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Newman Crosses Line 23rd in Richmond

By
Official Release
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RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 12, 2020) – In a race that featured just three scheduled caution flags, Ryan Newman crossed the line 23rd in the Guaranteed Rate Ford Saturday night at Richmond Raceway.

With the two final stages scheduled in longer formats – 155 and 165 laps – track position and pit strategy proved to be key, as the field was forced to a set of green-flag stops splitting the final two stages.

Newman rolled off 21st in the race, based off NASCAR’s updated starting lineup formula, and fought to a 20th-place position at the end of the 80-lap opening stage, reporting he was mostly loose off in his Ford Mustang. After rolling 18th for the second stage, Newman worked his way up to 15th by the time of his green-flag stop in the second stage, before going on to finish 22nd in the segment.

He began the final 160 laps from the 18th position, and went on to finish 23rd in the Guaranteed Rate Ford.

Newman and the No. 6 team return to track at Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend, for another Saturday night race. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, and can also be heard on PRN SiriusXM Channel 90.  

Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Race 1 Results

By
Official Release
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Click HERE to view and download the official race results of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Race 1

LEXINGTON, Ohio – Results Saturday of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed, and reason out (if any):

  1. (1) Will Power, Chevrolet, 75, Running
  2. (3) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 75, Running
  3. (6) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 75, Running
  4. (8) Graham Rahal, Honda, 75, Running
  5. (2) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 75, Running
  6. (7) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 75, Running
  7. (5) Jack Harvey, Honda, 75, Running
  8. (9) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 75, Running
  9. (13) Colton Herta, Honda, 75, Running
  10. (17) Scott Dixon, Honda, 75, Running
  11. (15) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 75, Running
  12. (20) Alex Palou, Honda, 75, Running
  13. (4) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 75, Running
  14. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 75, Running
  15. (21) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 75, Running
  16. (12) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 75, Running
  17. (18) Takuma Sato, Honda, 75, Running
  18. (10) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 75, Running
  19. (16) Oliver Askew, Chevrolet, 75, Running
  20. (19) Zach Veach, Honda, 74, Running
  21. (22) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 74, Running
  22. (23) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 74, Running
  23. (11) Marco Andretti, Honda, 74, Running

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 113.978 mph
Time of Race: 1:29:08.9095
Margin of victory: 7.4523 seconds
Cautions: None
Lead changes: 4 among 3 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Power 1 – 21
Rossi 22 – 26
Power 27 – 47
Herta 48 – 51
Power 52 – 75

NTT INDYCAR SERIES point standings: Dixon 436, Newgarden 360, O’Ward 316, Sato 287, Power 280, Herta 273, Rahal 268, Pagenaud 249, Rosenqvist 236, Ferrucci 232.

Keselowski wins at Richmond; transfers to second round of the Playoffs

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.

Brad Keselowski made an emphatic championship statement at Richmond Raceway under the lights on Saturday, September 12, after he muscled his way to a dominating win in the Federated Auto Parts 400. All told, Keselowski led a race-high 192 of the event’s 400-scheduled laps, including the final 48, and withstood late challenges from Martin Truex Jr. teammate Joey Logano and Austin Dillon. With his fourth victory of the season and the 34th of his NASCAR Cup Series career, Keselowski has punched his ticket to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs.  

The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner standings, the driver’s result from a previous Cup race, the team owner’s result from a previous Cup race, and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kevin Harvick, coming off his win at  Darlington Raceway last weekend, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Joey Logano.  

Kyle Busch started at the rear of the field due to his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry failing pre-race inspection twice. The issues prior to the race made for a difficult start for Busch, who had  Xfinity Series crew chief Jacob Canter atop the No. 18 pit box while crew chief Adam Stevens was serving a one-race suspension due to two loose lug nuts that were discovered to be loose on  Busch’s car last weekend at Darlington. Future teammate Christopher Bell also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.  

When the green flag waved and the second Playoff race of this season started, Harvick jumped to an early advantage followed by Logano and Austin Dillon while teammates Alex Bowman and  William Byron battled for fourth place. Behind, Denny Hamlin moved up to sixth place while  Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski battled for seventh place.  

