PIT BOX: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season resumes with annual Richmond race

Posted on March 27, 2023March 29, 2023 by Adam Fenwick

After taking more than a month off following the season-opening round at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season resumes Friday evening at Richmond Raceway with the running of the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150.

Friday’s race will mark the 13th visit by the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour to the 0.75-mile oval. The inaugural visit by the series to Richmond came in 1990, with Rick Fuller outlasting Mike McLaughlin to take home the trophy. The late Mike Stefanik is the winningest driver in Tour history at Richmond with three victories. The only other driver with multiple Richmond wins is Reggie Ruggiero with two.

Last year, Justin Bonsignore chased down Tommy Catalano and led the final 11 laps to earn his first trip to Victory Lane at Richmond.

Below is everything you need to know about Saturday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway.

MORE RICHMOND: Tickets | Streaming

Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway

What to watch for:

Despite being among the most consistent competitors all season, Ron Silk was unable to find Victory Lane in 2022.

He quickly erased that stat this year with his victory in the opening race of the season at New Smyrna in February. He enters Friday’s race at Richmond Raceway as the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship leader and one of the favorites to visit Victory Lane at the end of the evening.

More than 30 competitors are expected to try to stop Silk, including defending race winner Justin Bonsignore. Back at the wheel of the Ken Massa-owned No. 51, Bonsignore will be looking to earn his 36th Tour victory.

Should he win Friday at Richmond, Bonsignore would take sole possession of fourth on the all-time Tour win list. He is currently tied with Tony Hirschman at 35 victories each.

Another notable entrant for Friday’s race is Matt Hirschman, who will be making his Richmond Raceway debut. The driver from Northampton, Pennsylvania, is competing at Richmond thanks to a partnership with Baker Racing, the same team Hirschman drove for during the Islip 300 at New York’s Riverhead Raceway late last season.

Jeremy Gerstner, driver of the No. 55 Jerry Hunt SuperCenter Modified, and Donny Lia, driver of the No. 3 Propane Plus – SYP Modified, during the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Richmond Raceway on April 1, 2022. (Photo: Sanjay Suchak/NASCAR)

Also entered are a pair of NASCAR veterans. Ryan Newman, the 2008 Daytona 500 winner, and Bobby Labonte, the 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion, will race as teammates in cars fielded by Sadler Stanley Racing. The team is owned by retired NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler and Virginia State Senator Bill Stanley.

Tommy Catalano, who led the most laps and finished second to Bonsignore last season at Richmond, will look to do one spot better this year in his family-owned No. 54.

Doug Coby will continue his pursuit of a seventh NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship with Tommy Baldwin Racing, and defending Tour champion Jon McKennedy will look to register his third career Tour victory.

Other notable entrants include Craig Lutz, Eric Goodale, Patrick Emerling, Tyler Rypkema, J.B. Fortin and Dave Sapienza.

The complete entry for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 is available here.

RACE FACTS

Race	Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150
Date	Friday, March 31, 2023
Track	Richmond Raceway
Layout	0.75-mile paved, d-shaped oval
Location	Richmond, Virginia
Start Time	6:30 p.m. ET
Laps	150
Posted awards	$120,400
Live stream	FloRacing (Live)

Schedule: Friday, March 31 … Final practice from 12:45 to 1:55 p.m. ET … Qualifying at 4:15 p.m. ET … Race at 6:30 p.m. ET

Qualifying: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 is limited to 32 starters including Provisional Positions.

Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is fourteen (14) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event. The tire change rule is six (6) tires, any position.

Posted on March 27, 2023 by Zack Albert

AUSTIN, Texas — Jenson Button and Jordan Taylor were able to share a moment together after Sunday’s race at Circuit of The Americas. Both drivers were smiling after making it to the checkered flag in their NASCAR Cup Series debuts, but showing some wear after a hefty share of roughhousing with the stock-car tour’s regulars.

Button, the 2009 Formula 1 champion, finished 18th in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix with a Rick Ware Racing effort supported by Stewart-Haas Racing and Mobil 1. Taylor, the IMSA standout subbing for Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, drove to 24th place after a late scramble of overtime restarts dropped him in the running order.

