Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

RICHMOND, Va. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t earn the finish he wanted in his lone NASCAR Xfinity Series start of 2021, but it was the family affair with a little on-track drama to add some spice.

After starting 30th in the one-off race in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet he owns, Earnhardt slowly made his way toward the front and reached fourth by the final stage. But a round of pit stops was costly, earning a pit-road speeding penalty upon exit, sending Earnhardt to the rear of the field for the restart.

Earnhardt was able to recover to finish 14th.

“It was a little rough. I really didn’t figure out how to get the car around the track, to be honest with you,” Earnhardt said. “… We had about a 10th-place car with me driving it. The setup and everything was pretty close to what we’ve been running in the past, so I don’t know. Maybe I just needed some more laps or to just do things differently. I tried a lot of different things to figure out how to get the car around the corner better, I just never could do it.”

RELATED: Official results | Remembering 9-11: 20 years later

Before he had a taste of the front, he raced hard with drivers through the field, including Josh Williams, driver of the No. 92 Chevrolet.

Earnhardt made contact with Williams in the first stage, sliding into the No. 92 at the exit of Turn 2 after getting loose out of the corner. While Earnhardt admitted on the radio he was having fun but didn’t mean to get him, Williams was not impressed in the moment, saying on the radio: “I don’t care if he’s a hero or not. He keeps jacking me up. … You got plenty of room. Use it.”

When the race concluded, Williams came over to joke with Earnhardt about the ordeal, admitting he had just as much fun mixing it up with the 2021 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee.

RELATED: Dale Jr.: ‘They just race so hard’

“I had a pretty good time beating up on them guys and they beat back on me,” Earnhardt said. “I got run into the fence a couple times late, but we ended up crossing the finish line and I got to run all the laps, so that’s all I an ask for.”

Above his time behind the steering wheel, Earnhardt cherished being able to show his eldest daughter, Isla, around the race track. His wife, Amy, and newborn daughter, Nicole, were also in attendance with him.

While Isla wasn’t the biggest fan of the pomp and circumstance that comes with driver introductions, Earnhardt was anxious to hear Isla’s response to what she thought of the race.

“I told myself that I was probably going to enjoy that more than anything today and I was right,” Earnhardt said with a laugh. “I had fun in the car, but nothing beat being able to see Isla’s face when I put this uniform on and come out the bedroom in the bus and she’s looking at me like, ‘What is happening?’ She couldn’t figure it out.”

He expressed wanting to keep doing more races because he wishes Isla would be able to see more of the life he lived for two decades in NASCAR.

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Torey Fox | NASCAR Digital Media

“It sucks I only get to do this once a year for that reason,” Earnhardt said. “I would love for her to experience a lot of what I went through over the last two decades. These guys are so good. I’m going to have to try again next year, but if I don’t run good then, I might not come back. It’s a young man’s game out there.”

With the futures of drivers Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier at the team still not set in stone, Earnhardt indicated if he were to run again next year, it would be in a sixth JRM machine.

“We’re still up in the the air on that, but if I run again next year, probably be six cars out there,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine, but that’s what we’d do. Shows how crazy were are, I guess.”

It was also a time of reflection for Earnhardt on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It seemed fitting Earnhardt was back in a race car on a day of remembrance after winning the first race in NASCAR’s return to the track after the tragedy in 2001, earning victory at Dover International Speedway in the No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet.

“I’m just glad we were racing and be able to do what we do … honor those people that we lost on that day and honor the ones that were affected by it today,” Earnhardt said. “It feels good to be at a race track so we can express however we want to express ourselves. It’s a tough day for the country.”

“I remember when we waited to go back to the race track in 2001 and how good it felt to go to Dover a couple weeks later and how amazing the energy was,” he added. “It’s also that same feeling in Richmond. It’s awesome to have this doubleheader. Giving these fans a great afternoon and a lot of action and hopefully they enjoyed themselves.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Noah Gragson led the final 14 laps, holding off the field on a pair of late-race restarts in Saturday’s Go Bowling 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway to earn his second win in as many weeks — celebrating the moment by wrapping himself in an American flag then climbing the front grandstand fence to a cheering crowd.

Gragson, 23, was only three years old when the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred, but the Las Vegas native was clearly moved by the opportunity to acknowledge the powerful day in American history — and an important day in his career.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

His .381-second win in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet over hard-charging Kaulig Racing driver Justin Haley gives him a two-race winning streak heading into next week’s regular-season finale at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where the 12-driver playoff field will be set.

