Harvick

    10th – Aric Almirola

    11th – Joey Logano

    12th – Cole Custer

    17th – Harrison Burton

    18th – Chris Buescher

    19th – Brad Keselowski

    20th – Austin Cindric

    22nd – Todd Gilliland

    24th – Michael McDowell

    33rd – Cody Ware

    34th – BJ McLeod

    35th – JJ Yeley

    POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE

    RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford Mustang — THIS HASN’T BEEN YOUR BEST TRACK, BUT THINGS HAVE BEEN GETTING BETTER.  WHAT HAS CHANGED AT THIS PLACE FOR YOU?  “I will say it’s definitely not been my best place at all.  I struggled here really bad for years and I still don’t feel like I’m great here at all or let alone very good.  We’ve worked really hard on figuring out what to do better here from myself to how we kind of unload with the car to be more competitive in the race, and that’s been years in progress of me just trying to figure out what the heck I need to do.  I feel like everyone has done a really good job to bring a fast car.  Qualifying on the pole here is one thing.  Racing here is a completely other thing.  It’s great we got the pole, but now it’s time to switch to race mode and, ‘OK, what do we have to do to be able to hold on in the race?’  The new car is a little bit different here driving-wise.  It’s kind of a fresh start for me having a new car here at this place and just working really hard with everybody at Penske on the 12 team to figure out, ‘OK, what do I need to do to just get more competitive here.’  Even though it’s not in the playoffs this year, you don’t want to run bad anywhere.  You need to be able to adapt to different racetracks, so just a fast car and a lot of hard work.”

    HOW MUCH WAS SAVING THAT ONE LAP BY DESIGN AND THEN TO HAVE IT WORK OUT?  “We planned on running two.  I feel like most guys were better on their second lap and we just put down a good lap on our first lap and Josh called me off of two.  I think that helped out, for sure.  The air-pressure stuff, we didn’t really bank on having crazy high air-pressure for like we just need one lap, but it just worked out that way to where we were able to save half-a-lap on tires and I think that definitely played into it.”

    HAVE YOU SEEN THINGS CHANGE THE LAST 5-7 YEARS WHERE THIS SPORT HAS BECOME MORE CUT-THROAT TO WHERE GUYS HAVE TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO WIN?  “Yeah.  I feel like it’s all situational.  Obviously, the playoff system and the way it is you have to take your opportunity when you can to try to get in – win and get in.  The deal last week, a lot of people gave Ross a hard time for that, but he got moved first and he moved AJ back and the 48 was unfortunately just kind of an innocent bystander, but I thought it was fair game last week.  Restarts get more aggressive, ramped up than I’d say they used to be.  I wish I could tell you why, but that’s just kind of the way it is and you have to adapt and do the same as everyone else because if you’re not the aggressor, you’re getting used up by somebody else who is going to be the aggressor on these restarts and throughout the race.  I think just a huge emphasis on winning, especially when you’re going for your first win.  I think that’s fair, but that’s kind of the way things are right now.  You have to be the aggressor to an extent.  You can’t really do anything malicious.  I’ve never really been that way, but you have to do what it takes to try to win the race and put yourself in the best spot possible to have a good end of the season.”

    ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT TAKING CARE OF TIRES WHEN YOU MENTION RACING DIFFERENTLY?  “Yeah.  The tires fall off so bad here and you have to kind of be able to separate the two from qualifying.  You’re not gonna run any laps in the race like we just ran in qualifying as far as how you drive the car.  You just can’t abuse the tires like that or else you’re really gonna be struggling, so we made a really long run in practice.  We made one 45-lapper and just try to get your head back in that mindset of, ‘OK, this is what I’ve got to do to save my tires,’ and things like that.  It’s just such a different mindset from qualifying to the race here, I feel like, more than most other racetracks that we go to just because the pace slows down so much and your grip after three laps just continues to go away.  So changing that mindset up and trying to change your car up a little bit to account for that and hopefully, we hit it right and hopefully I can do a good job tomorrow and learn from what we’ve learned here in the past.”

    YOU WERE FASTEST IN 10-LAP AVERAGE?  “Yeah, I felt like we were OK there.  We’ll try to get better, just like late in a run – like 35 laps on.  There were some guys that were better than us, so just trying to work on that.”