RELATED: Race results | Reddick rolls to COTA win

The two have roles on the Garage 56 effort that will bring a NASCAR-themed presence to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, and on Sunday, they shared finishes on the lead lap. But they also left Austin with a common impression about the bare-knuckled and full-contact nature of the competition.

“I mean, the aggression definitely caught me off guard. I think I had more contact today in one race than probably my entire career combined,” said Taylor, who started fourth. “I honestly didn’t know how the car was still driving straight after at the end, so the cars are strong, Hendrick Motorsports builds us a strong, safe race car and it was fast. Yeah, just disappointed we couldn’t give them kind of the day they deserved.”

Racing with respect — or rather, without it — has been a topic in NASCAR circles in recent weeks, and Kyle Busch was among the most vocal in saying the sense of dignity among the current crop of racers has been lost. Taylor and Button experienced some of that Sunday at the 3.41-mile road course, especially the madcap restarts as the field barreled into the sharp, uphill first turn.

Taylor said as a NASCAR newcomer, “I’m probably the wrong guy to ask” regarding how cutthroat on-track conduct should be officiated. Sunday, he absorbed the contact with a sense of bewilderment.

“Yeah, honestly, I’ve never seen anything like that in my whole life. I mean, if someone came over the sports car side and did that, it would be like, ejected out of the race immediately,” Taylor said, mimicking an umpire with an upward ‘you’re out’ sweep of his thumb. “So for me, I should have probably expected that, just watching years past, but I think when you’re actually in the car getting smashed around, it’s a much different experience.

“I think, even when you’re battling for 29th position, they don’t care. They’ll go for 28th and just use you up. So just a different form of racing that I guess I wasn’t used to and probably should have expected. But yes, it’s still cool to get my first Cup race’s debut. Just wish it would have been a little bit better.”

MORE: At-track photos: COTA

Button’s day placed him in the top half of the finishing order, even after a late stop for ice and water near the end as he weathered the heat of the Texas afternoon. He has two more Cup Series races planned with the team — July 2 at Chicago and Aug. 13 at Indianapolis.

“Not yet. I need to rest,” Button said when asked about his readiness for Chicago. “I’m gonna go and cuddle my wife and the kids and lay down by the pool. But what a lovely opportunity. Thank you so much to Mobil 1 and Rick Ware Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing for getting me up to speed, finishing 18th at my first race when I got hit on every corner or I hit someone every corner. I’m kind of happy with that and lots to take away from this, and lots to improve on as well, so I look forward to that challenge. So thank you, Austin, thank you, NASCAR, and see you in Chicago.”

Posted on March 27, 2023 by Zack Albert

Ben Rhodes was completing his final laps around the Circuit of The Americas when something seemed amiss. His No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford was running third when it started showing the first signs of breakage with two laps to go during Saturday’s XPEL 225. By the 19th of 20 turns on the white-flag lap, the driveshaft gave way.

Rhodes was headed for a seemingly assured top-five finish, which would have been his third consecutive in this young NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. Instead, his No. 99 F-150 limped across the start/finish line in 10th place, leaving the former series champ scratching his head.

“Watching the big hill (in Turn 1) come up to me and getting slower and slower, I didn’t think I was going to make it,” Rhodes said of his slow-speed pass under the checkered flag. “I’m just watching trucks fly past. That was just an absolute heartbreaker, really. I know everybody on our team, we set ourselves up for a good finish with the pit stops because we knew we didn’t have the short-run speed that the other trucks did. But the truck held on for pace really well at the end.”

While Rhodes was lamenting the third-place result that had escaped him, No. 99 crew chief Jeriod Prince provided a contrast on the team’s radio communications after the race. He told his driver that a 10th-place finish in light of an otherwise catastrophic parts failure was close to a best-case scenario. Had the malfunction happened any earlier, Rhodes’ truck likely would have slowed to a halt before the end, dealing the team a finish outside of the top 25.