“I knew they [Haley] had tires, but the thing that really kept us alive were those two cautions at the end,” said Gragson, who now has four career Xfinity Series wins.

“But today’s not about this team or this win, it’s about everyone who lost their lives 20 years ago. We have a lot of heavy hearts and at least in America we can come together on this day and appreciate all you race fans for coming out.

“It’s an emotional day. It’s a special day. But it’s not about us today.”

RELATED: Noah Gragson dedicates the win to 9/11 victims

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship competitor John Hunter Nemechek finished third with Gragson’s JRM teammate Justin Allgaier rallying from an early race mechanical issue to finish fourth, followed by Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Daniel Hemric and 18-year-old Ty Gibbs were sixth and seventh. Gibbs led a race-best 67 of the 250 laps and won Stage 2.

Brandon Brown and cousins Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton rounded out the top 10.

NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., a four-time winner of this race, finished 14th in his only NASCAR start of the season. He was running among the top 10 but was called for a pit-road speeding penalty on a late-race pit stop. He still got to celebrate in Victory Lane, however, as one of Gragson’s team owners.

“They race hard there in the middle of the pack, especially around me, but it was fun,” said Earnhardt, who also noted, “Helps me remember some of the things that make me a better broadcaster.”

RELATED: Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to his Richmond run

Earnhardt, the sport’s 15-time Most Popular Driver, is an NBC Sports announcer and moved from pit lane to the announcers’ booth for the NASCAR Cup Series race later Saturday night at the Richmond three-quarter mile track.

Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger and Team Penske’s Austin Cindric were separated by a single point in the regular-season standings entering the race, and Allmendinger extended his lead to five points with a Stage 1 win and an 18th-place finish. Cindric finished 16th.

Nine drivers have now officially clinched a playoff position, including Cindric, Allmendinger, Gragson, Allgaier, Haley, Harrison Burton, Daniel Hemric, Myatt Snider and Harrison Burton.

Herbst currently holds the 12th position in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings, the final playoff transfer position, with a 66-point edge on JR Motorsports’ driver Michael Annett, who had been among the playoff 12 before missing four races with an injury.

Up next, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the regular-season finale. The race is set for Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage was completed without a major issue, confirming Gragson as the race winner. The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driven by Harrison Burton was found with one unsecured lug nut in a post-race check.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Larson had earned the Busch Pole Award for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Richmond Raceway but will now have to come all the way from the rear. The Regular Season Champion’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection twice and will be forced to the rear during pace laps.

RELATED: Richmond starting lineup | Larson wins Busch Pole

Larson, who won the fall 2017 race at the .75-mile Virginia short track, was originally slated to start first alongside last week’s winner, Denny Hamlin. The Cook Out Southern 500 winner and driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will now lead the field to the green flag with Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 19 JGR Toyota, also on the front row.

The No. 5 driver enters tonight’s second race in the Round of 16 of the NASCAR Playoffs in second place in the standings, 80 points above the elimination line.

The No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Cole Custer also failed pre-race inspection twice and will start at the rear as well.

Coverage for Saturday’s race gets underway at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

MORE: Richmond at-track phtotos

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship team owner Ed Partridge, known for his success on the track and his friendship and impact off it, has died.

“We are saddened to learn of the passing of championship car owner and track owner Eddie Partridge,” a NASCAR statement read. “Eddie’s passion for racing was felt not just throughout the modified community, but also throughout grassroots racing as a whole. He fielded teams for some of the best drivers in the sport, and truly loved seeing his cars run up front. After taking on the task of running Riverhead Raceway, he then also proudly fielded a venue for those drivers to showcase their talent. It is only fitting that Eddie’s last race was a victory. A fierce competitor who fought for the good in short track racing, he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and teammates at this time.”

Known for giving many in the NASCAR industry their head start driving one of his modifieds, Partridge was the 2011 and 2017 owner champion on the Modified Tour. Additionally, driver Ron Silk won the 2011 title in Partridge’s machine.

“Some of my best years were racing with Eddie, it was amazing that he gave me that opportunity,” Silk told RaceDayCT. “But the things I’ll remember about him more was the fun. We’d go on a trip and we’d get a nice conversion van to ride to the races in and he was just really fun to be around. Sometimes you drive for people and things don’t go well at the track and everybody is in a bad mood for a while. With Eddie, he’d flip the switch right after the race.”

