Posted on by Zack Albert

RICHMOND, Va. — Emotions ran high for Bubba Wallace on a steamy Sunday at Richmond Raceway, starting with a fitting tribute to the family of an associate and friend and ending with a generous gathering of points, but a finish that could have been even greater.

Wallace padded the advantage over his fellow NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs hopefuls in Sunday’s Cook Out 400, leading 80 laps and netting 16 extra points with top-five finishes in both stages. His 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota was shuffled back on a final restart, and Wallace settled for a 12th-place result.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Richmond

The outcome helped him remain in 15th place in the provisional playoff picture, now 54 points clear of the elimination line — doubling his pre-race margin.

“Good points day,” he told his No. 23 group over the team communications on the cool-down lap, punctuating his last radio transmission with a heavy sigh.

Hearts were heavy, too, for the team from the start. Freddie Kraft, Wallace’s longtime spotter, missed Sunday’s race after the death of his father earlier in the week. Wallace taped over his name on the driver’s door before the race, replacing it with Tommy Kraft’s name in Sharpie. Kraft’s fellow spotters marked off his place in the spotters’ stand, and Wallace also paid tribute to Kraft and his family over the radio in pace laps.

“Once I get past the frustration, I know it was a really good day for us,” Wallace said on pit road post-race. “Emotional day. I just happened to look right at the door. Freddie’s dad passed away, so racing with a lot there. He was driving the s— out of it. You know, I told him at the start of the race, like I’m just gonna sit back and let him wheel it, and man, we were awesome.”

The strength of the performance was company-wide as 23XI Racing dominated the first half of the event. Tyler Reddick’s No. 45 23XI Toyota led every lap in Stage 1 from the pole position, and Wallace moved up from his fifth starting spot to take second at the green-checkered flag. The two teammates traded places at the start of Stage 2, and Wallace headed the field at a track where he’d only led one lap in 10 previous Cup Series starts.

His edge faltered slightly during a Stage 2 pit stop when the car failed to lift off the jack during the right-side tire change. Even with the extra time on pit road, Wallace recovered and still finished fourth at the break, telling his crew: “10-4, we’re fine. Let me work, it’ll come back to us.”

“Good day, but we were better than that,” said No. 23 crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker. “We made a mistake. We still make some mistakes. I wish we’d get rid of those, but we’re getting better. But overall, a good day.”

Said Wallace: “Just had a hiccup of a pit stop, but just never really rebounded, recovered. Like, balance just went away. Man, it’s just hard. This place is tough, you know, finding the right line and the right balance, and we just fell off of it. So, one of the best here had the worst (final) restart — Harvick — and held us up, unfortunately, but it is what it is. We finished 12th. All in all, a good points day today. I don’t know where we’re at. We’ve got a pretty good gap, I’m assuming, so it’s good day.”

That margin provides some breathing room on a day when his closest pursuers had trouble. Michael McDowell remained in the 16th and final provisional playoff spot, and his buffer over the elimination line remained steady — now plus-18 and gaining a point on the outsiders — though he lost ground to Wallace.

McDowell led briefly for nine laps during a shake-up of pit sequences when the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team opted for a one-stop strategy in the second stage (Laps 70-230), while most other competitors favored a two-stop plan. McDowell went from an 11th-place finish in Stage 1 to 23rd and one lap down by the end of Stage 2, with a sluggish stop compounding the lost ground. He finished 22nd.

“We had a way faster car than we’ve had in Richmond, and I think I just screwed it up, so I apologize to everybody who likes the 34 team,” said Travis Peterson, No. 34 crew chief, who said his wife had provided him a quick post-race update on where McDowell and the team now stood in his playoff pursuit. “… We didn’t really lose a lot of to the cut, and then we lost a lot to Bubba, and that’s where we needed to stay closer. I think we were looking at top 15, no problem. Like I said, I’m a little baffled at the moment why it didn’t work for us, but obviously, it didn’t. We had a fast enough car, we should’ve just done what everybody else did, and we’d have been fine. Definitely hurts right now. I gotta get back and digest it, but yeah.”

