What to Watch: Chase hopefuls aim to wrangle Richmond results

Posted on August 14, 2026August 15, 2026 by Zack Albert

Track: Richmond Raceway
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Track length: 0.75 miles
When: 7 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,233,037
Race distance: 400 laps | 300 miles
Stages: 70 | 230 | 400
Saturday’s starting lineup | Pit-stall assignments

Pressure points build at Richmond as regular season winds down

RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond Raceway’s second date of the season has long been laden with pressure and implications, back to the days when “Rock and Roll” was part of the race name. Next year, the 0.75-mile track will set the tone for the 10-race postseason as the Chase opener. This year, Richmond sits squarely in the late going of the regular season, when intensity gets the ratchet treatment.

The jockeying for Chase spots continues in earnest in Saturday night’s Cook Out 400, kicking off a three-race stretch before the 16-driver Chase field is set. Series points leader Denny Hamlin aims to keep his momentum churning at his home track, where he’s scored five of his 64 Cup Series victories and will again be a pre-race favorite.

MORE: Weekend schedule | At-track photos

Further down the list, the subplots are stirring. Team Penske’s Austin Cindric has a provisional hold on the final postseason slot, by just a 29-point margin over RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece — currently slotted as the first driver out. Last weekend’s event at Iowa Speedway left Cindric wanting more after a 29th-place finish trimmed his cushion above the elimination line by nine, and the two drivers in front of him — Shane van Gisbergen and Bubba Wallace — also lost crucial ground in the Hawkeye State.

Cindric — a former winner at Daytona International Speedway, site of the regular-season finale on Aug. 29 — says attention to detail will be crucial for his No. 2 Ford team in the trio of races ahead.

“It’s a position that I would say over the last couple months that we’ve earned one way or the other,” Cindric said. “So I think for us, it’s very important to continue to do each checkpoint of every race weekend, and be able to maximize every session, every call. You know, those are things that are going to be very important when you’re talking about single-digit points making a big difference over the course of three races.”

Behind Preece is a logjam of three drivers within a four-point span — Trackhouse’s Ross Chastain, minus-47 after a rejuvenating Iowa top five; Brad Keselowski, minus-48 and Preece’s teammate/boss at RFK; and Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones, minus-50 and staring uphill after an Iowa wipeout.

Keselowski — twice a victor at Richmond in his veteran career — said the formula for flipping his fate isn’t complicated, even while battling his teammate for the last remnants of postseason real estate.

“Yeah, we need to win. That’s what I feel like,” Keselowski said. “We have three races left. We need to win at least one of them. We need to have two good runs outside of that, and you know, the onus is on us to do it.”

Said Preece, who starts sixth Saturday night: “I mean, my entire life’s been pressure when it comes to my career, so it’s no different. Ultimately, I mean, the goal — if we win — that’ll take care of a lot of things. So for me, having good track position to start is going to be important, and then not giving that up throughout the night. We can’t afford to do that. So we need to play offense and look forward and make the 2 (Cindric) and the 97 (van Gisbergen) worry about us and not worry about anybody behind us.”

Van Gisbergen’s case may well be bolstered at Richmond by his growing prowess at short tracks, a development in his growth from road-racing specialist to a more well-rounded NASCAR driver. He made the postseason last year during the “win and you’re in” format era, and he stands to return to the Chase field on overall points under this year’s new procedures.

MORE: Goodyear tire notes: Richmond

Life on the postseason bubble might be new for SVG, but Wallace has been there in multiple years of his Cup Series career. This time around, Wallace says his situation feels distinctly dissimilar from previous go-rounds as he strives to qualify for the field of 16 for the third time in four years.

“No one on our team is happy about being 14th, and we definitely had higher expectations than that coming into the year, but as far as like the stress of ‘here we are again,’ it looks the same, but mentality-wise for me at least, it’s different,” Wallace said. “No stresses. The biggest oddball for us is next weekend at Loudon, just because it’s hit or miss there for us for some reason. So Charles (Denike, crew chief) has had that one circled since January 1. So yeah, if we can get through there, we should be fine. But Richmond’s a really good opportunity for us to continue to go in the upward direction.”

