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RELATED: Read more Inside Groove | Race results

Whenever Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets wrecked on the race track — even accidentally — the opposing driver had better brace for backlash, because Junior Nation is coming.

 

Earnhardt’s Hendrick Motorsports cohort Jimmie Johnson learned that the hard way in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway after unintentionally getting into Junior late in the race. 

 

MORE: Johnson, Junior make contact

 

Not too long after the checkered flag flew, the especially charged-up Junior Nation — likely still reeling from the retirement announcement — came after Johnson hard, but ‘Seven-Time’ stood his ground.

 

It seems @junebug116 wasn’t the only one who thought Johnson needs to get his eyes checked — but maybe the seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion would be better off letting this one slide.

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RELATED: Race results | Standings | Detailed breakdown

 

Just 65 laps into Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scraped the Turn 3 wall while racing hard with Denny Hamlin.

 

But Stenhouse recovered to finish fourth at the .75-mile short track, matching his best result of the season, thanks in large part to a decision to stay out on older tires for the final restart on Lap 382.

 

Of six drivers whose crew chiefs made that call, Stenhouse fared best, holding off Kevin Harvick during an intense 10-lap battle for position.

 

"Yeah, I made a lot of work for us there, getting in the fence later in that first stage and really we were fighting back all day from there," Stenhouse said. "Had a really good car on the long run, but we bent the splitter bar down. Was on the splitter for five or six laps, so restarts, I was just trying to keep as best track position as I could, and once we got to Lap 6 or 7, my car kind of came back around to me. 

 

"It was a no-brainer there to stay out that last caution. I was glad it came out, because I thought we missed the opportunity the run before to stay out. It worked out perfect. Our Fifth/Third Ford and the guys never gave up, worked hard, and this track is a lot of fun in the sun. It’s hot in the car, hot in the stands, so I appreciate everybody coming out, and it’s nice to have I think four Fords in the top five, so it was cool."

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RELATED: Results | Standings | Detailed breakdown


RICHMOND, Va. – A third-place finish at Richmond International Raceway was little consolation for Virginia native Denny Hamlin, who craves victory at his home track but knows his cars aren’t yet fast enough to outrun the best in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

 

"Yeah, it was about as good as we had," Hamlin said. "You know, we just didn’t have the speed that the other cars had. But we optimized our day. It’s the best we could do. We finished right where we should have."

 

Hamlin thought he and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch might have the opportunity to steal a win when eventual Toyota Owners 400 race winner Joey Logano and runner-up Brad Keselowski stayed out on old tires under caution on Lap 368 of 400. A subsequent caution on Lap 377, however, gave Logano and Keselowski another chance to come to pit road and put the cars back on equal footing.

 

"There was a moment where the two Penske cars stayed out, and we pitted, and that’s where I thought, ‘OK, this could be the chance that we have to steal it,’ " Hamlin said. "But then we had another caution, and then they came in and pitted with us. We knew we had to do something different to beat those guys. We weren’t going to be able to beat them straight up. We had to either beat them off pit road, or we had to be on a different tire strategy.

 

"And the only way to be on a different tire strategy is we were going to have to hope they didn’t pit, and they didn’t, and my eyes got really big at that moment thinking, ‘This could be our chance to level the playing field and race these guys.’ But we had another caution, and it kind of screwed all that up."

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Editor’s note: Every Friday during the season, "Tweets You Might Have Missed" presents eight of the best NASCAR-related tweets from the week. 



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At a Glance 

What: Toyota Owners 400

Where: Richmond International Raceway, .75-mile oval in Richmond, Virginia

When: Sunday, April 30

Green flag: 2:14 p.m. ET

TV/Radio: FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio 

Forecast: Mostly sunny with a high near 89, according to the National Weather Service. Southwest winds at 8 to 11 mph.

National anthem: Sophia Nadder, 14-year-old singer from Midlothian, Virginia

Grand Marshal: Major Eric Phillips, Toyota owner with Priority Toyota of Richmond

Race distance: 400 laps, 300 miles

Pit road speed: 40 mph 

Caution car speed: 45 mph

Stage lengths: Stage 1 ends on Lap 100. Stage 2 ends on Lap 200. Final stage is scheduled to end on Lap 400.

 

Key story lines

• In a bit of breaking news Sunday morning, Joey Logano was sent to the rear of the field | Read more


• Yes, Dale Jr. is retiring after 2017. Plenty of young drivers are ready to step up, though | Read more

•  Jimmie Johnson is closing in on NASCAR legends on the all-time wins list … and is going for three wins in a row | Read more

 

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BUY TICKETS: See the races at Richmond
FINAL PRACTICE: Full results | Top 10-lap times


A fast lap of 119.074 mph put Kyle Larson’s No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet at the top of the leaderboard in Saturday’s final practice at Richmond International Raceway. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader turned 84 laps in the 50-minute session, more than any other driver in the field.