By the fifth lap, teammates Clint Bowyer and Cole Custer moved up to eighth and ninth while  Kurt Busch dropped back to 10th place in front of Aric Almirola. Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., and Chase Elliott trailed behind outside the top 10. Shortly after, Hamlin made his way into the top five after passing Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for a position  as Byron was challenged by Keselowski for more.  

Following the first 10 laps, Harvick and his No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/Fields Ford Mustang were ahead by nearly half a second over Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang with  Austin Dillon’s No. 3 DOW Norkool Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE trailing by seven-tenths of a  second. Five laps later, Austin Dillon muscled his way into second place with Logano dropping back to third place and Hamlin continuing to march his way to the front in fourth place.  

By Lap 20, Harvick was still ahead, but he had a hard-charging Austin Dillon closing into his rear bumper. A lap later, Austin Dillon muscled his No. 3 car to the lead over Harvick with  Logano trailing the two leaders by half a second. Behind, Hamlin and his No. 11 FedEx Cares Toyota Camry was in fourth place in front of Keselowski while Bowman, Byron, Bowyer, Custer, and Almirola were in the top 10. By then, 14  of the 16 Playoff contenders occupied the top-14 positions on the track. Matt DiBenedetto was back in 17th behind Erik Jones while Kyle Busch was scored in 22nd behind Ryan Newman.  Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson was the highest-running non-title contender in 15th place.  

Five laps later and with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Keselowski made his way into fourth place after passing Hamlin as he started to close within the rear bumper of Harvick, who lost second place to Logano. By then, Austin Dillon extended his advantage to more than a  second.  

When the competition caution flew on Lap 30, Austin Dillon maintained the lead by more than a  second over Logano. Behind, Harvick held off Keselowski and Hamlin to maintain a third place on the track. By then, Kyle Busch was in 21st ahead of Bell.  

Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Austin Dillon maintained the lead following a stellar pit stop over Logano and Harvick. Following the pit stops, Blaney made another pit stop to address a loose left-front tire on his No. 12 Menards/Libman Ford Mustang.  

Thirty-seven laps down, the race restarted under green and Austin Dillon maintained the lead while Hamlin made his way into second place. A lap later, Hamlin made a move beneath Dillon to take the lead while Logano went to work on Austin Dillon for second place, which he succeeded. With Hamlin, Logano, and Austin Dillon running in the top three, Harvick was in fourth followed by Keselowski, Bowman, and Byron. Behind, Bowyer was in eighth while Chase Elliott and  Custer battled for ninth in front of Kurt Busch and Truex.  

On Lap 43, Bubba Wallace made contact into Johnson as Johnson sustained damage to the right rear end of his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE after touching the wall. Following the incident, Johnson stepped on the gas and attempted to close back to Wallace’s rear bumper, but  he wiggled entering Turn 1. Despite the on-track dispute between the two, the race remained under green as Johnson fell back to 23rd and continued to run on the track despite the damage while Wallace was in 18th.  

At the front, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over Logano with Austin Dillon trailing by less than two seconds. By Lap 50, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over  Logano. Behind, Harvick remained in fourth place, trailing by less than three seconds, while  Keselowski was in fifth. By then, 13 of the 16 Playoff contenders were running in the top-13  spots. In addition, Kyle Busch and Almirola were in 15th and 16th while Blaney was all the way back in 25th.  

Ten laps later, on Lap 60, Hamlin continued to stabilize his advantage by less than a second over  Austin Dillon, who overtook Logano for the runner-up spot. By then, Keselowski advanced into fourth place over Harvick while Bowman, Byron, Bowyer, Elliott, and Custer battled in the top  10. Truex, Kurt Busch, and DiBenedetto were running in 11th through 13th while Kyle Busch and  Almirola were in 16th and 17th. Johnson was back in 28th in between Ryan Preece and John  Hunter Nemechek while Wallace was in 19th in between Newman and Erik Jones.  

By Lap 68, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota cracked the top 15 after he passed  DiBenedetto with Matt Kenseth next on his target. At the front, Austin Dillon cut Hamlin’s advantage to half a second while Keselowski started to battle teammate Logano for third place.  In addition, Truex moved up to ninth behind Bowyer and Elliott while Byron dropped back to 14th.  

With the laps in the first stage continuing to dwindle, Austin Dillon continued to trail Hamlin by half a second, though Dillon was faster than Hamlin and had Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota within his sights. Behind, Truex and his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry moved up to seventh place while Elliott, Bowyer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Custer were behind and battling for position.  

