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Last five races for Active Drivers prior to 2021 Race – Ordered by Average Finish

Driver Name Races Wins Top  5 Top 10 Points Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
Denny Hamlin 5 1 4 4 150 44 15.2 9.6
Aric Almirola 5 1 3 4 150 40 7.4 10.8
Ryan Preece 4 0 1 2 105 3 29.0 11.5
Joey Logano 5 0 2 2 172 131 11.0 12.6
Ryan Newman 5 0  1   3  126 4 18.4 12.8
Tyler Reddick 2 0 0 1 61 21 23.0 13.5
Erik Jones 5 0  2   3  123 18 17.4 13.6
Ryan Blaney 5 2  2   2  163 118 12.2 14.2
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 5 0 2 3 130 53  14.2 15.4
Chase Elliott 5 1  2   3  143 108  7.6 16.6
Austin Dillon 5 0  0  1 122 1  14.2 17.6
Kurt Busch 5 0  0   2  128 124  9.6 17.8
William Byron 5 0  1   1  128 30  15.2 17.8
Alex Bowman 5 0  1   2  130 19  6.0 18.6
Corey LaJoie 5 0  0   1  91 0  32.6 18.8
Chris Buescher 5 0  0   1  110 20  23.2 19.8
Quin Houff 2 0  0    0   34 0  32.5 20.0
Brad Keselowski 5 0  0   0  125 59  8.2 20.4
Ross Chastain 3 0  0  0 0 10  34.7 20.7
Kevin Harvick 5 0 0 1 92 50  9.4 22.6
Kyle Busch 5 0 0 1 93 17  13.2 22.8
Martin Truex Jr. 5 0 0 0 83 21  10.6 23.0
Bubba Wallace 5 0 0 0 73 12  24.6 24.0
Daniel Suarez 5 0 0 0 78 0  23.2 24.4
Kyle Larson 3 0 0 0 39 1  18.7 24.7
Cole Custer 2 0 0 0 25 0  23.0 26.5
Matt DiBenedetto 5 0 0 0 48 14  24.0 27.6
Michael McDowell 5 0 1 1 54 1  19.6 27.8

 

Posted on by Zack Albert

With one notable performance exception, Denny Hamlin made the absolute most of back-to-back short-track races in his home state, leading the most laps at each Martinsville Speedway last week and in Sunday’s stop at Richmond Raceway. In both instances, though, his dominance was not rewarded with his first checkered flag of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

The circuit’s points leader ended the afternoon as the runner-up in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400, surrendering the lead for the final 10 laps to a suddenly surging Alex Bowman. The outcome marked Hamlin’s eighth top-five finish in nine races this season, but his remarkable consistency hasn’t yielded a victory.

“Yeah, we should have won,” Hamlin said post-race. “Certainly the 48 (Bowman) wasn’t better than us all day. Just got to lead the last lap. You’ve got to figure out how to lead the last lap, that’s pretty much all that matters. Today, I don’t know if we had a dominant car. It was definitely top two.”

Hamlin established the strength in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota early, sweeping both stages and trading the lead with another contending teammate in Martin Truex Jr. But his control of the race began to slip down the stretch as Joey Logano briefly took command on a long green-flag run in Stage 3.

Hamlin regained the top spot with speedy pit service in the No. 11 team’s final stop, edging Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford to the pit exit by half a car-length. But shortly after the green flag flew for the final restart, Bowman bolted on by and stretched his lead to the finish.

“We just didn’t take off very good there,” Hamlin said of the final stint. “Definitely was worse when our car took off after the restart. The 48 had his tires pumped up, he was able to take off there, get the lead, build a lead big enough I didn’t have enough time to get back to him.”

Hamlin led 207 laps Sunday at Richmond, one week after pacing 276 of the 500 laps and fading to third at another friendly venue in Martinsville. He has led more than half the laps at Richmond on five occasions but prevailed on only two of those dominant days.

With the sting from Sunday still fresh, the irritation was evident post-race from a driver who won seven times in 2020 and six times the year before.