    WHAT ABOUT THIS NEW CAR HAS ALLOWED YOU TO QUALIFY SO WELL?  “Yeah, it’s been really neat and fun Saturdays for sure.  I think that’s three poles in a row for us – every time we’ve qualified – Phoenix, COTA and here.  It’s been a lot of fun.  I don’t know.  I wish I could pull one thing out.  Obviously, really fast race cars.  Jonathan Hassler has done a great job of unloading pretty quick this year, right away, and then backing it up with pretty fast race cars even though some of the finishes we’ve had hasn’t really reflected on how we’ve been running this year.  I feel like we’ve had a really good year, it’s just trying to clean some stuff up and get some things better.  We’ve got really fast race cars.  I thought the race car kind of saved me a little bit today in the second round.  I thought I had a pretty ugly lap I put together and the car had enough speed to put up a good lap.  Everyone on the 12 group, Jonathan Hassler and everybody, is doing a good job and continue to do it.”

    CONSIDERING THE SEVERITY OF LOSING A WHEEL.  HAVE YOU SPENT MORE TIME FOCUSING ON THAT ASPECT OF YOUR PIT STOPS?  “It’s a big penalty.  We’ve tried to put a big emphasis on that from day one.  When there was a handful of guys who had that problem at Daytona that kind of got sorted out as far as the way they make the wheels.  To be honest with you, we’ve kind of been too hesitant on that to an extent of having too much torque on our nuts – making sure that doesn’t happen and it slows the stop down by making sure of that.  So, it’s a balancing act between the two.  How tight do you want these things to get torqued each pit stop, which you’re losing time, but the penalty and the risk is huge.  We have a great pit department.  They do a great job on figuring out what things need to happen and what things absolutely cannot happen.  It’s about communication, too, from changer and jackman.  I mean, those guys have to be on the same page.  If the jackman drops it early and the changer doesn’t know, it’s a bad deal.  We’ve put a big emphasis on it, for sure, but sometimes it kind of catches guys out to where you don’t know maybe if it’s loose and it comes off before you can even get to pit road.  It’s not like last year where I’ve got a few lug nuts off, I’ve got to come back down and put lugnuts on it.  You’re most likely not making it back to pit road if it’s that loose, so it’s a thing our team really has focused on because it’s a big penalty – for a lot of guys.”

    F1 ANNOUNCED A THIRD U.S. RACE BEING ADDED TO VEGAS.  WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT AND IS IT BECOMING A COMPETITION FOR THIS SPORT AND OTHER FORMS OF MOTORSPORTS IN THE U.S.?  “I don’t think it’s a competition.  Have at it.  Come over here.  I love F1.  I think if you ask anybody in motorsports, you’re just fans of other forms of motorsport.  You’re fascinated by what’s different and what’s the same, how they operate compared to us.  I got the chance to go to an F1 race in Spa a few years ago and it was really, really cool just to see their world.  There are a lot of similarities in how it operates, but a lot of different things, so I think it’s great.  It’s cool that they’re coming to two brand new tracks in the U.S. from Miami and then Vegas, so I think it’s great and it’s definitely not a competition.  It’s not gonna hurt our sport any.  I think it’s just great to have a different form of motorsport over here because for the longest time there were no F1 races in America very much and I think it’s good to have more interest from America into the F1 scene.  I think it helps motorsports all around,j so I would definitely like to go to the race if I get the chance next year, but, no, I think it’s just great for motorsports in general and I welcome them with open arms.”

  • Ford Performance NASCAR: Three Ford’s Post Top 10 Xfinity Runs at Richmond 

    Ford Performance NASCAR: Three Ford’s Post Top 10 Xfinity Runs at Richmond 

    Ford Performance Notes and Quotes

    NASCAR Xfinity Series

    ToyotaCare 250

    Saturday, April 2, 2022

    Ford Finishing Results:

    5th – Riley Herbst

    9th – Ryan Sieg

    10th – Parker Retzlaff

    16th – Ryan Preece

    29th- Joe Graf Jr.

    32nd – JJ Yeley

    34th – Joey Gase

    37th – Kyle Sieg

    RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang — “That was good from qualifying dead last to finish fifth.  It’s just frustrating.  I feel like we need to fire off better on runs and then start up front and we can win races.  I feel like we’ve just been coming from behind the whole year.  It’s frustrating, but, all in all, fifth is better than a DNF.”

