Veteran racer Dale McDowell scored the $50,000 XR Super Series Late Model victory Saturday night in the Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is McDowell's second Bristol victory as the Georgia racer also won a Super Late Model victory at Bristol in 2000 when BMS first converted the track to a dirt surface.
BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 2, 2022) – Veteran racer Dale McDowell earned the $50,000 payday Saturday night for winning the 50-lap XR Super Series Late Models feature race to close out two strong weeks of racing during the Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals.
In other racing tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway, Brandon Gibson Jr. won the Hornets feature, Jody Knowles won the 604 Late Model feature and Michael Asberry earned the Open Modified victory.
The night’s other big winner didn’t take a checkered flag but he took home the biggest check. Second-place Super Late Model finisher Chris Madden claimed the $100,000 XR Super Late Model Series bonus for earning the most points during the four-race, two-weekend event. With his two victories, runner-up finish, 12th place finish and the series bonus it brings Madden’s total two-week earnings to more than $230,000.
Madden won his heat race but was penalized two spots for an infraction that was discovered during post-race inspection. He started 12th in the feature and had to work his way to the front to secure the $100,000.
“It’s pretty awesome, we overcame a mountain tonight and we came back and did what we had to do to get the bonus,” Madden said. “We had to take a two-spot knock and start 12th and it says a lot about my team and how we can bounce back. Our car was good enough to get us back in it and it says a lot for our team. I never doubted us being able to do it. Our car, our team is in a great position to be able to win some races and get some things done.”
It was McDowell’s second Bristol victory as he also claimed the 2000 Super Late Model victory the first time BMS was converted to a dirt track.
“It’s unbelievable, we’ve had a really good year,” McDowell said. “I can’t thank the guys who work on this thing enough because they made my job easier. This one is for the old guys. It’s awesome to be back here at Bristol 22 years later. We had a little misfortune and had to change front pinons while the B-Main was going on. I’ve got to thank the good Lord above for making all this possible.”
Chris Ferguson finished third, Scott Bloomquist was fourth and Jimmy Owens finished fifth. NASCAR Cup champ Kyle Larson won his heat race and qualified well but had a problem at the start of the feature and posted a 21st place finish.
Kyle Strickler set a track record during his heat race victory with a best lap time of 14.879 seconds at a speed of 128.96 mph, but fell to 14th in the feature. Mike Marlar also had a strong car in the heat race but crashed into turn four when a tire went down. The crash totaled his car and he had to pull out the backup car for the feature and ultimately finished 24th.
In Open Modified, Crossville, Tenn. native Michael Asberry scored the 30-lap feature victory, his third feature win of the week. Asberry held off Kyle Strickler, Clay Harris, Zach Johnson and Mitch Thomas for the win.
“It felt great,” Asberry said. “We worked on the car every day for the last two months. The track felt faster to me this year, it was really smooth out there. Just to be here and say you’ve won at Bristol, it’s a big deal.”
Gibson, from Dry Ridge, Ky., worked his way to the front in the 30-lap Hornets feature and took over the lead on lap 14 and he held on for the victory.
“It felt really good through the center of the corner,” Gibson said. “I started in the back every race this week. I’ve been really good having patience and not trying to win on the first lap. This deal is a different animal. This track is so fast, it’s a lot of fun.”
John Windham, Brandon Dalton, Walker Windham and Jake Benischek completed the top five. Knowles, from Tyrone, Ga., took home the $5,000 prize for winning the 604 Late Model feature. Knowles led all 20 laps of the race and took the checkered flag in front of Monk Gullege and John Winge.
“I knew all week it was going to be about getting a good starting spot and I just really wanted this one,” Knowles said. “This is awesome man. Those first two were special, but this one is what we’re here for. I was here last year and didn’t have any luck but we got it done this time. You really couldn’t ask for no better with the track, this place is fast.”
Dirt racing action continues at BMS during the month of April with the return of NASCAR to the dirt with the running of the Food City Dirt Race under the lights on Easter Sunday, April 17, and the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt on Saturday night, April 16. The World of Outlaws Bristol Bash, featuring both the NOS Sprint Cars and the Case Construction Late Models, returns to the high banks April 28-30. It is the first time in history that the two World of Outlaws premier classes will compete together on the same weekend.
William Byron will lead the field to the green Sunday afternoon from the front row after qualifying second.
FOX will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway live at 3:30 p.m. ET tomorrow, Sunday, April 3. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
2nd WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 5th ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1 8th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ONX HOMES / IFLY CAMARO ZL1 14th DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 15th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 A SHOC CAMARO ZL1 16th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 GUARANTEED RATE CAMARO ZL1 21st KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 23rd LANDON CASSILL, NO. 77 VOYAGER: CRYPTO FOR ALL CAMARO ZL1 25th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1 26th AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 ACTION INDUSTRIES CAMARO ZL1 28th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 30th TY DILLON, NO. 42 CHEVYLINERS.COM CAMARO ZL1 31st COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 NATIONS GUARD CAMARO ZL1 32nd RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 SUNNYD CAMARO ZL1 36th JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1 37th GREG BIFFLE, NO. 44 NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1
TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
1st Ryan Blaney (Ford) 2nd William Byron (Chevrolet) 3rd Kyle Busch (Toyota) 4th Chase Briscoe (Ford) 5th Erik Jones (Chevrolet)
FOX will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway live at 3:30 p.m. ET tomorrow, Sunday, April 3. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Sheldon Creed Shows Never-Give-Up Attitude at Richmond Raceway in the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet
Finish: 22nd
Start: 13th
Points: 12th
“I really thought we were going to have a strong No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet today at Richmond Raceway. We started the race 13th and fired off decent at the beginning of the run. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay that way. We struggled for most of the day with handling issues and a lack of drive, but this Richard Childress Racing team never gave up. I’m so proud of them for all of their hard work. We’ve got some work to do in the shop and I will go back and study my notes for this track. We’ve got a lot of fight left in this team. On to Martinsville.” Sheldon Creed
Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Team Battle Hard at Richmond Raceway
Finish: 18th
Start: 4th
Points: 9th
“I thought we were pretty decent at the start of the race. Our Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet was free on entry and a little tight in the center. The main thing I needed at the beginning of Stage 1 was forward drive. It fired off better on that next run, but toward the end of Stage 2, I thought something happened to the left front. We were keeping up with the No. 7 car and then we suddenly got really tight. It was like a light switch. We pitted for tires and adjustments and got back inside the top 10 but with about 40 laps to go the same thing happened with the left front. It’s frustrating but we’ll bounce back next week at Martinsville Speedway.” Austin Hill
Monster Energy Driver Earns Third Top-Five of 2022
Overview:
Riley Herbst wheeled his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang to a strong fifth-place finish in the Richmond 250 Saturday at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The 23-year-old from Las Vegas started 24th in the 250-lap race around the .75-mile oval, but he didn’t stay there long. Herbst was 13th at the end of the first stage and thanks to quick pit work by his Stewart-Haas Racing crew, Herbst was among the top-10 for the start of the second stage, ultimately finishing ninth to pick up two valuable bonus points. The third and final stage consisted of 100 laps and Herbst was methodical on every tour of the track as the race stayed green through to the finish, with Herbst rising to fifth when the checkered flag waved to earn his third top-five of the season.