Rhodes is in his eighth season with the ThorSport group, but it’s his first year working with Prince – who was paired with Christian Eckes on the No. 98 team last season. Rhodes took special note of his crew chief’s different outlook as he searched for post-race positives.

“My team’s had great speed, and that’s the way that we need to take this. That’s the absolute attitude that we need to have,” Rhodes said. “It’s very easy to focus on the negative … I tend to do that myself, actually. The good news is that our crew chief, Jeriod, who has done a great job leading the team and keeping everybody happy, making sure that we’re all in the right frame of mind. I think that’s one of his strong suits. He’ll find the silver lining.

“He already told me, ‘Good thing it busted out in the last corner.’ I said, ‘I’m just mad it busted at all.’ He is just happy as can be that the truck ran good the whole race, and it happened at the proper timing to still get 10th. He has a good attitude. I’ll work on mine a little bit.”

Rhodes aims to keep some of the momentum going as the Craftsman Truck Series stays in the Lone Star State this week, but with a shift back to oval-track racing at Texas Motor Speedway in Saturday’s SpeedyCash.com 250 (4:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The 26-year-old driver ranks third in the series standings with three top 10s through four races so far – all with room to grow, Prince says.

“I swear, with 20 (laps) to go in every race, we’ve been top three so far this year, so that’s all you can ask for,” Prince told NASCAR.com. “We’ve had some speed, and we’ve been pretty good, just luck hasn’t seemed to fall our way. Last week in Atlanta, you know, he was going for the lead on the outside on the last lap, and we got wrecked. So, we were there. We just gotta have a little luck on our side, and I think we’ll be all right. We all have a pretty positive attitude about everything, so we’re still all happy with how things are going.”

Posted on March 26, 2023March 26, 2023 by Zach Sturniolo

Tyler Reddick was the winningest driver on road courses in the inaugural season of the Next Gen vehicle in 2022. But with a new team and new manufacturer — one that struggled notoriously on road courses last year — there was no guarantee Reddick’s success would continue.

Reddick left no doubt at Circuit of The Americas this weekend that he remains the series’ current best when faced with lefts and rights.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: COTA

Reddick led a race-high 41 of 75 laps at the 3.41-mile course on Sunday afternoon. In six road races in 2022, Toyota combined to lead just 23 circuits — 17 of which came from Christopher Bell at Indianapolis and another two from Bell’s win at the Charlotte Roval in October.

“This whole 23XI team has been working so hard all winter long to make the road course program better,” Reddick told FOX Sports after celebrating with team members along the frontstretch. “Was extremely motivated to come in here and prove that performance, too. Just so proud of this Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD. Toyota, everybody, all the resources they’ve been putting into this to help turn around the road course program means a lot.”

Reddick backed up the dominant pace he showed all weekend long. The No. 45 Toyota from 23XI Racing’s stable was quickest in Friday’s practice session, laid a new track record in the opening round of Saturday’s qualifying session before ultimately earning the second starting spot and set the fastest lap in Sunday’s race at 2 minutes, 12.706 seconds.

Last year with Richard Childress Racing, Reddick scored the first three Cup victories of his career — the first two of which came on road courses at Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Logan Riely | Getty Images

The success he found Sunday at COTA should put the field on high alert for the remaining five road circuits ahead, the next coming June 11 at Sonoma Raceway. That road-racing schedule includes the inaugural race on the Chicago Street Course on July 2, along with August races at Indianapolis and Watkins Glen before the Roval appears in the October playoffs.

“Things that we were strong with today hopefully will apply in some ways to those other places,” Reddick said in his post-race press conference. “In no way do we get super comfortable or content with how we do. We’re going to: How could we be better, what things can we clean up. I definitely could have done things better at the end of this race on restarts.”

WATCH: Reddick breaks down late overtime restarts

Reddick also had the advantage of participating in a January tire test with his 23XI Racing crew at COTA, admitting it was a “good sign” to see what progress his team made in the months since. But Reddick hopes his own success can rise Toyota’s tide the next time right turns are on the menu.

