Gilliland Collects Top-10 Finish and Gains in Truck Series Championship. McDowell Finishes 27th and Alfredo 31st in Sunday’s Cup race.

A Recap of the Weekend Past

The NASCAR Camping World Truck and Cup Series visited the Richmond (Va.) Raceway this weekend after a weekend off for Easter. The Front Row Motorsports (FRM) teams and drivers were eager to go back racing.

Todd Gilliland and his No. 38 Pete Store Ford F-150 team impressed on Saturday with a sixth-place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 250-lap event. It was the best finish of the weekend for the organization.

Michael McDowell and his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang team led the Cup program with a 27th-place finish.

Anthony Alfredo and the No. 38 MDS Ford Mustang team finished Sunday’s 400-lap Cup event in 31st.

For Gilliland, the No. 38 Pete Store team came into Richmond after a fourth-place finish at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Another short track, Gilliland felt confident the team was going to have a great race. They spent the past two weeks preparing the truck and had a good setup for the sometimes tricky Richmond Raceway.

From the green, Gilliland showed speed. In Stage 1, Gilliland paced himself inside the top-10 before making up a few positions at the end of the Stage. He was eighth heading into Stage 2.

The Pete Store Ford F-150 was just as fast in Stage 2. Gilliland raced as high as sixth before finishing the Stage in eighth again. The team made adjustments for the long run and the final laps of the race. But, with numerous cautions, it was difficult for Gilliland to find a rhythm.

At one point, after a restart, Gilliland was up to third, but another caution waved and the team had to pit for tires. The team raced from 10th back up to sixth, but was as fast as fourth. Gilliland just missed another top-five, but still had an impressive day.

Gilliland remains ranked ninth in the championship run, but is only one point out of eighth.

TODD GILLILAND. NO. 38 THE PETE STORE FORD F-150. FINISHED 6.

“We were in the top-10 all day. We ran as high as third, but got jumped by some of the guys on pit strategy. Restarts were really important, too. But it’s another good, solid day that keeps the momentum moving in the right direction. We’ll go prepare another strong Ford F-150 for Kansas. Thanks for The Pete Store for their support of FRM and our truck team. We’ll keep working.”

Michael McDowell and his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang took the green flag in Sunday’s 300 Mile event from the 23rd position at Richmond Raceway.

During the Competition Caution on Lap 32, McDowell told the team that his race car was “tight in the center (of the corners). It feels like our long run speed is going to be ok” and would pit for 4 tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment before going on to finish Stage 1 from the 28th position.

In Stage 2, the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang would see two green flag, fuel only pit stops as the lack of cautions made it difficult for teams to make adjustments on their race cars without suffering the loss of a lap, to which McDowell would take the second green-white-checkered flag from the 27th position.

During the Final Stage of Sunday’s 400 lap event, McDowell continued to battle for track position, however long green flag runs once again limited the team’s ability to make any large adjustments to their No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang and McDowell would go on to take the checkered flag from the 27th position at Richmond Raceway.

MICHAEL MCDOWELL. NO. 34 LOVE’S TRAVEL STOPS FORD MUSTANG. FINISHED 27.

“It was a tough race for our No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops team at Richmond Raceway. We started out on the tight side of things and just struggled to roll the center of the corners. I felt like our long run speed was pretty decent, but unfortunately we went a few laps down and with the limited amount of cautions, it just made it difficult for us to regain the Lead Lap. Looking at the positives, we certainly learned a few things, which we’ll add to our notebook for when we come back to Richmond (Raceway) in the fall. I wish we could have had a better finish for our partners, but I greatly appreciate the support of Love’s Travel Stops and hopefully we can go out next weekend and deliver another solid superspeedway performance for them at Talladega (Superspeedway).”

Alfredo made his Richmond Raceway debut on Sunday. The short truck was tough on the team throughout the day, but Alfredo gained a lot of experience on one of NASCAR’s most difficult tracks to master.

The MDS team started off with a car that was tight and lacked some drive off the turns that Alfredo needed. They made major changes at the Competition Caution and again at the end of Stage 1. Alfredo was 32nd and just could not gain the positions he wanted.

