Carson Hocevar, driver of the #42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 01, 2023 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
April 1, 2023 By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service
Nick Sanchez led an absolutely dominant 168 of 172 laps in Saturday’s SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway, but the 21-year old rookie and reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith collided at the front of the field after taking the white flag and Carson Hocevar instead drove through to take his first career victory in double overtime.
The 20-year old Hocevar led only that last overtime lap in the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet to claim his first win by 1.628-seconds over Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Chase Purdy – career best finishes for both drivers.
After slight contact with Smith racing door-to-door for the win, Sanchez got loose and had to regain control of the truck heading to the white flag. Video replays show that as he steadied his truck, he was hit from behind by Hocevar, whose truck was carrying the momentum as Sanchez was recovering from his slight miscue. The contact from behind was just enough to spin Sanchez back across the track and collect Smith’s truck, while Hocevar drove forward to the finish line and waited for official word of the win.
“I didn’t mean to get into him, I just meant to give him a push and he got sideways the second I hit him, I apologize to them, I’ll take the fall for it, I wrecked a Chevy and I’ll go talk to him about it – he deserved to win for sure,’’ Hocevar said of the contact with Sanchez.
“But all the times we were the fastest car and I don’t win, and this team deserves to win more than anything, I can stop getting the same question asked all the time now,’’ said Hocevar, who has four career runner-up finishes.
“We didn’t deserve to win today but we were in the right spot at the right time.”
Certainly, Sanchez got plenty of practice in mastering re-starts with six of the 12 cautions coming in the final 40 laps of the race. He drove his No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet to the front each time, having to duel side-by-side with Smith late in the race.
“Obviously coming to the last lap, me and the 38 [Zane Smith] were playing an aggressive side-drafting game and I got a little too aggressive on him, got loose, went through the grass and saved it,’’ Sanchez said. “Just got hit by the 42 [Hocevar]. I don’t know what else to say about that.
“It is what it is, that’s racing.
“This is what we’ve been working hard to do,’’ continued Sanchez, who swept both Stage wins. “We don’t want to just win, we want to dominate. Today we dominated, but we didn’t win so just got to go back and see what I can do better. Try to build on strengths. I guess, the positive is we got stage points, that’s something to fall back on. But I want to win, that’s my goal.’’
Veteran Stewart Friesen finished third with Ty Majeski and Jake Garcia rounding out the top-five; Garcia the highest finishing rookie. Hailie Deegan equaled her career best finish with a sixth-place run. Corey Heim, Ryan Vargas, Jack Wood and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top-10.
Smith was scored 14th and Sanchez was scored 16th. The race leaves Majeski now with a three-point edge over Smith atop the championship standings.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to action next week in Saturday’s Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt track (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Nick Sanchez # 4 times for 168 laps; Christian Eckes 2 times for 2 laps; Carson Hocevar 1 time for 1 lap; Ben Rhodes 1 time for 1 lap.
After finishing in the runner-up spot four times while having numerous opportunities to win slip out of his grasp in his previous 58 starts, Carson Hocevar’s day under the victorious sun arrived as he emerged as a first-time winner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career following a wild finish to the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 1.
The 20-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, led only the final lap of 172 over-scheduled laps and had appeared to be heading for a top-five finish in an event mired with late caution periods and on-track chaos. During the final lap, however, Hocevar gained a run on a side-by-side battle between Zane Smith and rookie Nick Sanchez on the final lap through the frontstretch when Sanchez got loose after making contact with Smith. While trying to regain his momentum, Sanchez got bumped by Hocevar as he turned back across the track and clipped Smith while wrecking across the outside wall with Christian Eckes. Amid the carnage, Hocevar escaped with the lead and managed to retain it as the caution flew to conclude the event, in which Hocevar was deemed as the leader and awarded his first long-awaited victory in NASCAR.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, rookie Nick Sanchez claimed his second Truck career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 185.510 mph in 29.109 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Jack Wood, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 184.906 mph in 29.204 seconds.
Prior to the event, Spencer Boyd and Matt DiBenedetto started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Sanchez pulled ahead with an early advantage followed by Ty Majeski while Wood slipped up the track as he lost a handful of spots and fell out of the top five. Then as the field made its way through the backstretch, the caution flew when Chad Chastain spun and backed his No. 41 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST into the outside wall as he sustained rear-end damage.
During the following restart on the fifth lap, Sanchez retained the lead followed by a side-by-side battle between Eckes and Majeski through the first two turns. Entering the backstretch, however, Majeski wiggled and was quickly overtaken by teammate Ben Rhodes, Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim amid a three-wide battle while Eckes settled in second while trying to pursue Sanchez. With Majeski dropping back to seventh during the following lap, Jack Wood went up the track in Turn 1 and continued to lose more spots early in the event as he slipped out of the top 10. Amid the battles around the circuit, Sanchez retained the lead in front of Eckes and Rhodes.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Sanchez was leading by three-tenths of a second over Eckes followed by Rhodes, Hocevar, and Corey Heim while Majeski, Friesen, Tanner Gray, Grant Enfinger and rookie Jake Garcia were running in top 10. Behind, Chase Purdy was in 11th followed by Zane Smith, Tyler Ankrum, Dean Thompson and rookie Rajah Caruth while Bret Holmes, Wood, rookie Taylor Gray, Matt Crafton and Colby Howard occupied the top 20.
Ten laps later, Sanchez extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Eckes followed by Rhodes, Hocevar and Heim. A lap later, the caution returned when Chad Chastain wrecked for the second time after spinning and backing his truck into the outside wall in the backstretch.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 25, Sanchez and Eckes dueled for the lead and remained dead even for a full lap as Eckes managed to lead the following lap. Sanchez, however, would prevail during the following lap and reassume the lead as the field behind jostled for spots.
When the competition caution flew on Lap 35, Sanchez was leading by more than a second over Eckes while Rhodes, Majeski and Rhodes were scored in the top five. By then, 29 of 34 starters were scored on the lead lap. During the competition caution, the teams were given three minutes to service their respective trucks with the competitors retaining their spots as they entered pit road and during the latest caution period, which kept Sanchez as the leader.
With the event proceeding under green on Lap 35, Sanchez battled against Eckes on the inside lane before he was able to pull ahead and retain the lead exiting Turn 4 while the field behind jostled for spots around the circuit.