When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Hamlin was able to hold off Austin Dillon to win his eighth stage of the season. Dillon settled in second place followed by Logano, Keselowski, and  Harvick while Bowman, Truex, Elliott, Stenhouse, and Bowyer were scored in the top 10.  

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin maintained the lead over Logano, Harvick, and Austin Dillon. Following the pit stops, however, Hamlin and Austin Dillon were sent to the rear of the field due to speeding on pit road.  

The second stage started under green on Lap 89 with Logano and Harvick on the front row in front of Keselowski and Bowman. At the start, Logano maintained the lead in his No. 22 Shell/ Pennzoil Ford Mustang while teammate Keselowski made his way into second place and started to challenge his Penske teammate for the lead. Bowman then utilized the outside lane to gain spots over Harvick and Truex in third place while Kyle Busch was scored in seventh place behind Custer.  

By Lap 95, Logano and Keselowski continued to battle for the lead with Logano ahead by three-tenths of a second over Keselowski’s No. 2 Western Star/Alliance Parts Ford Mustang. Behind,  Truex overtook Bowman for third place while Harvick, Custer, Elliott, and Bowyer were running in fifth through eighth. Kyle Busch was in ninth ahead of Almirola while Austin Dillon and  Hamlin were mired back in 23rd and 25th.  

Five laps later and when the race reached the 100-lap mark, Logano stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over teammate Keselowski. Meanwhile, Byron was back in 14th in between DiBenedetto and Tyler Reddick, Blaney was in 19th and Kurt Busch was in 11th. Austin  Dillon moved up to 21st while Hamlin was mired back in 25th. In addition, Johnson was back in 31st place and trapped a lap behind the leaders. 

On Lap 110, Keselowski cut the deficit down to a tenth of a second behind Logano. Three laps later, Keselowski gained a run beneath Logano for the lead, but Logano was able to fend off his teammate and retain the top spot on the track. Both Penske teammates were ahead by more than a second over Truex with Harvick in fourth and Elliott in fifth. Bowman was in sixth ahead of  Kyle Busch, Custer, and Almirola while Kenseth was in 10th place ahead of Stenhouse, Bowyer, and Kurt Busch. By then, Austin Dillon made his way back to 14th and was pursuing for more over Bowyer and Kurt Busch.  

Meanwhile. Byron slipped back to 16th behind DiBenedetto, Blaney was in 18th and Hamlin made his way back in 20th place behind Bell. Newman was in 21st ahead of teammate Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, Ty Dillon, and Bubba Wallace.  

On Lap 121, Keselowski emerged with the lead for the first time after outlasting a long battle with teammate Logano while Truex started to close into both Penske teammates. Nine laps later,  on Lap 130, Keselowski extended his advantage to nearly a second over teammate Logano with  Truex trailing by more than a second. Harvick was in fourth place, trailing by four seconds,  while Elliott made his way into the top five over teammate Bowman. Kyle Busch stabilized seventh place over Almirola, Custer, and Stenhouse while Austin Dillon moved up to 11th place.  

With 12 of the 16 Playoff contenders running inside the top 15, Byron was the lowest-running contenders on the track in 22nd place with Hamlin, Blaney, and DiBenedetto running in 17th  through 19th. Stenhouse was the highest-running non-title contender in ninth while Kenseth was in 13th, Bell was in 15th and Reddick was in 16th. Johnson was mired back 31st place.  

On Lap 138, DiBenedetto made a pit stop. Shortly after, pit stops under green commenced with  John Hunter Nemechek, Harvick, Wallace, and Johnson pitting. Ten laps later, on Lap 148,  Keselowski was still at the front of the field by a second over Logano, though the leaders had yet to pit.  

As the laps progressed, more lead lap cars that included Austin Dillon, Custer and Bowyer pitted.  By the time Keselowski and Logano completed their pit stops under green, Harvick emerged with the lead on Lap 163. Austin Dillon was back in second place, trailing by 12 seconds,  followed by Almirola, Custer and DiBenedetto while Kyle Busch was in seventh. Following his stop, Stenhouse has assessed a drive-through penalty down pit road for speeding during his service under green.  