Furniture Row Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. (119.016 mph) and Erik Jones (118.702 mph) were second- and fourth-fastest, respectively. Both drivers have recorded top-five speeds in all three practices (Truex’s No. 78 Toyota led the opening practice, while Jones’ No. 77 Toyota topped the second session).

Sandwiched between the Furniture Row wheelmen in third was Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson, whose No. 48 Chevrolet clocked in at 118.801 mph. Johnson’s teammate Chase Elliott rounded out the top five with a fast lap of 118.452 mph in his No. 24 Chevrolet.

After battling a car issue in Saturday’s opening session and coming up 31st on the leaderboard, Kurt Busch nabbed the sixth-fastest speed in the field in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford during final practice.

The XFINITY Series is on track at Richmond next for the ToyotaCare 250 race (1 p.m. ET, FS1).

PRACTICE 2: Full results | Top 10-lap times

Earlier in the day, Erik Jones wheeled his No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota at 120.714 mph, nabbing the top spot on the speed charts during Saturday morning’s opening practice at Richmond International Raceway.

The Monster Energy Series rookie, who topped the leaderboard early in the 55-minute session, was second-fastest in Friday’s lone practice to his teammate Martin Truex Jr.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick was second on the leaderboard Saturday, his No. 4 Ford clocking a fast lap of 120.048 mph. Richard Childress Racing’s Paul Menard was third-fastest (120.005 mph) in his No. 27 Chevrolet, while JTG Daugherty Racing’s Chris Buescher ranked fourth in the field (119.973 mph from his No. 37 Chevrolet). Friday’s practice leader Truex Jr. completed the top five with a 119.941-mph lap in his No. 78 Toyota.

Pole-sitter Matt Kenseth was 11th-fastest in the field in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who announced his retirement from full-time racing after 2017 on Tuesday, was 10th on the leaderboard.

In the middle of the 55-minute session, Kurt Busch radioed his team that he thought his No. 41 Ford was "on seven cylinders" and brought the car into the garage for examination. He returned to the track a little over 20 minutes later and told his team that he thought they "fixed it, whatever it was," ending the session 31st on the leaderboard.

The following teams were held for the first 15 minutes of Saturday’s opening session due to infractions: No. 1 of Jamie McMurray (failing LIS twice), No. 17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (failing LIS second time through) and No. 21 of Ryan Blaney (failing template twice).

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BUY TICKETS: See the races at Richmond

PRACTICE 1: RESULTS

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 5 Kasey Kahne 1 10 119.324
2 95 Michael McDowell 2 11 119.207
3 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 3 12 119.082
4 4 Kevin Harvick 1 10 119.074
5 19 Daniel Suarez # 3 12 118.926
6 32 Matt DiBenedetto 2 11 118.229
7 3 Austin Dillon 9 18 117.340
8 24 Chase Elliott 16 25 116.227


PRACTICE 2: RESULTS

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 77 Erik Jones # 1 10 118.876
2 4 Kevin Harvick 1 10 118.670
3 27 Paul Menard 1 10 118.664
4 37 Chris Buescher 2 11 118.621
5 11 Denny Hamlin 2 11 118.596
6 3 Austin Dillon 2 11 118.584
7 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2 11 118.561
8 20 Matt Kenseth 1 10 118.523
9 31 Ryan Newman 2 11 118.455
10 10 Danica Patrick 2 11 118.404
11 22 Joey Logano 1 10 118.374
12 47 AJ Allmendinger 1 10 118.189
13 34 Landon Cassill 3 12 118.010
14 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 4 13 118.000
15 6 Trevor Bayne 2 11 117.973
16 18 Kyle Busch 2 11 117.915
17 38 David Ragan 3 12 117.789
18 14 Clint Bowyer 2 11 117.677
19 1 Jamie McMurray 3 12 117.664
20 32 Matt DiBenedetto 1 10 117.589
21 19 Daniel Suarez # 2 11 117.587
22 48 Jimmie Johnson 17 26 117.531
23 43 Aric Almirola 1 10 117.522
24 23 Gray Gaulding # 2 11 117.358
25 13 Ty Dillon # 1 10 117.356
26 5 Kasey Kahne 2 11 116.793
27 42 Kyle Larson 14 23 116.467
28 95 Michael McDowell 6 15 116.412
29 41 Kurt Busch 24 33 116.228
30 78 Martin Truex Jr. 21 30 115.958
31 24 Chase Elliott 20 29 115.916
32 2 Brad Keselowski 19 28 115.198
33 51 * Timmy Hill(i) 1 10 113.336