Other pursuers fared worse. Daniel Suárez started 33rd and ended there, running four laps off the pace at the end after his involvement in the race’s only on-track incident that prompted a caution flag. AJ Allmendinger, who started last after skipping Saturday’s qualifying for an Xfinity Series engagement at Road America, managed only a 27th-place run. Those troubles allowed rookie Ty Gibbs to move into the first spot out — 18 points back after his 15th-place Richmond finish — with four regular-season races remaining before the 16-driver postseason field is determined.

Both Wallace and McDowell were also helped by a playoff-clinching first victory of the season from Chris Buescher, who was ahead of them both in the standings — another factor that the No. 23 team kept close watch over with Sunday’s laps and the regular season winding down.

“I’m always aware,” Barker said.

Posted on by Staff Report

Every 2023 race — except the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway —  is comprised of three stages — Stage 1, Stage 2 and the final stage. The Coca-Cola 600 added a fourth stage. Drivers who finish in the top 10 in Stage 1 and Stage 2 earn additional race points, with the winner of each stage earning 10 points, second place earning nine points, third place earning eight points, etc., down to one point for 10th place. Stage 3 of the Coca-Cola 600 awards points in the same manner as Stages 1 and 2 in the other races.

The final stage produces the race results and awards points across the field.

The All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, an exhibition event, will not have stages or award points. And starting this season, road courses will still award points at the end of each stage, but those events will continue without a caution period.

Below is a cumulative running tally of how many stage points drivers have earned this year, as well as their stage wins — a stage win will provide an additional bonus point per win in the postseason.

RELATED: See remaining Cup Series schedule

Through Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Race 24 of 36
Note: Does not include points earned for Bluegreen Vacations Duel races at Daytona International Speedway

Rank Driver Stage wins Stage points
1 Denny Hamlin 8 310
2 William Byron 9 294
3 Kyle Larson 8 277
4 Tyler Reddick 6 259
5 Martin Truex Jr. 6 250
6 Christopher Bell 4 240
7 Ryan Blaney 6 219
8 Brad Keselowski 6 214
9 Ross Chastain 5 204
10 Kevin Harvick 1 157
11 Joey Logano 3 146
12 Kyle Busch 2 135
13 Bubba Wallace 0 134
14 Chase Elliott 2 116
15 Chris Buescher 2 110
16 Daniel Suárez 0 108
17 Alex Bowman 0 105
18 Ty Gibbs 0 101
19 Michael McDowell 2 98
20 Austin Cindric 1 63
21 AJ Allmendinger 0 61
22 Austin Dillon 0 55
T-23 Chase Briscoe 0 54
T-23 Ryan Preece 1 54
25 Erik Jones 0 40
26 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 0 38
27 Aric Almirola 1 37
T-28 Shane Van Gisbergen 0 15
T-28 Justin Haley 0 15
T-30 Ty Dillon 0 14
T-30 Noah Gragson 0 14
32 Corey LaJoie 0 13
33 Todd Gilliland 0 8
34 Harrison Burton 0 6
35 Jimmie Johnson 0 4
36 Jordan Taylor 0 3
37 Jenson Button 0 1
Posted on by Holly Cain

RICHMOND, Va. – Chris Buescher capped RFK Racing’s dominant day at Richmond Raceway with a trophy, holding off the field on a restart with three laps remaining to win the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 Sunday afternoon – his and the RFK team’s first victory of the season.

Buescher and his teammate Brad Keselowski, a co-owner of RFK Racing, combined to lead a race-best 190-of-400 laps, with Buescher pacing the field for 88 circuits, the second-most he’s led in a race in his eight-year Cup career. And it all results in an important automatic bid into the 16-driver playoff field with only four races remaining in the regular season.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Richmond, Road America

Buescher’s No. 17 RFK Ford ultimately held off last week’s race winner Denny Hamlin by a slight 0.549-second margin, although Buescher had held more than a five-second advantage on Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota up until that caution flag flew for an accident involving Noah Gragson and Daniel Suárez in the closing laps.

