Posted on by Staff Report

Martin Truex Jr’s racing-winning No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has passed post-race inspection with no issues at Richmond Raceway.

The No. 19 Toyota was found to be compliant with the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book following Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400. With the post-race teardown complete, the race results are official.

RELATED: Race results | Full schedule for Talladega

Officials have randomly selected the No. 11 JGR Toyota of Denny Hamlin back to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina for routine evaluation. Hamlin finished fifth in Saturday night’s race.

The post-race process is part of a new, more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced in February that thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions — “a total culture change,” according to Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer. In the past, race-winning teams found in violation of the rules were penalized with post-race fines, points deductions and/or suspensions, but victories were allowed to stand.

Competition officials introduced the quicker post-race inspection timetable in an effort to make the results official on race day, aiming for a 90-minute target time frame to complete their scrutineering. The new post-race inspection process was also designed to deal with potential violations more promptly, avoiding any midweek news that might cloud the previous week’s results or the build-up to the following week’s event.

NASCAR will still inspect cars and parts at the R&D Center as needed to evaluate technical trends, but the more comprehensive at-track inspection will take priority.

According to NASCAR statistical archives, the last time a premier-series driver was disqualified occurred in 1973, when early retiree Buddy Baker was demoted to last place in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The last time an apparent race winner in NASCAR’s top division was disqualified came on April 17, 1960, when Emanuel Zervakis’ victory at Wilson (N.C.) Speedway was thrown out because of an oversized fuel tank on his No. 85 Chevrolet.

Posted on by Staff Report

RICHMOND, Va. — Clint Bowyer stalked race leader Martin Truex Jr. over the final 50 laps Saturday night at Richmond Raceway, saving his tires and using his long-run speed to eventually track down and catch Truex Jr.’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Catching him, yes. Passing him was a different matter.

Bowyer pulled his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford right alongside Truex Jr. several times in the waning laps, but couldn’t quite make the race-winning pass in what was a thrilling conclusion to the Toyota Owners 400.

MORE: Truex wins at Richmond | Race results

“We were the fastest car on the long run,” said Bowyer, who methodically moved his way up from the 14th starting spot. “We were clearly not the fastest car. One of the fastest cars is sitting over there in Victory Lane. We had better long-run speed than them. We raced better than them. We made some good adjustments that woke our car up, and we did a good job of working on our car because no, we unloaded and qualified terrible.

“Good track for me and good adjustments on his behalf, and our pit crew was good. It’s a team effort and we pulled through and prevailed with a good finish, but damn, you get that close, you want to win that thing.”

Seeking his first win of 2019 and third career victory at Richmond, Bowyer gradually eased into contention and benefited from his car’s long-run capabilities when the final 148 laps went caution-free. As he continued to chip into the lead margin, his spotter, Brett Griffin, kept up the encouragement: “Sittin’ pretty, man. My money’s on you.”

That challenge, though, faded over the final five laps after a scrape of the wall as Truex held on for his first career win at a short track. The extra wear on Bowyer’s equipment in chasing down Truex allowed Joey Logano to slip by for second place with the laps dwindling.

“I don’t know what I could have done any different,” Bowyer told FOX Sports right after the race. “You hate to get that close. I thought this was our night.”

For the No. 14 bunch, there was some consolation in bringing home the team’s fourth consecutive top-10 finish. Saturday night’s effort followed another strong run last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway and marked the second straight year that Bowyer notched top 10s at the Martinsville-Texas-Bristol-Richmond spring stretch.

“Regardless of what some people may think, I really felt like the last four weeks, we’ve had a car that was just as capable of winning as the guy who won,” said crew chief Mike Bugarewicz. “Just can’t seem to close it out.”

Contributing: Zack Albert

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RICHMOND, Va. – Saturday night’s victory in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway was a first for Martin Truex Jr.—and more of the same for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Truex won his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on a short track in his 81st try and in the process picked up his first victory with Joe Gibbs Racing since moving from now-defunct Furniture Row Racing between seasons.

At the same time, Truex gave JGR its third straight victory in NASCAR’s top series and sixth in nine races this season. Joey Logano finished .178 seconds behind the race winner, as Gibbs and Team Penske maintained their stranglehold on the premier division. Penske drivers Logano and Brad Keselowski triumphed in the three races JGR hasn’t won.

RELATED: Race results
SHOP: Truex gear

“It means a lot to break through, especially here at Richmond,” said Truex, who won for the first time this season and the 20th time in his career. “I’ve always really enjoyed this track. I’ve always loved coming here. The short track win–everybody kept asking me when it was going to happen.

“I was struggling the last 40 laps. I had no front tire and got real tight that last run. I just had to hold them off. Thanks to the pit crew—they had a great night. I’m just really happy to get our first win with Gibbs. First short-track win is pretty awesome, too.