Four laps later, Sanchez was leading by more than a second over Rhodes followed by Eckes, Zane Smith and Dean Thompson while Heim, Friesen, Purdy, Majeski and Enfinger were in the top 10. Sanchez would continue to lead by more than two seconds over Rhodes as the event reached its Lap 50 mark.
Just past the Lap 60 mark, Sanchez retained the lead by a second over Rhodes while third-place Eckes trailed by more than a second. Zane Smith and Thompson remained in the top five while 25 of 34 starters were scored on the lead lap.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 77, Sanchez claimed his first Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Rhodes settled in second while Eckes, Majeski, Zane Smith, Thompson, Heim, Purdy, Friesen and Enfinger were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the field led by Sanchez returned to pit road as the teams were given three minutes to service the truck while the competitors retained their respective spots as they entered pit road.
The second stage started on Lap 77 as Sanchez and Rhodes occupied the front row. At the start, Sanchez and Rhodes dueled dead even for the lead for a full lap as Rhodes prevailed during the following lap to lead by a nose. Sanchez, however, fought back during the following lap on the inside lane as he returned to the lead. Shortly after, the caution returned when Lawless Alan spun his No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST on the backstretch.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 82, Sanchez retained the lead while Eckes challenged Rhodes for second in front of Zane Smith and Thompson. As the event surpassed its halfway mark a few laps later, Sanchez started to extend his advantage to nearly a second while Eckes retained second over Rhodes. By then, Corey Heim launched his bid for a spot in the top five while more jostling within the field occurred.
Nearing the Lap 90 mark, Ankrum scrubbed the wall while running within the top 15 while rookie Rajah Caruth made contact with the wall after contact with Hocevar, which prompted Caruth to pit under green for damage repairs.
At the Lap 100 mark, Sanchez was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Eckes while Rhodes, Thompson, Zane Smith, Heim, Taylor Gray, Friesen, Tanner Gray and Purdy occupied the top 10. With Enfinger back in 11th, Matt Crafton was up in 12th followed by DiBenedetto, Colby Howard and Hocevar while Majeski had fallen back to 16th in front of Jake Garcia, Ankrum, Wood and Hailie Deegan.
Ten laps later, Sanchez’s advantage decreased to eight-tenths of a second over Eckes while third-place Rhodes trailed by more than a second.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 122, Sanchez, who used the lapped traffic to his advantage to extend his advantage while Eckes struggled to overtake the lapped competitors, claimed his second Truck consecutive stage victory of the season and of the day. Eckes settled in second as he trailed a second behind while Rhodes, Thompson, Zane Smith, Tanner Gray, Heim, Purdy, Taylor Gray and Crafton were scored in the top 10.
Following the final three-minute pit stop period, the final stage started on Lap 122 as Sanchez and Eckes shared the front row. At the start, Sanchez jumped ahead with another strong start on the inside lane followed by Zane Smith, who also gave Sanchez a push as he then tried to pursue Sanchez for the lead while Eckes fell back to third. A lap later, Rhodes navigated his way to third while Eckes was being challenged by Hocevar for fourth.
Not long after, Taylor Gray, who was running in the top 10, made contact against the wall, but the event proceeded under green as Zane Smith started to intimidate Sanchez for the lead. Getting his deficit down to as little as a tenth of a second, Zane Smith, however, continued to settle behind Sanchez while more battles ensued behind.
Then with less than 35 laps remaining, the battle for the lead intensified as Zane Smith, who kept Sanchez close within his sights, tried to overtake Sanchez in Turn 1 through a slide job. He, however, slid up the track in Turn 1 and could not make the move stick as Sanchez pulled the crossover move to reassume the lead through the backstretch. Rhodes then tried to follow suit in second, but he got loose entering Turn 4, which allowed Zane Smith to reassume second as he tried to reignite his charge on Sanchez for the lead.
With 31 laps remaining, the caution flew when Jack Wood, who was running in the top 20, plowed his No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST through the frontstretch grass as he kicked up debris and grass on the frontstretch’s pavement.
During the following restart with 25 laps remaining, Sanchez and Zane Smith dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Sanchez managed to use the inside lane to his advantage as he cleared Zane Smith and retained the lead. Behind, Eckes challenged Zane Smith for second, with the latter still prevailing as the field returned to the frontstretch amid a series of battles. Shortly after, the caution flew for a viscous multi-truck wreck on the frontstretch when Thompson, who was having a strong run towards the front, hit the outside wall entering the frontstretch as his damaged truck veered sideways towards the outside wall and came to a stop towards the middle of the frontstretch before he was T-Boned by Matt Mills as Trey Hutchins and Armani Williams also piled into the carnage. Amid the hard carnage, all competitors emerged uninjured, though Thompson was placed on a stretcher and into the ambulance for further evaluation. The wreck, however, was enough to place the event in a red flag period to give the on-track safety crew time to clear the carnage.
Once the red flag was lifted amid a 15-minute hiatus and the race restarted with 17 laps remaining, Sanchez jumped ahead of Zane Smith despite spinning the tires to retain the lead as Hocevar challenged Zane Smith for second. Smith, however, pulled away and tried to challenge Sanchez for the lead while Friesen battled and overtook Hocevar for third. Shortly after, Friesen nearly got into the wall on the backstretch as he lost third to Hocevar, but he continued to run straight as the event proceeded under green. By then, Sanchez was still leading by a tenth of a second over Zane Smith.
Following another late caution period with 11 laps remaining due to a multi-truck involving Taylor Gray, rookie Daniel Dye, Mason Massey and Ankrum on the backstretch, the event restarted under green with seven laps remaining. At the start, Sanchez and Zane Smith dueled for the lead through the backstretch until Sanchez managed to fend off Smith once again to retain the lead. The caution, however, shortly returned when Matt Crafton, Tanner Gray and Enfinger wrecked in Turn 4. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime and past its scheduled distance of 167 laps.
At the start of the first overtime attempt, Sanchez and Zane Smith battled for the lead with neither peeking ahead. Amid the side-by-side battle towards the front, the caution flew and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt for a spin involving Lawless Alan, who rallied to run in the top 10, on the backstretch. At the moment of caution, Sanchez was still scored the leader followed by Zane Smith, Friesen, Eckes and Hocevar.