On Lap 170, Harvick maintained a seven-second advantage over Austin Dillon with Almirola,  Custer, and Kyle Busch trailing in the top five. Logano and Keselowski were in sixth and seventh while Elliott was in eighth ahead of Truex. Bowyer was in 11th ahead of Bowman and Kurt  Busch, Blaney was in 15th ahead of DiBenedetto, Hamlin was in 19th and Byron was mired back in 29th. Stenhouse was mired back in 27th following his pit road speeding penalty while Kenseth was the highest-running non-title contender in 10th place. In addition, Wallace was in 14th. 

On Lap 182, Austin Dillon emerged with the lead after passing Harvick. By then, Keselowski moved up to the third place and in front of Almirola while Logano was in fifth ahead of Kyle Busch,  Truex, and Elliott. Four laps later, Harvick made a pit stop under green. Following his stop,  however, Harvick has assessed a pass-through penalty on pit road for a commitment line violation.  

Another four laps later, on Lap 190, Austin Dillon stabilized his advantage to less than three seconds over Keselowski with Logano trailing by more than three seconds. In addition, Kyle  Busch moved up to fourth place while Almirola, Truex, Elliott, Custer, Kurt Busch, and Kenseth were scored in the top 10. Bowman and Bowyer were in 11th and 12th while Hamlin was in  14th, two spots ahead of Blaney.  

By then, Johnson was still mired back 31st while names like Erik Jones, Preece, Wallace, Corey  LaJoie, Newman, Stenhouse, Byron, Ty Dillon, Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Harvick, DiBenedetto,  Michael McDowell, and Nemechek were all trapped a lap or more behind the leaders.  

At the halfway mark, Lap 200, Austin Dillon was still ahead by less than two seconds over  Keselowski with Logano, Truex and Kyle Busch scored in the top five. Almirola stabilized sixth place over Elliott, Kurt Busch, and Custer while Kenseth was in 10th place ahead of Bowman and  Bowyer. Shortly after, Blaney, running in 16th, was lapped by Austin Dillon.  

By Lap 210, Keselowski cut Austin Dillon’s advantage down to half a second while Logano trailed by nearly five seconds. Truex continued to run in fourth place and was also closing in on Logano for more while Kyle Busch was in fifth place ahead of Elliott.  

On Lap 218, Keselowski reassumed the lead from Austin Dillon with Truex trailing by more than four seconds after taking over third place from Logano earlier. Five laps later, Elliott passed Kyle  Busch for fifth place with Almirola and Kurt Busch behind. Meanwhile, Harvick was mired back in 16th place and scored as the first car a lap behind.  

With the laps in the second stage dwindling down, Keselowski stabilized his advantage to a  second over Austin Dillon, but Harvick, racing on fresh tires, closed in on Keselowski and was able to un-lap himself as Preece was mired as the first car a lap behind. By then, Custer was back in 15th in between teammates Bowyer and Harvick, who continued to regain the lost spots from his commitment line violation penalty, while Bowman was in 11th behind Kenseth.  

By the time the second stage concluded on Lap 235, Keselowski was able to hold off Austin  Dillon to claim his seventh stage victory of the season. Austin Dillon settled in second place followed by Truex, Logano, and Elliott while Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Almirola, Kenseth, and Harvick were scored in the top 10. By then, Hamlin and Bowyer were able to remain on the lead lap while Custer was pinned a lap behind the leaders in 16th place.  

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Keselowski retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place over Truex, Logano, Austin Dillon, and Elliott. 

The final stage commenced with 157 laps remaining and with Keselowski pulling away with the lead over teammate Logano, Truex, Elliott, Austin Dillon, and Kyle Busch. Eight laps later, with 150 laps remaining, Keselowski extended his advantage to a second over teammate Logano with Truex, Elliott, and Kyle Busch in the top five.  

Behind, teammates Almirola and Harvick moved up to sixth and seventh while Austin Dillon fell back to eighth place and in front of Kurt Busch and Bowman. Hamlin was in 11th and Bowyer was in 12th as 12 of the 16 Playoff contenders occupied the top-12 positions on the track. Custer was back in 16th place in front of DiBenedetto and Byron while Blaney was back in 21st.  Reddick was the highest-running non-title contender in 13th and ahead of Kenseth and Bell.  

With 140 laps remaining, Keselowski continued to stabilize his advantage by nearly a second over teammate Logano while Truex, Elliott, and Kyle Busch trailed in the top five. Harvick made his way up to sixth place in front of Austin Dillon while Almirola, Kurt Busch, and Bowman were scored in the top 10 over Hamlin and Bowyer.  