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)
Start/Finish: 24th / 5th (Running, completed 250 of 250 laps)
Point Standing: 11th (179 points, 124 out of first)
Race Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: John Hunter Nemechek of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“That was good from qualifying so far back to finishing fifth. It’s just frustrating. I feel like we need to fire off better on runs and then start up front and we can win some races. We’ve just been coming from behind the whole year and it’s frustrating. All in all, though, fifth is better than a DNF (Did Not Finish).”
Notes:
● Ty Gibbs won the Richmond 250 to score his seventh career Xfinity Series victory, his third of the season and his first at Richmond. His margin over second-place John Hunter Nemechek was .116 of a second.
● There were three caution periods for a total of 24 laps.
● Nineteen of the 38 drivers in the Richmond 250 finished on the lead lap.
● AJ Allmendinger leaves Richmond as the championship leader with a 20-point advantage over second-place Ty Gibbs.
Next Up:
The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Call 811 Before You Dig 250 Powered by Call 811.com on Friday, April 8 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford Mustang — THIS HASN’T BEEN YOUR BEST TRACK, BUT THINGS HAVE BEEN GETTING BETTER. WHAT HAS CHANGED AT THIS PLACE FOR YOU? “I will say it’s definitely not been my best place at all. I struggled here really bad for years and I still don’t feel like I’m great here at all or let alone very good. We’ve worked really hard on figuring out what to do better here from myself to how we kind of unload with the car to be more competitive in the race, and that’s been years in progress of me just trying to figure out what the heck I need to do. I feel like everyone has done a really good job to bring a fast car. Qualifying on the pole here is one thing. Racing here is a completely other thing. It’s great we got the pole, but now it’s time to switch to race mode and, ‘OK, what do we have to do to be able to hold on in the race?’ The new car is a little bit different here driving-wise. It’s kind of a fresh start for me having a new car here at this place and just working really hard with everybody at Penske on the 12 team to figure out, ‘OK, what do I need to do to just get more competitive here.’ Even though it’s not in the playoffs this year, you don’t want to run bad anywhere. You need to be able to adapt to different racetracks, so just a fast car and a lot of hard work.”
HOW MUCH WAS SAVING THAT ONE LAP BY DESIGN AND THEN TO HAVE IT WORK OUT? “We planned on running two. I feel like most guys were better on their second lap and we just put down a good lap on our first lap and Josh called me off of two. I think that helped out, for sure. The air-pressure stuff, we didn’t really bank on having crazy high air-pressure for like we just need one lap, but it just worked out that way to where we were able to save half-a-lap on tires and I think that definitely played into it.”
HAVE YOU SEEN THINGS CHANGE THE LAST 5-7 YEARS WHERE THIS SPORT HAS BECOME MORE CUT-THROAT TO WHERE GUYS HAVE TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO WIN? “Yeah. I feel like it’s all situational. Obviously, the playoff system and the way it is you have to take your opportunity when you can to try to get in – win and get in. The deal last week, a lot of people gave Ross a hard time for that, but he got moved first and he moved AJ back and the 48 was unfortunately just kind of an innocent bystander, but I thought it was fair game last week. Restarts get more aggressive, ramped up than I’d say they used to be. I wish I could tell you why, but that’s just kind of the way it is and you have to adapt and do the same as everyone else because if you’re not the aggressor, you’re getting used up by somebody else who is going to be the aggressor on these restarts and throughout the race. I think just a huge emphasis on winning, especially when you’re going for your first win. I think that’s fair, but that’s kind of the way things are right now. You have to be the aggressor to an extent. You can’t really do anything malicious. I’ve never really been that way, but you have to do what it takes to try to win the race and put yourself in the best spot possible to have a good end of the season.”
ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT TAKING CARE OF TIRES WHEN YOU MENTION RACING DIFFERENTLY? “Yeah. The tires fall off so bad here and you have to kind of be able to separate the two from qualifying. You’re not gonna run any laps in the race like we just ran in qualifying as far as how you drive the car. You just can’t abuse the tires like that or else you’re really gonna be struggling, so we made a really long run in practice. We made one 45-lapper and just try to get your head back in that mindset of, ‘OK, this is what I’ve got to do to save my tires,’ and things like that. It’s just such a different mindset from qualifying to the race here, I feel like, more than most other racetracks that we go to just because the pace slows down so much and your grip after three laps just continues to go away. So changing that mindset up and trying to change your car up a little bit to account for that and hopefully, we hit it right and hopefully I can do a good job tomorrow and learn from what we’ve learned here in the past.”
YOU WERE FASTEST IN 10-LAP AVERAGE? “Yeah, I felt like we were OK there. We’ll try to get better, just like late in a run – like 35 laps on. There were some guys that were better than us, so just trying to work on that.”
WHAT ABOUT THIS NEW CAR HAS ALLOWED YOU TO QUALIFY SO WELL? “Yeah, it’s been really neat and fun Saturdays for sure. I think that’s three poles in a row for us – every time we’ve qualified – Phoenix, COTA and here. It’s been a lot of fun. I don’t know. I wish I could pull one thing out. Obviously, really fast race cars. Jonathan Hassler has done a great job of unloading pretty quick this year, right away, and then backing it up with pretty fast race cars even though some of the finishes we’ve had hasn’t really reflected on how we’ve been running this year. I feel like we’ve had a really good year, it’s just trying to clean some stuff up and get some things better. We’ve got really fast race cars. I thought the race car kind of saved me a little bit today in the second round. I thought I had a pretty ugly lap I put together and the car had enough speed to put up a good lap. Everyone on the 12 group, Jonathan Hassler and everybody, is doing a good job and continue to do it.”