“Yeah, I mean, there’s frustration, for sure,” Hamlin said. “But it doesn’t change my attitude or work ethic. I’m going to work just as hard to win next week and the week after that. You’re a competitor, you want to win. Especially when you have a great opportunity to win. It just didn’t happen. I just got to digest it, look at it and see where we could have been a little bit better. But ultimately there’s nothing I can do. My effort was as high as it could be. There’s nothing that’s glaring that I feel like I could have or should have done different.”

Even with the losses starting to mount and Bowman hoisting the trophy in Victory Lane, Hamlin was able to take some solace in his current lot, leading the tour by a whopping 81 points more than second-place Truex. In fact, he suggested he wouldn’t trade places with Bowman, who has scratched the win column but hasn’t demonstrated the week-in, week-out performance JGR’s No. 11 bunch has produced so far.

“I don’t care that he’s got a win,” Hamlin said. “We’re smashing everyone. I’d still rather be where I’m at.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

An emotional Alex Bowman could only shake his head and give kudos to the crew of his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet following a dramatic victory over Denny Hamlin Sunday in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.

Bowman took the lead for the first time all race on a restart with 10 laps remaining and easily pulled away from Hamlin, who had been the day’s most dominant driver. Bowman’s .381-second winning margin earned the 27-year old his first victory of the season, third of his career and first ever on a short track. He is the eighth different race winner in nine NASCAR Cup Series races this season. 

“To be honest with you, we were terrible on short runs,” said Bowman, who had to overcome a pit-road speeding penalty as well.  “We restarted third and I’m like, if we get out of here with a solid top-five we’ll be good. We overcame a lot today. 

“I don’t know if [crew chief] Greg [Ives] pumped the pressures way up or what he did, but that’s more grip than I’ve ever had in a race car at Richmond and it worked out really well.”

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

It was an especially tough runner-up finish for Hamlin, considering how strong he’d been all day, and all season. Hamlin, who swept the two stages wins and led a race high 207 of the 400 laps, had to be thinking he may have finally secured his first victory of 2021. He held the race lead taking the green flag for that last restart, only to be passed easily by Bowman.

The second-place finish is the eighth top-five finish in the opening nine races for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver Hamlin – an all-time record for top fives to start the season without a win. 

“We just didn’t take off quite as good there at the end,” an obviously disappointed Hamlin said. “I tried to warm it up and do everything that I could – just the 48 (Alex Bowman) had a little more on those last few laps and I couldn’t hold the bottom.

“Once he got the position, we were just shut down there. Great job by this FedEx Ground team. First and foremost, we want to think of all of the families in Indy right now. Awful tragedy to happen there. Our thoughts and prayers are with these names. We will get them. We will keep digging. We are dominating – just have to finish it.”

RELATED: Denny Hamlin reacts to runner-up finish | Joey Logano: ‘Dang it’

Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who led 49 laps and for much of the closing portion of the race looked as he would settle the trophy with Hamlin, instead finished third, followed by Hamlin’s JGR teammates Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr., who led 108 laps.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola finished sixth – his best effort of the season, followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, JGR’s Kyle Busch, Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon to round out the top 10.

The late-race caution – and the drama it created – was especially ironic considering most of the event had gone caution free.  

Early on it was a duel between the Gibbs teammates and then Logano, who took the battle to Hamlin late. 

“The adjustments they made on that final pit stop definitely made it start firing off really well,” Logano said of Bowman. “He started to pay the penalty the last couple laps but he was so far out, it didn’t matter. 

“We were just so close with the Shell Pennzoil Mustang and wanted to get our Ford in victory lane here. We led some laps, made the pass on Denny Hamlin. He and I had a lot of fun with it going back and forth. 

“I just hate being that close,” Logano added. 

With his runner-up effort Hamlin holds a commanding 81-point lead over Truex and 82-point advantage over Logano in the championship standings.

The series’ next race is the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: The race winning No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Alex Bowman passed NASCAR’s post-race inspection and the race results are official. The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driven by William Byron and the No. 51 Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet driven by Cody Ware were each found to have one lugnut not safe and secure.