“It was smooth sailing trying to take care of this Fastenal Mustang,” Buescher said with a smile. “It was so good and trying to take care of it there, and about the time (crew chief) Scott (Graves) said over the radio ‘It’s working perfect, keep it up,’ and then there’s a caution.

“But we were so strong during the race, I had a good feeling there about it. So awesome to pull it off. I’m proud of everybody. That was a long way from the back.’’

That late-race yellow flag was the only caution flag on the day other than the two stage breaks. And the afternoon racing at the Richmond 0.75-mile track was physically demanding under intense heat – over 130 degrees Fahrenheit inside the race car. Seventh-place finisher Martin Truex Jr. said smiling: “My cheek feels like it’s sunburnt. It was like a hair dryer blowing on you.’’

The 30-year-old Texas native Buescher, however, handled the heat and the field, starting 26th but steadily working his way forward en route to his third career Cup win. He first cracked into the top five by Lap 160 of the 400-lap race, chasing down then-leaders Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Keselowski and Hamlin.

Though the race featured so many green-flag laps, issues on pit road were what thwarted several winning efforts, not problems racing on the track.

Wallace’s 80 laps out front mid-race in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota marked the most laps led in a race in his career. But he ultimately had to play catch-up when his team had a slow tire change during a green-flag pit stop on Lap 175. He finished 12th.

With 56 laps remaining, race polesitter and Wallace’s 23XI teammate Reddick was flagged for a commitment-line violation coming to pit road for a green-flag stop at Lap 338, relegating him from running second to desperately trying to remain on the lead lap with the laps counting down. He finished 16th after leading 81 laps early – every lap of Stage 1 en route to claiming his fourth stage win.

Similarly, Keselowski suffered a misstep in the pits after his No. 6 RFK Ford led a race-best 102 laps. He made an awkward turn into his pit during a green-flag stop with 115 laps remaining, costing him just enough time to allow his teammate Buescher to take the lead with under 100 laps remaining.

“We wanted to finish one-two, that’s the ultimate goal, but we still had a heck of a day,’’ said Keselowski, who finished sixth and won Stage 2, his third stage win of the season.

RELATED: Catch all the highlights in Race Rewind

Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch – the all-time active winner at Richmond – finished third, his best showing on a short track this season. Team Penske’s Joey Logano rallied in the late laps to finish fourth, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece turned in his best showing of the season with a fifth-place run.

Keselowski and Truex finished sixth and seventh, followed by SHR’s Aric Almirola, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and SHR’s Kevin Harvick. Chase Briscoe finished 11th, giving SHR one of its best full-team efforts of the season, with all four cars inside the top 11.

Every car in the 36-car field finished the race, the first time the full field was running at the end since 2018.

Buescher is now the 12th driver to win a race in 2023, leaving four playoff positions still available for a new winner or the top drivers in points. Harvick and Keselowski hold more than a 100-point advantage on the 16th-place elimination line. Wallace holds a 54-point advantage, and Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell holds an 18-point buffer on Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Ty Gibbs for that 16th place. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger is 22 points behind McDowell.

Four races remain to settle the field for the 2023 NASCAR Playoffs. The series moves north next week for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Harvick is the defending race winner.

Note: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Buescher as the race winner.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Larson won both short-track races on pavement this season, but for him to make it three in a row, he’ll likely need to get past teammate William Byron on Sunday at Richmond Raceway (3 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Byron moved past Martin Truex Jr. and to the top of the prediction board by leading practice on Saturday and qualifying sixth. Meanwhile, Truex will start 10th and Larson will roll off 14th.