CONSIDERING THE SEVERITY OF LOSING A WHEEL. HAVE YOU SPENT MORE TIME FOCUSING ON THAT ASPECT OF YOUR PIT STOPS? “It’s a big penalty. We’ve tried to put a big emphasis on that from day one. When there was a handful of guys who had that problem at Daytona that kind of got sorted out as far as the way they make the wheels. To be honest with you, we’ve kind of been too hesitant on that to an extent of having too much torque on our nuts – making sure that doesn’t happen and it slows the stop down by making sure of that. So, it’s a balancing act between the two. How tight do you want these things to get torqued each pit stop, which you’re losing time, but the penalty and the risk is huge. We have a great pit department. They do a great job on figuring out what things need to happen and what things absolutely cannot happen. It’s about communication, too, from changer and jackman. I mean, those guys have to be on the same page. If the jackman drops it early and the changer doesn’t know, it’s a bad deal. We’ve put a big emphasis on it, for sure, but sometimes it kind of catches guys out to where you don’t know maybe if it’s loose and it comes off before you can even get to pit road. It’s not like last year where I’ve got a few lug nuts off, I’ve got to come back down and put lugnuts on it. You’re most likely not making it back to pit road if it’s that loose, so it’s a thing our team really has focused on because it’s a big penalty – for a lot of guys.”
F1 ANNOUNCED A THIRD U.S. RACE BEING ADDED TO VEGAS. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT AND IS IT BECOMING A COMPETITION FOR THIS SPORT AND OTHER FORMS OF MOTORSPORTS IN THE U.S.? “I don’t think it’s a competition. Have at it. Come over here. I love F1. I think if you ask anybody in motorsports, you’re just fans of other forms of motorsport. You’re fascinated by what’s different and what’s the same, how they operate compared to us. I got the chance to go to an F1 race in Spa a few years ago and it was really, really cool just to see their world. There are a lot of similarities in how it operates, but a lot of different things, so I think it’s great. It’s cool that they’re coming to two brand new tracks in the U.S. from Miami and then Vegas, so I think it’s great and it’s definitely not a competition. It’s not gonna hurt our sport any. I think it’s just great to have a different form of motorsport over here because for the longest time there were no F1 races in America very much and I think it’s good to have more interest from America into the F1 scene. I think it helps motorsports all around,j so I would definitely like to go to the race if I get the chance next year, but, no, I think it’s just great for motorsports in general and I welcome them with open arms.”
RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang — “That was good from qualifying dead last to finish fifth. It’s just frustrating. I feel like we need to fire off better on runs and then start up front and we can win races. I feel like we’ve just been coming from behind the whole year. It’s frustrating, but, all in all, fifth is better than a DNF.”
DO YOU FEEL YOUR RACE STRATEGY IS GOOD, YOU JUST NEED TO FOCUS ON PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING? “I think so. It’s just a fight to get our balance and then once we do get our balance we’re fast. I think qualifying if huge and we’ve got to get it.”
WAS STAGE 3 THE BEST THE CAR HAD BEEN ALL DAY? YOU RAN FROM 12TH TO 5TH IN THAT STAGE. “We didn’t have any setup changes all day through the stages. It’s just track position. We saved a little bit better than other people, but it’s just frustrating.”
RYAN SIEG, No. 39 A-Game Ford Mustang – “The right-front tire is corded. We struggled all day with that with the 75-lap runs and then we had a 100-lap run, so it just fell apart at the end. All in all, it was a good day. We knew it was like that, but we tried to manage with air pressure. We made it better in the middle run and then this last run we tried to adjust and we got it turning too good, but we knew that we had to get camber out of that right-front for the air-pressure, but, all in all, it was a good day for our A-Game Ford. We were so good the first two stages that I wanted to finish it off, but that long run fell apart on us.”
DO YOU FEEL THIS TEAM IS COMING TOGETHER? “Yeah, definitely. We’re getting better and better each week. We’re gaining on it. Each week we’re closer to the top five, which is a big gain for us. We just have to keep at it and luckily we go to another short track, so hopefully, this will carry over and we’ll pick up where we left off at the beginning of this race.”
PARKER RETZLAFF, No. 38 Ponsse Ford Mustang – HOW ARE YOU MAKING THIS LOOK SO EASY IN JUST YOUR SECOND START? “I passed a lot of cars and then we got a penalty on pit road, so I had to go back to last. I just followed Noah and Josh up through the field and it ended up just working out for me. It was just such a good car from everyone at RSS. I don’t know. I’m speechless.”
HOW DID REALITY COMPARE TO VIRTUAL AND THE IRACING WORLD? “It’s really a lot cooler just being on TV and everything and me being able to compete this good. Hopefully, we can take this momentum to next week.”
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - APRIL 02: Ty Gibbs, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, celebrates in the Ruoff Mortgage victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on April 02, 2022 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images).
In a classic short-track style of racing between two teammates who dominated and refused to lift out of the throttle, Ty Gibbs overtook, bumped, and fended off teammate John Hunter Nemechek on the final lap to win the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, April 2.
The 19-year-old grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, started on pole position and was out in front for 114 of 250-scheduled laps, but came under attack from teammate John Hunter Nemechek, who led a race-high 135 laps, under the final five laps. Following a side-by-side duel, Nemechek appeared to have the upper hand at the start of the final lap until Gibbs bumped and mounted a challenge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate entering the backstretch. He then made slight contact with Nemechek that sent the latter out of the racing groove before snatching the lead back and having enough momentum to win for the third time in 2022.
With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Ty Gibbs notched his second consecutive pole of this season after posting a pole-winning speed at 121.836 mph. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 121.098 mph and was making his first of three scheduled starts with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Prior to the event, Daniel Hemric, Jeb Burton and JJ Yeley dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Gibbs jumped ahead with an early advantage entering the first turn. Through the first lap, Gibbs retained the lead ahead of teammate Nemechek, Noah Gragson, rookie Austin Hill and Brandon Jones while a series of early battles ensued.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Gragson, Brandon Jones and Ryan Preece while Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg were in the top 10.
Two laps later, however, Nemechek muscled his No. 18 Safeway Toyota Supra to the lead over Gibbs’ No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra.
By Lap 25, Nemechek was leading by more than three-tenths of a second over Gragson, who was reeling in the leader for the top spot. Gibbs was back in third ahead of Allmendinger, the leading contender for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, and Brandon Jones.
Twenty-five laps later at the Lap 50 mark, Nemechek continued to lead as his advantage was more than four seconds over Allmendinger, who continued his methodical march to the front with a fast race car. Gragson was back in third followed by Gibbs and Josh Berry while Brandon Jones, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Mayer and Parker Retzlaff were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Justin Allgaier was mired in 11th place.