During the start of the second overtime attempt, Sanchez and Zane Smith dueled for the lead with Friesen, Eckes and Hocevar following in pursuit. Sanchez and Smith would remain dead even for the lead while Hocevar and Eckes dueled behind for third, all while the field behind battled for spots within the top five and 10.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sanchez and Zane Smith remained dead even for the lead. They then made contact as Sanchez slipped sideways. Despite regaining control of his truck, he was then hit by Hocevar as Sanchez spun back across the track and clipped Smith’s No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford F-150 before colliding into the outside wall while also collecting Eckes. Amid the carnage, Hocevar escaped with the lead through the first two turns as the caution flew to end the event under the yellow flag. With the lead within his grasp, Hocevar was deemed the leader at the moment of caution and declared the winner as he cycled back to the finish line to claim his first checkered flag in NASCAR competition and in his 59th series start.
With the victory, Hocevar became the 122nd different competitor to achieve a victory in the Craftsman Truck Series, the first competitor to achieve a first series victory at Texas since Jeb Burton made the last accomplishment in 2013 and he became the first first-time winner in the series of the 2023 season. He also recorded the first victory of the season and the fifth overall for Niece Motorsports.
“I didn’t think y’all were gonna talk to me [in Victory Lane], to be honest,” Hocevar, who became the fourth different winner of the 2023 season, said on FS1. “I figured I was gonna talk to y’all [on pit road]. I’m just excited. I didn’t mean to get into [Sanchez]. I just wanted to give him a push and they were sideways the second I hit him. He was gone. I apologize to them. I’ll take the fall for it. I wrecked a Chevy, but, Chevy’s in Victory Lane, I’ll go talk to him. He deserved to win, for sure, but all the times we were the fastest car and I don’t win and this team don’t win. They deserve to win more than anything. I finally can stop getting the same question asked so many times. We didn’t deserve to win today. We were just in the right spot at the right time…My whole crew deserves this win more than anything.”
“I didn’t see anything,” Hocevar, who addressed his involvement of the final lap incident, added. “I was just like, ‘I’ll sit here’. [Sanchez and Smith] hit pretty good. I just tried to push [Sanchez] and he was sideways, so the second he crossed right back up, I mean, I was coming so much faster than him just to help push. He crossed left, crossed right and he’s sideways, so the second I touched him, he went around. I didn’t mean to tear up any race cars. I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting that to happen.”
With Hocevar scored as the winner, Chase Purdy ended in a career-best second place followed by Friesen and Majeski while rookie Jake Garcia finished in the top five. Hailie Deegan came home in sixth to tie her career-best result in the NASCAR Truck circuit while Heim, Ryan Vargas, Jack Wood and Rhodes completed the top 10 on the track.
Sanchez, who led a race-high 168 laps, ended up in 16th and with a destroyed race truck after being unable to limp back to the finish line while Zane Smith and Eckes managed to limp their trucks in 14th and 15th, respectively, below the lead lap finishing category.
“It was, obviously, coming to the last lap,” Sanchez said. “Me and [Zane Smith] were playing aggressive side-drafting game and I feel like I went a little too aggressive on him, got loose, went through the grass, saved it and just got hooked by [Hocevar]. Don’t know what else to say on that after all day just kind of in my own little race and for that to happen, but it is what it is. It’s racing. Thanks to everyone on the No. 2 Gainbridge and Save Chevy team. The truck’s fast. I hate we tore a fast one up, but just got to build another one and come back strong.”
“The end there, it was just overtime, overtime, overtime restarts,” Smith said. “I don’t know what’s really going on with [Sanchez], but he was just so, so sketchy, especially on the straightaways. He doors me [on the frontstretch], gets off me, drives [his truck] through the grass and then, I just get hooked. We were in great position to get our third win of the year there. We’ll rebound and go to Bristol Dirt and hopefully have a good weekend there.”
There were seven lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured 12 cautions for 36 laps.
Following the fifth event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Ty Majeski leads the regular-season standings by three points over Zane Smith, 12 over Ben Rhodes, 19 over Christian Eckes and 51 over Matt Crafton.
Results.
1. Carson Hocevar, one lap led
2. Chase Purdy
3. Stewart Friesen
4. Ty Majeski
5. Jake Garcia
6. Hailie Deegan
7. Corey Heim
8. Ryan Vargas
9. Jack Wood
10. Ben Rhodes, one lap led
11. Mason Massey
12. Kris Wright
13. Matt Crafton
14. Zane Smith
15. Christian Eckes, two laps led
16. Nick Sanchez – OUT, Accident, 168 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner
17. Grant Enfinger, one lap down
18. Lawless Alan, two laps down
19. Rajah Caruth, three laps down
20. Colby Howard, three laps down
21. Josh Reaume, four laps down
22. Spencer Boyd, four laps down
23. Bret Holmes, five laps down
24. Taylor Gray, six laps down
25. Daniel Dye, seven laps down
26. Tyler Ankrum, eight laps down
27. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident
28. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident
29. Armani Williams – OUT, Accident
30. Trey Hutchins – OUT, Accident
31. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident
32. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Vibration
33. Keith McGee – OUT, Vibration
34. Chad Chastain – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is the third annual running of the Weather Guard Truck Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in Bristol, Tennessee. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 8, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS (APRIL 1, 2023) – Nick Sanchez led an absolutely dominant 168 of 172 laps in Saturday’s SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway, but the 21-year old rookie and reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith collided at the front of the field after taking the white flag and Carson Hocevar instead drove through to take his first career victory in double overtime.
The 20-year old Hocevar led only that last overtime lap in the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet to claim his first win by 1.628-seconds over Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Chase Purdy – career best finishes for both drivers.
After slight contact with Smith racing door-to-door for the win, Sanchez got loose and had to regain control of the truck heading to the white flag. Video replays show that as he steadied his truck, he was hit from behind by Hocevar, whose truck was carrying the momentum as Sanchez was recovering from his slight miscue. The contact from behind was just enough to spin Sanchez back across the track and collect Smith’s truck, while Hocevar drove forward to the finish line and waited for official word of the win.
“I didn’t mean to get into him, I just meant to give him a push and he got sideways the second I hit him, I apologize to them, I’ll take the fall for it, I wrecked a Chevy and I’ll go talk to him about it – he deserved to win for sure,’’ Hocevar said of the contact with Sanchez.
“But all the times we were the fastest car and I don’t win, and this team deserves to win more than anything, I can stop getting the same question asked all the time now,’’ said Hocevar, who has four career runner-up finishes.
“We didn’t deserve to win today but we were in the right spot at the right time.”