“Obviously, I would love to see all the Toyotas get better,” Reddick said. “Certainly, we’re all going to work together, share notes, hopefully get the rest of them up there soon. Good step in the right direction.

“Like I said, it was a really big point of emphasis for myself coming in here to try to help Toyota to get better on the road courses. Yeah, I’d say that was a success.”

Posted on March 26, 2023March 26, 2023 by Zack Albert

AUSTIN, Texas – William Byron wiped his brow after wrapping up a hard-fought Sunday afternoon at Circuit of The Americas. On a day when the strongest performances belonged to two drivers, the strength of his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was an ever-close second to the winning No. 45 Toyota of race winner Tyler Reddick.

Byron chopped it up with Reddick in a spirited duel down the stretch in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, but his hopes of notching a third NASCAR Cup Series win in this young season faded after the serious scramble of three overtime restarts. The 25-year-old driver still brought his No. 24 Chevy home in fifth place, somewhat scraped but with its strong start intact after his first top-five result on a road course.

“Yeah, it was bowling balls. I mean, physics, right,” Byron said. “You just push the guy in front of you, and you’re just all tangled up and you’re just relying on the guy in front of you to stop. So it was cleaner at the beginning of the race, like, we had some really fun restarts, me and Reddick and a couple other guys, but toward the end, it’s just physics. You’re just trying to drive in there as far as you can and hope that you stop.”

RELATED: COTA race results | At-track photos

Byron started from the pole position after topping Reddick in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying session, and the two took turns setting the pace throughout the 75-lap affair. Each led six times – Reddick for 41 laps and Byron for 28 – and their attempts at fuel conservation down the stretch became moot when Brad Keselowski’s stalled car on Lap 56 touched off a series of late yellow flags.

Byron found encouragement from coach Max Papis over the No. 24 radio: “William, go out there and show it to yourself the badass that you are.” But he didn’t have quite the speed to track down Reddick, especially when the late-race restarts turned rough.

“I thought he was definitely better than us, but we were a solid second, kind of on our own,” Byron said. “So yeah, it was a good day just leading everybody else, and then here comes the 45, a couple tenths faster, so that was hard, but it’s part of it.”

Despite the slight dip from a seemingly assured runner-up finish, Bryon remains the Cup Series’ only two-time winner through six races this year. He also sits near the top of the chart in laps led – second to only teammate Kyle Larson, who has led 270 to his 268.

Byron’s rank in the series points, however, is a subpar 28th, owing to a technical violation for unapproved parts modifications that cost him and the No. 24 team 100 points in their respective standings. Hendrick Motorsports is appealing the penalties but not the crew chief suspensions. That meant a new interim role for technical director Brian Campe, who has guided the No. 24 team in place of regular crew chief Rudy Fugle.

MORE: Appeal dates announced for Hendrick, Kaulig, Hamlin

Campe was quick to credit Byron for his perseverance but also the depth of Hendrick’s bench.

“It’s been really easy, and that’s because of guys like (No. 24 engineers) Brandon McSwain and Ryan Kelly and all the people at Hendrick Motorsports that do this every day,” Campe told NASCAR.com. “You know, there’s 400-plus people there that — I call it a shield lock – have their shields locked together. We’ll go to war here, and no matter what happens, we’re gonna come up with good results, no matter who’s sitting in there. So we could have picked anybody in the shop. It was an honor to get picked, so I’ll take that, and we’ll go from there.”

Posted on March 26, 2023March 26, 2023 by Holly Cain

AUSTIN, Texas – Tyler Reddick prevailed in three NASCAR Overtime restarts to claim his first trophy of the year – and first with his new team, 23XI Racing, with a 1.411-second victory over two-time series champion Kyle Busch in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix – the NASCAR Cup Series’ first road course race of the season.