By Lap 70, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Allmendinger while third-place Gragson trailed by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, Berry was up in fourth place ahead of Gibbs while names like Jeremy Clements, Ryan Preece and Brett Moffitt along with newcomers Derek Griffith and Rajah Caruth were a lap behind the leaders.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Nemechek captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the season. Behind, JR Motorsports’ Gragson and Berry settled in second and third followed by Allmendinger, who was held up by the lapped competitor of Rajah Caruth. Gibbs settled in fifth ahead of Ryan Sieg, Parker Retzlaff, Brandon Jones, Hill and Mayer. By then, Creed was in 12th ahead of Riley Herbst while Daniel Hemric was in 15th ahead of teammate Landon Cassill, and Allgaier.
Under the stage break and prior to pit lane being open for the competitors to pit, Gragson pitted to address potential brake issues to his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro. When pit lane opened, the field pitted and Nemechek retained the lead. Following the pit stops, Hemric was penalized for speeding on pit road,
The second stage started on Lap 85 as Nemechek and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek jumped ahead to retain the lead followed by teammate Gibbs, who dueled with Allmendinger for the runner-up spot.
Three laps later, the caution returned due to a brake rotor reported on the track in Turn 1 that came off of Gragson’s No. 9 Chevrolet as the Las Vegas driver continued to battle with brake issues.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 95, Nemechek rocketed away with another strong restart with the lead followed by teammate Gibbs while Sieg challenged Allmendinger for third place.
At the Lap 100 mark, Nemechek was leading by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Gibbs, who started to pressure his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot, while Allmendinger, Sieg and Berry were in the top five. Hill was in sixth ahead of Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Creed and Anthony Alfredo. Meanwhile, driver Kyle Sieg pitted after falling off the pace.
When the race reached its halfway mark on Lap 125, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than half a second over teammate Gibbs while Berry, Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Hill, Brandon Jones, Alfredo, and Creed were in the top 10. Herbst was in 11th followed by Mayer, Cassill, Parker Retzlaff and Hemric while Alex Labbe, Jeb Burton, Preece, Gragson and Clements were in the top 20. In addition, 23 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
With six laps remaining in the second stage, Gibbs moved into the top spot and started to pull away from teammate Nemechek.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 150, Gibbs, who was mired in lapped traffic, captured his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Nemechek settled in second ahead of Berry, Ryan Sieg, Allmendinger, Alfredo, Mayer, Allgaier, Herbst and Parker Rtzlaff.
Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road for service and Gibbs retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by teammate Nemechek, Berry, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg. Following the pit stops, Berry was penalized for speeding along with Retzlaff for an uncontrolled tire violation. In addition, Stefan Parsons was penalized for removing the jack out of his pit box and onto the track.
With 90 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as teammates Gibbs and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs muscled with the lead followed by teammate Nemechek, Allmendinger, Allgaier and Sieg, who was locked in a battle with Mayer.
Fifteen laps later, Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Nemechek while Allgaier, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones were in the top five. Ryan Sieg was in sixth followed by Hemric, Mayer, Preece and Cassill while Hill, Alfredo, Herbst, Jeb Burton, and Brandon Brown were in the top 15. By then, 22 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Allmendinger, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Ryan Sieg, Preece, Hill, Mayer, Hemric, Herbst, Berry, Alfredo, Cassill and Jeb Burton.
Then under the final 40 scheduled laps, the battle for the lead ignited between teammates Nemechek and Gibbs with the former having caught the latter as they dueled amid lapped traffic. With both making slight contact in Turn 1, Gibbs continued to fend off teammate Nemechek on the outside lane. Following an intense duel, Nemechek managed to clear teammate Gibbs and reassume the lead with 33 laps remaining. Gibbs, however, fought back during the following lap after overtaking Nemechek entering Turn 3 and reassuming the lead despite getting bumped by Nemechek’s No. 18 Toyota.
With 25 laps remaining, Gibbs was leading by more than four-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Allmendinger, who was in position to claim the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, trailed by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, Sam Mayer, who was battling Allmendinger for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, was up in fourth place ahead of Ryan Sieg while Allgaier, Herbst, Brandon Jones, Berry and Preece were in the top 10. Racing in 11th place was Austin Hill, who was also contending for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus.
Five laps later, the gap between teammates Gibbs and Nemechek dwindled down to less than four-tenths of a second with Gibbs carving his way through lapped traffic while also trying to fend off Nemechek for the win. Behind, third-place Allmendinger was less than a second ahead of Mayer in a battle for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus.
Another four laps later, Mayer overtook Allmendinger to move into third place as he placed himself to claim the first Dash 4 Cash bonus. By then, Gibbs overtook two lapped competitors to retain a steady advantage ahead of Nemechek.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gibbs remained as the leader by half a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Mayer was more than three seconds ahead of Allmendinger in a bid for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus.
With five laps remaining, Nemechek narrowed the gap to less than three-tenths of a second over Gibbs as he launched another challenge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot.
Shortly after, both dueled dead even for the next two laps until Nemechek peaked ahead with three laps remaining. Just as he cleared Gibbs for the lead, Gibbs fought back entering the first turn as he bumped his teammate. During the following lap, he bumped his teammate again in Turn 1 before drawing even with him through the backstretch. Gibbs then slid up the track and nearly spun his teammate, but Nemechek retained the lead by a narrow margin.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, teammates Nemechek and Gibbs were running in a close single-file line of one another before Gibbs bumped and launched a final challenge on Nemechek for the lead entering the backstretch. Then with both dead even entering Turn 3, Gibbs made contact against Nemechek’s No. 18 Toyota, which sent Nemechek wide on the outside lane and allowed Gibbs to reassume the lead and have all lanes in control entering the final straightaway. With Nemechek unable to regain his momentum, Gibbs streaked across the finish line with the win while nearly sideways by 0.116 seconds just ahead of Nemechek.
Just after both crossed the finish line, Nemechek was quick to run into the rear bumper of Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota to express his displeasure before nursing his car back to pit road while Gibbs celebrated with victorious burnouts on the frontstretch.
The Richmond victory was Gibbs’ third of the 2022 season, thus making him the first three-time winner of this year’s Xfinity season, and the seventh of his Xfinity Series career. All told, Gibbs and Nemechek led all but one of the 250-scheduled laps.
“I definitely deserve one back,” Gibbs said on FS1. “We’re racing for wins and they’re hard to come by. I had to take it. We were just fighting tight [conditions] all day. Just couldn’t hold the bottom. John Hunter was just a little bit faster and we had a great race. Good for Toyota to finish one, two. [I] Just got in there deep, had to bump him out of the way up the track, so we’re short track racing. Thank you to Monster Energy. What a great car. This is awesome for Toyota. Cool to get our third win, so hopefully, we can keep it rolling ”
“[Gibbs] and I will settle it on Monday,” Nemechek, who was left disappointed on pit road, said. “I don’t want to say too much to get myself in trouble, but [I] just got drove through. He didn’t even try to make the corner there, so racers never forget. That’s for sure.”