“Tonight, we didn’t have the best car, but we’ve lost here with the best car a bunch of times. We just fought and battled. Being out front was just the key.”

Logano got past third-place finisher Clint Bowyer in the closing laps and got a strong run off of Turn 2 on the final circuit, but Logano couldn’t find a way around Truex through the last two corners. To his credit, the reigning series champion kept it clean, opting not to move Truex as he had done on the final lap in last year’s Playoff race at Martinsville.

“I figured something out there toward the end with about 10 laps to go to make ups some speed,” Logano said. “I got a decent run off of (Turn) 2 the last lap… I though I could maybe get to the outside and then roll momentum—I don’t know.

“I couldn’t roll the bottom and get enough drive off of (Turn) 4 either way. My only move was to go up. I slid up and I got tight and couldn’t turn underneath him. Fun race, but, gosh, two weeks in a row I felt like we had a car that could win the race, and we haven’t won.

“That’s a little frustrating, but when you’re frustrated with second, that’s a good sign about where your team’s at.”

Two seconds behind Truex with 40 laps left, Bowyer quickly closed the deficit and made a move to the inside of Truex’s No. 19 Toyota with 17 laps to go, but Truex protected the outside and kept enough momentum to keep Bowyer behind him.

With fewer than 10 laps left, Bowyer brushed the wall and surrendered the second position when Logano got to his outside off of Turn 4.

RELATED: Bowyer’s rally falls short

“It’s frustrating,” said Bowyer, who scored his fourth straight top-10 result. You get out there, and I ran him (Truex) down. I was faster on a long run than him, but by the time you get to him, your stuff is pretty wore out. And with this aero package, you are so aero dependent behind those cars that you get terrible tight.

“When I got behind him, I knew that wasn’t the place to be, so I changed that. I lost. It sucks. Then the 22 (Logano) got to my outside. I knew better than to let him out there, but I felt like when I was running high that I was probably losing ground to him. In hopes of still trying to win the race, I needed to stay on the bottom and hope that he slipped up in traffic or something. Next thing you know I lost my nose down there, and the 22 got to the outside.”

Pole winner Kevin Harvick ran fourth, followed by Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon. Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Paul Menard completed the top 10. Busch posted his ninth straight top 10 to start the season.

Busch led 101 laps—second only to Truex’s 186—but a speeding penalty under caution on Lap 131 after Kyle Larson’s hard crash into the Turn 1 wall knocked Busch back to 26th. Busch was unable to work his way back to the front, finishing eighth.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give you the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET

MORE: Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get the Fox Sports App | How to find NBCSN

Monday, April 15
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN:
12:30 p.m., MRN Outloud

Tuesday, April 16
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
9 a.m., The Tough Trucks of NASCAR: Episode 9

Wednesday, April 17
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Motormouths, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
Noon: NASCAR Coast to Coast
1 p.m., MRN Crew Call

Thursday, April 18
5 p.m. NASCAR America: Motorsports, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Friday, April 19
1 a.m., NASCAR The Decades: The 1970s, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2 a.m., NASCAR The Decades: The 1980s, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

Posted on by Staff Report

Joey Logano nabbed the Stage 2 victory in Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 Richmond Raceway after passing Martin Truex Jr. in the closing laps

Truex Jr. led 63 total laps in the second stage before Logano took the lead away from him with five laps remaining in the stage. Truex Jr. was working to lap Logano’s Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney, when Logano was able to take advantage and make the stage-winning move.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Truex Jr. was able to hold on for second in the stage, followed by Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer.

After winning Stage 1, Kyle Busch was busted for speeding on pit road in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota during a round of stops on Lap 132. Busch worked his way back up to 15th by the end of the stage.

Kyle Larson’s night came to an eventful end when a right-rear tire went down at the entrance of Turn 1, and the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet slammed into the outside retaining wall. The tire rub was initially started when Larson made contact with Daniel Hemric on Lap 115, forcing Larson to make an unscheduled pit stop.

Finish Driver Team Points
1 Joey Logano Team Penske 10
2 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing 9
3 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 7
5 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 6
6 Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas Racing 5
7 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing 4
8 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing 2
10 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing 1

Stage 1

Kyle Busch captured the Stage 1 victory in Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.

Busch took the lead away from pole sitter Kevin Harvick on Lap 32 after Harvick led the first 30 circuits. Busch retained the lead after the first round of pit stops following a competition caution period on Lap 40.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Busch led a total of 70 of the 100 laps in the first stage for on his way to his fifth stage victory of the 2019 season.

Joey Logano finished second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Harvick and Clint Bowyer to round out the top five.

