Practice and qualifying for Sunday’s NASCAR Toyota Owners 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX) at Richmond were incredibly helpful for bettors.
Richmond Raceway, a 0.75-mile short, flat track, is one of the most predictable venues on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule.
Even with the Next Gen car providing a degree of uncertainty, bettors should feel relatively confident after seeing Saturday’s XFINITY Series race. The ToyotaCare 250 had only three cautions — two were for the stage breaks, and one was for debris.
This extended green-flag racing means we can feel more confident that projected speed will more closely align with actual finishing position.
That gives me quite a bit of confidence with my favorite bet of the week.
NASCAR Picks & Predictions for Richmond
*Odds as of Sunday morning
This matchup struck my eye immediately after I ran my post-qualifying model.
Despite Alex Bowman’s win at Richmond last year, my model heavily favors Kevin Harvick in this matchup.
Bowman’s win was in large part a product of a late restart, which is rare for Richmond.
In addition, Stewart-Haas Racing was struggling, while Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) was in the midst of a hot streak.
The gap has closed quite a bit between the two teams, and individual data points for Harvick and Bowman also suggest Harvick should be heavily favored here.
Harvick has finished ahead of Bowman six times in seven Richmond matchups since Bowman joined HMS.
Additionally, Harvick has been the stronger car this weekend.
Harvick was fifth over 10 consecutive laps, while Bowman was 13th.
Harvick also made a 30-lap run, while Bowman didn’t even achieve 15 consecutive laps. This discrepancy typically suggests Harvick was happier with his car than Bowman.
In qualifying, Harvick put his car into the second round, starting seventh. Meanwhile, Bowman will start in 28th place.
Harvick’s advantage extends beyond Richmond as well.
At Phoenix Raceway — the other short, flat track that NASCAR raced at earlier this year — Harvick had the third-fastest average green-flag speed. Bowman, on the other hand, was only 11th in speed.
My model gives Harvick a 69% to win this matchup against Bowman.
Even if my model is a bit generous to Harvick, it far outpaces the 52.8% implied odds that Harvick will win according to FanDuel‘s odds.
Other books have Harvick as an even larger favorite, but I still don’t think they are rating Harvick highly enough.
I’ve triple checked every data point here, and I just can’t see Bowman running better than Harvick without a problem for Harvick, or multiple late restarts.
I’d feel comfortable betting Harvick to -175 in this matchup.
The bet: Kevin Harvick (-112) over Alex Bowman at FanDuel.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. For the first time on a points-paying weekend, the Next Gen car turned laps on a short track. And while Ryan Blaney will start from the pole position for the second consecutive week, Joe Gibbs Racing still looked solid at a track it has owned for years. The Stewart-Haas Racing Fords didn’t look too shabby, either, taking three of the top 10 spots in qualifying.
Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:
Starter 1: Martin Truex Jr.
Starter 2: Christopher Bell
Starter 3: Kyle Busch
Starter 4: Aric Almirola
Starter 5: Kevin Harvick
Garage pick: Erik Jones
NEXT IN LINE: Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, William Byron.
RISING: Historically, Ryan Blaney has been, self-admittedly, terrible at Richmond. In 11 Cup starts at the track, he has just one top 10, that being a 10th-place outing last fall. The No. 12 Ford was among the quickest cars on single-lap, five-lap and 10-lap averages on Saturday, however. Even with all that positive mojo, starting Blaney at Richmond would be bold.
Kevin Harvick is riding a 49-race winless streak and hasn’t won a stage since the second Dover race in 2020, but Saturday was the best the No. 4 car has looked this season. In addition, the 2014 Cup champion is a three-time winner at Richmond. If you want even more reason to look at Harvick, his teammate Chase Briscoe won at 1-mile Phoenix, the series’ last race at a track with a similar style to Richmond’s 0.75-mile layout.
Entering the 2022 season, expectations were neutral for Erik Jones’ No. 43 team. But his Petty GMS Motorsports team has been quick more times than not this year, and that continued in practice and qualifying with Jones starting fifth on Sunday. While it might not be necessary to put him in your lineup yet, the option of choosing the No. 43 car by the end of the second stage could be valuable.