Meanwhile, Sam Mayer came home in a career-best third-place, nearly six seconds ahead of Allmendinger, and claimed the first Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of the season. Mayer’s first Dash 4 Cash bonus also marks the fifth consecutive Dash 4 Cash initiative that has been claimed by a JR Motorsports competitor.
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images).
“By the end of it, our Accelerate [Professional Talent Solutions] Chevy Camaro was as fast as Xfinity Internet,” Mayer said. “That’s a really feels good moment for us. Obviously, my best career finish and a hundred grand to go with it. It’s unbelievable. This team definitely deserves it.”
Sam Mayer, race winner Ty Gibbs, fourth-place finisher AJ Allmendinger and fifth-place finisher Riley Herbst have qualified for the second Dash 4 Cash event that will occur next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.
Hemric finished in sixth place while Berry, Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg and Parker Retzlaff completed the top 10. Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier and Landon Cassill finished in the top 15 followed by Ryan Preece, Mason Massey, Austin Hill, Alex Labbe and Jeremy Clements. Noah Gragson settled in 21st place following his brake issues while Rajah Caruth and Derek Griffith finished 24th and 26th in their Xfinity debuts.
There were eight lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 24 laps.
With a fourth-place result, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 20 points over both Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson while Josh Berry trails by 76 and Justin Allgaier trails by 87.
Results.
1. Ty Gibbs, 114 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. John Hunter Nemechek, 135 laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Sam Mayer
4. AJ Allmendinger
5. Riley Herbst
6. Daniel Hemric
7. Josh Berry, one lap led
8. Brandon Brown
9. Ryan Sieg
10. Parker Retzlaff
11. Jeb Burton
12. Anthony Alfredo
13. Brandon Jones
14. Justin Allgaier
15. Landon Cassill
16. Ryan Preece
17. Mason Massey
18. Austin Hill
19. Alex Labbe
20. Jeremy Clements, one lap down
21. Noah Gragson, one lap down
22. Sheldon Creed, one lap down
23. David Starr, two laps down
24. Rajah Caruth, two laps down
25. Brett Moffitt, two laps down
26. Derek Griffith, two laps down
27. Josh Williams, three laps down
28. Kyle Weatherman, four laps down
29. Joe Graf Jr., four laps down
30. Myatt Snider, four laps down
31. Bayley Currey, four laps down
32. JJ Yeley, five laps down
33. Jade Buford, five laps down
34. Joey Gase, five laps down
35. Stefan Parsons, five laps down
36. Ryan Vargas, seven laps down
37. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Engine
38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Rear gear
Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits this season to Martinsville Speedway, where the second of four Dash 4 Cash events will also occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Friday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
RICHMOND, Va. (April 2, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media prior to the Richmond Raceway race this Saturday:
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
What one area do you think if you get it fixed you will be better?
DENNY HAMLIN: “Everywhere. That’s what we stay on Mondays. I’m not sure honestly. It’s just a little bit everywhere honestly. It just takes time learning a lot of different new things. There were some setbacks with our testing car. There was a big crash in Texas last year with it and it set us back with some data and whatnot that maybe has an effect in it, but we’re trying to get our cars driving better and going faster.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: “There is a lot that goes into it. One of the biggest things for us has been not showing up on weekends close enough. Not a lot of people I think have talked about the schedule, but 15 minutes of practice, literally impound racing, you can’t change springs and major setup components during practice, so basically what you show up with you fine tune with wedge and shock clicks and small adjustments and then you go racing. Really if you are off, you are off. I think for us that’s a big thing. We’re sim racing right now. We’ve been behind throughout testing, and I feel like that has definitely hurt us, so we are definitely searching and at this point doing some testing.”
Are you concerned where you are in the point standings?
DENNY HAMLIN: “I don’t think we’ve been through this for sure. I think you can catapult up the standings really, really quickly – the way things are. Other kind of short of Ross (Chastain) who has been really good the last three or four weeks, everyone – their finishes are bouncing around all over the place. If you have a couple solid weeks where we don’t get crashed or cause a crash, those things add up. We’re not happy with where our speed is at, for sure, but certainly we are not a 22nd-place team and am I worried about making the Playoffs, if that is what you are asking, no.”
As an owner and driver, are you concerned about the wheels?
DENNY HAMLIN: “They had – from the evidence I’ve seen – is a loose wheel from the very beginning of the race and it just kept getting worse with each set of tires that they put on. I don’t know what caused it – I don’t know how or why – but it looked like this problem probably started on lap one of the race. There is some concern – there is a lot of wheels falling off. You would think with the single lug that we wouldn’t have that. If you missed one or two lugs before, you always would have backup. When you only have one, that’s it – it’s going to come off. There is some concern, but the concern I heard earlier in the year was you would mount the wheel a few times and the next thing you would know is it’s not good anymore because it gets all mauled up, which is what they RFK guys were doing at the beginning of the year – trying to fix that. I don’t think the teams have really perfected anything that looks like the fix right now and I don’t know what the fix is – if there is any fix – if it’s just you need to wait longer and get the wheels tight to be sure.”
How do you view Richmond as the barometer for Joe Gibbs Racing with the Next Gen car?
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: “I think we have high expectations. We have a lot of people at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) that understand the track and understand what it takes to win here, but obviously this is a whole different deal now. I think for us this season – the short season it has been so far – is whatever you think you knew and the way you thought about these tracks before and the way you approach these things – just forget about it, because this is a whole new ballgame with this car and everything, we are doing this year. Forget everything you knew in the past and focus on what it takes to make this thing go, which we are still trying to figure out. Hopefully, we can make some steps in the right direction. Obviously, it’s been a great track for us, driver wise as well. You just try to use what we know about it and apply it to practice this morning and throughout the weekend.”
DENNY HAMLIN: It’s more just kind of anxious for me because I run the simulator and what not. I run this guy’s setup and that guy’s setup and they are on different planets and I’m like somebody’s right and somebody’s wrong. We will know within two laps – are we in the ballpark or not? The tough part is – like he said – is you are kind of locked in springs and whatnot, so your adjustments are somewhat limited when you get here. It’s almost like a COVID schedule, only you just get some laps with your car, and you can fine tune it or tweak it, so if you are way off you just can’t really wholesale it like you used to. For me, I’m anxious to see after lap two, did we guess right?”
Do you like the new car’s road course package?