Certainly, Sanchez got plenty of practice in mastering re-starts with six of the 12 cautions coming in the final 40 laps of the race. He drove his No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet to the front each time, having to duel side-by-side with Smith late in the race.
“Obviously coming to the last lap, me and the 38 [Zane Smith] were playing an aggressive side-drafting game and I got a little too aggressive on him, got loose, went through the grass and saved it,’’ Sanchez said. “Just got hit by the 42 [Hocevar]. I don’t know what else to say about that.
“It is what it is, that’s racing.
“This is what we’ve been working hard to do,’’ continued Sanchez, who swept both Stage wins. “We don’t want to just win, we want to dominate. Today we dominated, but we didn’t win so just got to go back and see what I can do better. Try to build on strengths. I guess, the positive is we got stage points, that’s something to fall back on. But I want to win, that’s my goal.’’
Veteran Stewart Friesen finished third with Ty Majeski and Jake Garcia rounding out the top-five; Garcia the highest finishing rookie. Hailie Deegan equaled her career best finish with a sixth-place run. Corey Heim, Ryan Vargas, Jack Wood and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top-10.
Smith was scored 14th and Sanchez was scored 16th.
The green flag flies for the April 2 PPG 375 (250 laps, 375 miles), the second race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, at 11:15 a.m. CT.
MORE INFO: Keep track of all of Texas Motor Speedway’s busy schedule by following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Keep up with all the latest news and information on the speedway website and TMS mobile app.
FRIESEN SCORES SEASON-BEST FINISH IN TEXAS Three Tundras earn top-10 finishes in wild end to Truck Series event
FORT WORTH (April 1, 2023) – Stewart Friesen (third) led Toyota in the Truck Series race on Saturday evening at Texas Motor Speedway. Tundra driver Dean Thompson was involved in an on-track accident on lap 144. He is awake and alert and is currently being transported to Baylor Scott & White Medical Center for further evaluation.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Texas Motor Speedway Race 5 of 23 – 167 Laps, 250.5 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS 1st, Carson Hocevar* 2nd, Chase Purdy* 3rd, STEWART FRIESEN 4th, Ty Majeski* 5th, Jake Garcia* 7th, COREY HEIM 8th, RYAN VARGAS 24th, TAYLOR GRAY 26th, TYLER ANKRUM 27th, TANNER GRAY 28th, DEAN THOMPSON 29th, ARMANI WILLIAMS
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
STEWART FRIESEN, No. 52 Ferris Commercial Mowers Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, Halmar Friesen Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Can you summarize your day?
“Disappointing. We had a shot to win there at the end. The whole Halmar/Ferris team did a great job getting us fixed up – we were really bad tight and came from 11th or 12th that last segment and had a chance at them. I’m proud of Blake (Bainbridge, crew chief) – he made some really good adjustments there in the end. Just bummed. We had a shot. I guess that is all you can ask for. That was my worst fear – was not getting a good enough start with the 2 (Nick Sanchez). He kept asking me to push him and I’m like if you get in the zone and we both go good together, we can link up a little bit further down into (turn) one. We just didn’t get clean enough – I didn’t get a clean enough start. I let Carson (Hocevar) jump underneath and then it was just hold to the wood and try for everything we could get. Thanks to TRD. Big thanks to Chris Larsen. It is pretty cool to start this run with Ferris here with a top-five. Not what we came here for, but it is a start in the right direction. We are on to Bristol next week.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 22 electrified options.
Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
STEWART-HAAS RACING NASCAR Xfinity Series: Richmond 250
Date: April 1, 2023 Event: Richmond 250 (Round 7 of 33) Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series Location: Richmond (Va.) Raceway (.75-mile oval) Format: 250 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/75 laps/100 laps) Race Winner: Chandler Smith of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Chandler Smith of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Josh Berry of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
● Riley Herbst (2nd with 265 points, 12 out of first) ● Cole Custer (10th with 196 points, 81 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Custer earned his first top-five of the season and his third top-five in eight career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Richmond. ● Custer has never finished outside the top-15 at Richmond in his eight Xfinity Series starts. ● This was Custer’s third straight top-five at Richmond. During his last fulltime season in the Xfinity Series, Custer won in April 2019 and finished third in September 2019.
● Custer finished fifth in Stage 1 to earn six bonus points and fifth in Stage 2 to earn six more bonus points.
● Herbst finished second in Stage 1 to earn nine bonus points and third in Stage 2 to earn eight more bonus points.
● Herbst led two times for 27 laps to increase his laps-led total at Richmond to 28.
Race Notes:
● Chandler Smith won the Richmond 250 to score his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in 10 starts. His margin over second-place John Hunter Nemechek was .298 of a second.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 43 laps.
● Twenty-three of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Austin Hill remains the championship leader after Richmond with a 12-point advantage over second-place Riley Herbst.
Sound Bites:
“It was great to have a solid run in our No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang today at Richmond. These past few weeks I feel like every time things seem to be going well, something goes wrong. So, it just feels awesome to have a solid run, have nothing happen, and get a top-five finish. I’m happy with it. Hopefully, we can keep this going in Martinsville.” – Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang
“That was a tough one. We were one of the fastest cars on the track, and a great finish went away just like that. It’s racing though. We were putting a strong day together by leading laps and getting all those stage points. I felt like we were in a position to go for the win before that incident. We’ll take the off week to regroup and hopefully be back stronger at Martinsville with the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang.” – Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Call811.com Before You Dig. 250 on Saturday, April 15 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 250 | Saturday, April 1, 2023
Ford Finishing Results: 4th – Ty Majeski 6th – Hailie Deegan 10th – Ben Rhodes 11th – Mason Massey 13th – Matt Crafton 14th – Zane Smith 21st – Josh Reaume 33rd – Keith McGee
NOTE: Hailie Deegan tied her career-best finish with a 6th-place run today, equaling what she did at Talladega last season.
HAILIE DEEGAN, No. 13 Ford Performance Ford F-150 – TAKE US THROUGH WHAT YOU SAW ON THE FINAL RESTART? “I was pretty pumped up because I thought we finished fifth, but I found out a second ago we finished sixth. So I’m not as excited, but it was still definitely a great day, especially where we started the season. I feel like we’re just getting the ball rolling, getting our confidence and just building off of what we have every single race, not having to rebuild trucks and just making them better. That’s what we were really focusing on this race, getting through all the wrecks. There were so many big ones today and I’m just so glad we were able to make some smart decisions and avoid all of them and come out with a good finish.”