FALLING: Over the past five races at Richmond, Austin Dillon has been among the best drivers at Richmond with three top-10 efforts, leading a personal-best 55 laps in 2020. But the No. 3 Chevrolet was 27th in practice and will start 25th. This has been one of the biggest head-scratchers of the weekend.
For the first time in his career, Denny Hamlin hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish through the opening six races of the season. While the No. 11 team has shown speed at times, it has been absent at others. With that, Richmond could be a fresh start for the Virginia native toward the 2022 season. But he was the lone JGR driver to miss the second round of qualifying.
FEATURED MATCHUPS: Kyle Busch vs. Alex Bowman: Over the last year, the defending race-winner Bowman has a tendency of being in the right place at the right time. But Kyle Busch is elite at Richmond, entering Sunday as a six-time winner at the track. The No. 18 Toyota was sporty in practice and qualified third; this could be his breakthrough race of the year.
Ross Chastain vs. Tyler Reddick: Momentum, what a beautiful thing. The advantage after practice and qualifying goes to Chastain, turning the quickest lap during Group B’s qualifying session. It’s hard to believe Chastain’s success will stop at Richmond, as he’s entering the week with four consecutive top-three finishes.
Martin Truex Jr. vs. Kyle Larson: Typically, this would be an even matchup. However, Richmond has been Truex’s playground over the past six years, winning three of the past five races. The No. 19 Toyota made it to the second round of qualifying for the first time this season on Saturday. Meanwhile, Larson will take the green from 21st.
Denny Hamlin vs. Joey Logano: Based on both drivers’ past accomplishments at Richmond, this is the hardest matchup of the weekend. Hamlin, though, has yet to get a grip on the Next Gen car, while Logano sits third in points. Even with the No. 22 car starting 11th and the No. 11 team starting 13th, the small advantage goes to Hamlin, who has eight top-five finishes in the last 10 race at his home track. Last year, Hamlin led more than half the laps between the two races last season (404 of 800).
RICHMOND, Va. — Just because you can knock someone out of the way for a victory doesn’t mean you should, or does it?
Ross Chastain’s aggressive move on AJ Allmendinger to win his first career NASCAR Cup Series race last Sunday at Circuit of The Americas has churned up talk regarding the line drivers are willing to cross to triumph. Chastain stood by his move, while Allmendinger had to live with it.
It seems as though the old standard, using the chrome horn to achieve a race victory, has evolved into the new standard in today’s day and age. But, according to Denny Hamlin, there’s one stark difference that pales in comparison to the philosophy of years past — the lack of consequence.
“I don’t think there is any consequences to it,” Hamlin said Saturday at Richmond Raceway. “We’ve seen you can kind of do whatever. You might be worried about getting wrecked here and there in the future, but I think it’s just become accepted. The art of passing is just something that isn’t quite used as much nowadays. The easier route is getting them out of your way as quick as possible by moving them. I’ve done it — every time I’ve done it, it has been unintentional, but I think it’s become more of an intentional move in the years lately.”
Last year, Hamlin held the lead late in the fall race at Martinsville Speedway. A victory would have locked Hamlin into the Championship 4, but Alex Bowman moved him out of the way with seven laps remaining, sending Hamlin for a spin and a 24th-place finish. Hamlin still earned a spot to compete for the title, but it was the principle of how he felt Bowman raced him that got under his skin.
Despite preventing Bowman from a celebratory burnout after that race, to this day, Hamlin has yet to retaliate on the race track.
“I think the win at all costs, they have seen it is worth it because there really isn’t any cost,” Hamlin said. “I got spun out of the lead in two races last year, one cost us the championship. I haven’t done anything about it. So, maybe that’s a message to the competitors that you can do that, and we ain’t going to do anything.
“But, I haven’t had the opportunity, either.”
Martin Truex Jr., Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, recalled a recent flight with Kevin Harvick where the pair discussed how young drivers take no issue with running into each other on the race track from the start. Harvick said that mentality was even apparent while watching his son, Keelan, during his go-kart events.
Truex noted a key difference could be the way the next generation has learned to race, which contrasts with how he, Hamlin and other veterans were brought up in the motorsports world.