A handful of year-over-year changes have greeted drivers and teams in their Richmond returns — a new tire setup, the 750-horsepower output increase and a new placement for the pit-road commitment line, which moves 75 feet closer to the first timing line at pit entry. Drivers took turns finding the optimal entrance point further down the track during Friday’s sessions, with varying degrees of success.

“Yeah, I took two reps at it in practice, did two completely different approaches, and I know which one I like better,” Chastain said. “I’ll go back and look and see which one was actually faster. Yeah, it’s different. I think it’s a good move. It was, I think, too far back, but they can do whatever they want.”

David Jensen | Getty Images

In the details …

2026 has been the tale of two seasons for Tyler Reddick. The driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota rocketed to a historic start of the year with five wins in the first nine races, but has tapered off through the summer and is crawling his way to the start of The Chase after dropping to fourth in the standings after Iowa last weekend.

With the help of Racing Insights, take a look at how Reddick performed in the first 14 races of the year versus the last nine events:

Category	First 14 races	Last nine races
Poles	3	0
Wins	5	0
Top fives	9	1
Top 10s	11	3
Top 15s	14	3
Avg. start	5.86	11.6
Avg. finish	5.57	24.2
Stage wins	0	1
Laps led	362	75
Lead-lap finishes	14	4

Speed reads

Race-day essentials:

• Richmond hub: Key information, pit stalls, additional results | Read more
• Saturday Setup: See what crew chiefs have in mind in the Commonwealth | Read more
• Pre-Chase trends: Inside Hendrick Motorsports’ on-track slump | Read more
• Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh looks ready to light up Virginia night sky | View gallery
• Hauler Talk: Why getting a top-six seed in The Chase is important | Listen now
• NASCAR Classics: Dig into the video vault for full-race replays from Richmond | Watch now
• Power Rankings: Stuck in slump, will Reddick rebound at Richmond? | This week’s ranks

Posted on August 14, 2026August 21, 2026 by Staff Report

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers will pit this weekend at Richmond Raceway.

NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Black’s Tire 250 presented by BTS Rewards at Richmond Raceway on Saturday (noon ET, FS2, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Staff Report

Friday’s scheduled NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Richmond Raceway has been postponed a day due to inclement weather. The Black’s Tire 250 presented by BTS Rewards will now take place Saturday at noon ET (FS2, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The postponement sets up a River City doubleheader with the Cup Series, serving as the matinee to Saturday night’s Cook Out 400 (7 ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The race was slated for a 7:30 p.m. ET start Friday, but lightning and rain showers converged on the 0.75-mile track shortly before the scheduled green flag. Despite multiple attempts to start the 250-lapper, NASCAR officials were forced to push the event back a day.

Cup Series regular Shane van Gisbergen won the pole Friday afternoon and will lead the field to green Saturday.

Layne Riggs holds a 100-point series lead over Kaden Honeycutt and can clinch the No. 1 seed in The Chase at Richmond with just two regular-season races remaining.

Posted on August 14, 2026August 15, 2026 by Holly Cain

RICHMOND, Va. — With The Chase postseason format shifting the focus of competition, Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen is someone who has felt the new emphasis. The sport’s reigning road-course master had earned previous positions in The Chase with his trophy haul on this season’s road-course stops.

The 37-year-old New Zealander has two wins in 2026 and sits 15th in points, just inside the 16-driver Chase cutoff. More refined racing on all tracks, along with his road-course dominance, has put van Gisbergen in a title-contending position. And it’s something Van Gisbergen said he has consciously worked on.

RELATED: Richmond schedule | How The Chase works

“I guess initially, it’s probably a good thing for the sport,” van Gisbergen said of the championship format change. “I guess initially, I was brought over here for that ‘win and you’re in’ to guarantee a spot in the playoffs, so yeah, I certainly knew I had to get better at ovals, and I think we’ve done that.