WHAT GOT YOU UP FRONT TODAY? “Honestly, just staying in it all day. I didn’t qualify all that great. I think I tried to get a little too much in one and two in qualifying and got a little free down there, so I didn’t have the best lap. We were able to still stay in it all day, come back through the field and just chip away at it little by little. We made the truck better as the race goes on and as the track is changing, so as you’re moving around more everything was changing so quick, so I think we did a great job of that. My team did such a great job and I’m super thankful for everything that they’ve been able to give me for this race.”
ZANE SMITH, No. 38 SpeedyCash.com Ford F-150 – RESTARTS WERE PRETTY CRAZY. WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR VIEW? “Yeah, no doubt. First off, we got our SpeedyCash Ford better all throughout all the race, which is exciting. At the end there, it was overtime, overtime, overtime restarts and I don’t really know what was going on with the 2. He was just so sketchy, especially on the straightaways. He doored me, gets off me, drives it through the grass and then I just get hooked. We were in a great position to get our third win of the year there with the help of the 19 on that restart and, unfortunately, I’m missing the back end of my F-150. We’ll rebound and go to Bristol Dirt and hopefully have a good weekend there.”
YOU TRIED EVERYTHING TO GET BY SANCHEZ. IF THAT HADN’T HAPPENED AT THE END COULD YOU HAVE HELD ON TO WIN? “Yeah, I mean everyone – I was really surprised he wasn’t taking the top there for one because once you catch the right-rear of whoever you’re battling, typically momentum funnels to the top there and we were in just a great position to win. Unfortunately, he was kind of a dart without feathers on the straightaways. There was not much we could do.”
Chandler Smith, driver of the #16 Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on April 01, 2023 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)
April 1, 2023 By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service
Rookie Chandler Smith earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory Saturday afternoon at Richmond (Va.) Raceway holding off John Hunter Nemechek on a final race restart with six laps remaining to hoist the ToyotaCare 250 trophy.
Smith’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet led a race best 83 of the 250 laps – the bulk of that early in the race. But the 20-year year old Georgia native was able to run among the top five for most of the day and ultimately drive his Chevy around Nemechek’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on that last restart, pulling away to a .298-second victory after some intense side-by-side action for the lead in the closing laps.
Smith has had three top-five finishes, including a gut-wrenching near miss at Las Vegas last month. After leading a dominant 118 laps and being out front with one lap to go at Vegas four races ago, he had to settle for third place. So this victory at Richmond was especially motivating for the young driver.
“Feels great,’’ a smiling Smith said. “This goes to testimony as to Vegas, dominated that race but didn’t win and said, it was all in God’s timing. … here we are in Richmond, my favorite race track and we’re sitting in victory lane.’’
It marks the third-consecutive runner-up finish for Nemechek at the 0.75-mile Richmond track; including a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race and the last two NASCAR Xfinity Series races there.
“We weren’t very good on the short run, we had a long-run speed car,’’ Nemechek said, “But we came from the back up there to battle for the win, put ourselves in position.’’
“Disappointed to run runner-up again, that’s the last three races I’ve run here, finished second. Frustrated but we’ll go back to work. The 16 (Smith) just had the best car on the short run.”
JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry finished third in the No. 8 JRM Chevrolet. He led 63 laps and was out front with 65 laps remaining until a series of caution flags and restarts that characterized the race ending.
Kaz Grala turned in a strong day with a fourth place showing in the No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota -equaling his career best effort in the Xfinity Series. And Cole Custer rallied to a fifth place finish in the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford after a problem on pit road and some tight side-by-side racing late in the day.
Justin Allgaier – who started his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet from pole position after qualifying was rained out Saturday morning – led laps early but had an up-and-down day. Ultimately, he finished 13th and was good enough to take the first $100,000 bonus in the Dash 4 Cash sweepstakes sponsored by Xfinity.
With his work, Allgaier now joins Saturday’s three new qualifiers – Chandler Smith, Berry and Nemechek to contend for the next $100,000 check at the series’ next race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on April 15.
“Weird day today, we didn’t fire off quite as good as we hoped for but they kept working, great pit stops all day.’’ Allgaier said, adding, “It’s weird finishing 13th and still be standing here holding this check but the other guys had a rough day. This puts us in next week for the Dash 4 Cash so huge thanks to Xfinity for all they do for the sport.’’
Seven different drivers led at least 24 laps – and for much of the race there were at least three drivers ranked among the top 10 looking for their first career Xfinity Series win.
Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Parker Kligerman, the season’s three-race winner Austin Hill and Derek Kraus rounded out the top 10. It was the first series start for Kraus, who raced among the top 10 in his No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet for most of the day.
Riley Herbst, who led 27 laps and Brandon Jones, who led 24, were involved in an accident while contending for fourth place late in the race. Herbst finished 23rd while Jones was 21st.
The next race is the Call811.com Before You Dig. 250 at Martinsville Speedway on April 15 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 9 Mins, 29 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.298 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 43 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Allgaier 1-2;S. Smith # 3-42;R. Herbst 43-44;C. Smith # 45-79;R. Herbst 80-104;C. Smith # 105-140;J. Berry 141-161;B. Jones 162-185;J. Berry 186-227;J. Nemechek 228-238;C. Smith # 239-250.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Chandler Smith # 3 times for 83 laps; Josh Berry 2 times for 63 laps; Sammy Smith # 1 time for 40 laps; Riley Herbst 2 times for 27 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 24 laps; John Hunter Nemechek 1 time for 11 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 2 laps.
Nearly a month after having a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway within his grasp slip out of reach in the final laps, rookie Chandler Smith redeemed himself through a late shootout to claim his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win in the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, April 1.
The 20-year-old Smith from Talking Rock, Georgia, led three times for a race-high 83 of 250-scheduled laps as he spent a majority of the event running towards the front. After claiming the lead from John Hunter Nemechek during a restart with 12 laps remaining prior to a late caution, Smith then used the outside lane during the final restart with six laps remaining to duel and fend off Nemechek before pulling away and retaining the top spot to claim his first checkered flag in the series.
With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Saturday canceled due to inclement weather, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a qualifying metric system from NASCAR’s rulebook qualifying procedure. Based on the metric system, Justin Allgaier was awarded the pole position and was joined on the front row by rookie Sammy Smith.