Despite a strong Saturday, Byron will still have his work cut out for him if he is to nab his fifth victory of the season. That’s because Joe Gibbs Racing leads all organizations with 18 wins at Richmond, and in the last nine races at the 0.75-mile oval, Truex has three wins among his eight top-10 finishes. But a win would be big for Byron, who trails Truex by 30 points in the race for the regular-season championship.

FANTASY LIVE: Set your roster | Weekend schedule

Larson did win here earlier in the season, to go along with his other short-track victory at Martinsville Speedway. Joey Logano is the only other driver besides Larson who has enjoyed a top-10 finish in both short-track races this season. Sunday figures to be another hotly contested race in the NASCAR Cup Series.

OTHERS TO WATCH

TYLER REDDICK: Reddick starts on the pole and leads a strong group of Toyotas. He hasn’t led a lap yet at Richmond, but Sunday figures to break that streak.

DENNY HAMLIN: Hamlin is coming off his dramatic 50th Cup win last week at Pocono Raceway. Plus, he has four career victories at Richmond.

KEVIN HARVICK: Harvick won here last year for Stewart-Haas Racing, the most recent of his 60 Cup Series victories, and he has four career Richmond wins.

KYLE BUSCH: He leads active drivers with six victories at Richmond and has completed all but one lap in his 35 Cup races at Richmond (14,028 of 14,029 laps in the 35 races).

CHRISTOPHER BELL: The driver of the No. 20 Toyota leads active drivers with an average finish of 5.67 at Richmond (for drivers with three or more starts).

Projections as of Sunday, July 30.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE COOK OUT 400

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results.

FinishCar NumberDriver
124William Byron
219Martin Truex Jr.
311Denny Hamlin
45Kyle Larson
54Kevin Harvick
69Chase Elliott
722Joey Logano
820Christopher Bell
98Kyle Busch
106Brad Keselowski
1112Ryan Blaney
121Ross Chastain
1323Bubba Wallace
1445Tyler Reddick
1514Chase Briscoe
1617Chris Buescher
1748Alex Bowman
1810Aric Almirola
1954Ty Gibbs
2041Ryan Preece
213Austin Dillon
2299Daniel Suárez
2347Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2416AJ Allmendinger
2534Michael McDowell
2638Todd Gilliland
2743Erik Jones
2821Harrison Burton
292Austin Cindric
3031Justin Haley
317Corey LaJoie
3242Noah Gragson
3377Ty Dillon
3451Ryan Newman
3578BJ McLeod
3615J.J. Yeley

Posted on by Dustin Albino

It is hard to remember the last time there was such a drastic dominance in one qualifying group compared to the other. Joey Logano posted the second slowest lap in Group B, yet ranked 23rd in the final rundown, better than 12 cars from Group A. When all was said and done, Tyler Reddick earned his first pole while driving for 23XI Racing at a track where he typically has had little success.

Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:
Starter 1: Denny Hamlin
Starter 2: Martin Truex Jr.
Starter 3: Kevin Harvick
Starter 4: William Byron
Starter 5: Kyle Busch
Garage pick: Christopher Bell

NEXT IN LINE: Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace.

RELATED: Set your lineup | Odds for Sunday’s race

RISING: With how Busch’s first year with Richard Childress Racing has gone on short tracks, it can overshadow his tenacity on short tracks. He is a six-time Richmond winner and said following his qualifying run that he felt good about his car this weekend. That could be scary for the competition because the No. 8 team has thrown everything but the kitchen sink in — maybe that, too — to figure out its short-track program. Something seems to be working this weekend. Busch will start second.

Despite it being just Reddick’s fourth year of competition at the Cup level, it is hard to believe he has not even led a lap yet on a short track. His stats at Richmond are not pretty, having never cracked the top 10 in the finishing order. Alas, Reddick will lead the field to the green flag and could finally lead his first lap at Richmond. One cause for concern is the No. 45 Toyota seemed to fall off on the long run.