“I know when I was making my way through the ranks I was working, I was building my cars,” Truex said. “I didn’t want to tear the nose off of the thing because I knew I had to fix it on Monday. I had to keep the car in one piece. We had to keep our stuff – we couldn’t just go out and buy new stuff. We didn’t have the money when I was doing it. Maybe that’s it — I think it’s different.
“The field gets younger, new guys come in and what used to fly or didn’t used to fly maybe can now. I think it’s a lot different than when I started here.”
As for Harvick, a run-in with Chastain during an Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway in 2018 put Harvick’s respect for the Trackhouse Racing driver on ice at the time, calling Chastain an inexperienced driver. It was Chastain’s first Xfinity start with Chip Ganassi Racing.
Nearly four years removed from that incident, Harvick’s tune about Chastain has changed.
“Ross is just a super aggressive driver,” Harvick said. “I think balancing that with not wrecking and putting yourself in bad spots, there’s a fine line between that. I think that’s the biggest difference. He does all the things that he needs to do but has learned not to put himself in where he totals his car or tears his car up.”
Harvick correlated Chastain’s driving style to that of his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Chase Briscoe. In his rookie season last year, Briscoe made headlines while battling with Hamlin for the lead late in the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Briscoe spun Hamlin entering Turn 10 and later received a penalty for cutting the course on the same lap.
Briscoe earned his first career Cup Series victory in March at Phoenix Raceway.
“(Chastain) has the background of a hard-core racer, had to battle for everything that he’s got,” Harvick said. “The most important thing for guys like that is not to lose the desire that got them to this point. Learn how to still treat this like you don’t have a job tomorrow and still carry that same enthusiasm year after year after year. That’s the trick to being successful for a long time.”
It’s that feisty racing style of Briscoe, Chastain and others among the Cup Series’ rising stars that provides entertainment for fans in the grandstands and watching from afar.
Dylan Buell | Getty Images
“I think that’s important to have that flare and fire because that’s what’s going to set you aside from everybody else,” Harvick said. “Having some of that personality and that ‘I don’t give a (expletive)’ attitude about what happens and if you don’t like it, sorry. Having that edge is something that will make him popular because of the way that he races. He doesn’t have to do anything else. Just race like that and the people will gravitate toward you because it’s exciting to watch and you’re winning.”
Regardless of what side of the fence you stand on regarding what should be tolerated, Harvick believes the driver depth chart taking the sport by storm should be appreciated.
“We’re super fortunate as a sport to have a lot of really young, talented, aggressive drivers that are coming up through this deal to make it exciting,” Harvick said. “Both of those guys are one of them.”
RICHMOND, Va. — While Ty Gibbs celebrated his third win of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series on the frontstretch at Richmond Raceway, his teammate, John Hunter Nemechek, was left fuming on pit road.
Nemechek, competing in select Xfinity races for Joe Gibbs Racing, reeled in Gibbs during the closing circuits of Saturday’s ToyotaCare 250 at the 0.75-mile Virginia short track, taking the lead with five laps remaining. But Gibbs fought back, laying the bumper to Nemechek once the white flag flew.
Gibbs put pressure on Nemechek until he made his move entering Turns 3 and 4, diving low and making contact with the left side of Nemechek’s No. 18 Toyota, sending him up the race track.
Nemechek was able to hold onto the second-place position, while also holding onto strong emotions toward Gibbs after the race.
“He was able to get a run beating my back bumper off, got inside of me,” Nemechek said. “Thought we would be able to run side-by-side there, him running low and me running high in (Turns) 3 and 4. It didn’t play out that way. He just didn’t even try to make the corner. It is what it is.”
“We’re racing for wins and they’re hard to come by,” Gibbs said. “I had to take it. … Just got in there deep and had to bump him out of the way going up the track. We’re short-track racing.”
Gibbs’ expectation of getting one back from Nemechek didn’t hold much clout.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Nemechek said. “We didn’t take home the hardware today.
“I guess I should know that when the last lap is out, teammate rules are off or whatever,” he added. “But, I thought it would have been awesome to be able to duel it out side-by-side coming to the checkered flag. Whether it was him or me winning, rubbing doors to the start-finish line is awesome, but don’t just completely miss a corner.”