Partridge was especially close with Ryan Preece, who drove the No. 6 to victory at Richmond Raceway on Friday night.

Preece and Partridge were in Victory Lane together before the sad news of Partridge’s passing was confirmed Saturday morning.

Mike Wheeler, a veteran NASCAR Cup Series crew chief, was among the many to offer immediate condolences.

Preece is a 25-time Modified Tour winner, with his last 14 victories coming in Partridge’s No. 6. The two teamed up in 2015, and Preece’s career took off — he’s since made more than 150 NASCAR national series starts and boasts two career NASCAR Xfinity Series victories.

“I knew Ryan was a great driver when he drove the No. 3 and the No. 16 car,” Partridge said back in 2017. “He had a learning experience in the Xfinity Series and he wanted to come home and he called me up. I told him he would have to maintain all the cars, be the crew chief and the driver, all in one. I knew he had some success in his own cars with his dad, but I really didn’t know how it was going to go. But he went out there and pulled it off. It’s really unbelievable.”

Preece currently drives the No. 37 for JTG Daugherty Racing at NASCAR’s top level, but he still drives in the Modified Tour on a part-time basis as well.

Partridge also was owner of Riverhead Raceway, a fifth-mile oval in New York that has long been a fixture on the Modified Tour and is one of the most iconic and popular modified stops in the country.

The Whelen Modified Tour is scheduled to race at Riverhead on Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. ET, the 13th of 14 series races this season. Doug Coby won the two previous races at Riverhead this season.

Posted on by Staff Report

Statement from NASCAR on the passing of Eddie Partridge, a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour team owner (No. 6 driven by Ryan Preece – winner of Friday night’s race at Richmond Raceway) and Riverhead Raceway owner:

We are saddened to learn of the passing of championship car owner and track owner Eddie Partridge. Eddie’s passion for racing was felt not just throughout the modified community, but also throughout grassroots racing as a whole. He fielded teams for some of the best drivers in the sport, and truly loved seeing his cars run up front. After taking on the task of running Riverhead Raceway, he then also proudly fielded a venue for those drivers to showcase their talent. It is only fitting that Eddie’s last race was a victory. A fierce competitor who fought for the good in short track racing, he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and teammates at this time.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

Alan Gustafson, crew chief for the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team of Chase Elliott, will be making his 600th career NASCAR Cup Series start atop the pit box in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts Salute to First Responders 400 at Richmond Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Gustafson has served as a crew chief for five different Cup Series drivers in his career, dating back to Kyle Busch’s rookie season in 2005. Since then, he has worked alongside Casey Mears, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Elliott.

RELATED: Playoff standings | Starting lineup for Sunday’s race

“When I reflect back, I just think of the different drivers and situations with the different drivers, the personalities, pit-crew members and different things,” Gustafson said. “I think when you start at one, you’re just hoping to get to two. And then you’re maybe kind of hoping to get to get to 30 and then you’re trying to make it two years. As you go, you’re just really trying to survive. This sport is obviously super competitive and a lot of times it’s more bad news than good news. So, you’re trying to do the best you can to prosper and survive.”

Gustafson earned his first Cup Series victory with Busch at Auto Club Speedway in 2005. Gustafson has earned 33 race victories in total so far, including four with Busch, five with Martin, 11 with Gordon and 13 with Elliott. He also earned his first career Cup Series championship with Elliott in 2020.

AVONDALE, ARIZONA - NOVEMBER 08: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, and crew chief Alan Gustafson celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale 500 and the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on November 08, 2020 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Chase Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson celebrate winning the 2020 Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway. Chris Graythen | Getty Images

When reflecting back over the course of a career that continues to prosper, Gustafson’s biggest observation is how much the dynamic of a race team has changed throughout his 17 years at NASCAR’s highest level.

“It’s changed a lot in 600 starts,” Gustafson said. “When I first started, it was really the crew chief and the team, and man, you did everything. You did everything – spec the chassis builds, where you wanted your front clips, where you wanted your rear clips, where you wanted your frame rails, where you wanted to install the engine, what this car was going to run and the body specification when we just had the templates, how far you wanted to offset your tail and what do you want to do with your roof. Not only did you have a vast amount of options, you had very little information to make those decisions with.