It was a field of international champions and NASCAR’s very best at the famed Circuit of The Americas course, but for most of the race, the outcome looked to be decided in a good ol’ Texas duel between the two fastest cars all weekend driven by Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. The pair exchanged the lead, lap after exciting lap for most of the afternoon.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: COTA

And on the final two-lap restart, Reddick was able to put his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota out front exiting Turn 1 – a tight left-hander – and power forward to the lead, while Busch and third-place finisher Alex Bowman, fourth-place finisher – and defending race winner – Ross Chastain and fifth-place Byron fought door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper as they chased after him.

“I’ve been wanting to win here in a Cup car for a long time,” Reddick, the 27-year-old Californian, said who now has four NASCAR Cup Series wins, but noted this was his first as a Toyota driver and with his 23XI Racing Team – co-owned by fellow competitor Denny Hamlin and NBA superstar Michael Jordan.

“It means the world,” said Reddick, who sat down on the track and leaned against his car with a bag of ice after winning to cool down on the typically Texas-hot afternoon. “This whole 23XI team has been working hard all winter long to make the road course program better and was extremely motivated to come in here and improve performance. Just so proud of this Monster Energy team and TRD (Toyota Racing Development). All the resources they’ve put in to turn around the road course program means a lot.”

As often happens late in a road course race, patience lags and urgency increases. That was certainly the case Sunday with three different overtime restarts deciding the outcome. Reddick and Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet combined to lead 69 of the race’s 75 laps with Reddick out front a race-best 41 of those, most of them after hard-fought challenges and back-and-forth corner after corner with the race polesitter Byron.

“It feels good to get a top five, but we had a top-two race car really with the 45. He was really better than everybody, but I thought we were a close second,” said Byron, a two-race winner already in 2023, whose fifth-place finish at COTA was his career-best on a road course. “We’ll keep building on it.”

Busch’s runner-up effort was an impressive comeback. He had been mid-pack for most of the afternoon but gambled on fuel strategy to move forward during some late-race cautions in regulation.

“Even if we were on equal tires, they were lights out,” Busch, driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, said of Reddick’s No. 45 team. “Overall, for as much effort as we put into coming here and focusing on this place and all the testing we did in the offseason, we’re coming out of here with a good finish. Tyler’s obviously a really good road course racer.”

In addition to the NASCAR stars, the field that raced Sunday included four big names from other racing genres including IMSA champion Jordan Taylor, who drove the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for injured former COTA winner Chase Elliott, a pair of former Formula One champions in Jenson Button and Kimi Räikkönen and popular IndyCar Series regular Conor Daly.

Among these four, the Englishman Button – the 2009 Formula One champion – claimed the top finishing position, 18th in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford. Taylor, a two-time winner at COTA in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series finished 24th but made a huge impression in his debut after qualifying fourth.

Räikkönen, the 2007 F1 World Champion from Finland, finished 29th but ran as high as fourth late in the race. Daly only got 16 laps into the race before his team had to take his No. 50 The Money Team Racing Chevrolet behind the wall for extended repairs. He finished 36th.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson didn’t even get a full lap of green flag racing in only his second start of the 2023 season. The owner-driver of the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet was collected in a multi-car accident that eliminated his Chevrolet and left him 38th in the running order. Johnson, Button and Taylor are slated to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans through NASCAR’s Garage 56 effort in June.

MORE: Details on Garage 56 entry

Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, 2023 Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs and Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland rounded out the top 10.

Chastain takes over the championship lead by 19 points over Busch. Ty Gibbs, who finished ninth, continues to lead the Sunoco Rookie of the Year points standings.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to competition next Sunday in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Post-race inspection concluded without issue, confirming Reddick as the winner of Sunday’s event.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on March 26, 2023March 29, 2023 by Staff Report

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

Note: All times are ET.