Twenty laps later, with 120 laps remaining, Keselowski’s advantage grew to less than two seconds over teammate Logano with Truex trailing by three seconds. Elliott and Kyle Busch continued to run in fourth and fifth while Austin Dillon overtook Harvick for sixth place.  Almirola continued to run in eighth place while Kurt Busch and Bowman were scored in the top  10.  

With approximately 110 laps remaining, pit stops under green started as Hamlin pitted along with Truex, Almirola, Bowyer, Logano, Harvick, Keselowski, and Austin Dillon. Soon after, Elliott, Kyle Busch, and Bowman also pitted, giving the lead to Kurt Busch.  

Down to the final 100 laps of the race, Kurt Busch was scored as the race leader, though he and his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE needed to pit. Teammate Kenseth was in second place, trailing Kurt Busch by less than four seconds and also running on a similar strategy to Busch, followed by Logano, Keselowski, Truex, Austin Dillon, Harvick, Elliott, Kyle Busch and Almirola.  

With 92 laps remaining, Logano and Keselowski moved back into first and second and Truex moved into third while Kurt Busch dropped back to fourth. Nine laps later, Keselowski muscled his way back into the lead while Austin Dillon continued to march towards the front in fourth place, trailing race leader Keselowski by four seconds and third-place Truex by more than two seconds.  

Down to the final 70 laps of the race, Keselowski was ahead by more than two seconds over teammate Logano with Truex starting to reel in Logano for second place and Austin Dillon joining the party. Shortly after, Truex overtook Logano for second place and Austin Dillon followed pursuit in third. 

With 64 laps remaining, Austin Dillon missed the entrance to pit road after having issues in slowing his No. 3 Chevrolet down to not speed nor miss the commitment line. Thus, he had to cycle back around another lap to complete his final four-tire pit stop under green. Not long after,  more competitors made their way to pit road under green, including Logano, Hamlin, Blaney,  Keselowski, Elliott, Bowyer, Almirola, Bowman, and Truex.  

Back on the track, Kyle Busch assumed the lead, though he had yet to pit, and was followed by  Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Kenseth while Austin Dillon was in fifth. Not long after, Kyle Busch and Harvick, who smoked his tires exiting Turn 2, pitted while Kurt Busch moved back into the lead.  

With 48 laps remaining, Austin Dillon bolted his way back to the lead over Kurt Busch followed by Keselowski. A lap later, Keselowski reassumed the lead. Truex was back in third place,  trailing by less than two seconds, followed by Logano and Kurt Busch while Elliott was in sixth.  

With 40 laps remaining, Keselowski extended his advantage to nearly three seconds over Austin  Dillon with Truex, Logano and Elliott trailing by three seconds or more. Not long after, Truex and Logano advanced to second and third while Austin Dillon fell back to fourth place in front of  Elliott.  

As the laps continued to progress down to its final stages, Keselowski stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Truex with Logano and Austin Dillon trailing by four seconds.  

With less than 20 laps remaining, Keselowski continued to stabilize his advantage to more than two seconds over Truex.  

Down to the final 10 laps of the race and with Keselowski still leading by more than two seconds over Truex, Logano and Austin Dillon were locked into a competitive battle for third place with Dillon prevailing for a few laps before Logano regained the spot. Meanwhile, Elliott started to track both competitors for position.  

With the battling for late positions occurring behind him, Keselowski was able to maintain a  healthy advantage over Truex and the field as he was able to start the final lap of the race while making his way through lapped traffic. With a dominating car and a dominating run throughout the evening, Keselowski was able to come back around and take the checkered flag to win and race his way into the second round of the Playoffs.  

With Keselowski winning at Richmond for the second time in his career, Team Penske claimed its seventh victory of the season and Ford recorded its 16th Cup victory of this season. In  addition, Keselowski claimed his fourth victory of the season with veteran crew chief Jeremy  Bullins. Ironically, the car Keselowski won with on Saturday night at Richmond is the same car he won with at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in early August.  