“I don’t think my mindset has changed every race. I think maybe these couple of races, I’m points racing a little bit, but the rest of the year, you’re just driving flat out. I don’t think I’ve ever really point-raced trying to stay out of trouble. I think that when you’re not driving naturally, you find yourself in trouble. So yeah, I just try and drive every race flat out.”

MORE: Where SVG is projected to finish at Richmond

His emphasis and work are evident. He has already equaled career single-season highs in top fives (five) and top 10s (seven) with 13 races remaining. Four of his top 10s have come on traditionally difficult ovals, and he’s twice set a career-best showing on ovals — fifth place at both Nashville Superspeedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Van Gisbergen started his weekend off by winning the pole position for Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet — his first career pole in the series and first pole position of any kind on an oval.

Posted on August 14, 2026August 15, 2026 by Zack Albert

RICHMOND, Va. — One week to the next, the racing calendar shifts from the Iowa plains to the central Virginia piedmont — two vastly different regions of the country. At face value, the NASCAR tracks that live there would seem comparable.

The Cup Series travels from last weekend’s race at Iowa Speedway to a regular-season showdown at Richmond Raceway, which hosts Saturday night’s Cook Out 400 (7 ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The schedule turns from Iowa’s 0.875-mile D-shaped oval to a similarly shaped 0.75-mile layout in Richmond, fostering the notion that crew chiefs might have like-minded approaches to the two tracks.

Some of those track traits, however, are as different as the cornfields are from the Commonwealth.

“I think a little bit, with how it drives and the banking and the pavement, like the bump in (Turn) 1 in Iowa,” says Chris Gayle, crew chief for Denny Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota. “This place, though, by far, tire degradation is a lot bigger deal. I mean, you freaking wear out tires here, whereas Iowa, you would think you would, but it’s really not quite as bad as you would think, and the fall-off’s not much. It’s a lot here, right? I think that’s the biggest difference between the two places.”

Iowa presented a different challenge for Gayle’s No. 11 team with brake issues that prompted Hamlin’s pedal to go long both during practice and the race, a brake-pressure problem shared by Joe Gibbs Racing colleague Chase Briscoe and the No. 19 group, plus a pair of 23XI Racing Toyotas. While debate swirled this week around whether brake pads could be changed without penalty, Gayle said the week also provided the organization with an opportunity to dive into the issue, aiming to keep it from happening again.

“Last week was an outlier choice on some brake pads, and I think that honestly, now that we’ve gotten back and they’ve looked at them, I don’t think that we had what we thought we had from the manufacturer, and that’s the truth,” Gayle told NASCAR.com. “I know that doesn’t make everybody feel good. Everybody wants conspiracy theories and all kinds of other things, but it was a legit problem that surprised all of us last week. Because I mean, why would we go into Iowa picking something that somebody across our group hadn’t run multiple times and felt good about? So it just worked out that way to where I think it was something different than what we expected to get, and so that’s why so many of us had trouble.”

So is it back to what’s worked in the past? Gayle said yes. “Yeah, I was going to do that different because Iowa is a specific place that creates a separate brake problem that you don’t necessarily have as bad here,” he said, “but this just reiterated for me to stick with our normal, so it’s not a big deal.”

Getting back to the tried and true is also the hope for the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team and driver Austin Dillon, who has won the last two Cup Series races at Richmond. No. 3 crew chief Richard Boswell and the rest of the Cup field will face a Goodyear tire combination that’s new to Richmond (with different left-side rubber), but familiar to other short tracks with appearances at Martinsville Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway earlier this season. Dillon & Co. also return with a power boost over last year, with the 750-horsepower package — by now a known entity elsewhere — making its Richmond debut.

