Official Release

Darlington Recap: Hamlin qualified ninth for Sunday’s “Throwback Weekend” race at Darlington, making his way to the front of the field and leading four times for 124 laps during the 367-lap event to earn his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2017 season. Despite an on-track blunder that caused  Hamlin to miss the entrance of pit road for his final green-flag stop of the night, a quick recovery and Crew Chief Mike Wheeler’s decision to pit late at the end of the final segment propelled Hamlin and the #11 to victory lane and a “Too Tough To Tame” sweep. Following Sunday’s race, Hamlin remains in fifth in the overall NASCAR standings.

Richard Childress Racing's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series history at Richmond International Raceway ... Richard Childress has nine Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victories as a car owner at Richmond International Raceway - five with Dale Earnhardt, three with Kevin Harvick and one with Clint Bowyer. Additionally, in 163 starts at the Richmond, Va.-based track, RCR drivers have claimed 36 top-five and 68 top-10 finishes. Childress, a former driver on NASCAR's senior circuit, contributed three of those top-10 finishes from 1976-1978.

Hendrick Motorsports will not appeal the penalty announced today by NASCAR stemming from a post-race lug nut infraction Sunday at Darlington Raceway. Travis Mack, 34, will serve as interim crew chief for the No. 88 NASCAR Cup Series team with driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. during this weekend’s event at Richmond Raceway. The Louisville, Kentucky, native has been the team’s car chief since 2015, serving under crew chief Greg Ives.

“I am really proud of everybody on this team for an amazing season so far,” said Truex. “And to lock up the regular season points is a huge accomplishment for us, for our team. I feel like we've come a long way in just a few years together and continue to climb.”

“We’ve got one more shot at it at Richmond and I know we’ll bring a good race car there,” stated Jones. “We were fast there in the spring but, unfortunately, got caught up in a wreck early. Richmond is a place where I have a lot of experience and I feel more and more comfortable every time we go there. Hopefully, we can run well and take this momentum from the last three races and turn it into a win.

The final race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled for Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.  There are five Ford drivers currently locked into the 16-driver Playoff field – Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kurt Busch.  The only way any of the others will qualify is with a victory in the Federated Auto Parts 400.  Overall, Ford has won 32 times at RIR, including Joey Logano’s triumph earlier this year.

“Richmond is a track that I’ve had a lot of success at, though not so much recently. It’s really hard to get a hold of and hard to figure out exactly what line we’re running and where you need to put your car to get it to work. It’s been a bit of a challenge for us over the last couple of trips, but it should still be a fun race.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. on racing at Richmond

Reed has competed at Richmond Raceway nine times in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS). He made his first career NXS start at the track in 2013, earning a 16th-place finish. His best career finish at the track came in September 2013 when he finished ninth.

Stenhouse has nine career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Richmond with an average starting position of 16.7 and average finishing position of 20.2.

Trevor Bayne will make his sixth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) start at Richmond this weekend. Bayne scored a 13th-place finish in the spring 2017 event at the .750-mile short track