    DO YOU FEEL YOUR RACE STRATEGY IS GOOD, YOU JUST NEED TO FOCUS ON PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING?  “I think so.  It’s just a fight to get our balance and then once we do get our balance we’re fast.  I think qualifying if huge and we’ve got to get it.”

    WAS STAGE 3 THE BEST THE CAR HAD BEEN ALL DAY?  YOU RAN FROM 12TH TO 5TH IN THAT STAGE.  “We didn’t have any setup changes all day through the stages.  It’s just track position.  We saved a little bit better than other people, but it’s just frustrating.”

    RYAN SIEG, No. 39 A-Game Ford Mustang – “The right-front tire is corded.  We struggled all day with that with the 75-lap runs and then we had a 100-lap run, so it just fell apart at the end.  All in all, it was a good day.  We knew it was like that, but we tried to manage with air pressure.  We made it better in the middle run and then this last run we tried to adjust and we got it turning too good, but we knew that we had to get camber out of that right-front for the air-pressure, but, all in all, it was a good day for our A-Game Ford.  We were so good the first two stages that I wanted to finish it off, but that long run fell apart on us.”

    DO YOU FEEL THIS TEAM IS COMING TOGETHER?  “Yeah, definitely.  We’re getting better and better each week.  We’re gaining on it.  Each week we’re closer to the top five, which is a big gain for us.  We just have to keep at it and luckily we go to another short track, so hopefully, this will carry over and we’ll pick up where we left off at the beginning of this race.”

    PARKER RETZLAFF, No. 38 Ponsse Ford Mustang – HOW ARE YOU MAKING THIS LOOK SO EASY IN JUST YOUR SECOND START?  “I passed a lot of cars and then we got a penalty on pit road, so I had to go back to last.  I just followed Noah and Josh up through the field and it ended up just working out for me.  It was just such a good car from everyone at RSS.  I don’t know.  I’m speechless.”

    HOW DID REALITY COMPARE TO VIRTUAL AND THE IRACING WORLD?  “It’s really a lot cooler just being on TV and everything and me being able to compete this good.  Hopefully, we can take this momentum to next week.”

  • Ty Gibbs overtakes teammate Nemechek for an Xfinity win at Richmond

    Ty Gibbs overtakes teammate Nemechek for an Xfinity win at Richmond

    In a classic short-track style of racing between two teammates who dominated and refused to lift out of the throttle, Ty Gibbs overtook, bumped, and fended off teammate John Hunter Nemechek on the final lap to win the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, April 2.

    The 19-year-old grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, started on pole position and was out in front for 114 of 250-scheduled laps, but came under attack from teammate John Hunter Nemechek, who led a race-high 135 laps, under the final five laps. Following a side-by-side duel, Nemechek appeared to have the upper hand at the start of the final lap until Gibbs bumped and mounted a challenge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate entering the backstretch. He then made slight contact with Nemechek that sent the latter out of the racing groove before snatching the lead back and having enough momentum to win for the third time in 2022.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Ty Gibbs notched his second consecutive pole of this season after posting a pole-winning speed at 121.836 mph. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 121.098 mph and was making his first of three scheduled starts with Joe Gibbs Racing.

    Prior to the event, Daniel Hemric, Jeb Burton and JJ Yeley dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Gibbs jumped ahead with an early advantage entering the first turn. Through the first lap, Gibbs retained the lead ahead of teammate Nemechek, Noah Gragson, rookie Austin Hill and Brandon Jones while a series of early battles ensued.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Gragson, Brandon Jones and Ryan Preece while Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg were in the top 10. 

    Two laps later, however, Nemechek muscled his No. 18 Safeway Toyota Supra to the lead over Gibbs’ No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra.

    By Lap 25, Nemechek was leading by more than three-tenths of a second over Gragson, who was reeling in the leader for the top spot. Gibbs was back in third ahead of Allmendinger, the leading contender for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, and Brandon Jones.

    Twenty-five laps later at the Lap 50 mark, Nemechek continued to lead as his advantage was more than four seconds over Allmendinger, who continued his methodical march to the front with a fast race car. Gragson was back in third followed by Gibbs and Josh Berry while Brandon Jones, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Mayer and Parker Retzlaff were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Justin Allgaier was mired in 11th place.