MORE: At-track photos: Richmond

Boswell said the team expected to learn more about the tire tweak from Friday’s practice, held in the searing afternoon heat ahead of what’s anticipated to be a cooler Saturday evening race. But he was also optimistic about their setup mastery carrying over.

“Really, we’re just trying to replay weekends, right?” Boswell told NASCAR.com. “We want to try and hit on the same balance we hit on last year. We want to try and get the driver’s same comments and try and parlay that into the race. So for us, it’s kind of status quo. Just try and execute the things that we didn’t execute perfectly last year. Just try and get better on all of them.”

As for the differences in Iowa and Richmond, Boswell shared Gayle’s sentiment.

“I mean it’s super-high fall-off to no fall-off,” Boswell said. “The track shapes are the same, the tires are very different, and the fall-off is very different. So from a racing standpoint, I don’t think that they compare. From just a repetition of getting in a rhythm and hitting your marks and getting back in a short-track mentality, I think they’re very similar.”

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Holly Cain

RICHMOND, Va. — Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell claimed his seventh runner-up finish last weekend at Iowa Speedway, tying him with NASCAR legend Harry Gant (1981) for the most runner-up finishes in a winless season. His 11 runner-up finishes since 2025 are nearly twice as many as any other competitor’s — his JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe each have six.

But as frustrating as the close calls may feel in the moment, the 31-year-old conceded after a little time to reflect that he has to look at the efforts in a positive way. The driver of the No. 20 Toyota would certainly love to hoist his first trophy of the year in Saturday night’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway (7 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Bell has seven top 10s in 10 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond, with his best career finish — yes — a runner-up showing in 2022. He has also led 230 laps at the track.

He does have three wins here in what is now the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, including a two-race sweep in 2018.

“Certainly, all of the second-place finishes — they’re trying, and, in the moment, it really kind of feels like just a kick to the gut, but then whenever Monday, Tuesday rolls around, you’re like, ah, it was a pretty darn good day,’’ conceded Bell.

“So, ultimately, the results that we’ve gotten have meant a lot more this year than what they have in my entire Cup career with the format change. So, it’s been nice to stack some good results together, and we’re performing really well right now. I certainly feel like we’re in the mix.”

Bell’s work at Iowa moved him up four spots in the championship standings to sixth place, and he’s only four points behind his teammate Briscoe in fifth. With points now determining The Chase field instead of the win-and-you’re-in format of recent seasons, top fives and top 10s are impactful.

“They mean more today in this year than they have for the previous format, my entire Cup career and NASCAR career for that matter,’’ Bell said. “The point standings and where you’re running at in points is super important, but the entire previous championship format was very much win or bust. I think that mentality is still engraved in at least my mind and probably most of the industry’s mind, but in all reality, it’s not win or bust anymore.”

Posted on August 14, 2026August 15, 2026 by Staff Report

Nothing beats Saturday night short-track racing. The NASCAR Cup Series converges in the River City for its annual stop at Richmond Raceway (7 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where tempers — along with postseason urgency — could surely rise.

Three races remain until the 16-driver Chase field is set, and bubble drivers are running out of time to make a summer upswing. Meanwhile, championship contenders continue jockeying for position atop the standings, hoping for the greatest head start possible once Darlington Raceway arrives next month.

RELATED: Starting lineup | Friday recap

Many of the same challengers from last weekend at Iowa Speedway remain in play as the series shifts eastward. Ty Gibbs could continue his summer heater and bank a second consecutive win. All three Team Penske drivers thrive at short tracks, especially Richmond, as evidenced by a trio of top fives last summer. Of course, don’t forget about Austin Dillon, the two-time defending Richmond winner.

Time is of the essence this weekend for 400 laps at the “Action Track.” Read on to see drivers worth monitoring, as well as Racing Insights’ full projected results for Saturday’s southern showdown.