Posted on 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.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Monday, April 19
3:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS1
4:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS1
11 a.m., NASCAR Classics: 2011 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS2
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
11 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS1

Tuesday, April 20
6 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., NASCAR Presents: Trackhouse — Get Ready, FS1

On MRN:
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, April 21
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Talladega Superspeedway, FS1
10 p.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS2
11:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond (re-air), FS2

Thursday, April 22
12:30 a.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS1
2 a.m., NASCAR Classics: 2011 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS1
5 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Talladega, FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN
11;30 p.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS2

Friday, April 23
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Saturday, April 24
1 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway, FS1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Xfinity Series, FOX
4 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway, FOX (Canada: TSN3, 5)
11 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS1

On MRN:
1 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway

Sunday, April 25
8 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS2
11 a.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS1
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Cup Series, FS1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Cup Series, FOX
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, FOX (Canada: TSN1, 5)
9:30 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS2
11:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS1

On MRN:
1 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick has hit an impressive milestone this weekend as he tied Joe Nemechek atop the all-time list for NASCAR national series starts with the green flag waving for Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway, according to Racing Insights.

Nemechek and Harvick are now tied with a mark of 1,197 national series starts — a mark which Harvick stands to surpass next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway in the GEICO 500 on April 25 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Harvick also stands as NASCAR’s Iron Man — having not missed a Cup Series start since 2002 when he missed the spring Martinsville race. His consecutive starts streak stands at 685 with the start of today’s race.

Check out the list below of the top 10 drivers with the most national series starts (provided by Racing Insights).

Rank Driver Starts
T-1 Joe Nemechek 1,197
T-1 Kevin Harvick 1,197
3 Richard Petty 1,185
4 Mark Martin 1,143
5 Kyle Busch 1,094
6 Michael Waltrip 1,072
7 Morgan Shepherd 1,027
8 Terry Labonte 1,017
9 Jeff Burton 1,005
10 Dale Jarrett 998
Posted on by Staff Report

Hickory Motor Speedway is dubbed “Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars.”

Rajah Caruth, an 18-year-old from Washington, D.C., is looking to continue the tradition of stars who have used success at the historic venue as a launching pad up the NASCAR ladder. He got a fast start Saturday night as the NASCAR Drive for Diversity development program driver put the No. 6 Sunoco Chevrolet for Rev Racing in Victory Lane.

Twice.

Caruth started fifth and took advantage of a mechanical issue with teammate Isabella Robusto under a late caution to earn a trip to Victory Lane. After starting eighth in the second feature, he completed the sweep.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Caruth said. “The first one, we were kind of right place at the right time. The second one, I feel like we out drove them. It was pretty fun.”

In the second feature, Gracie Trotter finished second, followed by Caruth’s Rev Racing teammates Robusto and Lavar Scott. Trotter, who became the first female to win in one of the ARCA Menards Series’ top series last year, is also a former NASCAR Drive for Diversity Development driver.

“There was definitely a little bit of confidence there,” Caruth said. “We started next to Gracie (on the final restart with 25 laps to go). We went into Turn 1, and I don’t think I’ve ever drove it deeper into one. And it stuck. That’s a testament to this team. They’re the best.”

According to Hickory, it’s the first time the track had two women finish in the top three in its Late Model Stock Car division.

In the first feature, Scott finished sixth, while Rev Racing’s Regina Sirvent was ninth and Robusto 11th.

Caruth comes from an iRacing background. A NASCAR fan growing up, he first earned attention through the eNASCAR Ignite Series – a grassroots youth racing platform that identifies drivers without access to traditional race tracks around the world.

Caruth is one of 10 drivers in the iRacing Pro Invitational Series Fan Vote to round out the field in next week’s virtual race at Talladega Superspeedway.

After earning a spot in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Youth Driver Development Program in 2019 — the first driver from a majority iRacing background to be picked for the program — he drove in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series last year. Caruth won his first career Late Model race last October at another historic NASCAR track: South Carolina’s Greenville-Pickens Speedway.

