Table of Contents
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is taking a break and will return April 7th at Martinsville Speedway. The Cup and Xfinity series were active at Virginia’s 3/4-mile Richmond Raceway this past weekend. Denny Hamlin, who hadn’t finished in the top-10 so far this season, broke the slump with a victory in Sunday’s Cup Series Toyota Owners 400. This was appropriate for the Virginia native to do so in his #11 Toyota at his home track.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Sun, Apr 3, Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (RR) – 400 laps
– Ryan Blaney (#12 Ford Mustang) won the Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday’s race with a lap of 119.782 mph. This is his 9th pole in 241 NCS races. It is his 3rd pole and 6th top-10 start in 2022 and his 1st pole in 12 races at RR. William Byron (2nd) posted his 3rd top-10 start of 2022 and his 4th in eight Richmond races. Kyle Busch (3rd) posted his 19th top-10 start at Richmond and his 4th in seven races this season. Harrison Burton (17th) was the fastest qualifying Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contender. Did not qualify: None – only 37 teams entered for the 40-car lineup.
– Denny Hamlin (#11 Toyota Camry) scored his 47th victory in 585 NCS races. This is his 1st victory and 1st top-10 finish in 2022. It is his 4th win and 20th top-10 finish in 31 races at Richmond. Kevin Harvick (2nd) posted his 28th top-10 finish in 42 RR races and his 3rd top-10 finish in 2022. William Byron (3rd) posted his 2nd top-10 finish in 8 races at RR. Harrison Burton (18th) was the highest finishing ROTY. Polesitter Ryan Blaney led a race-high 128 laps and finished in 7th place.
– NCS points leader: Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott are tied in points. The tie breaker is 2022 Stage Points. Blaney has three, Elliott has none.
– Next: Sat, Apr 9, Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway – 400 laps
TOP-16 NCS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Ryan Blaney 1
2. Chase Elliott -1
3. Martin Truex Jr. 4
4. William Byron 2
5. Joey Logano -2
6. Ross Chastain -1
7. Alex Bowman -3
8. Kevin Harvick 6
9. Chase Briscoe 0
10. Kyle Busch 1
11. Aric Almirola -3
12. Kyle Larson 4
13. Tyler Reddick -3
14. Daniel Suarez 1
15. Austin Cindric -3
16. Austin Dillon 2
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Sat, Apr 2, ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway – 250 laps
– Ty Gibbs (#54 Toyota Supra) won the Pole Award for Saturday’s race with a lap of 121.836 mph. This is his 3rd pole in 25 NXS races. It is his 2nd pole and 4th top-10 start in 2022 and his 1st pole in two races at Richmond. John Hunter Nemechek (2nd) posted his 2nd top-10 start of 2022 and his 2nd in five RR races. Noah Gragson (3rd) posted his 5th top-10 start at RR and his 5th top-10 in seven races this season. Austin Hill (4th) was the fastest qualifying ROTY. Did Not Qualify: #52 Harrison Rhodes, #77 Dillon Bassett, #45 Howie DiSavino III AND #55 Matt Mills.
– Ty Gibbs scored his 7th victory in 25 NXS races. This is his 3rd victory and 4th top-10 finish in 2022. It is his 1st victory and 2nd top-10 finish in two races at Richmond. Truck Series regular John Hunter Nemechek (2nd) led a race-high 135 laps. He posted his 3rd top-10 finish in five NXS races at RR and his 2nd top-10 NXS finish in 2022. Sam Mayer (3rd) posted his 1st top-10 finish in two races at Richmond. Mayer also won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus as the highest finishing eligible driver. Gibbs, Mayer, AJ Allmendinger and Riley Herbst qualify for next week’s Dash 4 Cash at Martinsville Speedway. Austin Hill (18th) was the highest finishing ROTY.
– NXS points leader: AJ Allmendinger by 20 point over Ty Gibbs
– Next: Fri, Apr 8, Call 811 Before You Dig 250 at M’ville – 250 laps – Dash 4 Cash #2 of 4
TOP-12 NXS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. AJ Allmendinger 1
2. Ty Gibbs 1
3. Noah Gragson -2
4. Josh Berry 1
5. Justin Allgaier -1
6. Sam Mayer 3
7. Brandon Jones 0
8. Daniel Hemric 0
9. Austin Hill -3
10. Ryan Sieg 0
11. Riley Herbst 1
12. Sheldon Creed -1
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
– NTS points leader: Chandler Smith by 15 points over Ben Rhodes
– Next: Thu, Apr 7, Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 at Martinsville Speedway – 200 laps
TOP-10 NTS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Chandler Smith 0
2. Ben Rhodes 3
3. Stewart Friesen 1
4. Zane Smith 5
5. Tanner Gray -3
6. Christian Eckes 0
7. Ty Majeski -4
8. John Hunter Nemechek 0
9. Tyler Ankrum 3
10. Derek Kraus 5
NASCAR Feeder Series
ARCA Menards Series:
Fri, Mar 11 General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway – 154 laps
Winner: Taylor Gray – P1: Sammy Smith – Points Leader: Daniel Dye
Next: Sat, Apr 23, General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway – 76 laps
ARCA Menards East:
Sat, Mar 19, Pensacola 200 at Five Flags Speedway – 200 laps
Winner: Sammy Smith – P1: Leland Honeyman Jr. – Points Leader: Sammy Smith
Next: Fri, Apr 29, Dover 125 at Dover Motor Speedway – 125 laps
ARCA Menards West:
Sat, Mar 26, NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Irwindale Speedway – 150 laps
Winner: Tanner Reif – P1: Tanner Reif – Points Leader: Jake Drew
Next: Sat, Apr 23, Kern County 150 at Kern County Raceway Park – 150 laps
Whelen Modified Tour:
Fri, Apr 1, Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway – 150 laps
Winner: Justin Bonsignore – P1: Justin Bonsignore – Points Leader: Eric Goodale
Next: Sat, May 14, TBA – Riverhead Raceway – 200 laps
NASCAR Pinty’s Series:
Season Opener: Sat, May 14, TBA at Sunset Speedway
NASCAR Mexico Series:
Season Opener: Sun, Apr 10, NASCAR Mexico Race 1 at Super Ovalo Chiapas
Track Details
Dover Motor Speedway – 1-mile concrete oval – Dover, Delaware
Five Flags Speedway – 0.5-mile oval – Pensacola, Florida
Irwindale Speedway – 0.5-mile oval – Irwindale, California
Kern County Raceway Park – 0.5-mile oval – Bakersfield, California
Martinsville Speedway – 0.526-mile oval – Martinsville, Virginia
Phoenix Raceway – 1-mile tri-oval – Avondale, Arizona
Richmond Raceway – 0.75-mile oval – Richmond, Virginia
Sunset Speedway – 0.333-mile oval – Innisfil, Ontario
Super Ovalo Chiapas – 0.75-mile tri-oval – Tuxtla Gutierrez
Talladega Superspeedway – 2.66-mile tri-oval – Talladega, Alabama