Prior to the event, Parker Kligerman dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 48 Big Machine Racing entry.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid a delay spanning more than half an hour due to inclement weather, Allgaier jumped ahead with the lead on the inside lane as he managed to clear Sammy Smith and proceed to lead the first lap. Behind, teammate Sam Mayer launched an early challenge on Smith for second ahead of Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric and Sheldon Creed while the field behind jostled for positions.
Two laps later, Sammy Smith overtook Allgaier with a strong launch entering Turn 3. A lap later, Mayer would overtake teammate Allgaier on the outside lane through the frontstretch to claim second place as Hemric and Herbst closed in on the battle.
During the fifth lap, early troubles ignited for Joe Graf Jr., who went dead straight into the Turn 2 outside wall due to a left-front tire while running inside the top 20. He was, however, able to make a pit stop without drawing a caution.
With the event surpassing the first 10-scheduled laps, Sammy Smith was leading by a second over Hemric followed by Mayer, John Hunter Nemechek, and Allgaier while rookie Chandler Smith, Herbst, Josh Berry, Sheldon Creed and newcomer Derek Kraus were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Anthony Alfredo was in 11th ahead of Brandon Jones, Cole Custer, Jeremy Clements and Ryan Sieg while Jeb Burton, Austin Hill, Kaz Grala, Josh Williams and Brett Moffitt were running in the top 20.
Through the first 20 laps, Sammy Smith continued to lead by more than a second over Hemric while Chandler Smith moved up to third ahead of Nemechek as Mayer fell back to fifth. Behind, Allgaier was back in sixth ahead of Herbst and Berry while Creed and Kraus occupied the top 10.
When the competition caution flew on Lap 35, Sammy Smith retained the lead over Hemric, Chandler Smith and the rest of the field with 36 of 38 starters scored on the lead lap. During the competition caution, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Hemric pitted while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sammy Smith and John Hunter Nemechek remained on the track. During the pit stops, Hill was penalized for speeding on pit road. Brennan Poole was also penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation after a tire rolled out of his pit box during his pit stop.
Once the event restarted under green on Lap 42, Sammy Smith jumped ahead with a brief advantage while Chandler Smith, Hemric and Herbst took Nemechek through a four-wide battle entering the first turn as Nemechek struggled to launch on old tires. With Nemechek getting swallowed up by the field and competitors running on fresher tires, Sammy Smith was then quickly challenged for the lead through the backstretch as Herbst muscled his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang to the lead on the outside lane. Kaulig Racing’s Hemric and Chandler Smith would quickly follow suit for podium spots against Sammy Smith, who was then overtaken by Brandon Jones, Creed and Custer as he returned to the frontstretch and continued to lose spots. As the field behind continued to scramble for positions during the following lap, Herbst was overtaken by Chandler Smith during the following lap with the latter clearing the field and slowly pulling away.
At the Lap 50 mark, Chandler Smith was leading by six-tenths of a second over Herbst followed by Hemric, Brandon Jones and Creed while Berry and Cole Custer duked for sixth. Allgaier was in eighth ahead of teammate Mayer, Kaz Grala, Kligerman and Ryan Sieg while Sammy Smith and Nemechek plummeted all the way back to 30th and 32nd while running on older tires compared to the field.
Fifteen laps later, Chandler Smith continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Herbst while Jones, Berry and Hemric occupied the top five. By then, teammates Nemechek and Sammy Smith were mired in 32nd and 34th, respectively, towards the rear end of the lead lap field as the leaders started to close in to lap them.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Chandler Smith claimed his first stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Herbst settled in a close second followed by Brandon Jones while Berry, Custer, Hemric, Allgaier, Creed, Ryan Sieg and Mayer were scored in the top 10. By then, Nemechek and Sammy Smith were lapped by the leaders. By being scored the first competitor a lap down, however, Nemechek was the recipient of the free pass while Smith remained pinned a lap down.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Herbst exited first followed by Jones, Chandler Smith, Custer and Hemric. During the pit stops, Mayer endured a long pit stop and lost a lap after running in the top 10 while Ryan Sieg was penalized for having too many men over the pit wall.
The second stage started on Lap 84 as Herbst and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst launched ahead to retain the lead while Chandler Smith battled Jones for second as the field behind jostled for positions. With Herbst keeping his No. 98 entry in front of a side-by-side battle between Chandler Smith’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing entry and Jones’ No. 9 JR Motorsports entry, Custer followed suit in fourth while Berry was up in fifth.
At the Lap 100 mark, Herbst was leading by two-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith followed by Jones, Custer and Berry while Allgaier, Parker Kligerman, Creed, Kraus and Hemric were running in the top 10. Behind, Hill was in 11th ahead of Kaz Grala, Clements, Nemechek and Jeffrey Earnhardt while Ryan Ellis, Brett Moffitt, Alex Labe, Chris Hacker and Jeb Burton occupied the top 20.
Five laps later, Chandler Smith reassumed the lead over Herbst, who had to check up as Joe Graf Jr. endured more on-track issues by slipping sideways on the backstretch. Jones would eventually make his way into second place over Herbst while Custer was locked in a battle with Berry for fourth.
At the halfway mark on Lap 125, Chandler Smith was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Jones followed by Herbst, Berry and Custer while Kligerman, Allgaier, Kraus, Nemechek and Hill were in the top 10. By then, 27 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap, none of which included Sammy Smith and Mayer.
Fifteen laps later, Chandler Smith continued to lead ahead of Berry as Jones and Herbst fell back to third and fourth. Custer occupied fifth while Allgaier was the highest-running Dash 4 Cash competitor in eighth. By then, Hemric was lapped by the field.
Another lap later, Berry navigated his No. 8 Jarrett Companies Chevrolet Camaro into the lead with the leaders lapping the benchmarkers. Teammate Jones followed suit in second as Chandler Smith fell back to third. By then, Anthony Alfredo had scrubbed the Turn 2 outside wall with a flat right-front tire, but the event remained under green flag conditions.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 150, Berry claimed his first stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Teammate Jones settled in second followed by Herbst, Chandler Smith and Custer while Grala, Nemechek, Kligerman, Allgaier and Creed were scored in the top 10. By then, 18 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Berry pitted and Berry retained the lead after exiting first followed by teammate Jones, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Custer and Nemechek.
With 89 laps remaining, the final stage started as teammates Berry and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Berry retained the lead in front of Jones and Herbst while Chandler Smith launched his bid for the lead while running in fourth. During the following lap, Jones muscled his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro into the lead while Chandler Smith battled Berry for second. Behind, Nemechek and Herbst battled for fourth in front of Custer and Allgaier as the field jostled for late positions.