    By Lap 70, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Allmendinger while third-place Gragson trailed by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, Berry was up in fourth place ahead of Gibbs while names like Jeremy Clements, Ryan Preece and Brett Moffitt along with newcomers Derek Griffith and Rajah Caruth were a lap behind the leaders.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Nemechek captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the season. Behind, JR Motorsports’ Gragson and Berry settled in second and third followed by Allmendinger, who was held up by the lapped competitor of  Rajah Caruth. Gibbs settled in fifth ahead of Ryan Sieg, Parker Retzlaff, Brandon Jones, Hill and Mayer. By then, Creed was in 12th ahead of Riley Herbst while Daniel Hemric was in 15th ahead of teammate Landon Cassill, and Allgaier.

    Under the stage break and prior to pit lane being open for the competitors to pit, Gragson pitted to address potential brake issues to his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro. When pit lane opened, the field pitted and Nemechek retained the lead. Following the pit stops, Hemric was penalized for speeding on pit road,

    The second stage started on Lap 85 as Nemechek and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek jumped ahead to retain the lead followed by teammate Gibbs, who dueled with Allmendinger for the runner-up spot.

    Three laps later, the caution returned due to a brake rotor reported on the track in Turn 1 that came off of Gragson’s No. 9 Chevrolet as the Las Vegas driver continued to battle with brake issues.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 95, Nemechek rocketed away with another strong restart with the lead followed by teammate Gibbs while Sieg challenged Allmendinger for third place. 

    At the Lap 100 mark, Nemechek was leading by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Gibbs, who started to pressure his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot, while Allmendinger, Sieg and Berry were in the top five. Hill was in sixth ahead of Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Creed and Anthony Alfredo. Meanwhile, driver Kyle Sieg pitted after falling off the pace.

    When the race reached its halfway mark on Lap 125, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than half a second over teammate Gibbs while Berry, Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Hill, Brandon Jones, Alfredo, and Creed were in the top 10. Herbst was in 11th followed by Mayer, Cassill, Parker Retzlaff and Hemric while Alex Labbe, Jeb Burton, Preece, Gragson and Clements were in the top 20. In addition, 23 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    With six laps remaining in the second stage, Gibbs moved into the top spot and started to pull away from teammate Nemechek.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 150, Gibbs, who was mired in lapped traffic, captured his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Nemechek settled in second ahead of Berry, Ryan Sieg, Allmendinger, Alfredo, Mayer, Allgaier, Herbst and Parker Rtzlaff. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road for service and Gibbs retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by teammate Nemechek, Berry, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg. Following the pit stops, Berry was penalized for speeding along with Retzlaff for an uncontrolled tire violation. In addition, Stefan Parsons was penalized for removing the jack out of his pit box and onto the track.

    With 90 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as teammates Gibbs and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs muscled with the lead followed by teammate Nemechek, Allmendinger, Allgaier and Sieg, who was locked in a battle with Mayer.

    Fifteen laps later, Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Nemechek while Allgaier, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones were in the top five. Ryan Sieg was in sixth followed by Hemric, Mayer, Preece and Cassill while Hill, Alfredo, Herbst, Jeb Burton, and Brandon Brown were in the top 15. By then, 22 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Allmendinger, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Ryan Sieg, Preece, Hill, Mayer, Hemric, Herbst, Berry, Alfredo, Cassill and Jeb Burton.

    Then under the final 40 scheduled laps, the battle for the lead ignited between teammates Nemechek and Gibbs with the former having caught the latter as they dueled amid lapped traffic. With both making slight contact in Turn 1, Gibbs continued to fend off teammate Nemechek on the outside lane. Following an intense duel, Nemechek managed to clear teammate Gibbs and reassume the lead with 33 laps remaining. Gibbs, however, fought back during the following lap after overtaking Nemechek entering Turn 3 and reassuming the lead despite getting bumped by Nemechek’s No. 18 Toyota. 

    With 25 laps remaining, Gibbs was leading by more than four-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Allmendinger, who was in position to claim the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, trailed by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, Sam Mayer, who was battling Allmendinger for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, was up in fourth place ahead of Ryan Sieg while Allgaier, Herbst, Brandon Jones, Berry and Preece were in the top 10. Racing in 11th place was Austin Hill, who was also contending for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus. 

    Five laps later, the gap between teammates Gibbs and Nemechek dwindled down to less than four-tenths of a second with Gibbs carving his way through lapped traffic while also trying to fend off Nemechek for the win. Behind, third-place Allmendinger was less than a second ahead of Mayer in a battle for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus.