RELATED: Rajah Caruth wins first career Late Model race

“Growing up, I was really a student of the sport and a fan,” Caruth said. “To put my name in the books, not only winning at Greenville, but twice here, it means a lot.

“It means the world.”

This season, Caruth is driving in both the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series and the ARCA Menards Series. He finished fourth in the most recent ARCA Menards Series East race at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, in February.

RELATED: Rajah Caruth ARCA Menards Series stats | Rajah Caruth Web Site

Posted on by Terrin Waack

Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (⏰ 3 p.m. ET | 📺 FOX | 📻 MRN, SiriusXM)

Everything you need to know for Sunday’s race, the ninth points-paying NASCAR Cup Series event of the 2021 season. 

Where: Richmond Raceway, a .75-mile oval located in Richmond, Virginia
Green flag: 3 p.m. ET
TV/Radio: FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Forecast: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67. Calm wind becoming northwest around 6 mph in the morning, according to NOAA.gov
National anthem: Alana Springsteen, country music singer, recording artist and songwriter
Grand marshal: Todd Thompson, proud owner of a 2012 Toyota Camry & VIP customer of Mechanicsville Toyota
Race Distance: 400 laps, 300 miles
Stages: 80 | 235 | 400
Pit-road speed: 40 mph
Caution car speed: 45 mph
Richmond 101: Get the full lowdown
Starting lineup: See the full lineup
Watch OSS Inspection: Live at 8 a.m. ET
Pit stall assignments: See who is pitting where  | Expert breaks down pit selections

2021 Richmond

Five to watch

Here are five big story lines we’ll be following at Richmond Raceway.

1. Martin Truex Jr. has won five of the last 11 short-track races, including last weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway. He is the NASCAR Cup Series’ only repeat winner in 2021 and could very well become a three-time winner Sunday at Richmond. The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has won two of the last three Richmond races, and the only one he didn’t (2020), he finished second.

2. Kyle Busch has claimed a series-best six wins at Richmond. It’s his second-best track on the circuit when it comes to career wins, only behind his eight trophies from Bristol Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota also boasts the longest active streak of top-10 Richmond finishes at six in a row.

3. The last time Hendrick Motorsports won at Richmond was in 2008 with Jimmie Johnson, who is now retired from full-time NASCAR competition. Two of the four HMS drivers have already won this season: William Byron at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Alex Bowman has just one top 10 in nine career starts at Richmond, and Chase Elliott has three top fives in 10 career starts there.

4. Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing, meanwhile, have combined to win 11 of the last 13 races at Richmond. Gibbs is responsible for seven of those, leaving Penske with four.

5. Kevin Harvick‘s 2021 season is taking a turn in the wrong directions. The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford hasn’t won in 15 races (longest streak since 2018-19), has not led laps in the last seven races (longest streak since 2017), hasn’t pulled off a top-five finish in the last five races (longest streak since 2019) and has no stage points in the last three races (longest streak ever). Harvick has won three times before at Richmond, but the most recent win was in 2013.

Race-day staplesByron Com Powerrankings Hero 922x493

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• Power Rankings: William Byron among the elite in early going | Scope the ranks
• Paint Scheme Preview: Check out the designs taking on Richmond | See the schemes
• Fantasy Fastlane: See which drivers to use, avoid | Full Fantasy advice |  Set your roster
• Preview Show: Jonathan Merryman and Alex Weaver preview the race | Watch the show        

Get in on the action

Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.
• Betting odds for Richmond race | See the odds
• Long betting odds tell the story of struggling preseason favorites | Learn how
• Is Martin Truex Jr. an overpriced favorite at Richmond? | Find out
• Not-so-happy Kevin Harvick going through 2021 rough patch | Full analysis
• Take a shot at winning cash prizes with the free-to-play Jackpot Races app | Hit the jackpot
• Full guide to 2021 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | Get the FAQ