FALLING: Richmond has been a track where drivers can utilize all racing grooves up to the wall. Logano will need that as he will start the 400-lap race from 23rd starting position on Sunday. He is the only driver to fall out of my lineup from earlier this week. Having no track position at the start could be a small hindrance and cost the No. 22 team stage points.

The same thing could be said for Christopher Bell, who qualified even worse in 29th. However, Joe Gibbs Racing had the best pace of all teams, which is typical at Richmond. I’m confident that Adam Stevens will figure out the No. 20 car and Bell will make a hard charge in the race. He has an average finish of 5.7 in six starts.

FEATURED MATCHUPS

Austin Dillon vs. Tyler Reddick: Over the last handful of years, Richmond has become one of the best stops on the circuit for Dillon. Entering the weekend, the No. 3 team had the upper hand in qualifying and was quicker off the hauler during practice. Sunday has the potential to be a breakout run for Reddick on a short track, and I would consider using him for your lineup.

Denny Hamlin vs. Kyle Larson: The No. 11 team’s speed in practice might look concerning, given Hamlin ranked 34th. But considering he did not hit the track until more than five minutes had passed in his group, that was not bad. And it was by design, knowing more heat in the track would suit better for race conditions. Larson will likely be good, as he won in April at Richmond, and the No. 5 team has had a good short-track program in 2023. Leaning on Hamlin’s consistency at Richmond this weekend, as he has an average finish of 8.7 across 33 starts.

Corey LaJoie vs. Ryan Preece: Richmond is not one of LaJoie’s best tracks on the schedule, with a best finish of 21st in 11 starts (twice). Preece has made his living at winning on short tracks and dominated the first third of the Martinsville race earlier this year. The 11th-place starting spot for Preece is his best since Martinsville, so I would advise taking the No. 41 car.

Christopher Bell vs. Kevin Harvick: Saturday had a Kevin Harvick feel to it. He’s familiar with Richmond’s Victory Lane, as the 0.75-mile short track is the track he’s won at most recently. Harvick had better long-run speed than Bell as well, so I’m leaning in his direction. As noted earlier, I do believe there is potential with the No. 20 car, should the team find the correct setup.

Posted on by Zack Albert

RICHMOND, Va. — Matt Crafton’s bid for the final berth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs field bore fruit Saturday at Richmond Raceway, and he converted on a night where he merely needed to hold serve. A nothing-flashy performance did the job at the expense of fellow veteran Stewart Friesen, the first driver out.

Crafton gathered up a seventh-place finish in Saturday’s Worldwide Express 250, the regular-season finale that determined the 10-driver playoff grid. The effort was enough to unofficially clear the elimination line by 39 points, ensuring the ThorSport Racing driver will have a shot at a fourth series championship in the seven races that follow.

RELATED: Weekend schedule | At-track photos: Richmond

“We definitely earned it today, and we did everything to give it away throughout the year,” Crafton said. “I mean, from getting run over by our teammate (Hailie Deegan) in Texas (at Circuit of The Americas) earlier this year. I finished running like 10th and finished 32nd. There was so many different things, had electrical issues, and we blew all of our feet off, and luckily, we got where we are today and had a shot, to be honest.”

Crafton qualified eighth for the 250-lapper, providing his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford with a 15-position edge over Friesen at the green flag. He stayed steady throughout and used finishes of fifth and seventh at the stage breaks to pad 10 points onto his season total.

Friesen, who entered the race with a nine-point deficit in the standings, started 23rd in his No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota and struggled to make hay in the early going. He dropped one lap down on Lap 48 and slipped to 26th place by the end of Stage 1, 22 laps later. Friesen moved to 20th place by the end of Stage 2 but just missed out on being the beneficiary of the race’s third caution for Justin Carroll’s looping spin.