Monday, March 27
3:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Classic: The 1997 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1
4 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS1
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: 75 Years of Racing (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
9 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS1

Tuesday, March 28
Midnight, NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS1
9 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, Peacock
8 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2
11 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2

Wednesday, March 29
1 a.m., NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: XPEL 225 at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2
3 a.m., NASCAR Presents: Beyond the Wheel (re-air), FS2
4 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS2
5 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: 2022 Championship Show (re-air), FS2
10 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS2
Noon, Greatest Races: NASCAR Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, Peacock
8 p.m., NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: XPEL 225 at Circuit of The Americas (re-air), FS1

Thursday, March 30
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, Peacock
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS1

Friday, March 31
1 a.m., Greatest Races: NASCAR Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 (re-air), FS1
4 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS1
11:30 a.m., Greatest Races: NASCAR Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 (re-air), FS2
Noon, NASCAR Pace Lap, MAVTV
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS2
3 p.m., NASCAR Pace Lap (re-air), MAVTV
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Virginia is for Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway, FloRacing
10:30 p.m., Greatest Races: NASCAR Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 (re-air), FS1

On MRN:
6:30 p.m. ET, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Virginia is for Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway

Saturday, April 1
1:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS1
2:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS1
8 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series practice and qualifying at Richmond Raceway, FS1
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition: Richmond, FS1
10 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying at Richmond Raceway, FS1
Noon, NASCAR RaceDay: Xfinity Series at Richmond Raceway, FS1
1 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway, FS1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Craftsman Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway, FS1
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway, FS1
10 p.m., ARCA Menards Series West: West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150 at Irwindale Speedway, FloRacing

On MRN:
10 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying at Richmond Raceway
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway
4 p.m., NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway

Sunday, April 2
8 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS2
10 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS1
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS1
11 a.m., ARCA Menards Series East: Pensacola 200 at Five Flags Speedway (re-air), CNBC
2 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Richmond, FS1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway, FS1

On MRN:
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway

Posted on March 26, 2023 by Dustin Albino

With NASCAR’s first visit to a road course in the 2023 season, the stars have come out to play. With arguably the greatest NASCAR driver to ever live (Jimmie Johnson) and two former Formula One champions in the field, Sunday’s Cup race at Circuit of The Americas (3:30 p.m. ET FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is among the most diverse fields in series history. Oh, and four-time IMSA Series champion Jordan Taylor has shined in his debut weekend, replacing Chase Elliott, who is still out due to injury. Meanwhile, Tyler Reddick still looks bad fast on road courses, despite switching teams and manufacturers over the offseason.

Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:

Starter 1: Tyler Reddick
Starter 2: AJ Allmendinger
Starter 3: Austin Cindric
Starter 4: Kyle Busch
Starter 5: Daniel Suárez
Garage pick: Jordan Taylor

NEXT IN LINE: Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, William Byron.

RISING: For having never turned laps in the Cup Series before Friday, Taylor is having about as smooth of a weekend as one could expect. He said on Saturday that getting up to speed on Friday wasn’t seamless, but the No. 9 car was still 10th in practice. He qualified the car in fourth position, one second off Byron’s fast lap. Using Taylor has a lot of upside this weekend — it’s his only scheduled start of the season — but it’s understandable to be hesitant, given he hasn’t experienced race conditions.

Not sure how many industry folks thought Legacy Motor Club would get two of its entries into the final round of qualifying, but Erik Jones led the way in Group A. Noah Gragson was strong, too, as both drivers have their best starting positions of the 2023 season. Johnson, the team’s co-owner and third driver this weekend, will start 31st.

FALLING: The driver with the most consecutive top-10 finishes on road courses entering COTA is Chris Buescher. However, the No. 17 Ford has been down on the speed chart thus far this weekend. He ranked 31st in practice and dropped to 32nd in qualifying. He was optimistic following his qualifying run, believing that the car has more potential to showcase in the race.

Christopher Bell carried the Toyotas on road courses in 2022 with a pair of top-five finishes. He’s also the most recent victor on a road course at the Cup level. The No. 20 car has been average this weekend and will take the green flag from 14th position. Thinking ahead, I dropped Bell from my lineup, believing he will add more value to my lineup at different points of the regular season.

FEATURED MATCHUPS

Michael McDowell vs. Daniel Suárez: Of the three Trackhouse Racing entries this weekend, Suárez has displayed the most speed. Unlike last year when he led the duration of the opening stage, he doesn’t believe the No. 99 car is the best in the field. Compared to McDowell’s No. 34 car, he should get the advantage, even though they were fifth and sixth, respectively, in practice.