Finish Driver Team Points
1 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 10
2 Joey Logano Team Penske 9
3 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing 8
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 7
5 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 6
6 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 5
7 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing 4
8 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing 3
9 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing 2
10 Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas Racing 1
Posted on by Reid Spencer

RICHMOND, Va. —  On Saturday afternoon outside the Richmond Raceway media center, Stu Grant, Goodyear’s general manager of worldwide racing, unveiled a special sidewall all Goodyear tires will display for the Charlotte races on Memorial Day weekend.

This is the 10th year Goodyear will replace its familiar “Eagle” branding with an inscription honoring the United States military and fallen heroes. This year’s tires will display the lettering “Honor and Remember,” a national Virginia-based organization whose mission is to “perpetually recognize the sacrifice of America’s military fallen service members and their families.”

PHOTOS: Hamlin tours USS San Jacinto

“Goodyear and the military have always had a strong association,” Grant said. “We supply ground tires for a lot of military vehicles. We supply aircraft tires to a lot of military aircraft around the world. We’ve got programs to supply this kind of consumer tires to military bases around the world, and we’ve got a corporate initiative to hire veterans.

“Supporting the military is one thing, but what we want to do is also to support the fallen. That’s why we’re partnering up with Honor and Remember. They’re a terrific organization. They recognize the fallen, but in addition, they recognize the families of the fallen with a positive message.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Jimmie Johnson, who all initially qualified in the top 10 for Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway, will start from the rear after their respective cars failed pre-race inspection Saturday.

Jones had earned his first front-row starting position of the season in Friday night’s Busch Pole Qualifying with a best lap of 124.081 mph around the .75-mile short track, good for second behind Kevin Harvick. Elliott was slated to start seventh after a speed of 123.153 mph.

MORE: Full lineup | Lineup in photos

Suarez was close behind Elliott at 122.610 mph, good for ninth on the board, and Johnson had initially qualified 10th at 122.166 mph.

Those times all were disallowed after the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (of Elliott), No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (of Johnson), No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (of Jones) and No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (of Suarez) failed pre-race inspection Saturday afternoon ahead of the series’ ninth race of the season (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX).

Additional failures outside of the top 10 are: the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Aric Almirola (had qualified 15th), the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Denny Hamlin (had qualified 18th), the No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford of Matt Tifft (had qualified 20th) and the No. 66 Motorsports Business Toyota of Joey Gase (had qualified 36th).

The No. 9 of Elliott, No. 11 of Hamlin and No. 36 of Tifft all failed a second time, meaning each team will have a crew member ejected. All cars that fail must go through inspection again, with additional penalties on the line should the cars fail multiple instances.

Richmond is an enhanced at-track weekend, meaning that all Monster Energy Series cars were impounded Friday after qualifying, then put through inspection once the garage opened Saturday. A single failure during an enhanced weekend results in the qualifying time being disallowed, putting those cars at the rear of the field.

MORE: Keys to tonight’s race

Inspection is still ongoing, and this story will be updated.

Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford passed inspection, and he officially is the Busch Pole Award winner.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick will start from the Busch Pole in Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Does the three-time Richmond winner merit a spot in your lineup? We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration.

PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the game works | Tips to set your lineup

Remember that the garage locks at the end of Stage 2. Once the final stage starts, your roster is locked in. There will be a competition caution at Lap 40.

RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Richmond:
1. Kyle Busch
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kurt Busch
5. Brad Keselowski
Garage: Kyle Larson

RELATED: Odds for Richmond | 10-lap averages | Podcast: Fantasy Fastlane

Analysis: Let’s start with who’s staying in my lineup with inspection complete. Kyle Busch won both races here last year and had the best 10-lap time. Despite no victories here, Truex has a history of running well at Richmond. Harvick won the pole and has seven top fives in his last nine Richmond starts. The No. 4 car was second on the 10-lap board and this team seems to be dialed in on speed after a few uncharacteristic weeks. The biggest bugaboo for Kurt Busch this season has been qualifying. He entered Richmond with a 20.1 average start and just one top-10 start in eight races in 2019. That changes at Richmond where he will start third and should be in position to improve greatly on his lack of stage points in 2019 — with only 20 on the season. He grabbed 15 stage points in this race last year starting sixth.

Initially, I was set to have Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez in my lineup but inspection failures have derailed that plan. I’m really bummed about the Suarez aspect of that given that I hadn’t used him yet and he was on a strong roll entering this race — this seemed like a great spot to plug him in. Keselowski jumps into one of the open spots for me as I have one more use on him than Joey Logano. Given Team Penske’s power on the short tracks this season — they’ve led 795 of 1,000 laps — it’s advisable to have one in the lineup. I was willing to risk not doing it before to save a use, but with some of my choices having inspection woes, the 2012 champion is the driver I feel most comfortable with as a starter.

