NASCAR O'Reilly Series

The NASCAR Xfinity Series held their first race of the championship Playoffs at Richmond International Raceway Saturday night for the Go Bowling 250, and one driver got one step closer to the championship trophy.

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How will you remember Greg Hodnett and what do the dirt tracks need to do in order to be more preventative? “I don’t know, that’s a tough question. Starting on a positive note there, Greg (Hodnett) was one of the greats in sprint car racing. He’s been around a long time and I got to race against him for several years all across the country."

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will be in action at Richmond Raceway while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is off. The Monster Energy Series continues the Round of 16 of the NASCAR Playoffs, while the Xfinity Series Playoffs begin. Check out the full schedule below, which is subject to change.

NASCAR today announced that Steve Phelps has been named NASCAR President, effective October 1, 2018. Brent Dewar has elected to step down and will remain with the company through the end of the 2018 racing season, transitioning to a senior consulting and advisory role in 2019.

Brad Keselowski earned his third consecutive win Sunday in Las Vegas and, also for the third consecutive time, hoisted the trophy without leading the most laps. His No. 2 Team Penske Ford team has obviously figured out how to be out front when it matters most. In the last five races, he’s had three victories and a runner-up at Michigan.

Majeski at Richmond “I’ve never raced at Richmond, but I tested there. Richmond is one track that I have a lot of laps on iRacing, so I felt like I’d been there before when I showed up for the test. I feel like I know the track well, it’s a short track and right in my wheel house. Ryan (Reed) had a good run there in the spring, so I feel like we have a good base line setup and we learned a lot at the test, which will be beneficial. We know what we need to do and I’m looking forward to getting on track Friday.”

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 169 starts at the Richmond, Va.-based track, RCR drivers have claimed 37 top-five and 69 top-10 finishes. Childress, a former driver on NASCAR's senior circuit, contributed three of those top-10 finishes from 1976-1978.

Elliott Sadler will take the green flag at his hometrack of Richmond Raceway as the third seed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff standings, the first event of the Round of 12.

News and notes: After a strong showing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Spencer Boyd will look to bring his momentum to one of his favorite race tracks, Richmond Raceway. The Xfinity Series will visit Richmond Raceway Friday night for the first race of the 2018 Playoffs. “We've had this one circled on the calendar for a while,” says Boyd. "I've had the opportunity to visit many different race tracks this season, and Richmond is still one of my very favorites. Growing up short track racing, this track just brings me back to my roots. We're bringing my favorite race car this weekend as well, so we're expecting a strong showing."

Ryan Reed capitalized on consistency at Richmond Raceway and drove his No. 16 Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford to a ninth-place finish under the lights.  Reed was a top-10 car in practice, qualified 13th and was able to make the right adjustments and maneuvers throughout the race to earn a top-10 finish at the site of his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) start.