Track history

Every track has a story to tell. Here’s what we’ve seen go down at Richmond Raceway in the past.2021 Richmond3
• Short-track masters: Active drivers with most short-track wins | See the list
• A first in Virginia: Drivers with first win at Richmond | See the list
• Spring has sprung: Richmond’s all-time spring race winners | See the list
• Front of the pack: Top 10 lap leaders at Richmond | See the list
• Rockin’ around Richmond: Memorable moments at Richmond | See the list

Fast facts

Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• Four of the last five Richmond races were won by Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. JGR has won seven of the last 10 Richmond races.
• The race winner started in the top 10 in 10 of the last 12 Richmond races. The last 11 short-track races were won from a top-10 starting position.
• There were five cautions or less in the last four Richmond races.
• Two of the last three Richmond events had a green-flag stretch of more than 148 laps to finish race.
• The last three Richmond winners led more than 100 laps. The eventual winner did not lead for the first time until Lap 111 or later in six of the last seven Richmond races. And the final lead change was before 25 to go in the last four Richmond races.

Catch the pack

Read up on all the headlines from the week leading up to Sunday’s race.
• Snow Day: NASCAR hits the ice in France | Read more
• Josh Berry: Capitalizing on JR Motorsports opportunities | Read more
• Where are they now: Catching up with Ricky Rudd | Read more
• The NASCAR Foundation: 15th anniversary on Betty Jane France’s birthday | Read more
• Triple Truck Challenge: Womply to serve as presenting sponsor | Read more
• Cup Series: Gaunt Brothers Racing taps Harrison Burton at Talladega | Read more

Say what?

Notable quotes from the stars of the sport heading into Sunday’s race.

“Richmond is kind of a hit-or-miss track for me. Even though I have a victory and some good finishes, I haven’t had too many great runs there. It seems like there have been several times I have been average at Richmond but then come home with a top-five finish. I’m really looking forward to this weekend because we have had speed it seems like every week this year.” — Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

“Richmond is just a super technical track. It gets really slick.  Cars fall off a lot. You lose a lot of forward drive over the run.  You lose a lot of center turn. You get really loose in on the brakes. It’s a heavy braking track, so there are just a lot of challenges from the driver side and from the setup side to try to be really balanced over the course of a run.” — Jeremy Bullins, crew chief of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford2021 Martintruexjr Richmond

“Richmond is a really fun race track. It’s very low grip. I think tire wear is always the big question; how fast are you on the short run, and how does that help or hurt you on the long run. You need to be able to intertwine those two and be good enough at both to stay at the front and then have something at the end. It always depends on if it comes down to a long run or a short run to the checkers, but it’s definitely a fun track. It’s always a challenge to get your car to do the things that it needs to do to win there. It never wants to turn good enough and it never has enough drive off, so it’s a typical short track and that makes for an exciting race.” — Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

“I’m interested to see what this weekend’s race will be like. Normally, we run at Richmond at night, so it’s going to be a different challenge this year racing during the day. It’s already so low on grip that you’re going to be moving around no matter what. I feel like the track is going to change a lot as the race goes on as well. It’s going to be a learning curve as the run goes on to keep up with what your car needs.” — William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Posted on by Holly Cain

John Hunter Nemechek earned his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win in the last four races and had to hold off his boss Kyle Busch to do so Saturday afternoon. Nemechek scored the victory by a slim .307 seconds over Busch in the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway.

RELATED: Official results

Nemechek, 23, led a race best 114 of the 250 laps in his No. 4 KBM Toyota, reclaiming the lead for good with 17 laps remaining after racing back from a late-race pit stop. Busch, who has 12 wins overall at Richmond – six in the NASCAR Cup Series and six in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – was pushing for his first truck series win at the three-quarter mile track.

The KBM truck team has now won four consecutive races – two for Nemechek (Las Vegas Motor Speedway also), Busch (Atlanta Motor Speedway) and Martin Truex Jr. (Bristol Motor Speedway).

For a while, it looked like KBM may earn a sweep – with Nemechek, Busch and teammate Chandler Smith running 1-2-3 in the waning laps, but Tyler Ankrum got around Smith with a handful of laps remaining to take third place. Smith held on for fourth place – the 18-year-old’s best finish of the season.