“I just remember back then, there was a lot of freedom and room to run; and certainly, a lot of uncertainty that came with that. Now, it’s much more granular. It’s very small stuff and we do it collaboratively.”

Elliott, Gustafson and the No. 9 team are set to start 13th in Saturday night’s second race in the Playoffs Round of 16. After a 31st-place showing in the first postseason race last Sunday at Darlington Raceway, the defending champion sits 10th in the standings, four points above the elimination line.

Posted on by Davey Segal

RICHMOND, Va. – In the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s return to Richmond Raceway, Ryan Preece dominated, leading 98 of 156 laps and surviving multiple late-race restarts to win his third consecutive race over a three-month stretch and first at “The Action Track.”

“Usually you really don’t want late-race restarts, but I knew I had a really good car,” Preece said. “And I knew from the first restart we had that my car was gonna take off. I was good on the short run and good on the long run. It all worked out.”

RELATED: Full race results

While multiple big names and championship contenders ran into issues behind him, Preece made staying up front a point of emphasis, understanding the effect clean air has on a car at the 0.75-mile track, regardless of vehicle.

“Clean air was something I wanted,” he said. “Funny to say in a modified, but it matters. I knew the deeper you get into the pack, the less your car is going to do what you want it to do. Ultimately, I’m pretty happy we controlled the race and we had a fast race car.”

His wins at Richmond, Stafford and New Hampshire mark the fourth season in the Berlin, Connecticut, native’s career he has won three or more races on the Modified Tour. This is Preece’s final scheduled race of his Modified Tour season.

Earning his best finish of the season in the runner-up spot was Jon McKennedy. Following back-to-back 16th-place finishes at Beech Ridge and Oswego, the Tommy Baldwin-led group gained a total of 18 positions on the evening after starting back in 20th.

Ronnie Williams brought his No. 50 machine home third after leading three times for a total of 34 laps, the best finish of his career, with Cup Series veteran Ryan Newman and six-time series champion Doug Coby rounding out the top five finishers. Kyle Bonsignore, Austin Beers, Andy Jankowiak, Burt Myers and Woody Pitkat completed the top 10.

Notably absent from the front all night long were the three championship contenders: Justin Bonsignore, Patrick Emerling and Ron Silk.

Around Lap 40, Emerling’s No. 07 began smoking on track. Shortly thereafter, he brought it to the garage for service and a rear end issue was diagnosed. A handful of laps later, points leader and championship rival Bonsignore suffered a similar issue and brought his No. 51 behind the wall. The two teams worked feverishly to get back on track, only a few yards from each other.

Both Bonsignore and Emerling were able to get back on track, but returned to the garage mere laps later, ending their nights early. They finished 24th and 25th, respectively.

Their trouble meant Ron Silk, winner of the last two races on the tour, had an opportunity to pounce. But the No. 85 struggled most of the night and ultimately was involved in a crash of his own, leading to the eventual overtime finish.

With two races to go in the season, Bonsignore’s lead over Emerling in the standings is at 22 points. Up next for the Whelen Modified Tour is a trip to Riverhead Raceway on Sept. 18. Doug Coby earned both wins earlier this season, with Justin Bonsignore winning the four prior in a row (eight overall).

Posted on by Terrin Waack

Like a birthday or a holiday, this, too, happens on a yearly basis: Dale Earnhardt Jr. enters a NASCAR race.

It used to happen literally all the time. Earnhardt, a 26-time winner in the Cup Series, competed in every race in every season but two for 18 years. That’s 626 events as a full-timer.

His last win in the sport dates back to 2016 – in the Xfinity Series, where he’ll make his annual appearance Saturday at Richmond Raceway.

“I don’t really daydream too much about the result,” Earnhardt said Friday on a Zoom teleconference. “We’ll just see how it all shakes out. But I hope I get to run all the laps and I hope I get to have fun. I hope I’m reminded why I love it and then also why I don’t do it anymore.”

RELATED: Dale Jr. says he wishes he was more like Chase Elliott

Earnhardt retired from full-time NASCAR racing after the 2017 Cup Series season. Since then, he has participated in one Xfinity Series race per year. In 2018, he raced at Richmond and finished fourth. He then placed fifth at Darlington Raceway in 2019 and at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2020.

On Saturday, Earnhardt is slated to start 30th in the Go Bowling 250 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It’ll mark his 143rd career Xfinity Series start. Somehow that triple-digit tally doesn’t relax him heading into the event. If anything, he’s more nervous now than when he suited up regularly.