    Another four laps later, Mayer overtook Allmendinger to move into third place as he placed himself to claim the first Dash 4 Cash bonus. By then, Gibbs overtook two lapped competitors to retain a steady advantage ahead of Nemechek. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gibbs remained as the leader by half a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Mayer was more than three seconds ahead of Allmendinger in a bid for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus.

    With five laps remaining, Nemechek narrowed the gap to less than three-tenths of a second over Gibbs as he launched another challenge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot.

    Shortly after, both dueled dead even for the next two laps until Nemechek peaked ahead with three laps remaining. Just as he cleared Gibbs for the lead, Gibbs fought back entering the first turn as he bumped his teammate. During the following lap, he bumped his teammate again in Turn 1 before drawing even with him through the backstretch. Gibbs then slid up the track and nearly spun his teammate, but Nemechek retained the lead by a narrow margin. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, teammates Nemechek and Gibbs were running in a close single-file line of one another before Gibbs bumped and launched a final challenge on Nemechek for the lead entering the backstretch. Then with both dead even entering Turn 3, Gibbs made contact against Nemechek’s No. 18 Toyota, which sent Nemechek wide on the outside lane and allowed Gibbs to reassume the lead and have all lanes in control entering the final straightaway. With Nemechek unable to regain his momentum, Gibbs streaked across the finish line with the win while nearly sideways by 0.116 seconds just ahead of Nemechek.

    Just after both crossed the finish line, Nemechek was quick to run into the rear bumper of Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota to express his displeasure before nursing his car back to pit road while Gibbs celebrated with victorious burnouts on the frontstretch.

    The Richmond victory was Gibbs’ third of the 2022 season, thus making him the first three-time winner of this year’s Xfinity season, and the seventh of his Xfinity Series career. All told, Gibbs and Nemechek led all but one of the 250-scheduled laps.

    “I definitely deserve one back,” Gibbs said on FS1. “We’re racing for wins and they’re hard to come by. I had to take it. We were just fighting tight [conditions] all day. Just couldn’t hold the bottom. John Hunter was just a little bit faster and we had a great race. Good for Toyota to finish one, two. [I] Just got in there deep, had to bump him out of the way up the track, so we’re short track racing. Thank you to Monster Energy. What a great car. This is awesome for Toyota. Cool to get our third win, so hopefully, we can keep it rolling ”

    “[Gibbs] and I will settle it on Monday,” Nemechek, who was left disappointed on pit road, said. “I don’t want to say too much to get myself in trouble, but [I] just got drove through. He didn’t even try to make the corner there, so racers never forget. That’s for sure.”

    Meanwhile, Sam Mayer came home in a career-best third-place, nearly six seconds ahead of Allmendinger, and claimed the first Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of the season. Mayer’s first Dash 4 Cash bonus also marks the fifth consecutive Dash 4 Cash initiative that has been claimed by a JR Motorsports competitor.

    Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images).

    “By the end of it, our Accelerate [Professional Talent Solutions] Chevy Camaro was as fast as Xfinity Internet,” Mayer said. “That’s a really feels good moment for us. Obviously, my best career finish and a hundred grand to go with it. It’s unbelievable. This team definitely deserves it.”

    Sam Mayer, race winner Ty Gibbs, fourth-place finisher AJ Allmendinger and fifth-place finisher Riley Herbst have qualified for the second Dash 4 Cash event that will occur next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

    Hemric finished in sixth place while Berry, Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg and Parker Retzlaff completed the top 10. Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier and Landon Cassill finished in the top 15 followed by Ryan Preece, Mason Massey, Austin Hill, Alex Labbe and Jeremy Clements. Noah Gragson settled in 21st place following his brake issues while Rajah Caruth and Derek Griffith finished 24th and 26th in their Xfinity debuts.

    There were eight lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 24 laps.

    With a fourth-place result, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 20 points over both Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson while Josh Berry trails by 76 and Justin Allgaier trails by 87.

    Results.