DENNY HAMLIN: “It’s just different. No preference one way or the other. From a road course perspective, I think the car races better on road course with the independent rear suspension, the shifting. The gearing was interesting. Last week, we had five gears, and we only used four of them. We didn’t use fifth gear. We kind of mis-aligned what that was going to be, but it’s fine. Just getting used to it all.”
Looking at this season with one off-weekend, are you worried about burnout?
DENNY HAMLIN: “I’m not sure what we can do about it. We have to work extreme hours. We have to wait on parts, like my crew chief told me on the plane this morning – don’t tear the splitter up. We have legitimate concerns that we won’t have a splitter for Martinsville. Just be gentle, but how do you do that and race too. The short supply is causing extended hours and eventually people – I think I saw some stuff on Twitter yesterday – teams are losing a lot of people just because of workload and eventually it becomes a problem. You can’t afford to just pay them more – we’re trying to do everything we can to tread water right now. It’s just a tough position that we are in. The supply chain is just not coming through to us as good as it needs to, but we’ve designated one supplier to do all the work and when that one supplier doesn’t get the stuff we need, we are stuck because we told everyone else to pound sand. It’s just a tough spot to be in right now and the teams don’t know what else to do. It’s tough to retain your workforce right now and all of the teams are losing people.”
Are there any consequences to the rough racing that you referenced on social media? DENNY HAMLIN: “Not really. I don’t think there is any consequences to it. We’ve seen you can kind of do whatever. You might be worried about getting wrecked here and there in the future, but I think it’s just become accepted. The art of passing is just something that isn’t quite used as much now-a-days. The easier route is getting them out of your way as quick as possible by moving them. I’ve done it – every time I’ve done it, it has been unintentional, but I think it’s become more of an intentional move in the years lately.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: “I think it’s part of the way kids come up racing. It’s funny I flew with (Kevin) Harvick a few weeks ago and we had a conversation. He goes and watches his kid go race go-karts and it’s crazy. They all go out there and drive through each other from lap one of practice. It’s just a normal occurrence. Everybody comes up through racing a certain way. I learned a certain way. Denny (Hamlin) learned a certain way. Kids now-a-days maybe it’s different. I know when I was making my way through the ranks I was working, I was building my cars. I didn’t want to tear the nose off of the thing because I knew I had to fix it on Monday. I had to keep the car in one piece. We had to keep our stuff – we couldn’t just go out and buy new stuff. We didn’t have the money when I was doing it. Maybe that’s it – I think it’s different. You see racing, you see short track racing, it’s every race there. They race for the win. It’s exciting because they are knocking the hell out each other. That’s what everybody wants to see these days. There is a lot of things from different angles that’s different in all of those things. It’s different and it’s made its way here. That’s the way it goes. The field gets younger, new guys come in and what used to fly or didn’t used to fly maybe can now. I think it’s a lot different than when I started here.”
Do you feel a lot closer with this car every week?
DENNY HAMLIN: “We’re starting over from our perspective. We’re trying to find a point where we are good. We are decent. We’re not shit. We are decent, but we are not where we have been for the last three years. We are trying to find that point where we are good, and we can build off of that.”
Do you think anything should be done to speed up these caution periods?
DENNY HAMLIN: “I told y’all before the season started that these races are going to be really long. There’s going to be more cautions and cautions are going to take longer. As far as that particular track and Road America, caution laps are I think 10 minutes. It’s huge, but I don’t know how you really fix it. It’s kind of what we got. I don’t know how you fix it. I don’t know that it’s broken either. Maybe we like sitting around for four and a half hours.”
#
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 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 43 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 the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.
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.
Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
RICHMOND, Va. (April 2, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media prior to the Richmond Raceway race this Saturday:
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
What one area do you think if you get it fixed you will be better?
DENNY HAMLIN: “Everywhere. That’s what we stay on Mondays. I’m not sure honestly. It’s just a little bit everywhere honestly. It just takes time learning a lot of different new things. There were some setbacks with our testing car. There was a big crash in Texas last year with it and it set us back with some data and whatnot that maybe has an effect in it, but we’re trying to get our cars driving better and going faster.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: “There is a lot that goes into it. One of the biggest things for us has been not showing up on weekends close enough. Not a lot of people I think have talked about the schedule, but 15 minutes of practice, literally impound racing, you can’t change springs and major setup components during practice, so basically what you show up with you fine tune with wedge and shock clicks and small adjustments and then you go racing. Really if you are off, you are off. I think for us that’s a big thing. We’re sim racing right now. We’ve been behind throughout testing, and I feel like that has definitely hurt us, so we are definitely searching and at this point doing some testing.”
Are you concerned where you are in the point standings?
DENNY HAMLIN: “I don’t think we’ve been through this for sure. I think you can catapult up the standings really, really quickly – the way things are. Other kind of short of Ross (Chastain) who has been really good the last three or four weeks, everyone – their finishes are bouncing around all over the place. If you have a couple solid weeks where we don’t get crashed or cause a crash, those things add up. We’re not happy with where our speed is at, for sure, but certainly we are not a 22nd-place team and am I worried about making the Playoffs, if that is what you are asking, no.”
As an owner and driver, are you concerned about the wheels?
DENNY HAMLIN: “They had – from the evidence I’ve seen – is a loose wheel from the very beginning of the race and it just kept getting worse with each set of tires that they put on. I don’t know what caused it – I don’t know how or why – but it looked like this problem probably started on lap one of the race. There is some concern – there is a lot of wheels falling off. You would think with the single lug that we wouldn’t have that. If you missed one or two lugs before, you always would have backup. When you only have one, that’s it – it’s going to come off. There is some concern, but the concern I heard earlier in the year was you would mount the wheel a few times and the next thing you would know is it’s not good anymore because it gets all mauled up, which is what they RFK guys were doing at the beginning of the year – trying to fix that. I don’t think the teams have really perfected anything that looks like the fix right now and I don’t know what the fix is – if there is any fix – if it’s just you need to wait longer and get the wheels tight to be sure.”
How do you view Richmond as the barometer for Joe Gibbs Racing with the Next Gen car?
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: “I think we have high expectations. We have a lot of people at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) that understand the track and understand what it takes to win here, but obviously this is a whole different deal now. I think for us this season – the short season it has been so far – is whatever you think you knew and the way you thought about these tracks before and the way you approach these things – just forget about it, because this is a whole new ballgame with this car and everything, we are doing this year. Forget everything you knew in the past and focus on what it takes to make this thing go, which we are still trying to figure out. Hopefully, we can make some steps in the right direction. Obviously, it’s been a great track for us, driver wise as well. You just try to use what we know about it and apply it to practice this morning and throughout the weekend.”