The battle between the two teammates was close all day. Nemechek led a race-high 135 laps, while Gibbs held the point for 114 of the 250. For Nemechek, competing for a championship in his full-time NASCAR Camping Truck Series effort with Toyota-backed Kyle Busch Motorsports, a runner-up result doesn’t do him much good.
“I’m not going to sit here and say it’s fair or not fair,” Nemechek said. “Just racers never forget, that’s all.”
Ty Gibbs bumped his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, John Hunter Nemechek, out of the lead on the final lap to claim his third NASCAR Xfinity Series race win of the season – by a mere 0.116 seconds over Nemechek in the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway.
The two JGR drivers dominated the afternoon – combining to lead all but one of the 250 laps on the 0.75-mile track – the first short-track test of the season. Nemechek paced the field for a race-high 135 laps in the No. 18 JGR Toyota and was within checkered-flag sight when Gibbs got into him, pushing Nemechek’s Toyota high up the track and then motoring on for his series-best third win of the season and seventh of his young career.
In his previous two victories (at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and at Atlanta Motor Speedway) this season, the 19-year old Gibbs had led only seven total laps. He was out front 114 Saturday.
“I definitely deserve one back but we’re racing for wins and they are hard to come by so you have to take it,” said Gibbs, after climbing out of his No. 54 JGR Toyota.
“Short-track racing,” he added with a smile. “Got our third win so want to keep it going. What a great car.
“I deserve one back for sure but we’re racing for wins and I’ve got to do what I can to win.”
The second-generation driver Nemechek, who races full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, climbed out of his car and offered a smile to the TV cameras, but the 24-year-old was clearly miffed at his teammate.
“Him and I will settle it one day,” Nemechek said. “I don’t want to say too much and get myself in trouble. Just got drove through. He didn’t even try and make the corner there.
It was a career day for another teenager as well. Not only did 18-year old JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer earn a career-best third-place finish, but he also secured the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash incentive prize offered by series sponsor Xfinity.
“By the end of the day our Chevrolet Camaro was as fast as Xfinity internet, so that’s a really good, feels-good moment for us and obviously, my career-best finish,” Mayer said. “Unbelievable. This team definitely deserves it.”
Now the top four eligible drivers from Saturday’s race in Richmond – Mayer, race winner Gibbs, fourth-place finisher AJ Allmendinger and fifth-place finisher Riley Herbst will have an opportunity to contend for the prize money next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.
Although he won’t be eligible for bonus money, reigning series champion Daniel Hemric had to be happy with his results Saturday. Hemric rallied from the rear of the starting grid to finish sixth, followed by Josh Berry, Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg and Parker Retzlaff.
Noah Gragson came into the weekend leading the points standings, but his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet suffered brake problems all afternoon and ultimately finished 21st, a lap down. The misfortune cost him the championship lead. Allmendinger, the only driver to have top-10 finishes in all seven races this year, now leads Gibbs and Gragson atop the standings by 20 points.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series races next on Friday night in the Call 811 Before You Dig 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Berry is the defending winner, earning his first career series victory there in 2021.
Note: Inspection in the NASCAR Xfinity Series garage is clear. Gibbs’ win is official. One lug nut was not safe and secure on both the Nos. 10 and 16 cars of Landon Cassill and Allmendinger.
The pressure is getting turned up this weekend as NASCAR Cup Series teams arrived at Richmond Raceway for some intense short-track action. This will be the shortest track the Next Gen car has seen in a points race so far, and the pressure will be on for drivers and pit crews as shorter tracks turn up the intensity not only from a braking perspective for the drivers but from a speed perspective for pit crews in order to gain or retain track position.
Richmond is one of the most intense tracks when it comes to braking, and drivers appeared to make good use of the larger brake package that is in use on the Next Gen car as they practiced and qualified early Saturday. Just like at Phoenix Raceway, we’ll see brake cooling opened up to keep up with the braking demands required here and keep the brakes cool, but we’re likely to see more tire fall-off than we saw at Phoenix, which should make things exciting. Stewart-Haas Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing had strong representation in the final qualifying session, but Ryan Blaney was able to outdo all of them in order to capture the pole in his Team Penske Ford Mustang. His pole run in qualifying came after strong results in practice, where he topped the charts in both short-run and long-run speed as he was fastest on all runs less than 30 laps.