Kyle Busch vs. Tyler Reddick: By making the jump to Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet, Busch has upped his road course speed compared to 2022. In Reddick’s jump to Toyota, he helped elevate the manufacturer’s road course program. With how fast the No. 45 car has been throughout the weekend, it was a big surprise to see Byron win the pole. Sunday, though, could be Reddick’s show.

AJ Allmendinger vs. Kyle Larson: It’s hard to gauge where Larson is entering Sunday as he ranked second in practice (a half-second behind Reddick) and qualified 13th. Meanwhile, Allmendinger found speed in his No. 16 Chevrolet on Saturday and will start seventh in the race. Based solely on his road racing expertise and being in contention for the win on the final lap last year, Allmendinger gets my vote.

Austin Cindric vs. Ty Gibbs: Quietly, Cindric is having a solid weekend. The No. 2 car looks to be the most consistent Ford in the field, with top-10 times in practice and qualifying. Gibbs has been respectable, with the 11th-best time in practice. The difference is, Cindric is among the top threats to win the race, while Gibbs would be happy to get his second straight top-10 finish of the season.

Posted on March 25, 2023March 26, 2023 by Zack Albert

AUSTIN, Texas — The Dash 4 Cash program for the 2023 season has its first crop of qualifiers, and the four who emerged from Saturday’s rip-roaring NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Circuit of The Americas had tales to tell.

The quartet of Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Sam Mayer — who finished fourth through seventh in that order — will be eligible for the first $100,000 payday in the four-race initiative when the Xfinity Series reconvenes next Saturday at Richmond Raceway for the ToyotaCare 250 (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The four were the top finishers among Xfinity Series regulars in Saturday’s Pit Boss 250, behind race winner AJ Allmendinger, runner-up William Byron and third-place Ty Gibbs — all Cup Series points earners.

Mayer was the lowest finisher among the four, but he rekindled some fond memories. A year ago, the JR Motorsports driver came home a career-best fifth at COTA to save his place in the Dash 4 Cash, then went two places better the next week at Richmond to pocket the six-figure bonus.

“Looking to go back-to-back on that and get some cash for the team,” he said.

On Saturday, the 19-year-old was one of several drivers to survive the major ebbs and flows of an afternoon ruckus on the 3.41-mile road course, and he did it with a new face atop the pit box. Andrew Overstreet subbed in as crew chief for the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet when Mardy Lindley was sidelined by a non-COVID illness, according to the team.

“That was the biggest roller coaster I’ve been on,” Mayer said from pit road. “I thought Fontana was bad. That was horrible. But it feels good to come back for a top 10. I mean, we got spun twice by a couple knuckleheads, but I mean, overall, it was a super good day for our Accelerate Camaro, JRM as a whole.”

Smith — at 18, the youngest of the four — continued to impress in his first full season of Xfinity Series competition. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver scored a breakthrough win two weeks ago at Phoenix, and Saturday’s run at COTA marked his second top-five result of the year.

“This is my first time being in Dash 4 Cash, so it’s cool,” Smith said. “A chance to win $100,000, and the mindset really hasn’t changed for that, but I feel good about Richmond and looking forward to next week.”

Allgaier has been a regular visitor to the Dash 4 Cash field, and his fourth top-five effort in six races this season earned him a return trip. He said that he broke second gear with just a handful of laps remaining, forcing him to go from first to third in his No. 7 JRM Chevy as he shifted down the stretch.

He enters next weekend fourth in Xfinity Series points, tops among those with Dash 4 Cash eligibility.

“It’s a good race track for us, too,” said Allgaier, a two-time Richmond winner. “So you know, when you have a good race track coming up on the schedule for our team, and you’ve got something that’s that cool of an initiative that Xfinity puts on, it makes it a lot more fun. So we can go in there next week with our heads held high, knowing we have a great race car and great team behind us, we’ve got a shot at 100 grand.”