DRIVERS TO WATCH

AUSTIN DILLON: The No. 3 Richard Childress Racing driver could make history Saturday, becoming just the fourth driver to win three straight races in the River City. Additionally, no driver since Kevin Harvick at Michigan from 2019-2020 has won three in a row at any track. Dillon is one of just two drivers with multiple Richmond wins in the Next Gen era, and his 198 career laps led at the track are more than double his next highest. Last weekend at Iowa — a comparable track — Dillon scored a top 10 in his strongest overall race since finishing sixth at Watkins Glen. Don’t be surprised to see the Cup veteran contend for another dub.

JOEY LOGANO: Logano’s numbers aren’t quite as flashy at Richmond, but he’s certainly consistent. In 32 Richmond races, he owns two victories and a whopping 20 top-10 finishes. Over four short-track races this season, Logano sits inside the top five in average running position, average finish and most points earned. His 323 laps led at North Wilkesboro alone top all drivers at this type of venue. Logano has gained 120 points to the cutline over the last five races and now sits a season-best 13th in the season ranks. The three-time series champion is finding his stride at the right time.

DENNY HAMLIN: It’s home cooking for the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver, as the nearby Chesterfield, Virginia, native boasts an impressive Richmond track record. He’s won at the 0.75-mile track five times, including twice in the Next Gen era, and has placed second or higher in six of the last nine. Widening the scope, Hamlin has finished fifth or better at each of the last 10 traditional oval races on the Cup calendar. He leads the series by 103 markers over Ty Gibbs — and it’s also the first time all season that Tyler Reddick isn’t inside the top two of the standings. Over the last 11 events, Hamlin has outpointed his 23XI driver by 249. With a strong run on Saturday, Hamlin can land the final punch in pursuit of the top Chase seed.

MORE: At-track photos | What to Watch: Richmond

FULL PROJECTED RESULTS FOR COOK OUT 400 (Sat., 7 p.m. ET, USA Network)

POSITION	NUMBER	DRIVER
1	12	Ryan Blaney
2	22	Joey Logano
3	20	Christopher Bell
4	11	Denny Hamlin
5	19	Chase Briscoe
6	24	William Byron
7	54	Ty Gibbs
8	5	Kyle Larson
9	3	Austin Dillon
10	23	Bubba Wallace
11	9	Chase Elliott
12	21	Josh Berry
13	1	Ross Chastain
14	17	Chris Buescher
15	77	Carson Hocevar
16	7	Daniel Suárez
17	45	Tyler Reddick
18	6	Brad Keselowski
19	60	Ryan Preece
20	2	Austin Cindric
21	48	Alex Bowman
22	71	Michael McDowell
23	97	Shane van Gisbergen
24	43	Erik Jones
25	38	Zane Smith
26	34	Todd Gilliland
27	16	AJ Allmendinger
28	42	John Hunter Nemechek
29	35	Riley Herbst
30	4	Noah Gragson
31	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
32	41	Cole Custer
33	88	Connor Zilisch
34	10	Ty Dillon
35	33	Austin Hill
36	51	Cody Ware
37	66	Josh Bilicki

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Holly Cain

RICHMOND, Va. — Denny Hamlin, a five-time winner at his home track of Richmond Raceway, is the most recent driver to win here from the pole — claiming the win from the No. 1 starting spot in 2016.

Asked Friday why pole winners have so seldom gone on to win recently in the River City, Hamlin paused and gave a well-thought-out answer about his hometown 0.75-mile oval.

“I think the average starting position for the winner is somewhere around 6.7, something like that,” said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “So you just kind of put yourself somewhere in that range. I think a lot of the reason is that qualifying here is extremely, extremely technical.

“I would say it’s probably the hardest [track] to qualify to hit your marks. … I think that sometimes whoever’s got the best car doesn’t qualify on the pole because it’s just really, really difficult to put it all together, and sometimes, someone with a decent car can just hit the marks just right, and that’s when they get the pole. So, I think the technicality of the actual line that you have to run makes it to where you see comers and goers here.”