That tire fall-off combined with fast speed on a short track is going to put the pressure on pit crews to perform, and Richmond is likely to bring out record times during pit stops as we get to our first track where track position is significant since alternate pit-stop choreographies have been made legal. We’ve seen speed in the mid nine-second range from multiple teams with crews from the Nos. 18 and 9 cars topping the charts most weeks. That No. 18 crew along with other Joe Gibbs Racing teammates are likely to deploy their alternate pit-stop choreography Sunday where we’ll see both of their tire changers coming around the front of the car, which should shorten pit-stop times. Those JGR crews have spent significant time practicing this alternate choreography, and considering they’ve been able to go as low as 9.4 seconds using a traditional choreography, it would not be surprising to see them dip into the eight-second range for a four-tire pit stop.
Richmond is likely to bring out the excitement both on the track and on pit road and will give us a great preview of what we can expect from the Next Gen car on short tracks this season.
For the second consecutive week and third time of the seven-race old season, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney will start from the Busch Light Pole – earning the top position Saturday in qualifying for Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Blaney’s No. 12 Ford Mustang turned in a lap of 119.782 mph to take the top position by only .20 over William Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Blaney – who, remarkably, has only a single top-10 finish in 11 starts at the 0.75-mile Richmond track – was fastest in his first group as well as topping the final qualifying session.
“It means a lot,” Blaney told FS1. “Honestly, I didn’t think I got a very good lap. It was kind of an ugly lap on my end. Really proud of the 12 group.
“Track position means a lot here,” he continued. “Especially how my past history is here, I need all the track position I can get. Good start to the weekend, just got to keep it up and keep tires under it, that’s the biggest thing. We’ll see what tomorrow holds. Should be fun.”
Kyle Busch will start the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota third, alongside Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe. Busch’s six wins at Richmond is most among active drivers and he is one of three former winners to advance to the top 10 in qualifying.
The Richmond track has historically been a good venue for the Joe Gibbs Racing team, which is still looking for its first victory of the 2022 season. Five different Gibbs drivers have accounted for eight wins in the last 12 Richmond races.
Petty GMS Motorsports’ Erik Jones will start fifth, alongside JGR driver Martin Truex Jr., who has won three times in the last five Richmond races. SHR’s Kevin Harvick, another three-time Richmond winner, will start sixth alongside last weekend’s COTA winner, Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.
Christopher Bell (No. 20 JGR Toyota) and Aric Almirola (No. 10 SHR Ford) rounded out the top 10 in qualifying. Defending race winner Alex Bowman will start the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28th in the 37-car field.
Busch set the tone in the lone 20-minute practice session, posting 26 laps at a best time of 22.558 seconds and a top speed of 119.691 mph. Chris Buescher and Blaney timed in just behind the No. 18 at 22.628 and 22.689 seconds, respectively. Busch’s teammate, Christopher Bell, and Briscoe rounded out the top five. Three-time and most recent Richmond winner Martin Truex Jr. finished eighth on the practice leaderboard.
Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway
(⏰ 3:30 p.m. ET | 📺 FOX | 📻 MRN, SiriusXM)
Everything you need to know for NASCAR’s return to the East Coast and the seventh regular-season Cup Series race of the 2022 campaign.
Race-day info 📝
Where: Richmond, Virginia Approximate start time: 3:30 p.m. ET TV/Radio: FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Forecast: A slight chance of showers before 9 a.m. ET. Sunny, with a high near 67 degrees, according to NOAA.gov Race distance: 400 laps | 300 miles Stages: 80 | 180 | 400 Pit-road speed: 40 mph Caution car speed: 45 mph The purse: $7,110,735 Richmond 101: Get the full lowdown | Weekend schedule
Starting lineup: Qualifying order for Saturday Pit stalls: Sunday’s stall assignments| Expert pit analysis
Key things to watch 🔑
Practice and qualifying: An important note that came from Saturday’s sessions was the attention to off-throttle time. Drivers who were able to roll through the center of the corner and pick the gas back up earlier looked much stronger throughout the morning. Ryan Blaney once again flashed his exceptional 2022 speed with a blazing pole lap, inching past William Byron to make up the front row for Sunday’s race. While three of the four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas advanced to the Final Round of qualifying, drivers admitted they were a bit off from the usual dominance shown here. Nonetheless, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell each start in the top 10. Virginia native Denny Hamlin was the odd one out in 13th. All told, these numbers aren’t concerning for the organization at one of its best tracks and wouldn’t be much of an ‘off day’ at all for many other teams.