    1. Ty Gibbs, 114 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. John Hunter Nemechek, 135 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Sam Mayer

    4. AJ Allmendinger

    5. Riley Herbst

    6. Daniel Hemric

    7. Josh Berry, one lap led

    8. Brandon Brown

    9. Ryan Sieg

    10. Parker Retzlaff

    11. Jeb Burton

    12. Anthony Alfredo

    13. Brandon Jones 

    14. Justin Allgaier

    15. Landon Cassill

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. Mason Massey

    18. Austin Hill

    19. Alex Labbe

    20. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    21. Noah Gragson, one lap down

    22. Sheldon Creed, one lap down

    23. David Starr, two laps down

    24. Rajah Caruth, two laps down

    25. Brett Moffitt, two laps down

    26. Derek Griffith, two laps down

    27. Josh Williams, three laps down

    28. Kyle Weatherman, four laps down

    29. Joe Graf Jr., four laps down

    30. Myatt Snider, four laps down

    31. Bayley Currey, four laps down

    32. JJ Yeley, five laps down

    33. Jade Buford, five laps down

    34. Joey Gase, five laps down

    35. Stefan Parsons, five laps down

    36. Ryan Vargas, seven laps down

    37. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Engine

    38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Rear gear

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits this season to Martinsville Speedway, where the second of four Dash 4 Cash events will also occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Friday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Weekend schedule for Richmond

    Weekend schedule for Richmond

    This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series head to Richmond Raceway where the Next Gen car will make its debut on the first points-paying short track race of the season.

    The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will begin the racing action Friday with practice and qualifying, culminating with the ‘Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 150’ at 6:30 p.m. ET. The race will be televised on FloRacing.com (with a paid subscription) and radio coverage will be provided on MRN. The Camping World Truck Series is off but will return on Thursday, April 7 at Martinsville Speedway.

    All times are Eastern.

    Saturday, April 2

    8:30 a.m.: Xfinity Series Practice for all entries – FS1

    9 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (impound) Single vehicle, 2 laps, all entries – FS1

    10:30 a.m.: Cup Series Practice (Group A & B) – FS1/MRN

    11:15 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (impound) (Group A & B) Single vehicle, 1 lap, 2 rounds – FS1/MRN

    1:30 p.m. ET: Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250
    Distance: 187.5 miles (250 Laps)
    Stage 1 ends on Lap 75, Stage 2 ends on Lap 150, Final Stage ends on Lap 250
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    The Purse: $1,453,684
    Defending race winner: Noah Gragson

    Sunday, April 3
    3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Toyota Owners 400
    Distance: 300 miles (400 laps)
    Stage 1 ends on Lap 70, Stage 2 ends on Lap 230, Final Stage ends on Lap 400
    FOX/MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    The Purse: $7,110,735
    Defending race winner: Alex Bowman

  • McDowell to make 400th Cup career start at Richmond

    McDowell to make 400th Cup career start at Richmond

    Competing in his 16th season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Michael McDowell is scheduled to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Richmond Raceway, the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang will make his 400th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Glendale, Arizona, and a former champion of the Star Mazda Championship region, McDowell had made five career starts between the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series before being announced as a Cup Series competitor and in Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 00 Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, beginning at Martinsville Speedway in March 2008. McDowell’s promotion to NASCAR’s premier series came after Dale Jarrett, the 1999 Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer, retired from competition while David Reutimann took over Jarrett’s No. 44 Toyota. Starting in 34th place, McDowell finished 26th in his Cup debut after cutting a tire in the closing laps.

    The following weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, McDowell was involved in a horrific accident during his qualifying session, where he got loose entering Turn 1, veered into the outside SAFER barriers head-on at over 180 mph, rolled over on his roof and barrel rolled seven times down to the apron before coming to rest on all four wheels. Despite the wild ride, McDowell was able to emerge uninjured as his wreck exemplified the effectiveness of modern safety enhancements made, from the SAFER barriers to the HANS device and the 2008 Car of Tomorrow stock car, to keep the competitors safe in the event of an on-track incident. McDowell went on to finish 33rd in the main event.

    Following the Texas incident, McDowell continued to drive MWR’s No. 00 Toyota in the Cup Series from Phoenix Raceway in April through Kansas Speedway in September. During this span, his best on-track result was 20th at Richmond Raceway in September. McDowell, however, was released by the team for the rest of the season after he failed to qualify at Kansas Speedway in September.

    The following season, McDowell campaigned on a full-time basis in the Xfinity Series, starting with JTG Daugherty Racing before transitioning to MacDonald Motorsports and Whitney Motorsports. His first Cup Series start of the 2009 season did not occur until September at Richmond, where he drove the No. 36 Toyota for Tommy Baldwin Racing to a 41st-place result after retiring early due to an engine issue. He competed in seven additional Cup races with Tommy Baldwin, where he did not finish in all of them and was credited with a result no higher than 38th place.