Former series champion Johnny Sauter finished fifth, followed by Todd Gilliland, Ben Rhodes and last year’s Richmond winner Grant Enfinger. Sam Mayer and Austin Hill rounded out the top 10. Reigning series champion Sheldon Creed was 11th.

The victory for Nemechek comes just three weeks after his wife gave birth to their first child, daughter Aspen, and they were trackside in the family motorhome for Nemechek’s first win as a dad.

“It’s a never-give-up attitude,” a smiling Nemechek said after the race. “I just can’t thank Kyle, everyone at Toyota and all our great partners. It’s pretty cool to be able to come out and here do what we did. We had a really fast truck and I’m super proud of all my guys and thankful for them.”

The race featured two very different halves. Defending winner Enfinger led 71 of the first 73 laps and earned the Stage 1 victory – his first of the year – in a clean opening to the event. The first caution was the stage break.

Busch’s team got his truck out first from that opening stage caution period, but Nemechek took the lead from his team owner on a restart at Lap 100 and held it for most of the duration of the event. Nemechek won Stage 2, finishing just ahead of Enfinger and claiming his series best sixth stage win.

Nemechek had to really earn the top position from there on out – holding off the field again and again and again. There were seven cautions in the last 110 laps of the race.

Matt Crafton and his ThorSport Racing teammate Johnny Sauter – along with Smith – gambled not to pit late on a caution with 55 laps remaining in the race. Nemechek and Busch and most of the frontrunners opted to pit. The KBM teammates restarted ninth and 10th with Nemechek reclaiming the lead with 17 laps to go.

Busch made a run at Nemechek after getting around Smith but was ultimately unable to get close enough to attempt a winning pass.

“It’s awesome,” Busch said of his truck team’s streak. “I joked with John Hunter at the beginning of the year that if you win one and then I win one and you win one and then I win one – it would be pretty good to go back and forth.

“I didn’t think he was serious, but so far that’s kind of the way it’s going so I guess I get Kansas (win).”

The two-win tally equals the second-generation NASCAR driver’s season best – and this is only the sixth race of 2021. Nemechek now holds a 20-point advantage over fellow two-race winner Rhodes in the championship standings with the next race set for May 1 at Kansas Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: The race winning No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota of John Hunter Nemechek passed NASCAR’s post-race inspection. It had one lug nut not safe and secure, though.

Posted on by @nascarcasm

Time for a quick look at the highlights from NASCAR Twitter this week.

Insane In The Rain

Kudos to all the drivers who take to social media to document the slow descent into madness during a rain delay. A few of our favorites.

Poor Ryan – dressed to the nines for TV, and nowhere to go. He’s begging for sustenance, before times get desperate and he stares at Austin Dillon’s red dress shirt long enough that he starts thinking Austin is a steak.

Ziploc bags give new meaning to the term “Hey, fresh kicks, bro.”

These are the words of a driver who clearly drank four mochaccinos assuming the race would resume and doesn’t want it to be all for naught.

I mean maybe if you would @ Mother Nature instead of just subtweeting her, Jeb.

We hear there’s cake over in the Kaulig Racing hauler but hurry before Blaney gets there.

That impressive 12th-place finish you earned after a tumultuous day seems to have kickstarted a new tradition. Three Martinsville hot dogs before every race, no exceptions. Some people just want to watch the large intestine burn.

It’s A Tough Job, But Someone’s Gotta Do It

Another painstaking day on the grind for Chase Elliott. For comparison, I once had a job at my town’s street department where one of my responsibilities was scraping roadkill off the street with a shovel. BRB, gonna rethink my career choices for like five hours.

The Birds Return In The Spring

I don’t know who gave Chase the middle finger and I don’t really care. But all we hear about is how difficult a track Martinsville Speedway is to drive. If that’s so, then why, may I ask, is it apparently pretty easy to drive an entire lap with one hand? ANSWER ME.