A lack of cautions on Sunday, Alfredo and the team didn’t have opportunities to tune on the handling. Neither did the rest of the field. The leaders had over half the field a lap down by the middle of the race and only 14 cars finished on the Lead Lap- many teams were multiple laps down.

Alfredo had to race with the cars on his lap and it wasn’t many. He would advance as high as he could on the track- even showing speed and passing cars in the top-20. But, Alfredo was just too many laps back after the select few such as Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman blistered the field.

Alfredo ended his race 31st. Although it was not a highlight finish, it was a lot of track time gained for future Richmond races.

ANTHONY ALFREDO. NO. 38 MDS FORD MUSTANG. FINISHED 31.

“It was not a great day at Richmond. We just lacked raw speed, along with our teammates. Historically, as a group, this hasn’t been one of our strongest tracks. But, we’ll go back and do our homework to get better. I liked racing the track today, I feel good, but we just weren’t able to get the finish we wanted.”

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS
Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and Camping World Truck Series and the 2021 Daytona 500 champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team– from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

RICHMOND, Va. (April 18, 2021) – A spin halfway through stage two of Sunday afternoon’s 400-lap race from Richmond set Ryan Newman and the Oscar Mayer team back on a day where much of the field had difficulty passing. The No. 6 team battled back from the damage to ultimately finish 30th.

Just two non-stage cautions flew all day, with the first involving the Oscar Mayer Ford. The other came late in the action with 19 laps to go after several long green flag runs as only 14 cars finished on the lead lap, several of which took the wave around in the final break.

Newman started the day from the 19th spot and ended the first stage there, battling tight conditions in the middle of the corners with loose conditions on exit. After the team’s third stop of the day under green at lap 137 – the first stop of the second stage – Newman was on the outside of a three-wide scenario that saw the No. 6 spin off the front of the No. 33 machine.

The damage was mostly cosmetic on the left rear, but Newman lost a pair of laps in the sequence setting him back. He went on to finish the second stage in 32nd, and with just one final caution at lap 381 and two additional stops under green, was relegated to the 30th-place result.

Newman and the No. 6 team head to Talladega Superspeedway next weekend for 500 miles from the 2.66-mile track. Race coverage is set for 2 p.m. ET on FOX and MRN, and coverage can also be heard on SiriusXM Channel 90.

Solid Top-10 Finish for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Richmond Raceway

Finish: 10th
Start: 11th
Points: 12th

“A top-10 at Richmond Raceway in the No. 3 Chevrolet. We’ll take it! I tried to pass the No. 21 for ninth at the end of the race but the right-front stopped working. Overall, it was a decent day. We were just too late getting our Chevy where we needed it. The biggest issue we faced was a loose-handling condition and needing more turn through the corner. Once Justin Alexander and the team figured out what the No. 3 needed, it was much faster. We just ran out of laps. We know for next time, though.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and No. 8 Cat #WhatPowersYou Chevy Team Fight Through Handling Challenges at Richmond Raceway

Finish: 20th
Start: 13th
Points: 22nd

“We tried a lot of different things with our No. 8 Cat #WhatPowersYou Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE today to try to get the handling to where it needed to be and made some small gains throughout the race. It just seemed like we were a tiny bit off from what we had last year during our one visit to Richmond Raceway, so we’ll definitely be studying this one closely to be better when we come back in the fall. I was just a little too tight almost all day and then too loose in the final stage, which didn’t let me charge through the corners like I wanted. Richmond Raceway is a tough place to figure out in a Cup car, especially with it being just my second Cup start here, but I learned a lot. We’ll be ready when we come back here in September.” -Tyler Reddick

A smooth, steady performance by Matt DiBenedetto and the Menards/Libman team in Sunday’s 400-lap Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway paved the way for a season-best ninth-place finish.

DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Libman Mustang lined up 16th for the start of the 300-mile race on the three-quarter-mile Richmond track. He moved up initially to as high as 14th but had dropped to 18th at the end of Stage One, an 80-lap segment.