    McDowell started the 2010 season on a high note by driving the No. 55 Toyota Camry for Prism Motorsports to a 14th-place result in the first of two duel races at Daytona International Speedway in February. The result rewarded him with one of two transfer spots to the 52nd running of the Daytona 500. During the main event, however, he finished 33rd due to a drive shaft issue. He competed in 23 additional events throughout the 36-race schedule, where he failed to finish in all but one race, which was at Talladega Superspeedway in October as he finished 35th, two laps behind the leaders.

    McDowell competed in 32 of the 36-race schedule in 2011 with nearly all of his starts occurring with HP Racing. His best result with HP Racing was a 30th-place result at Sonoma Raceway in June. Then in November at Texas, he served as an interim competitor in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota Camry and in place of Kyle Busch, who was suspended by NASCAR throughout the weekend as a result of intentionally wrecking NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. in the early stages of the Truck Series event at the Lone Star state two days prior to the Cup event. During the event, however, McDowell, who struggled with pace, finished in 33rd place, three laps behind the leaders. He went on to conclude the season in 36th place in the final standings.

    In 2012, McDowell remained with HP Racing that was renamed to Phil Parsons Racing. Driving the team’s No. 98 Ford Fusion in all but six of the 36-race Cup schedule, his best result was a 23rd-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in August as he settled in 37th place in the final standings, one spot lower from 2011. By then, McDowell surpassed 100 career starts in the Cup Series.

    Following the 2013 Cup season, where he competed in all but three races between three organizations (Phil Parsons Racing, Front Row Motorsports and HScott Motorsports) while achieving his first top-10 career finish during the 55th running of the Daytona 500 in February (ninth place), McDowell joined Leavine Family Racing to pilot the No. 95 Chevrolet SS for the 2014 season. He failed to qualify for the 56th running of the Daytona 500, but went on to compete in 19 of the 36-race schedule. His best on-track result during this span was seventh place in the rain-shortened Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in July.

    McDowell continued to drive for Leavine Family Racing in 2015, where he made 16 starts with the team and finished no higher than 20th place at Watkins Glen International in August, and in 2016 when LFR formed an alliance with Circle Sport and changed manufacturers from Ford to Chevrolet. Starting the 2016 Cup season in the No. 59 Chevrolet SS, McDowell finished in 15th place in the 58th running of the Daytona 500. He then split driving responsibilities of the No. 95 LFR Chevrolet with Ty Dillon throughout the season, where he finished 10th at Daytona in July, 12th at Richmond in September and 14th at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October. He concluded the season by finishing in 10th place at Homestead-Miami Speedway and a career-best 30th place in the final standings. By then, McDowell surpassed 200 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    The 2017 Cup Series season marked McDowell’s first time competing the entire 36-race schedule as he remained at Leavine Family Racing for a fourth consecutive season. Throughout the season, he earned his first top-five career result after finishing fourth at Daytona in July along with 14 top-20 results before finishing in 26th place in the final standings, which marked his first top-30 result in a driver’s standings.

    In 2018, McDowell moved to Front Row Motorsports to pilot the No. 34 Ford Fusion, where he replaced Landon Cassill. He commenced the season with a ninth-place finish in the 60th running of the Daytona 500 in February. He went on to record nine additional top-20 results, a career-high 33 laps led and a 26th-place result in the final standings for a second consecutive season.

    Returning to Front Row Motorsports for the 2019 season, McDowell started the season by finishing in fifth place in the 61st running of the Daytona 500. This marked his third top-10 result in the 500. He then achieved three additional top-15 results over the next 29 Cup races before he logged in another fifth-place result at Talladega in October. He went on to finish in 27th place in the final standings. Following the 2019 season, McDowell surpassed 300 Cup career starts.

    In 2020, McDowell notched a career-high four top-10 results throughout the 36-race schedule with his best on-track result being a seventh-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. He ended the season improving four spots from his result in the 2019 driver’s standings by settling in 23rd place in the 2020 standings.

    Then in 2021, McDowell, who returned to FRM for a fourth consecutive season, pulled off the upset by claiming his first elusive Cup Series victory in the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 after dodging a multi-car wreck on the final lap while running in third place. The victory snapped McDowell’s 358-race winless drought, which marks the second-largest winless streak in NASCAR history prior to a first victory and right behind Michael Waltrip’s 463-race drought prior to claiming his first win in the 2001 Daytona 500. With the victory, McDowell became the 40th different competitor to win the Daytona 500 and the 196th different competitor to win in the Cup Series as he recorded the first 500 victory for Front Row Motorsports. The 500 win guaranteed McDowell and his No. 34 FRM team a spot into the 2021 Cup Playoffs.