“I think when you race every single week, when you did bad, you had an opportunity next weekend to fix it,” Earnhardt said. “If you had a bad weekend, it wasn’t fun, it wasn’t good and you took it home with you and you spent the rest of the week being miserable. But you knew that you were going back to the track with a chance to redeem yourself and a chance to peel that layer off, that layer of disappointment off. And that was always there every single week.

“I haven’t had a bad experience in these one-race-a-year deals. I haven’t had a bad experience yet, so I don’t know how that’s going to feel when we have a bad race. If I’m going to go, ‘Man, I gotta wait a whole year to fix this,’ that might make things a little difficult.”

Saturday’s reaction is still a TBD, but looks rather promising. In 36 Cup Series starts, Earnhardt won three times at Richmond. He tallied 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes overall. In the Xfinity Series, he actually has four wins in eight starts – the most recent coming in 2016 in his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

Regardless of the outcome, there’s always next year.

Because Earnhardt doesn’t plan on racing more than once a year, nor does he want to.

“But, you know, I do miss it,” Earnhardt said. “I miss driving. I daydream about driving full time and what that would be like and, boy, I miss it.”

Posted on by Sean Montgomery

In 2019, Tyler Reddick hoisted the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship trophy for the second season in a row, becoming the first back-to-back title winner since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2011-12. Two years later, the second-year Cup Series driver for Richard Childress Racing is battling the pressure of being an underdog while chasing his first Bill France Cup.

RELATED: Cup Series Playoffs hub | Richmond schedule

“The pressure is certainly different,” said Reddick. “Coming from the Xfinity side and running for those championships, we were — if you will — deemed one of the top teams. For the last couple of years, RCR has done a really good job of building up to get back to the status as one of the top teams in the Cup Series and get our cars closer to going out there and winning races.”

Though winless, Reddick edged out RCR teammate Austin Dillon for the final points position in the NASCAR Playoffs after the thrilling regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway. While Reddick is making his Round of 16 debut and keeping the organization’s title hopes alive, Dillon’s eight years of top-flight experience and four playoff appearances have provided his younger counterpart with a sense of composure and chemistry moving forward into the postseason.

“Austin is a very consistent team and organizational leader,” said Reddick. “Things happen to all of us, but you never see Austin letting one bad race or one bad thing carry on. Being around that really helps me stay centered, as well. He’s done a really good job of allowing his position in the No. 3 car to help the organization and it motivates me to see him just be himself. It’s been such a good pairing.”

So far this season, Reddick has made huge strides in many categories. Through 27 of 36 races, the No. 8 wheelman has his first career pole, four more top 10s and only one fewer top five than his full 2020 rookie season.

His first bid at a Cup championship has continued the learning experience.

“When you’re in a Cup car and running against Cup guys and teams, there’s normally less mistakes and less room for error,” said Reddick. “In the playoffs, it’s all about execution, doing all the right things and just staying very aware of what our position is and what realistic goals we have once our races get rolling.”

In the midst of the playoffs among a cluster of seasoned veterans, Reddick knows the pressure only increases from here — starting with Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders at Richmond Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports Live, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“It’s all about racing the track and making the most out of our night with our team,” said Reddick. “Surely, there will be moments where some of the veterans — and even some of the younger drivers — will feel like they can get in somebody’s head, and get an advantage. But I feel good with what we’ve worked on and where we’re at as a team to stay on path and do what we need to do tomorrow night.”

Racing on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 brings added emotion to the playoff intensity.

RELATED: Mike Helton shares memory of 9/11 | Full guide for Saturday

“It’s important to remember the sacrifices that people selflessly stepped up to make,” said Reddick. “There are a lot of emotions that will be involved, for sure. I’m taking all of the energy and using it as something that can be positive for me going into the race.”

Saturday’s showcase marks Reddick’s third Cup Series race at Richmond. He enters tied for 12th place in the playoff standings (the final Round of 12 transfer spot) with 2026 points.

“On paper, we gained on the cutline [after Darlington] but we are still sitting on it,” said Reddick. “But certainly, we felt like it showed that we had a car that was capable of running much better than 18th. Knowing that really lit a fire under us and we are still more motivated than we’ve been all year long. We faced a challenge that definitely beat us down, but we know what to do moving forward and we’re ready to put up another fight at Richmond.”