FINAL PRACTICE: RESULTS

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 78 Martin Truex Jr. 1 10 117.521
2 11 Denny Hamlin 2 11 117.384
3 42 Kyle Larson 1 10 117.379
4 20 Matt Kenseth 1 10 117.337
5 24 Chase Elliott 2 11 117.160
6 5 Kasey Kahne 1 10 117.145
7 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 10 117.038
8 18 Kyle Busch 2 11 116.993
9 14 Clint Bowyer 1 10 116.962
10 1 Jamie McMurray 1 10 116.886
11 48 Jimmie Johnson 1 10 116.856
12 21 Ryan Blaney 1 10 116.847
13 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2 11 116.759
14 77 Erik Jones # 1 10 116.696
15 6 Trevor Bayne 2 11 116.651
16 22 Joey Logano 1 10 116.528
17 2 Brad Keselowski 1 10 116.488
18 3 Austin Dillon 2 11 116.444
19 19 Daniel Suarez # 1 10 116.428
20 43 Aric Almirola 2 11 116.349
21 31 Ryan Newman 2 11 116.263
22 4 Kevin Harvick 1 10 116.206
23 34 Landon Cassill 2 11 116.148
24 47 AJ Allmendinger 2 11 116.140
25 10 Danica Patrick 2 11 116.102
26 95 Michael McDowell 4 13 115.701
27 37 Chris Buescher 1 10 115.700
28 38 David Ragan 3 12 115.398
29 41 Kurt Busch 31 40 114.991
30 13 Ty Dillon # 1 10 114.965
31 32 Matt DiBenedetto 2 11 114.724
32 23 Gray Gaulding # 1 10 114.554
33 27 Paul Menard 28 37 113.997
34 83 * Corey LaJoie # 1 10 113.325
35 15 Reed Sorenson 1 10 113.209

* Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart. *Required to qualify on time, # signifies the driver is a rookie, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

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RELATED: Results | Standings | Detailed breakdown | SHOP: Winner gear

 

RICHMOND, Va. – Justin Allgaier had the best car in Saturday’s ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

 

Kyle Larson isn’t very good at Richmond—and isn’t bashful about saying so.

 

Nevertheless, when two late restarts played out at the .75-mile short track, Larson was the race winner in overtime, and Allgaier was a disappointed second, consoled only by the $100,000 check he collected as the winner of the XFINITY Dash 4 Cash bonus as the highest finishing series regular.

 

"It’s a bittersweet day, I’ll be honest with you," said Allgaier, who finished second to Larson despite leading a race-high 157 of the 254 laps. "I’m really dejected—I won’t lie to you. That’s going to hurt for a long time."

 

What stung so badly for the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet occurred in the final 15 laps of the race. Allgaier was leading, and teammate Elliott Sadler was closing fast on fresher tires, thanks to an aggressive pit call under caution on Lap 184.

 

But NASCAR had to call a caution on Lap 239 of a scheduled 250 when the engine expired in BJ McLeod’s Chevrolet. Allgaier hit pit road along with the other lead-lap cars, including Sadler, whose only option was a set of 17-lap scuffed tires.

 

Ty Dillon took the lead out of the pits on a two-tire call, but Dillon jumped the restart on Lap 246, mashing the gas before he reached the restart zone.

 

After a five-car wreck involving William Byron, Daniel Suarez, Brennan Poole, Harrison Rhodes and Kyle Benjamin slowed the field on the restart lap, and Dillon was sent to the rear of the field because of the restart infraction, Larson had the lead at Allgaier’s expense and controlled the overtime restart on Lap 253.

 

Restarting in the inside lane, Larson cleared Allgaier off Turn 2 and crossed the overtime line before a wreck on the backstretch caused the seventh and final caution and froze the field with Larson in the lead.

 

"I’m not good at this place, so a win is pretty neat," said Larson, who will start 18th as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 (on FOX at 2 p.m. ET) at Richmond International Raceway. "I still have to work on myself for long runs. I’m terrible on long runs.

 

"I was OK today, but (on Sunday) the competition is a lot harder. The drivers are better. Just have to be patient. Struggled in Happy Hour (final practice), so we’ll see how we are (on Sunday)."

 

Polesitter Daniel Hemric ran third, followed by Austin Dillon and Ryan Blaney.