Blaney now has a series-leading three Busch Light Pole Awards in just seven ’22 races but hasn’t seen much success at Richmond in the past. With only one top 10 and an average finish of 22.2, will this be the race he finally turns it around?
Big story line: What’s up with Joe Gibbs Racing? Through six races this season, the organization has zero wins and only one driver currently in the top 10 in Cup Series standings: Martin Truex Jr. in seventh. Though wins have been increasingly hard to come by with the parity seen in the Next Gen car, it’s surprising to see Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell sitting 22nd and 23rd, respectively, in points. Hamlin won 15 races in the three seasons prior to 2022 but has struggled to find a foothold this year with a trio of DNFs and six straight finishes of 13th or worse. As many questions have been asked to this point, they could all be answered at Richmond. JGR has won eight of the last 12 races at the Virginia track, with Truex’s 2021 playoff victory being the most recent, and Hamlin finished runner-up in both Richmond races a season ago.
All it could take for JGR is just one of its drivers getting to Victory Lane to spark that overall championship form we’re accustomed to seeing. | Full JGR, Richmond analysis
Who’s hot? Who’s not?: With a strong nod to Ross Chastain for being the most in-form driver on the planet right now, Chase Elliott has quietly begun to pick up the pace. Elliott ranks atop the board in the regular-season points standings and has three finishes of ninth or better in the last four races. The 2020 Cup Series champion has found an impressively strong run of consistency while he keeps searching for his first win of the season. On the cold front, Aric Almirola has slowed down from his blistering pace to start the season — from the only driver with three top 10s in the first trio of races to three straight finishes of 12th or worse. Looking to regain momentum at Richmond, he finished sixth in this race a season ago.
Driving under the radar: Steady as he goes. That has been the theme for Martin Truex Jr.’s season so far. The No. 19 pilot has led laps in half the races this year and reeled off back-to-back finishes inside the top eight to creep his way up the points leaderboard. Under the radar so far this season, Truex will be in full focus at Richmond, a track he has dominated lately more than anyone else. He won three of the last five races here, has six consecutive top fives and is primed to make his first big statement of 2022 on Sunday.
Race-day staples ✅
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• Paint Scheme Preview: Colors are ready to roll at Richmond | Choose a favorite
• Power Rankings: Alex Bowman proving to be weekly contender for wins | Where does he rank?
• Fantasy Fastlane: Expect a strong JGR showing at Richmond | Top plays, sleepers
• NASCAR betting: Odds for Richmond spring race | BetMGM odds
Catch the pack 💨
Read up on the top headlines from the week leading up to Sunday’s race.
• Suspensions: No. 23 team hit with penalties after loose wheel at COTA | Latest penalty report • Track profile: Richmond Raceway | Learn more about the Virginia track • Analysis: Is Richmond where JGR turns the season around? | See what the numbers say
• Time for No. 20?: Christopher Bell has a positive outlook for Richmond | Read what he said
• On the calendar: RFK Racing appeal of L2 penalties to be heard April 7 | Latest information
• Checking the boxes: Next Gen car passes key tests at COTA | Detailed analysis
• Giving back: 23XI Racing announces tuition program for 2022 | More details
• A star: Linda Beard shining as team owner | Full heartwarming story
• Hello, old friend: Where are they now? Catching up with Derrike Cope | See what he’s up to
• Richmond rally: Michael Conti holds off Graham Bowling for eNASCAR win |Watch the finish
• Backseat Drivers: What’s Trackhouse Racing’s ceiling in 2022? | Do you agree with their take?