In the second Stage, a 155-lap run, the Menards/Libman crew ran several laps long on the first pit stop and were in third place when Ryan Newman spun to bring out the caution flag.

DiBenedetto was able to bring the No. 21 Mustang to pit under caution, and restart in ninth place. He pitted earlier in the run on his second stop and was able to end that Stage in sixth place, earning five Stage points.

In the final 163 laps of the race, the Menards/Libman team was among the first to pit in each of the two cycles, and maintained a spot in the top 10 throughout.

When the race’s final caution flag flew with 20 laps remaining, DiBenedetto had just dropped out of the free pass position but was able to take the wave-around and hold ninth place until the checkered flag.

It was his sixth-straight finish of 16th or better, and he and the Wood Brothers team jumped four spots in the points standings to 18th.

“It was just a nice smooth day,” DiBenedetto said. “That was the most rewarding part of it, and getting some Stage points was big.”

He said the No. 21 Menards/Libman Mustang was driving well early on, even though he was unable to gain many positions at that point.

“I wasn’t complaining much at all at the first of the race,” he said. “We just needed track position. Once we caught a break with the caution flag and got some track position and got in the top 10, we had the car to run up there with no mistakes for the rest of the day.”

He said the Menards/Libman crew was spot-on all afternoon.

“They did a good job on the pit stops, getting all the lugs on and taking care of the important stuff,” he said.

DiBenedetto also was pleased to make another jump in the championship standings.

“It just shows the strength of our team, and it’s rewarding to finally get that top 10 and be climbing up there in the points, digging out of that hole and doing what I’ve known all along that we’re more than capable of as a team,” he said.

After a stretch of short-track racing, DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers team now head to Talladega Superspeedway for next Sunday’s GEICO 500.

Menards

A family-owned and run company started in 1958, Menards is recognized as the retail home center leader of the Midwest with 236 stores in 15 states. Menards is truly a one-stop shop for all of your home improvement needs featuring a full-service lumberyard and everything you need to plan a renovation or build a home, garage, cabin, shed, deck, fence or post frame building. Menards is known for friendly Customer Service and as the place to “Save Big Money” with low prices every day, and sales too! For more information, please visit Menards.com to learn about our store locations, offerings and services.

Wood Brothers Racing

Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.

Team Penske NASCAR Cup Series Race Report
Track: Richmond Raceway
Race: Toyota Owners 400
Date: April 18, 2021

No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – Brad Keselowski

Start: 20th
Stage 1: 9th
Stage 2: 16th
Finish: 14th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 400/400
Laps Led: 25
Point Standings (behind first): 9th (-165)

Notes:

• Brad Keselowski and the Discount Tire Ford team scored a 14th-place Sunday afternoon at Richmond Raceway. Keselowski rebounded from a mid-race gamble that didn’t go as planned to score a lead lap finish. He is now ninth in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings, 165 points behind leader Denny Hamlin.
• Keselowski started 20th in the 400-lap race and he and the 2 Crew worked together throughout Stage 1 to move closer to the front. He was up to 12th position at the time of the competition caution on lap 30 then gained three more spots after a visit to pit road. Keselowski restarted ninth and held his own during the remainder of the segment to score a ninth-place finish when Stage 1 ended on lap 80. Crew chief Jeremy Bullins made the call for four tires and a track bar adjustment during the stage caution, and he restarted ninth when the race went green on lap 90.
• Midway through Stage 2, Bullins made the call to keep Keselowski on the racetrack during a cycle of green flag pit stops. The move was designed to keep the driver of the Discount Tire Ford inside the top-10 and give the team an extra set of tires for the third and final stage. Unfortunately, the move didn’t go as planned and Keselowski finished the segment 16th, one lap down.
• For the remainder of the event, Keselowski and the team were focused on making up the lost distance. Throughout much of Stage 3, he ran in the free pass position but didn’t get a timely caution to unlap himself until lap 382, 18 laps from the finish. Keselowski took the wave around during the fifth and final caution and rejoined the lead lap at the tail end of the field. He was credited with a 14th-place finish at the checkered flag.