 

Sadler retained the series lead by 41 points over Allgaier, but the driver of the No. 1 Chevy was frustrated, too. Sadler had race leader Allgaier in his sights, having closed the gap from 3.5 seconds to a couple of car-lengths before McLeod’s engine blew.

 

"I’m proud of the guys for taking the chance we did, and we definitely had the race won," said the Virginia native, who finished seventh on the set of scuffed tires. "It’s heartbreaking. We really wanted to win here at our home track, in front of our home fans."

 

Notes: Larson led 10 laps–the final 10… Allgaier won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus for the second time this season, having also taken the prize at Phoenix, where he also won the race… In his XFINITY debut, Kyle Benjamin ran consistently in the top 10 until he had to return to pit road to tighten lug nuts after what should have been his final stop. Mired in traffic, he was a victim of the Lap 246 incident and retired from the race in 32nd-place, seven laps down… Astute pit strategy helped Dylan Lupton to a 12th-place, lead-lap finish in his first XFINITY start of the season… Darrell Wallace Jr. finished sixth for the sixth time in eight races this season. His other two finishes are a pair of 33rds.

 

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MORE: Monster Energy Series owner standings | Camping World owner standings

Rk. Owner Car No. Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts. Attempts
1 Roger Penske 22 358 0 0 0 3 3 8
2 Chip Ganassi 42 304 -54 -54 2 1 11 8
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1 295 -63 -9 0 2 2 8
4 Joe Gibbs 20 293 -65 -2 2 2 12 8
5 Richard Childress 2 257 -101 -36 0 1 1 8
6 Kelley Earnhardt-Miller 7 254 -104 -3 1 1 6 8
7 J D Gibbs 18 254 -104 0 1 3 3 8
8 Rick Hendrick 9 251 -107 -3 0 1 1 8
9 Richard Childress 3 234 -124 -17 0 0 0 8
10 Richard Childress 21 228 -130 -6 0 1 1 8
11 Jack Roush 6 211 -147 -17 0 0 0 8
12 Jack Roush 16 198 -160 -13 1 0 5 8
13 Matt Kaulig 11 190 -168 -8 0 0 0 8
14 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5 186 -172 -4 0 0 0 8
15 Joe Gibbs 19 183 -175 -3 0 0 0 8
16 Chip Ganassi 48 180 -178 -3 0 0 0 8
17 James Whitener 28 160 -198 -20 0 0 0 8
18 Gene Haas 00 154 -204 -6 0 0 0 8
19 Maria Gonzalez Hernandez 24 150 -208 -4 0 0 0 8
20 Richard Childress 33 132 -226 -18 0 0 0 8
21 Maurice Gallagher Jr. 23 130 -228 -2 0 0 0 8
22 Rod Sieg 39 119 -239 -11 0 0 0 8
23 Mark Smith 14 112 -246 -7 0 0 0 8
24 Richard Childress 62 110 -248 -2 0 0 0 8
25 Tony Clements 51 105 -253 -5 0 0 0 8
26 Fred Biagi 98 104 -254 -1 0 0 0 6
27 Michelle Gosselin 90 100 -258 -4 0 0 0 8
28 Johnny Davis 01 99 -259 -1 0 0 0 8
29 Jimmy Means 52 91 -267 -8 0 0 0 8
30 Gary Cogswell 0 89 -269 -2 0 0 0 8
31 Tony Stewart 41 86 -272 -3 0 1 0 2
32 Bobby Dotter 07 83 -275 -3 0 0 0 8
33 Gary Keller 4 82 -276 -1 0 0 0 8
34 Danielle Long 40 72 -286 -10 0 0 0 8
35 Jessica Smith-Mcleod 99 67 -291 -5 0 0 0 8
36 Roger Penske 12 64 -294 -3 1 0 0 2
37 Rick Hendrick 88 49 -309 -15 0 0 0 1
38 Bj McLeod 78 49 -309 0 0 0 0 8
39 Rick Gdovic 46 47 -311 -2 0 0 0 3
40 Jessica Smith-Mcleod 8 47 -311 0 0 0 0 8
41 Danielle Long 13 23 -335 -24 0 0 0 8
42 Mike Harmon 74 17 -341 -6 0 0 0 8
43 Lynn Cockrum 25 12 -346 -5 0 0 0 2
44 Mark Smith 44 10 -348 -2 0 0 0 1
45 Pamela Sieg 93 7 -351 -3 0 0 0 7
46 Victor Obaika 97 4 -354 -3 0 0 0 6
47 Cindy Shepherd 89 2 -356 -2 0 0 0 6
48 Victor Obaika 177 0 -358 -2 0 0 0 1
49 Craig Martins 45 0 -358 0 0 0 0 1