    The early momentum into 2021 for McDowell did not stop there as he finished eighth during the following weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, which was followed by a sixth-place result at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Seven races later, McDowell collected a strong third-place result at Talladega in April following a late battle with eventual winner Brad Keselowski. He went on to collect a seventh-place result at the Circuit of the Americas in May before entering the 2021 Cup Playoffs for the first time in his career. His title hopes, however, came to an end during the Round of 16 after finishing no higher than 24th during the opening round’s three events. Nonetheless, he finished a career-best 16th place in a season where he claimed his first victory, a career-high five top-10 results and a career-best average result of 20.5.

    Through 399 previous Cup starts, McDowell has achieved one victory, five top-five results, 18 top-10 results, 118 laps led and an average-finishing result of 29.0. His highest-finishing result through the first six scheduled events of 2022 is seventh, which occurred in the 64th running of the Daytona 500 in February, and he currently sits in 26th place in the regular season standings.

    McDowell is scheduled to make his 400th Cup Series career start at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 3, with coverage to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson posted a sixth in the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute To First Responders.

    “I started from the rear after failing pre-race inspection twice,” Larson said. “There was this one time in E-Racing when I failed during-race inspection.”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin dominated early at Richmond, winning Stages 1 and 2, but couldn’t track down Martin Truex Jr. in the final stage for the win. Hamlin settled for the runner-up spot.

    “I easily won the first two stages,” Hamlin said. “That’s called a ‘sweep,’ and believe you me, I can certainly find a use for that broom, because there’s some things I’d like to sweep under a rug.”

    3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex overcame a penalty for jumping the start at the green flag at Richmond, but easily made his way back to the front. He took the lead late when Kyle Busch was penalized for pit road speeding. Truex held off Denny Hamlin to secure the win.

    “Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas once said, ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you Finnish.’ He’s from Finland, by the way.

    “Given a few more laps, I’m sure Denny would have passed me. So, I know it pains him to lose. And it probably pains him more to lose to me, because my last name is ‘Truex,’ and the ‘Ex’ part of that is an unfortunate reminder for Denny.”

    4. Chase Elliott: Elliott fell a lap down after a slow pit stop midway through the race at Richmond, but recovered to post a fourth.

    “That pit stop could have been disastrous,” Elliott said. “But if you think a mistake in the pits is going to stop this team, then you don’t know ‘jack.’”

    5. Joey Logano: Logano finished fifth at Richmond, posting his ninth top-five of the season.

    “I’m right where I want to be in the playoff standings,” Logano said. “I plan to be there at the end. Unlike my Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, I’m in it for the long haul.”

    6. Kevin Harvick: Harvick posted a solid eighth in the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute To First Responders.

    “My car was primarily sponsored by Hunt Brothers Pizza and Busch Light,” Harvick said. “So being the No. 4 car makes total sense, because if you pair your Hunt Bros. Pizza with Busch Light, you almost certainly get two No. 2’s.”

    7. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished 10th at Richmond.

    “Here’s a joke making the rounds,” Blaney said. “How many letters are there in the ‘Kyle Busch alphabet?’ The answer: 52: two S’s and 50G’s.”

    8. Kyle Busch: Busch’s victory aspirations were derailed by a late pit road speeding penalty that resulted in a costly drive-through penalty.

    “I can’t blame anyone but myself,” Busch said, “but by golly, I’m gonna try.

    “My No. 18 Toyota sported the familiar M&M’s paint scheme. In light of my colorful language at Darlington, I’m surprised my car didn’t also have two ‘F’s‘ to go along with those two ‘M’s.’”

    9. Alex Bowman: Bowman came home 12th at Richmond.

    “The playoff field gets cut down to 12 drivers after the upcoming Bristol race,” Bowman said. “That’s called an ‘elimination’ race, so just for a night, the ‘Last Great Colosseum’ will be called the ‘Last Great Colo-see-you.’”

    10. William Byron: Byron struggled at Richmond and finished 19th.

    “The No. 00 Chevy of Quin Houff sported the ‘Trucker Appreciation’ paint scheme,” Byron said. “And that proves that this race was ‘rigged.’”