Quotes: “Our Discount Tire Ford was fast today but it just didn’t come together for us. We’ll bounce back next week.”

No. 12 BODYARMOR Ford Mustang – Ryan Blaney

Start: 7th
Stage 1: 5th
Stage 2: 19th
Finish: 11th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 400/400
Laps Led: 0
Point Standings (behind first): 5th (-130)

Notes:

• Ryan Blaney started seventh and finished 11th in Sunday afternoon’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway in the No. 12 BODYARMOR Ford Mustang. Despite finishing one spot shy of the top-10, the afternoon for the No. 12 team showed promise as the team consistently ran lap times on par with the race leaders. Blaney rallied late on old tires, climbing four positions to finish 11th.
• During the opening run, Blaney moved inside the top-five, racing to the third position before the lap 30 competition caution, reporting he needed just a little more entry security in the No. 12 BODYARMOR Ford Mustang. The adjustments on the first stop helped but Blaney encouraged the team to give him more entry security and drive off through the long run. On the stage ending stop, crew chief Todd Gordon elected to make a trackbar and air pressure change.
• In the second stage, Blaney reported he was losing rear grip early in the run and made a green flag pit stop with the race leaders on lap 138, but a caution flag forced the BODYARMOR crew into taking the wave-around and restarting outside the top-15. The team elected to go long on the second stage and finished 19th, one lap down to the race leader, but saved one set of tires over the majority of the field.
• Blaney continued running near the free pass position, pitting at lap 344 for a trackbar adjustment and four tires as the field cycled through green flag stops. The team remained on the track under the lap 380 caution and cycled back to the lead lap where they’d press forward and finish 11th.

Quote: “It was a step in the right direction at Richmond for me and the BODYARMOR team. Our lap times and the way our car handled and we adjusted on it through the race were better than the 11th place finish we had, just got trapped for too long a lap down and without cautions, it was tough to get that back. I think we had a ton of key learnings that we can evaluate and come back stronger when we race here in the playoffs.”

No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang – Joey Logano

Start: 5th
Stage 1: 3rd
Stage 2: 3rd
Finish: 3rd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 400/400
Laps Led: 49
Point Standings (behind first): 3rd (-82)

• Joey Logano started fifth and finished third in Sunday afternoon’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Mustang. Logano led the race five times for 49 laps, including being in the lead when a caution came out at lap 380, setting up a final pit stop and a 17-lap run to the finish. In addition to his third-place final result, Logano scored 16 stage points, finishing third in the first and second stage.
• On the opening run, Logano was battling a lack of rear-grip, but maintained inside the top-five, bringing the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang to pit road at the competition caution in the fourth position for four tires and an air pressure change. Logano would continue on and finish the opening stage in the third position, reporting he needed more turn and more entry security over the long run.
• Logano continued inside the top-five, pitting at lap 139 under green, just before the yellow flag was thrown for a single car incident. The team remained on the track and restarted in the fifth position and climbed to the fourth position at lap 160. The team elected to pit at lap 186 with the majority of the race leaders, while others remained on the track attempting to run to the end of the stage. The team finished the second stage in the third position. On the stop, they made an air pressure change as Logano was still looking for more entry and exit without hurting the center turn.
• At lap 335, Logano passed the No. 11 for the race lead and reported to the team he needed just a little more turn in the center and drive off for the last run. At lap 342, crew chief Paul Wolfe called the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang to pit road for four tires and an air pressure adjustment, looking for that last bit of drive off the corner.
• Logano was battling with the No. 11 at Lap 380, maintaining the lead, when the caution flag came out for a spin in Turn 3. The team setup to make an air pressure adjustment for the short run to the end. The team would restart in the second position. Unfortunately, Logano would slip to third in the closing laps where he’d finish in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang.

Quote: “We just needed more turn. We didn’t turn good enough to take off. The 48 sure did. They put the qualifying pressures in or something. That thing took off like a rocket. Denny and I caught him the last few laps, which was probably because they showed the adjustments they made to their car to make it fire off. They started to pay a penalty at the end, but they were too far out. Congratulations to them. They beat us. They beat us fair and square. It stinks when you’re that close. We were leading with a few to go. Denny and I had a hell of a race. It was pretty fun there for a minute, but here we are third. It stings. We were up there all day. It’s a decent finish, don’t get me wrong, but wanted more for our Shell/Pennzoil Mustang.”