DENNY HAMLIN: It’s more just kind of anxious for me because I run the simulator and what not. I run this guy’s setup and that guy’s setup and they are on different planets and I’m like somebody’s right and somebody’s wrong. We will know within two laps – are we in the ballpark or not? The tough part is – like he said – is you are kind of locked in springs and whatnot, so your adjustments are somewhat limited when you get here. It’s almost like a COVID schedule, only you just get some laps with your car, and you can fine tune it or tweak it, so if you are way off you just can’t really wholesale it like you used to. For me, I’m anxious to see after lap two, did we guess right?”
Do you like the new car’s road course package?
DENNY HAMLIN: “It’s just different. No preference one way or the other. From a road course perspective, I think the car races better on road course with the independent rear suspension, the shifting. The gearing was interesting. Last week, we had five gears, and we only used four of them. We didn’t use fifth gear. We kind of mis-aligned what that was going to be, but it’s fine. Just getting used to it all.”
Looking at this season with one off-weekend, are you worried about burnout?
DENNY HAMLIN: “I’m not sure what we can do about it. We have to work extreme hours. We have to wait on parts, like my crew chief told me on the plane this morning – don’t tear the splitter up. We have legitimate concerns that we won’t have a splitter for Martinsville. Just be gentle, but how do you do that and race too. The short supply is causing extended hours and eventually people – I think I saw some stuff on Twitter yesterday – teams are losing a lot of people just because of workload and eventually it becomes a problem. You can’t afford to just pay them more – we’re trying to do everything we can to tread water right now. It’s just a tough position that we are in. The supply chain is just not coming through to us as good as it needs to, but we’ve designated one supplier to do all the work and when that one supplier doesn’t get the stuff we need, we are stuck because we told everyone else to pound sand. It’s just a tough spot to be in right now and the teams don’t know what else to do. It’s tough to retain your workforce right now and all of the teams are losing people.”
Are there any consequences to the rough racing that you referenced on social media? DENNY HAMLIN: “Not really. I don’t think there is any consequences to it. We’ve seen you can kind of do whatever. You might be worried about getting wrecked here and there in the future, but I think it’s just become accepted. The art of passing is just something that isn’t quite used as much now-a-days. The easier route is getting them out of your way as quick as possible by moving them. I’ve done it – every time I’ve done it, it has been unintentional, but I think it’s become more of an intentional move in the years lately.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: “I think it’s part of the way kids come up racing. It’s funny I flew with (Kevin) Harvick a few weeks ago and we had a conversation. He goes and watches his kid go race go-karts and it’s crazy. They all go out there and drive through each other from lap one of practice. It’s just a normal occurrence. Everybody comes up through racing a certain way. I learned a certain way. Denny (Hamlin) learned a certain way. Kids now-a-days maybe it’s different. I know when I was making my way through the ranks I was working, I was building my cars. I didn’t want to tear the nose off of the thing because I knew I had to fix it on Monday. I had to keep the car in one piece. We had to keep our stuff – we couldn’t just go out and buy new stuff. We didn’t have the money when I was doing it. Maybe that’s it – I think it’s different. You see racing, you see short track racing, it’s every race there. They race for the win. It’s exciting because they are knocking the hell out each other. That’s what everybody wants to see these days. There is a lot of things from different angles that’s different in all of those things. It’s different and it’s made its way here. That’s the way it goes. The field gets younger, new guys come in and what used to fly or didn’t used to fly maybe can now. I think it’s a lot different than when I started here.”
Do you feel a lot closer with this car every week?
DENNY HAMLIN: “We’re starting over from our perspective. We’re trying to find a point where we are good. We are decent. We’re not shit. We are decent, but we are not where we have been for the last three years. We are trying to find that point where we are good, and we can build off of that.”
Do you think anything should be done to speed up these caution periods?
DENNY HAMLIN: “I told y’all before the season started that these races are going to be really long. There’s going to be more cautions and cautions are going to take longer. As far as that particular track and Road America, caution laps are I think 10 minutes. It’s huge, but I don’t know how you really fix it. It’s kind of what we got. I don’t know how you fix it. I don’t know that it’s broken either. Maybe we like sitting around for four and a half hours.”
#
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 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 43 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 the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.
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.
NASCAR CUP SERIES RICHMOND RACEWAY TOYOTA OWNERS 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT APRIL 2, 2022
ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ONX HOMES / iFLY CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Richmond Raceway. Press Conference Transcript:
ROSS, TELL US HOW YOUR WEEK HAS BEEN SINCE YOU GOT YOUR FIRST WIN. “It’s been busy. Not enough sleep until yesterday. We tried to do as much as we could and take advantage of this opportunity. I don’t think we said ‘no’ to anybody. They claimed they did turn some stuff down, some requests. But it was a full couple of days. We fit a production day for the Moose Fraternity in there, a full day at the shop and a race at Millbridge to just keep learning dirt for Daniel (Suarez) and I. We both made the feature, which was the goal.
I slept in yesterday. Flew in and went straight to the hotel. I was in bed at three in the afternoon; woke up at about 9:00 p.m. and back to sleep at about 11:00 p.m. I feel a lot better this morning.”
I KNOW A LOT OF THOSE GUYS HAVE WON RACES BEFORE IN THEIR CAREERS, BUT IS THERE ANY DIFFERENT VIBE IN THE SHOP THIS WEEK COMPARED TO PAST WEEKS? “Once we got to the shop – I did make it to the shop Monday. Our road crew, most of them came in Tuesday. For the people in the shop, there were smiles. But there have been smiles this year. You’ve probably heard some of us talk about it, but it is different. For the same building and most of the same employees, it’s different. This car gives us a lot of things to smile about and we’ve been fast.
Some of us though, it was our first win, and the people that have won before made sure to make it a point to give us some tips on how to remember it and to enjoy these little moments. We were there for the win breakfast and win lunch. I told Justin (Marks), that was probably the most awkward part for me. It’s what we’ve always worked for and now we’re celebrating it and I almost feel like I’m in an out-of-body experience. There were a lot of high-five’s. My hand is still sore; a lot of high-fives.”
YOU MENTIONED IT’S BEEN A BUSY WEEK. WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS? “The highlights have been talking to people back home. In Charlotte and Mooresville, there are a lot of people that have helped get me here that have been a part of this journey. But when you look at the people back home, they weren’t paid to do it. They had no real reason other than they liked racing or they were my family. Talking to them – hearing the stories of where they were at towards the end of the race, seeing a couple of videos of them reacting to the race – that’s when it really sunk in. That’s when it felt real.