The free pass instead went to Deegan, forcing Friesen to stay out during the Stage 2 intermission to take a wave-around to get back on the lead lap. Without fresh tires, he dropped back to one lap down early in the final stage and lost another lap to the leader midway through. He wound up three laps down in 27th by the end and remarked post-race: “We brought a dull knife to a gunfight tonight.”

“All of it,” said Friesen when asked about the battles with his truck’s balance. “I don’t know. We were in the wrong league tonight, that’s for sure.”

MORE: Hocevar rallies to Richmond victory

Friesen lamented the misfortune he’d encountered over the last month in an abrasive transmission over the No. 52 team radio. The most recent sting was a late-race crash last weekend at Pocono Raceway, where he absorbed his worst finish of the season in 32nd, but he indicated that the hardships went beyond that.

“Oh, yeah,” said Friesen. “We’ve had hauler problems, the dirt mod fuel pressure the other night, trailer broke down, flights canceled, we were a quarter-truck away from getting the lucky dog tonight when the caution comes out. … I’ve been in this thing a long time, and it’s frustrating, you know. But that’s how it goes.”

At the other end of the playoff picture, Corey Heim clinched the Regular Season Championship trophy early on, finishing third in Stage 1 to seal an insurmountable lead in the Craftsman Truck Series standings. The 21-year-old driver headed the standings despite missing last month’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway with illness.

Heim led briefly for nine laps and ultimately finished sixth Saturday night at Richmond, and he enters the seven-race postseason as a two-time winner. He’ll begin his quest for the big year-end trophy in the playoff opener Aug. 11 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), clinging to an eight-point advantage over defending series champ Zane Smith.

“I would certainly say so,” Heim said when asked if he was among the early title favorites. “We’ve been about the most consistent these last two or three months. If we can carry that into the playoffs, we will be tough to beat. Definitely have to improve on tonight, but it’s a different track – unique. We’ve got a couple more short tracks coming up, and I think we will be good.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

RICHMOND, Va. – Carson Hocevar’s race started in the pits with a flat tire even before the green flag for Saturday night’s Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond Raceway and ended with a celebration in Victory Lane.

The 20-year-old driver of the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet passed the night’s most dominant driver Ty Majeski with only four laps remaining thanks to pit road strategy and a fast Chevy Silverado to claim his third win of the season by 2.308 seconds over Majeski.

“We didn’t come here to run second,’’ Hocevar said, adding, “I knew we had to do something different and new tires prevailed.’’

MORE: Race results | At-track photos

Corey Heim officially became the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 2023 Regular Season Champion with a third-place finish in the opening stage. The 21-year old driver of the No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota will start the seven-race playoff portion of the season with an important 15-point bonus thanks to an incredible run to the regular-season title that included a pair of wins. He finished sixth on Saturday, his series-best 13th top-10 finish in 16 races.

“It really means a lot,’’ Heim said. “With Tricon Garage and Toyota Racing coming such a long way from the beginning of the year. I really felt like we had a lot of progress to make in the first four or five weeks and we’ve really been improving ever since.

“Tonight, it was a rough night at Richmond. It is kind of a unique race track. On the normal tracks, we’ve been really consistent. Still a good finish for us, but definitely want to do better leading into the playoffs.”

RELATED: Full rundown of 2023 Truck Series playoff field | Heim reacts to regular-season title

After earning his second pole position of the season, Majeski absolutely dominated so much of the race, sweeping both stage wins for the first time in his career and leading an impressive 168 of the 250 laps in the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford. His truck was so good Saturday that he even overcame a mid-race pit stop speeding penalty to regain the lead late race and try to hold off Hocevar. Majeski stayed out while Hocevar pit for tires with 40 laps remaining, however, and was ultimately unable to hold off the fresh tires in the closing laps.

“Just didn’t have enough there,’’ a frustrated Majeski said. “Obviously made a mistake there, speeding on pit road but we had a chance to win even with the penalty. It’s just so disappointing. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a dominant vehicle that much faster than the field and to not win with it is so hard.