In 37 starts, Hamlin has an average starting position of 8.9 and has earned four poles at Richmond, the most recent coming in summer 2024 when he finished runner-up. He’ll have work to do Saturday, though, as the Chesterfield native will roll off 14th.

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Holly Cain

RICHMOND, Va. – Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney won his fourth pole position of the season and 16th of his championship career Friday afternoon at Richmond Raceway.

The driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford will lead the field to green in Saturday night’s Cook Out 400 (7 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) after posting a lap of 121.485 mph around the 0.75-mile oval, claiming the top position in the closing minutes of the qualifying session.

“I wouldn’t kind of specify myself as a very good qualifier; for a little bit I struggled in qualifying and just wasn’t able to find the one-lap speed. I was doing the wrong things behind the wheel,’’ said Blaney, the 2023 series champion. “But I think [crew chief] Jonathan [Hassler] and I kind of worked through how do we make it better. Adjust that end-of-race mindset to qualifying.

“And here [at Richmond], it’s super tough because your last lap in practice to qualifying, you’re qualifying like three seconds faster than what you just ran, so it’s mentally, how do you switch over to that and figure out how to do it in one lap because the second lap today wasn’t going to do it. Jonathan has done a good job of just trying to work through — how do we get better.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe will line his No. 19 Toyota up alongside Blaney on the front row, Blaney bettering his qualifying effort by only 0.050 seconds. This is Briscoe’s 13th top-10 start of the season.

Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry was third fastest in the No. 21 Ford, with last week’s Iowa Speedway race winner, JGR’s Ty Gibbs, fourth on the grid in the No. 54 Toyota and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron rounding out the top five in the No. 24 Hendrick Chevrolet.

NASCAR Cup Series championship leader Denny Hamlin – a five-time Richmond winner – was 14th fastest in qualifying, and two-time defending race winner, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, was 16th best in the 37-car field.

Dillon is attempting to become only the fourth driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive Richmond races and join the likes of NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and David Pearson.

“We’ve got to get our car better; we’re not where we were last year in practice. Just got to continue to work on it and see what we can do,” said Dillon, driver of the famous No. 3 Chevrolet. “I think we have tendencies of our car that are good, but we’ve just got to get a little better, so we’ll just go to work and see what we can find for tomorrow.’’

Practice recap

Spire Motorsports driver Daniel Suárez turned the fastest lap in Friday’s practice session, navigating the 0.75-mile short track with an average speed of 117.961 mph. Erik Jones (117.955 mph), Austin Cindric (117.878 mph), Riley Herbst (117.709 mph) and Alex Bowman (117.606 mph) completed the top five.

Denny Hamlin, Ty Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski and Josh Berry completed the top 10.

MORE: See practice results | Two teams penalized after pre-race inspection

Cindric compiled the fastest 10- and 20-lap averages. Kyle Larson had the best 15-lap average, while Ryan Blaney paced 25- and 30-lap averages.

Cody Ware and Tyler Reddick went for separate spins in Group 1 practice, both losing control in Turns 3 and 4. Group 2 practice was completed without incident.

Contributing: Staff report

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Staff Report

The Nos. 20 and 51 NASCAR Cup Series teams failed pre-race technical inspection twice on Friday at Richmond Raceway, resulting in penalties ahead of Saturday’s Cook Out 400 (7 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR).

RELATED: Richmond schedule

As a result, both teams’ car chiefs have been ejected for the remainder of the race weekend and will forfeit pit-stall selection. Chris Sherwood was ejected on the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and Dave Jones was ejected on the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet.

Entering Saturday’s race, No. 20 driver Christopher Bell sits sixth in the Cup Series ranks after his second-place finish at Iowa Speedway vaulted him four spots. In total, Bell has seven runner-up results in 2026, tying Harry Gant (1981) for the most all-time without a victory. In 10 Richmond races, Bell has finished sixth or better seven times.

No. 51 driver Cody Ware is 35th in points.

Just three races remain until the Cup Series field of 16 Chase drivers is solidified.