Fourteen laps later and with 75 laps remaining, Jones was leading by two-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith followed by Berry, Nemchek and Allgaier while Custer, Herbst, Grala, Creed and Hill battled within the top 10. By then, 19 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap while names like Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg, Moffitt, Hemric, Mayer and Connor Mosack were off the lead lap category.
Another nine laps later, Berry battled and overtook teammate Jones to reassume the lead lap. With Berry slowly pulling away, Nemechek, who rallied from losing a lap during the first stage, started to challenge Jones for second while Chandler Smith fell back to fourth in front of Allgaier and Herbst.
With 50 laps remaining, Berry was leading by six-tenths of a second over Nemechek while third-place Jones trailed by more than two seconds. Chandler Smith and Custer remained in the top five while Herbst, Allgaier, Hill, Grala and Creed were back in the top 10.
Nearly 10 laps later, Allgaier, who was running inside the top 10, pitted under green for four fresh tires as Berry maintained his advantage over Nemechek. With 30 laps remaining, however, the caution flew due to Clements coming to a stop on pit road. By then, 13 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap while a multitude of names, among which included all four Dash 4 Cash competitors Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Mayer and Hemric were pinned at least a lap behind. In addition, Berry retained the lead in front of Nemechek, Jones, Chandler Smith and Herbst.
During the caution period, the field led by Berry pitted and Berry retained the lead after exiting with the lead followed by Nemechek, Jones, Chandler Smith and Herbst.
Down to the final 22 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Berry and Nemechek battled for the lead as Nemechek managed to muscle ahead on the outside lane and retain the lead through the frontstretch. With 20 laps remaining, however, the caution returned when Jones made contact with Herbst as Herbst backed his car into the outside wall as Jones slipped sideways and spun backward while getting hit by Custer’s No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang and barely by Connor Mosack’s No. 24 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota Supra. At the moment of caution, Chandler Smith cycled into second over Berry while Mayer was the recipient of the free pass after being scored the first competitor a lap down in front of Hemric and Sammy Smith.
During the following restart with 12 laps remaining, Nemechek retained the lead amid a side-by-side battle with Chandler Smith before the latter managed to move back into the lead. The caution returned shortly after, however, when Moffitt spun in Turn 3 as Leland Honeyman and Graf also spun to avoid hitting Moffitt. At the moment of caution, Sammy Smith received the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap.
With six laps remaining, the event proceeded under green. At the start, Chandler Smith and Nemechek dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Smith managed to move into the lead through Turns 3 and 4. During the following lap, Nemechek drew himself back alongside Smith’s No. 16 entry for the lead as both continued to battle through two tight lanes. Smith, however, would pull away through Turns 3 and 4 while Nemechek settled in second in front of Berry. Then with four laps remaining, Nemechek launched a final bid beneath Chandler Smith, but the latter pulled away with a clear racetrack in front of him and behind him. As the laps continued to dwindle, Chandler Smith retained a narrow advantage ahead of Nemechek and Berry.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Chandler Smith remained as the leader ahead of Nemechek and Berry. With Nemechek unable to close the gap despite launching a final overtake bid on the outside lane entering Turn 3, Smith was able to navigate his way around the short track circuit for a final time and claim the checkered flag by more than two-tenths of a second for his first series career victory.
With the victory, Chandler Smith became the 173rd different competitor to win in the Xfinity circuit and the fifth overall to win for Kaulig Racing. He also became the second first-time winner of the 2023 Xfinity circuit and the fifth different competitor to win through the first seven events on the 2023 Xfinity schedule.
Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images.
“[The win] Feels great,” Smith said on FS1. “This goes to testimony just to Vegas. Dominated that race, didn’t win. I said it was all in God’s timing. He’s in something creating way bigger better something than I know to do it. Here we are at Richmond, my favorite racetrack and we’re sitting in Victory Lane. All glory goes to God. Thank you, [owner] Chris Rice, [team president] Matt Kaulig, Quick Tie Products, everybody at Kaulig Racing, [crew chief] Bruce [Schlicker]. This is unbelievable.”
Nemechek rallied from nearly losing a lap during the first stage to settle in second place for his third top-five result of the season and at Richmond for a second consecutive season while Berry ended up third after leading 63 laps.
“We weren’t very good on the short run,” Nemechek said. “We had a long-run speed car. [I] Came from the back up there to battle for the win, put ourselves in position. Disappointed to run runner-up again. That’s the last three races here I’ve run second, so frustrating, but we’ll go back to work. We just got to figure out how to execute a little bit better. Just one of those days, but good run.”
Grala and Custer claimed top-five finishes in fourth and fifth while Creed, Ryan Sieg, Kligerman, Hill and newcomer Derek Kraus finished in the top 10.
Meanwhile, Allgaier was the winner of the first Dash 4 Cash initiative despite finishing in 13th place, which was enough for him to claim the bonus ahead of his opponents Mayer, Sammy Smith and Hemric, all of whom finished 17th, 19th and 24th, respectively. The accomplishment marked Allgaier’s first Dash 4 Cash bonus since 2018 and his fourth since 2016. Allgaier along with race winner Chandler Smith, runner-up John Hunter Nemechek and third-place finisher Josh Berry will contend for the second Dash 4 Cash bonus that will occur two weeks from now at Martinsville Speedway.
“Weird day today,” Allgaier said. “We didn’t fire off quite as good as we’d hoped, but [the team] kept working. Great pit stops all day. We pitted under green there to go for the win and ultimately, it bit us. Then it was just hanging on. We weren’t really sure what was gonna happen, but luckily, we were able to hold everybody off. It’s weird finishing 13th and still be standing here holding this [Dash 4 Cash] check.”
There were 10 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 43 laps.
Following the seventh event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 12 points over Riley Herbst, 18 over John Hunter Nemechek, 24 over Chandler Smith, 43 over Josh Berry and 46 over Justin Allgaier.
Results.