I talked to a guy this morning on the way in that. He raced late models and he was the one that taught my dad and I how to adjust wedge and heights on a coil-over car. My dad knew bucket springs and knew a metric chassis; that’s what I started with. But when we went into late models, we didn’t know. We looked at hiring or paying for shocks and bump stops, but the cost seemed like a lot. So, we never did that. We just ran whatever coil-overs came on the car. I was talking to him and he was the one there a couple nights a week for years helping to scale it because we didn’t know how to make adjustments. We definitely never took the shocks apart the whole time we had them. Just talking to him – he’s retired from the sheriff’s department and does some part-time work now, and just loves racing. He helped us a lot, Rusty did. That’s been the coolest part though, talking to people back home.”
YOU SAID THIS WEEK THAT THE WIN WON’T CHANGE ANYTHING, AS FAR AS THE TEAM’S APPROACH AND THE WAY YOU’RE GOING TO GO ABOUT BUSINESS AND YOUR MINDSET. FOR YOU, HAS A WEIGHT BEEN LIFTED AT ALL? DOES IT FEEL LIKE A RELIEF TO SHOW PEOPLE WHAT YOU’VE BEEN FIGHTING TO ACHIEVE FOR SO LONG? “I want to say no, but yes. I’m human so yeah – I’ve went to bed every night this week, some nights were in the morning, but it does. That’s what I was talking about with Justin (Marks) at the shop. We’re here and we’re eating as a company, and as a family, because we won. It’s hard to really realize that. I realize it, but the adrenaline had worn off by Tuesday or whenever we did it. Now, it’s like I’m here doing this, but it just felt odd. It was different. I had never done that.
We don’t do anything different. We rolled through tech just like everybody else yesterday. They were through tech in an hour and a half; passed on the first time, fifth car through. Off to machining wheels to get them ready for the weekend. I was busy sleeping at the hotel. That did change for me, I had never done that. I have never flown in and went straight to bed. But I needed to catch-up to be ready for this morning.”
ONE OF THE THINGS, AT LEAST FRON THE OUTSIDE IN THAT LOOKS LIKE IT FUELS YOU, IS KIND OF HAVING A CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER BECAUSE OF THE PATH UP. HOW DO YOU MANAGE OR HOW DO YOU KEEP THAT CHIP AS YOU MOVE TO ANOTHER LEVEL FROM TRYING TO WIN TO NOW A WINNER IN THIS SERIES? “It might not seem like it with the finish last week, but I made a real effort going into 2021. I joked with my group that the only chip that I have is Chip Ganassi. I don’t want that old Ross. I want to Ross 3.0. I had already had 2.0 at that point and I need 3.0. I just want to be better. Yeah, it got me here and I’m proud of that, and I wouldn’t trade any of that. To stay here now, I’ve realized that I can’t be that way.
Of course then, our first Cup win comes the way it does with controversary. It’s not how I drew it up in my head, but I’ve made a real effort. It doesn’t show from the finish. I tried last year and it was really halfway through the year before I could really put it together. And then this year, through the off season, I tried to not have that chip. Now, that chip is gone and Chip Ganassi has stepped out of the sport. So, I don’t want any chips. No chips on the hauler (laughs).” HAVE YOU RE-SHIFTED YOUR FOCUS AT ALL TO PLAYOFFS AND HOW DOES THE WIN CHANGE THE DYNAMIC OF THE APPROACH NOW FOR THE REST OF THE REGULAR SEASON? “It doesn’t. I was texting with Jeff Haden this week. I wanted to get him down to Concord before the season, but I dropped the ball and didn’t do it. I was like I want to get you before the Playoffs and he was like, ‘that’s wild that you’re talking about the Playoffs already’. Nothing else has changed, but I want to be mindful of that. What I’ve learned through Trucks and Xfinity is that – when I got there – a lot of times I would try to do more and I don’t want to do that again. I want to just do what got us there. It’s easy to sit here on April 2nd and say that. Doing that at the end of the season with 10 races to go is going to be a whole other level.
For me, probably the mental struggle will constantly come back and forth. For having a good grasp on it and then getting caught up on – ok, we need a stage point here to keep adding – when all we really need to do is go race. Fighting that will be tough; I’m not saying it won’t be. But really that mental struggle will be just as important as being a little bit physically stronger by the time we get there too.”
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS PLACE THAT GIVES YOU ANY SORTS OF CHALLENGES AND WHAT’S GOING TO BE KEY FOR YOU TOMORROW IN MAKING SURE YOU GUYS ARE CONTINUING THAT STREAK OF CONSISTENT QUALITY FINISHES? “I mean the key is having all sticker tires. It wasn’t that long ago – probably 2016 or ’15, somewhere in there – that I was here in Johnny’s No. 4 car and we drove up into the top-10 on like an 80-something lap run. A caution came out with 15 to go and the only tires we had left were scuffs because we didn’t buy the full allotment. So, we just stayed out and just hung on for 15th place; when, with stickers, maybe we could have stayed in the top-10. I think at that point, we probably hadn’t done that before. It’s not lost on me that I’ve walked into Richmond (Raceway) before knowing how much tire falloff happens; knowing how slick the track is. I’ve got two sets of stickers – one for practice that we brought from home that are old, and one for qualifying that you have to qualify on stickers. And then, you start the race on those and after that, it’s all scuffs. So, maybe one more set of stickers.
Those days are still in my head. How I had to drive and how I had to try and fight off guys when I had scuffs. That’s just the way you do it back there and that’s how you do it on those programs, and that’s how you stay around. Those days aren’t lost on me.”
AS THIS NEW CAR WAS GENERATED, I THINK WE ALL ASSUMED THERE WOULD BE THAT ONE TEAM THAT TOOK A BIG JUMP. YOURSELF AND DANIEL (SUAREZ) HAVE HAD GREAT RUNS, AS WELL. WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE OVER THE COURSE OF THIS SEASON TO KIND OF BE THAT TEAM THAT HAS MADE THAT JUMP? “I’ve been grateful and I keep telling the boys and girls that at Trackhouse (Racing). Thank you for giving me fast cars because nobody’s car is comfortable to drive right now. We’re spinning out; I’ve wrecked. I’ve over-corrected. But as we’ve went through each race, they’ve made it tolerable. Just that extra little bit where I can start to hustle it. I have to keep reminding myself – come off of 100 percent because they are hard to drive. You see guys, we’re all spinning out and bottoming out. It’s been a grateful feeling for me that they’re giving me cars with speed. Our car at Auto Club was fast and I plugged it in the wall, head-on, off turn four. I can’t be doing that.”
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