“But we have fast race trucks and we’ll make a run at the playoffs,’’ he added.

WATCH: Majeski dejected after Richmond runner-up

The playoff field – in points order – includes Heim; 2022 series champion Zane Smith, who finished third at Richmond; Hocevar; Christian Eckes; Grant Enfinger; Majeski; 2021 series champion Ben Rhodes; rookie Nick Sanchez; Matt DiBenedetto; and three-time series champion Matt Crafton.

Stewart Friesen came into the race ranked 11th, trailing Crafton by nine points, but Friesen’s No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet had a disappointing qualifying run – 23rd – and never really mounted a challenge forward on Saturday. He finished 27th.

“We brought a dull knife to a gunfight tonight,’’ a disappointed Friesen said.

Hocevar led 64 laps on the evening – moving into the lead position while Majeski was recovering from his pit-road penalty.

“We passed every single truck here, the 98 (Majeski) was the class of the field but I thought we were second and won with the second-best truck because I have the first-best pit crew and first-best crew chief on the box,’’ Hocevar said.

“I just love it,’’ he added.

Rookie Jake Garcia and Matt Mills rounded out the top five at Richmond. Heim finished sixth, followed by Crafton, Sanchez, Enfinger and 16-year old William Sawalich making only his third series start.

The 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs begin on Aug. 11 with the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Enfinger is the defending race winner.

Note: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue at Richmond, confirming Hocevar’s third victory of the 2023 season.

Posted on by Staff Report

The 10-driver playoff field for the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is officially set following Saturday’s race at Richmond Raceway.

RELATED: Truck Series standings | Series schedule 

Carson Hocevar picked up his third win of the season after overtaking Ty Majeski during the waning laps at Richmond.

Matt Crafton claimed the final playoff spot over Stewart Friesen.

The Round of 10 begins Aug. 11 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The opening round will continue at the Milwaukee Mile on Aug. 27 in what will be the circuit’s first contest at the track since 2009. The Round of 8 will conclude at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 8, where two drivers will be eliminated from championship contention. The Round of 8 will consist of Bristol Motor Speedway (Sept. 14), Talladega Superspeedway (Sept. 30) and Homestead Miami Speedway (Oct. 21).

The championship race will be held at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 3.

The 10 drivers listed below make up the playoff field. The field includes three former champions: Zane Smith (defending champion), Ben Rhodes (2021) and Matt Crafton (2013, 2014, 2019).

DRIVERS WHO QUALIFIED WITH POINT RESET:

1. Corey Heim, No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota, wins (2)/Regular Season Champion, 2,030 points

2. Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, wins (2), 2,022 points

3. Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet, wins (3), 2,021 points

4. Christian Eckes, No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet, wins (3), 2,019 points

5. Grant Enfinger, No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet, wins (2), 2,017 points

6. Ty Majeski, No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford, 2,014 points

7. Ben Rhodes, No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford, wins (1), 2,013 points

8. Nick Sanchez, No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet, 2,005 points

9. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 25 Rackley WAR Chevrolet, 2,002 points

10. Matt Crafton, No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford, 2,002 points

Posted on by Zack Albert

RICHMOND, Va. — Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports’ two incumbent Cup Series drivers, said this weekend that their future with the organization hasn’t been determined, but that their 2024 plans should materialize soon.

The two drivers offered their perspectives Saturday at Richmond Raceway, on the eve of Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Five races remain before the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs field is set, and the veteran McDowell currently clings to the provisional 16th and final berth.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | At-track photos: Richmond

McDowell’s performance in Front Row’s No. 34 Ford has been the in-house leader on the Cup Series side for the Bob Jenkins-owned operation, which now has three drivers on a modest rise. Gilliland, 23, has shown more pluck and consistency in his second Cup Series season with the No. 38 Ford team, and the organization also fields Craftsman Truck Series entries for 24-year-old Zane Smith, who won the tour’s championship last year and has come back strong in his title defense.