Hemric corralled his fourth consecutive top-10 finish, saying he was thankful after clinching his first appearance in the Dash 4 Cash field since 2021. The Kaulig Racing driver tangled with John Hunter Nemechek with four laps to go but continued on to grab sixth.

Nemechek was in position to make the Dash 4 Cash field, but Hemric said the two just couldn’t get separated down the stretch. Nemechek eventually finished 27th after pitting with a flat tire.

“Him and I will talk about it and figure it out,” Hemric said. “Just tough racing.”

Posted on March 25, 2023March 26, 2023 by Holly Cain

AUSTIN, Texas — AJ Allmendinger started on the pole position and won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pit Boss 250 presented by USA Today on Saturday at the world-renowned Circuit of The Americas road course.

The 46 laps between the green and checkered flags, however, were dramatic and full of emotional highs and lows for the veteran Allmendinger, who led 14 laps to start the race and the final 14 laps to close it out. The series’ all-time road course winner earned his 11th road course trophy (and 16th career Xfinity Series victory) despite having to navigate through the field after falling back to 25th place during mid-race green flag pit stops.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos: COTA

It was a major league road course lesson for the rest of the field as the 41-year-old Californian diced and sliced his way forward in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to win this race for the second consecutive year. He ultimately took a 0.853-second victory over relentless Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron in the No. 17 Chevrolet.

“William Byron put his best foot forward, you’ve seen all the Cup races he’s winning,” Allmendinger said of the season’s two-race winner Byron. “I knew it was going to be tough just trying to fight to get back up to the front there. Hate that I had contact with Sheldon [Creed], he got under me, I was trying to stay off him, so I hate that happened but so proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. The Celsius Chevy was really hooked up, and with all the damage we had, it didn’t hurt the car.”

“I spent a lot of years not winning anything, so I’m going to celebrate every one of them like it’s my last one,” Allmendinger added. “You never know. As much pressure as I put on myself, I’m always going to try to live up to it. The pit crew was awesome, and I’m so proud of everyone.”

NASCAR Cup Series rookie Ty Gibbs — the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion — finished third in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota, just ahead of his JGR teammate Sammy Smith and veteran JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier.

The 3.41-mile, 20-turn COTA track is regarded as one of the more challenging stops on the NASCAR schedule, and Allmendinger certainly had his work cut out for him on Saturday. He led early but was shuffled back after winning Stage 1 and gambling on a pit stop later than the other frontrunners.

Forced to line up for a restart toward the back of the field — and miscommunication from the team to driver regarding the exact position he should take — left him 25th near the race’s midpoint. He answered by reeling off one pass after another and made his way into the top 10 with 15 laps remaining — making a dramatic push forward on that final restart to go from sixth to first with 14 laps remaining. He took the lead after a spirited battle with Sheldon Creed, who spun out after contact between the two.

Allmendinger then drove off to more than a 1-second gap on the field but was doggedly chased by Byron, who will start Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at COTA from the pole position.

“I was getting one final run at him, but obviously, they were really good all day, just great at these road courses,” Byron said. “Just a little bit to gain and then made a mistake [navigating the esses].

“It was a great effort, just need to clean it up in the cars … but had a lot of fun racing,” Byron added.

Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric, JR Motorsports teammates Sam Mayer and Josh Berry, Creed and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst rounded out the top 10.

MORE: Dash 4 Cash explained

Austin Hill, a three-race winner in 2023 who was leading the championship standings by nearly 50 points coming into Austin, suffered mechanical problems in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and took a DNF. He still holds a 15-point advantage over Herbst atop the championship standings, however.

This was a Dash 4 Cash qualifying race, with the four top-finishing full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitors now eligible for a $100,000 bonus next week at Richmond Raceway; the top finisher among the four will earn the big paycheck and is eligible for another the following race on April 15 at Martinsville.

With their showings on Saturday, Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Sam Mayer are the four drivers who will race for the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash $100,000 in next week’s Call811 Before You Dig 250 at Richmond Raceway (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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