I’m sticking with a similar strategy as I planned with the garage except instead of Suarez that spot now goes to Kyle Larson. I know what you’re thinking — RJ, you said on the podcast you wanted to see it. That is true, but with all the inspection failures, he will line up 10th and I like the odds of him grabbing some stage points. He has the third-most points in the past four Richmond races and led the lone practice. To be clear, this is a bit of a boom or bust play. I did consider Chris Buescher, who lines up seventh and had the third-best 10-lap average. He’s a sneaky play that is only owned by two percent of players (as of 3:30 p.m. ET). The potential to grab points others might not is really tempting but I am going to gamble on Larson. I’ve used the Ganassi driver once, so he is my “out.” Potentially it’s a wasted use if the 42 camp gets it turned around (and I think they will) but given how he has run so far this year (just two top 10s), I am willing to take the risk knowing that if my top five are running better, he stays in the garage. Denny Hamlin was also in the mix for one of these spots but lost consideration when he too, failed inspection.

For stage wins, I’m taking Harvick in Stage 1 and 2 with Kyle Busch and Toyota for the race and manufacturer win.

Each week in this space, we’ll also highlight two Props Challenge items for players.

MORE: Play the Props Challenge today

1. O/U Hendrick Motorsports has 1.5 drivers finish in the top 10. I initially was dead set on the over with my thinking being based on where they qualified Elliott and Jimmie Johnson would get it done. Now, though, I have shifted to the under following the inspection failures of the Nos. 9 and 48 that saw their times disallowed. I think they can get one of those two in the top 10 but I don’t like the odds of two cars doing it with those two at the back of the field to start and just one top 10 combined this season between William Byron and Alex Bowman through the first eight races.

2. O/U Martin Truex Jr. scores 10.5 stage points at Richmond. I’m taking the over here as well. I’m bullish on Truex turning it around this weekend. He’s hit the over in two of the past four Richmond races — on the opposite side those were both in the fall race. He’s starting fifth, so if he maintains that spot in both stages he will hit the over and I think there’s a strong chance he places higher in one of the two stages to improve the odds.

Posted on by Zack Albert

RICHMOND, Va. — Somewhat fittingly, Cole Custer’s No. 00 car captured a payday with some extra zeros in it. The other three Xfinity Series drivers vying for the Dash 4 Cash bonus at Richmond Raceway couldn’t quite cash in.

Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell had roundabout evenings in Friday night’s ToyotaCare 250, fading as Custer charged to his second win of the season. Reddick was the nearest challenger for the bonus for the second straight week, placing fourth. Briscoe wound up eighth with an ill-handling car, and Bell led 32 laps but dipped to 16th after sustaining damage on a restart near the end of Stage 2.

The night’s finishing order established the quartet of drivers eligible for the next Dash 4 Cash event, scheduled April 27 at Talladega Superspeedway. Both Custer and Reddick stay in the field, joined by Richmond runner-up Austin Cindric and third-place Justin Allgaier.

RELATED: Custer wins race, Dash 4 Cash prize at Richmond | More on Dash 4 Cash

Reddick’s bid for the $100,000 stayed alive until the final stretch, even as the power steering on his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet expired just before the second stage ended.

“That was interesting,” said Reddick, who remained the series’ points leader. “I’d much rather lose power steering here than at Bristol or some of these other race tracks, but it was a handful. Really couldn’t get the tires warmed up. I’d say that was the biggest hurt for us, it’s just taking off is a challenge. And when you’re racing around people or having to make quick moves, you just can’t when the power steering’s locked up like that.”

Briscoe’s moves weren’t quite enough to catch Custer, his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate. He battled variable handling conditions as the race transitioned from dusk to dark, all while cloud cover and the threat of rain persisted.

“It was a weird night,” said Briscoe, who secured his sixth straight top-10 result. “That first run of the race when the sunlight was out, we were able to drive up fifth and were kind of running down second through fourth and thought we were going to be really good. As soon as the sun went down, we just were in the way, I felt like. I don’t know. As soon as the sun went down, we just lost all of our drive.”

Bell’s evening was the most action-packed. He spent time up front battling early contender Allgaier, but his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota became jammed up on a restart after the halfway point, absorbing significant left-front damage. A few laps later, Bell spun, prompting the race’s fourth caution period on Lap 143.

 

Though he rallied back into the top five, Bell dropped six positions during the final pit-stop sequence, then faded further as his quest for a third straight Richmond victory evaporated.

“I don’t know,” Bell said. “Just trying to make it happen there on the restart at Stage 2. Just they bottled up and I ran right into the back of them and ruined our night.”