Race Information
- Round: NASCAR Cup Series race No. 22 of 36
- Track Location: Richmond Raceway, Mechanicsville, Va.
- Race Name: Cook Out 400
- Broadcast: Sunday, July 30th at 3:00 PM ET live on USA Network (TV), MRN (Radio), and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90
- Team Entrants:
No. 42 | Noah Gragson & Luke Lambert – Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
No. 43 | Erik Jones & Dave Elenz – Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Richmond Raceway Stats
-NCS Starts: 2; Best Start: 19th; Best Finish: 24th (2022);
-NXS Starts: 7; Best Start: 3rd; Best Finish: 1st (2021); Wins: 1; Top 5s: 3; Top 10s: 5; Laps led: 48
2023 NCS Season Stats
- Starts: 20; Best Start: 10th (COTA); Best Finish: 12th (Atlanta); Points: 33rd
-About Sunseeker Resorts: Opening in 2023, Florida’s newest luxury resort located in Charlotte Harbor is the first resort property of Sunseeker Resorts, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Company. Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor occupies over 22 waterfront acres with 785 guest rooms, including 189 Signature Sunsuites™. Set upon the Peace River and Florida Gulf Coast, this premier resort offers 20 original food and beverage concepts; including seven stand-alone restaurants, eleven bars and lounges, two poolside offerings and a 25,000-square-foot multi-dining experience. Additional hotel amenities include a waterfront promenade, two unique rooftop and waterfront pool experiences, 60,000-square-feet of combined convention space, full-service spa and salon, a 7,100-square-foot state-of-the-art fitness center with four group exercise studios with specialty instructor lead classes, three retail and market shops, and an 18-hole championship level golf club exclusive to hotel guests only. The resort is conveniently located within a short drive of Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Sarasota, St. Petersburg-Clearwater, and Tampa airports. For more information, visit www.sunseekerresorts.com. Follow us on Instagram: @sunseekerresorts and like us on Facebook: @sunseekerresorts.
Pocono Recap: Noah Gragson qualified in the 32nd position at Pocono Raceway. He raced his way into the top-15 as the team fought a tight racecar throughout most of the 400-mile event. Gragson felt the team made progress throughout the race and thought a top-20 was in the cards. A late race restart shuffled Gragson to 22nd where he ultimately finished the race under caution.
Xfinity Success at Richmond: Gragson has seven starts in the Xfinity Series at Richmond Raceway. He has accomplished three top-five and five top-10 finishes. Most notably, Gragson’s 2021 win on Sept. 11 brought forth a special celebration. Gragson was only three years old when the attacks of September 11th took place. In honor to celebrate his victory he wrapped himself in the American Flag and climbed the fronstretch fence with his team, saluting the fans and those who have served.
Luke at Richmond: Crew chief Luke Lambert has 18 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series with five different drivers. He has earned two top five and five top-10 finishes throughout his career. Lambert has three starts in the Xfinity Series resulting in one top-10 finish with Elliott Sadler.
Meet NG: Fans can meet Noah Gragson this weekend on Sunday, July 30 at Richmond starting at 11:30 am local time as he is signing autographs at the LEGACY M.C. trackside merchandise rig in the Midway. He will also be at the Chevy Racing Experience in the midway for a question and answer session at 12:15pm.
TESTING: Gragson will be the LEGACY M.C. driver to participate in the two-day test NASCAR Cup Series on Monday, July 31 and Tuesday, Aug. 1 at Richmond Raceway.
NASCAR Hall of Fame Fan Vote: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB co-owner Jimmie Johnson was selected as a nominee for the 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame class. The vote will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 2 when a 61-person panel will meet to select next year’s inductees. The 62nd vote goes to winners of a NASCAR.com Fan Vote (www.nascar.com/halloffame). The fan vote is currently open and will close on July 30 at 12:00 a.m. ET.
Quoting Noah: “Richmond was a great track for me in Xfinity and we had a crash there in the spring so we didn’t get to finish the race. Going to tracks for the second time this season will be helpful as we have notes from the previous races. Hopefully last week’s finish in Pocono, and not having any in-race issues, will carry over to this weekend and a solid outcome.”
Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Richmond Raceway Stats
-NCS Starts: 12; Best start: 5th; Best finish: 6th (2017); Top 10s: 1
-NXS Starts: 4; Best start: 1st (Spring 2016); Best finish: 2nd (Fall 2016); Top 5s: 3; Top 10s: 3
2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats
-Starts: 21; Best start: 8th; Best finish: 6th; Top-10’s: 4; Laps led: 17; Points position: 28th
- About Allegiant: Las Vegas-based Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) is an integrated travel company with an airline at its heart, focused on connecting customers with the people, places and experiences that matter most. Since 1999, Allegiant Air has linked travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class vacation destinations with all-nonstop flights and industry-low average fares. Today, Allegiant’s fleet serves communities across the nation, with base airfares less than half the cost of the average domestic roundtrip ticket. For more information, visit us at Allegiant.com.
Pocono in the Rearview: Jones started 24th at Pocono and quickly took the United States Air Force Chevrolet to the front, earning stage points at the conclusion of Stage 1 by finishing in the 10th position. After a strategic call from crew chief Dave Elenz, the No. 43 team went into fuel strategy mode. Jones ran as high as third during the 400-mile event, finishing ninth, collecting his fourth top-10 finish of the season.
The No. 43 LEGACY at Richmond: Having a NASCAR Hall of Fame predecessor like Richard Petty in the No. 43 car has been inspiring for Jones. “The King” had 61 starts at Richmond compiling 13 wins, 34 top-five, and 41 top-10 finishes. Petty has eight poles and an all-time high record 5,136 laps led at the 0.75-mile asphalt track.
Xfinity Series at Richmond: Jones has an excellent track record at Richmond in the Xfinity Series. In his four entries, Jones has an average start of 3.8 and an average finish of 11.3. Jones has finished outside of the top-five just once after being collected in a wreck in 2016, where he started on the pole and led for 17 laps.
Best So Far: Jones’ best run in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway came in 2017. After starting in the 10th position he ran in the top-10 throughout the majority of the race. He finished Stage 1 in seventh; Stage 2 in third; and his race finish was sixth.
Dave at Richmond: Dave Elenz has a solid record at Richmond in the Xfinity Series coaching seven different drivers. Elenz has two wins – one each with Noah Gragson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at JR Motorsports. Additionally, his drivers have a record of three top-five and nine top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 6.9 and an average finishing position of 10.2.
Quoting Erik Jones: “Richmond has been okay, kind of an up and down place, but the overall track itself is just like that for everyone. You’re either going to hit on it well, but if you are a little bit off, it seems like you’re way off. I thought we had some work to do there from the spring, I think we have some different ideas and different things that can help us out. We have had some solid speed there at times in the NextGen cars, we just haven’t been able to put it together. I am hoping this is the one where we can do that and put it all together. Looking back on my career there have been some races where I feel like we were running well there, and I know the feeling that I had. So, I am just trying to get back to that and put it all together to have a good one at Richmond.”
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (NCS) Jimmie Johnson. The club competes full-time in the NCS fielding the Nos. 42 and 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for drivers Noah Gragson and Erik Jones, respectively, along with the No. 84 part-time entry for Johnson in 2023. Richard Petty “The King” serves as team ambassador.
In 2021, Gallagher acquired Richard Petty Motorsports and renamed the team to Petty GMS. With the addition of Johnson to the ownership structure in 2023, the organization rebranded to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (LEGACY M.C.). With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level.
Based in Statesville, N.C., LEGACY M.C. operates alongside GMS Racing (GMS), which currently fields three full-time entries in the NASCAR Truck Series. Since the formation of GMS in 2012, Gallagher and Mike Beam, team president, have shared incredible success. GMS Racing captured the 2015 ARCA Racing Series championship, the 2016 and 2020 NASCAR Truck Series championships and the 2019 and 2020 ARCA East championships, accumulating over 65 wins across six national racing circuits.
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