1. Chandler Smith, 83 laps led, Stage 1 winner
2. John Hunter Nemechek, 11 laps led
3. Josh Berry, 63 laps led, Stage 2 winner
4. Kaz Grala
5. Cole Custer
6. Sheldon Creed
7. Ryan Sieg
8. Parker Kligerman
9. Austin Hill
10. Derek Kraus
11. Alex Labbe
12. Jeb Burton
13. Justin Allgaier, two laps led
14. Chris Hacker
15. Ryan Ellis
16. Parker Retzlaff
17. Sam Mayer
18. Jeffrey Earnhardt
19. Sammy Smith, 40 laps led
20. Kyle Sieg
21. Brandon Jones, 24 laps led
22. Brett Moffitt
23. Riley Herbst, 27 laps led
24. Daniel Hemric, one lap down
25. Leland Honeyman, one lap down
26. Blaine Perkins, two laps down
27. Joey Gase, two laps down
28. Connor Mosack, two laps down
29. Patrick Emerling, two laps down
30. Garrett Smithley, two laps down
31. Mason Maggio, three laps down
32. Stefan Parsons, three laps down
33. Josh Williams, three laps down
34. Brennan Poole, three laps down
35. Gray Gaulding, five laps down
36. Jeremy Clements, seven laps down
37. Joe Graf Jr., 14 laps down
38. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is another Virginia event as the series travels southwest from Richmond to Martinsville for its first of two visits to Martinsville Speedway, which will also serve as the site of the second Dash 4 Cash event. The event is scheduled to occur on April 15 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
TWO TOYOTA TOP-FIVES IN TOYOTACARE 250 Kaz Grala ties career-best finish
RICHMOND, Va. (April 1, 2023) – John Hunter Nemechek (second) and Kaz Grala (fourth) earned top-five finishes in Saturday’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway. Nemechek will run for $100,000 as part of the Dash 4 Cash program in Martinsville. For Grala, fourth ties his career-best finish (Daytona 2018, Road America 2020). The finish is the second-best in Sam Hunt Racing history and the team’s second top-five at Richmond Raceway.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR Xfinity Series Richmond Raceway Race 7 of 33 – 187.5 miles, 250 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS 1st, Chandler Smith* 2nd, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK 3rd, Josh Berry* 4th, KAZ GRALA 5th, Cole Custer* 19th, SAMMY SMITH 27th, JOEY GASE 28th, CONNOR MOSACK 31st, MASON MAGGIO 37th, JOE GRAF JR. *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 20 Safeway/ACME Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Can you talk about the finish?
“Yeah, we weren’t very good on the short run. We had a long run speed car. We came from the back to battle up here. I’m just proud of everyone on this No. 20 Toyota GR Supra team for Joe Gibbs Racing. The Safeway colors looked great on our car. We came from the back as fast as Xfinity 10 G internet. Disappointed to run runner-up again. That is the last three races here I’ve ran second or third, frustrating. We will go back to work. We just have to figure out to execute better. The 16 (Chandler Smith) had the best car on the short run – it was going to be hard to hold him off, even early on, he would fire off and then drop back. Just one of those days. It was a good points day for us. I think we moved up a couple spots. Disappointed, but we will take it and move on to the next one.”
KAZ GRALA, No. 26 Toyota Racing Development Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Can you talk about your race?
“It was our best race of the year – but not for a lack of effort. We’ve been bringing really, really fast Toyota GR Supras. Today was no exception. Everything fell our way – we had a solid day, through and through. We were a top-10 car easily on the short run, but we might have just been the best car out here in the long run. When the caution came out late, I was almost disappointed – but it turned out okay. We will take a fourth-place. I’m really, really proud of everyone at Sam Hunt Racing, Toyota, our partners, Reudebusch, Island Coastal Lager, Fire Department Coffee. We can’t do it without those guys.”
Does it feel extra special to get a top-five here with Sam Hunt Racing – their home track?
“Absolutely. Sam (Hunt, team owner) has a lot of friends, family and guests here this weekend, so this being his home race – this was a huge one. It is always a little bit sweeter to run well in your home race. We did just that. I liked today, because there was no crazy pit strategy, no cycling, no attrition – we were just straight up pretty good today. We were good on the short run, and really, really good on the long run. Very proud of everyone at Sam Hunt Racing, Toyota, our partners, Reudebusch, Island Coastal Lager, Fire Department Coffee. We can’t do it without those guys. This was a fun Saturday. We’ve got more of these.”
SAM HUNT, team owner, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
What does this mean?
“It means a lot. Especially, because it has been a tough year so far, we’ve had fast cars and things just haven’t fallen our way. We were good all day long. We were really hoping it went green, because I think we had a car to beat in the long run, but for this team, this group, to run with these guys and beat the cars we beat, it is special. It is really cool. I’m just grateful for all of the people that have believed in us, believed in me. I feel like I really don’t deserve this stage, this situation, this finish. I have just been so lucky to have great people help me and help this program.”
About Toyota
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Fort Worth, TX (1 April 2023) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) drivers Helio Castroneves (No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) and Simon Pagenaud (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) will start 21st and 22nd respectively on Sunday after qualifying for the PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway (12:15pm ET, NBC, SiriusXM Ch. 160).
A busy first day on track featured just one practice session before qualifying midday. Teams had a short 30-minute turn around following qualifying to prep the cars for final practice to close out the day.
The team felt good after Saturday’s opening hour of practice, putting both cars in the top 17, but the Ohio-based squad was unable repeat the result over two qualifying laps around the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval.
Pagenaud was first of the MSR drivers to qualify – third in the order – and was hoping that an earlier run and cooler temperatures would pose an advantage. Simon’s run yielded an average speed of 218.103 mph which puts him 22nd for tomorrow race.
Castroneves went out sixth in the qualifying order and posted a 218.196 mph lap which puts him 21st for tomorrow’s 250 lap race.
Sunday’s PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway will air on NBC on Sunday starting at Noon ET. SiriusXM will also host live IndyCar Radio coverage of both sessions on XM Ch. 160.
Driver Quotes:
Helio Castroneves (No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) – Starting 21st, Two-Lap Avg. Speed 218.196mph: “The car felt pretty much the same as it did this morning, obviously the lap time is a little different because we had drafting during practice. Balance-wise, the cars felt good, but we just weren’t fast enough. We’ll get ready for tomorrow and see how it goes in the race.”
Simon Pagenaud (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) – Starting 22nd, Two-Lap Avg. Speed 218.103mph: “The car felt good and the team did a great job making it handle really good in the corners. But we don’t know why just yet we didn’t pick up the speed in the car, but we will look into it and to understand what was going on. It’s a shame because the team did a great job preparing the car, but we’ll work hard and be ready for tomorrow.”