No. 33 Verizon 5G Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric

Start: 39th
Stage 1: 22nd
Stage 2: 28th
Finish: 28th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 396/400
Laps Led: 0
Point Standings: N/A

Notes:

• Austin Cindric finished 28th, making his third NASCAR Cup Series start of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Season in the No. 33 Verizon 5G Ford Mustang on Sunday afternoon at Richmond Raceway. After the field was set per the NASCAR Qualifying Matrix, Cindric started 39th and fought forward throughout the 300-mile race running as high as 20th.
• Once the race started, the reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion raced his way inside the top-25, battling a tight Verizon 5G Ford Mustang. During the competition caution on lap 30 crew chief Miles Stanley called his driver to pit road for four tires and fuel.
• Throughout the remaining laps of Stage 1, Cindric battled his way to the 22nd position. During the Stage 1 caution crew chief Miles Stanley called the Verizon 5G Ford to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments to aid the tight Mustang and Cindric restarted 22nd on lap 80.
• During Stage 2, the NCS rookie continued to gain experience and run inside the top-20. On lap 139 Cindric made a scheduled green-flag stop. Unfortunately, before the field could cycle through green-flag stops, the caution waived, pinning Cindric a lap down and unable to take the wave-around. In an effort to regain the lost lap, the No. 33. Verizon 5G team ran the rest of the stage long resulting in lost track position. Without a caution, Cindric lost additional laps to the leaders and was scored 28th at the conclusion of Stage 2.
• The field restarted on lap 247, Cindric remaining in the 28th position. With limited cautions and opportunity to take the wave around, the Verizon 5G team continued to work on the No. 33 Ford, making it better throughout the long green-flag runs. The last caution waived with 14-laps remaining allowing the field to make final adjustments for the short run. Cindric was able to hold his position and finish in the 28th position in the Verizon 5G Ford Mustang.

Quote: “It’s an interesting race. I definitely chose the wrong time to make a rookie mistake getting into the 6. That’s definitely on me and that was a really vulnerable time for our strategy and that put us behind the eight-ball all day. We tried to do some strategy to get us back and we ended up putting ourselves another lap down. By the time stage three rolled around we were able to make some good adjustments and our Verizon 5G Ford Mustang was really good. I wouldn’t say we were top five good, but I think we were good enough to run inside the top 10, top 15 so there’s a lot of positives. I drove up to P20 under green, so lots to learn, but definitely wish I could get that stage two mistake back.”

RICHMOND, Va. (April 18, 2021) – Chris Buescher maintained his postseason position in Sunday’s race at Richmond Raceway, with his 25th- place finish good enough to keep his hold on the provisional 14th spot in the NASCAR Playoffs.

Buescher began the day in his Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang from the 12th position, but his line failed to gain momentum on the initial restart and he was quickly shuffled back into the 25th spot, which he maintained until the competition caution at lap 30.

Crew chief Luke Lambert took the opportunity to combat the excessive tire wear at the Virginia short track, and brought Buescher down pit road for four fresh tires and adjustments to the handling of his Ford. As the day wore on, green-flag passing became more and more difficult for the entire field. Buescher was no exception, maintaining a steady track position to finish 26th in the first stage.

The second segment saw the first natural caution at Richmond since 2019, when a spinning car brought out the yellow just after Buescher hit pit road. Trapped a lap down, the team worked to formulate a strategy to get back on the lead lap. Unfortunately, the rest of the stage ran green and finished with Buescher scored 25th.

The third and final stage saw yet another long green flag run until a caution came out with just 20 laps to go. With only two other cars on his lap, Buescher played defense for the remainder of the race and finished in the 25th position.

The No. 17 team returns to action next week from Talladega Superspeedway. A 2 p.m. green flag will start the field for 500 miles at the Alabama track, with coverage on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.