Smith seems destined for a Cup Series ride in the nearer rather than later future, and Front Row has added him to the premier-series roster for six races this season in the No. 38 — splitting time with Gilliland. How all three pieces may fit next year is what Gilliland called a good problem to have.

“I mean, I think this is a position that Front Row has never been in, honestly though,” Gilliland said. “I feel like with three of us that they feel are capable of putting in their Cup cars and doing well, so I think to me that it’s cool to see them in that position. So I’d say maybe not … it’s a little stressful sometimes being three that feel like you’re going for two seats, but I feel at home. I’ve been there for four years, and yeah, just definitely hoping that we can get something figured out.”

MORE: What to Watch: Richmond | Weekend schedule

McDowell, who has been with Front Row since 2018, acknowledged that his destination for next season still has some uncertainty. He said that his mind has been primarily occupied with the pursuit of the second postseason berth of his career, sitting just plus-17 above the provisional elimination line.

“I really haven’t thought a whole lot about it,” McDowell said. “Part of it is, it’s not up to me. I’m not sitting there with choices, and I get to make the choice. So to me, I’m just trying to do my job every week and get the best results as we can to get in the playoffs. But the time is coming soon, so we’ll see how it all shakes out.”

Gilliland also is on an upward trajectory, making incremental gains in his sophomore Cup Series season and noting that “it’s nice that we’re having talks now rather than November, December.” He ranks 24th in points, but his statistical markers have shown some improvement over his rookie campaign.

“Overall, I feel like I’m in a much better position this year in general of just like, my name is in more talks,” Gilliland said, “and I feel like I’m a more viable option for more people.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

RICHMOND, Va. — Martin Truex Jr. has become accustomed to anticipating the speculation about his future in the NASCAR Cup Series. Saturday, the 43-year-old veteran gave a pre-emptive answer before the question could even be asked.

Truex enters Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) as the Cup Series points leader and a three-time winner at Richmond Raceway. He’s also found Victory Lane three times this year, and after the most recent trip — at New Hampshire Motor Speedway — he noted he was “bad at making big decisions” both about his racing career as the driver of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 Toyota and a big-ticket purchase of a saltwater boat.

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Saturday at Richmond, Truex said he’d bought the boat, a mid-size vessel that’s helped him with his recent run on catching tuna. The other resolution remains undetermined.

“I’m not sure, honestly. I’ll figure it out pretty soon,” Truex said, adding later about the gravity of the decision: “It’s not an easy one, I can promise you that. Yeah, it’s a tough one to figure out.”

Truex weighed this decision heavily last year as well, announcing on June 24 that he would return to the No. 19 team for the 2023 season, saying, “The competitive side of me said I’m not done, and I’m going to keep fighting, so here we are.” Truex has acknowledged that his timetable is growing shorter by the week, and he also noted after his New Hampshire victory that this year’s success has not made a huge difference in his decision.

David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development (TRD) USA, said earlier this week that he’s providing Truex with as much runway as he needs to make his choice. Truex’s 2017 championship and 32 of his 34 Cup Series victories have come with Toyota, and he has been associated with Joe Gibbs Racing — either as with the team or an affiliate — since 2016.

Wilson noted that there are drivers in the Toyota development program who could potentially get a Cup Series call-up in the event that Truex elects to retire but that the decision will rest with the driver.

“I listened to an interview that Coach Gibbs gave to SiriusXM yesterday morning, and Coach was pretty candid in saying that he’s happy to give Martin as much time as he needs. That’s really a reflection on his respect for Martin, how valuable we view Martin in this partnership that we have. … We do have a pipeline and that’s one of the reasons why we have a pipeline. And of course in the background, as you expect, we’re also doing a lot of contingency planning because we have to be prepared regardless of what happens. We all know what we want to happen, but life isn’t that clean and pretty in many cases.”