The NextGen Harvicks

Keelan isn’t the only Harvick behind the wheel! Looks like Piper already has some racing chops also. In 20 years time, don’t be surprised to see brother and sister competing in NASCAR, in flying cars powered by kale or whatever we’re racing at the time.

Also, More Like “DOH!-GECOIN” Amirite

It’s OK. Blockbuster passed on purchasing Netflix for $50 million in 2000. Excite passed on purchasing Google for $750,000 in 1999. I don’t know how this is supposed to make you feel better. You could be crypto-rich arriving at the track every Sunday in a gold-plated stretch modified.

Posted on by Staff Report

The following article is brought to you by BetMGM.

Since Richmond Raceway opened its three-quarters of a mile track in 1946, it has been a fan favorite and one of the more unique race tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. The D-shaped oval allows for some of the top short-track straightaway speeds. And there are some consistent, dominant drivers at Richmond, and they top the BetMGM lines when you bet NASCAR online.

If you’re following the NASCAR odds this week, you’ll see some unique names, which we’ll discuss below.

RELATED: NASCAR Bet Center | Latest odds by BetMGM

THE FAVORITE

Martin Truex, Jr. (+400)

He swept the two races at Richmond in 2019, won two of the last four races this season and hasn’t finished outside of the top three at this track since 2018. He’s Super Truex (at least when it comes to Richmond).

Oh, and Truex also received the Busch Pole Award this weekend, which, of course, is determined this season by a NASCAR metrics formula for setting the lineup, as opposed to literal qualifying on the track. That’s another advantage for the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion.

There’s no big mystery why Truex sits atop the BetMGM NASCAR betting lines heading into this weekend’s race. Even though Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch has six career wins at the track in the Cup Series and another six victories in the Xfinity Series, Busch comes in with the sixth-best odds (+900).

Can Truex continue his 2021 success? He has had five top-10 finishes in eight races and loves this place, so keep an eye on him.

OTHERS: We already mentioned Busch above, but the next candidates are racers you’d expect to be in this position. Veterans like Denny Hamlin (+600), Brad Keselowski (+650) and Joey Logano (+800) are no-brainers to be considered potential winners.

They’re the main threats to Truex, along with Busch. Kevin Harvick (+1100) also has three career wins and 26 top-10 finishes in 39 races at Richmond.

THE DARK-HORSE THREAT

Kyle Larson (+750)

Larson had been pretty solid at Richmond during his career with Chip Ganassi Racing before moving on to Hendrick Motorsports. He won the late 2017 race, has five finishes in the top seven in his past seven attempts at the venue and also won an Xfinity Series race in 2017.

He’s off to a strong start this season, with a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and five top 10s in his past six races. Larson will also begin the race in the No. 6 position based on the metrics used to set the starting order, so he’s in a good position to move up. It also never hurts to have two Hendrick Motorsports teammates starting in the top six with you. Chase Elliott (No. 3) and William Byron (No. 4) won’t be far away.

OTHERS: Honestly, it seems like Christopher Bell (+2800) sneaks into the discussion every week. He may only have 44 career Cup Series races on his racing resume and only one at Richmond (15th-place finish last year), but he’s a hot topic in the NASCAR ranks. He also won three races in the Xfinity Series at Richmond (two in 2018, one in 2019) and is off to a hot start this season. He starts eighth this weekend in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing machine.

THE INTRIGUING LONG SHOT

Cole Custer (+15000)

Let’s have some fun with this.

Custer won a 2019 Richmond race in the Xfinity Series, and he has had four top-10 finishes in seven attempts while racing in the lower series. He never finished lower than 15th. In his young career in the Cup Series, he only has two Richmond starts and a top finish of 14th.

He’s 23 years old and has shown flashes of brilliance in NASCAR. Is this a track he’ll look back at one day and think of as a “home sweet home” type of venue? He starts in the No. 21 spot.

OTHERS: Aric Almirola (+8000) is an interesting prospect. The racing journeyman has finished 17 Cup Series races at the track, with six top-10 finishes. He averaged a 15.5 finish and took eighth last year. You never know.