• NASCAR Snapshot: Giselle Zarur of FOX Deportes | Hear her story
• ‘Rocket Man’ returns: Ryan Newman competing in Whelen Modified Tour action at Richmond | See how he got there | Results
Get in on the action 💰
NASCAR Creative Design
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.
• Play it LIVE: Full guide to 2022 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | Get the FAQ
• BetMGM: Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano anchor Richmond’s featured matchups | Who’s got your vote?
• The Action Network: Early bets for Richmond | Catch up with tips from the experts
• Weekly props: Will Toyota top the field at Richmond? | Make your picks
• Going all the way: NASCAR betting: 2022 Cup Series championship odds |See them here
Returning to Richmond 🕷
Richmond Raceway has had its share of storied history, hosting 130 Cup races since 1953. Take a look at some important track information.
Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• Joe Gibbs Racing has won eight of the last 12 races at Richmond, including the 2021 playoff race won by Martin Truex Jr.
• Aric Almirola is the only driver to complete every lap this season. His last DNF came in May 2021. • In both races at Richmond in 2021, Denny Hamlin finished runner-up, led the most laps and won both stages in each. • The final green-flag run was 146 laps or more in three of the last five races at Richmond. • Chase Elliott leads the series standings despite having just one top-five finish this season, coming last week at Circuit of The Americas.
Say what? 🎙
Brian Lawdermilk | Getty Images
Notable quotes from the stars of the sport heading into Sunday’s race.
• “I’m always excited to go to Richmond. I have been fortunate to have had a lot of success there throughout my career and especially the last few years. No matter what car you’re racing, you’re always going to fight the same things there. You have to be able to turn the middle and have good drive off if you want to have any chance, especially on the long run. Richmond is very unique compared to the tracks we have been to so far with this car, so it’s really going to be up to us to unload close and fine tune on it during practice and qualifying to be ready for the race, but I have a lot of confidence in Chris (Gabehart) and our team that we can do that.” — Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, on his mindset heading into Saturday.
• “I think for me I feel like I needed to be a little bit more aggressive, understanding how important track position is. As soon as the race starts it’s time to go. It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, I’ve got 500 miles to go. I’ll figure it out.’ Well, if you lose a couple spots those guys that passed you are really smart. They’re really good and they’re hard to pass back, so you end up spending more time trying to pass them than you would trying to move forward or whatever it might be, so more recently that’s been my focus is to get a little bit more aggressive over time and get a little bit more on the offensive instead of the defensive against these guys – just kind of take the fight to them and see what we’ve got.” — Harrison Burton, driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, on his mentality at the track.
• “We have two incredible race car drivers. I’ve said this about Daniel (Suárez) all along, and I’ve said it about Ross (Chastain) for the 10 years that I’ve known him. These are championship-caliber talents. We just need to get them in a spot where they can shine. And Chevrolet is strong right now. Our preparation is on point. Everybody is super motivated, so workflow is super effective during the week.” — Justin Marks, owner of Trackhouse Racing, on his motivation and performance as a team and manufacturer.
Seven NASCAR Cup Series teams lost a crew member and pit selection for Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) after failing pre-qualifying inspection twice on Friday evening.
The No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Austin Dillon, the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet of AJ Allmendinger, the No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford of Chris Buescher, the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota of Bubba Wallace, the No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet of Justin Haley, the No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet of Greg Biffle and the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were the teams with the inspection infractions.
Car chief Ryan Chism (No. 3 RCR Chevrolet), car chief Andy Seuss (No. 16 Kaulig Chevrolet), car chief Josh Sisco (No. 17 RFK Ford), car chief Zach Marquardt (No. 23 23XI Toyota), car chief Jaron Antley (No. 31 Kaulig Chevrolet), engineer Nick Ollila (No. 44 NYR Chevrolet) and car chief Joe Gwilt (No. 47 JTG Chevrolet) were the crew members ejected.
The Nos. 31 and 44 failed three times. As a result, those teams will not be permitted to qualify and will have to serve a pass-through penalty after taking the green flag on Sunday.
UPDATE: On Sunday, the No. 2 Team Penske Ford of Austin Cindric was sent to the rear for unapproved adjustments. He was originally slated to start 20th.