“It was a great race for us and the No. 2 team,” Keselowski said on NBCSN. “I think this is my car from Loudon and I wanted to do a really cool burnout with it, but I want this car for Phoenix [the finale in November]. It’s two-for-two and man, I’m real pumped. I don’t want to look too far ahead. We got to get there [the finale]. Next round’s gonna be difficult but still, I’m really pumped up about this performance and the way we ran at short tracks…Man, this thing was awesome!”  

“It’s a chess game and I got blinders on,” Keselowski added on the mixed strategy that occurred throughout the race. “I don’t know what everybody’s doing and who’s on what strategy. But, Jeremy Bullins and the whole No. 2 team, excellent performance [I] Can’t thank them enough.  It’s a really special day.”  

Though Keselowski was ecstatic with the win, he emphasized his overall goal to continue to his momentum to make the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway in November and be in contention for his second Cup championship.  

“We gotta get there. The last few years, I haven’t made it all the way. We gotta get all the way there. If we can get to Phoenix, we’re gonna be really good.”  

Truex Jr. settled in second place followed by Logano, Austin Dillon, and Elliott. Kyle Busch rallied from starting at the rear of the field to finish in sixth place followed by Harvick, Almirola, Bowman, and Bowyer.  

This marked the fourth time since the inception of the Cup Playoffs in 2004 where the top-10  finishers were occupied by Playoff contenders, a feat that was also made at Dover International Speedway in September 2013, Richmond in September 2018, and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September 2019.  

Hamlin finished in 12th place, a lap down, and clinched his spot to the Round of 12 in the  Playoffs based on points. Kurt Busch and Custer finished 13th and 14th while DiBenedetto ended his night in 17th place. Blaney and Byron ended their long runs in 19th and 21st. Jimmie  Johnson finished 31st in his 37th and final start at Richmond while Reddick was the highest finishing non-title contender in 11th.  

There were 19 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 21  laps.  

Results.  

1. Brad Keselowski, 192 laps led, Stage 2 winner  

2. Martin Truex Jr. 

3. Joey Logano, 45 laps led  

4. Austin Dillon, 55 laps led 

5. Chase Elliott, two laps led  

6. Kyle Busch, four laps led  

7. Kevin Harvick, 41 laps led  

8. Aric Almirola 

9. Alex Bowman 

10. Clint Bowyer 

11. Tyler Reddick  

12. Denny Hamlin, one lap down, 45 laps led, Stage 1 winner 

13. Kurt Busch, one lap down, 15 laps down  

14. Cole Custer, one lap down  

15. Christopher Bell, one lap down  

16. Matt Kenseth, one lap down  

17. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down  

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps down  

19. Ryan Blaney, two laps down  

20. Ryan Preece, two laps down  

21. William Byron, two laps down  

22. Erik Jones, two laps down  

23. Ryan Newman, three laps down  

24. Chris Buescher, three laps down  

25. Michael McDowell, three laps down  

26. Bubba Wallace, three laps down  

27. Corey LaJoie, four laps down  

28. Ty Dillon, four laps down 

29. Daniel Suarez, four laps down 

30. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down 

31. Jimmie Johnson, five laps down 

32. Quin Houff, 10 laps down  

33. Brennan Poole, 10 laps down, one lap led 

34. J.J. Yeley, 12 laps down  

35. Joey Gase, 13 laps down  

36. Reed Sorenson, 13 laps down  

37. James Davison, 15 laps down  

38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Rear hub  

*Bold indicates Playoff contenders 

Playoff standings.  

1. Kevin Harvick – ADVANCED  

2. Brad Keselowski – ADVANCED 

3. Denny Hamlin – ADVANCED  

4. Joey Logano +51  

5. Martin Truex Jr. +38  

6. Austin Dillon +36  

7. Chase Elliott +28  

8. Alex Bowman +27  

9. Kyle Busch +18  

10. Aric Almirola +7  

11. Kurt Busch +7  

12. Clint Bowyer +3 

13. William Byron -3  

14. Cole Custer -8  

15. Matt DiBenedetto -25  

16. Ryan Blaney -27  

The next NASCAR Cup Series event of 2020 will occur at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass  Pro Shops Night Race and the final Round of 16 event in the Playoffs. The race will occur on  Saturday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. 

Will Power breaks through at Mid-Ohio in Race 1

By
Briar Starr
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Photo Courtesy of Chris Owens

Will Power and the No. 12 Team Penske finally secured their first track win at Mid-Ohio Saturday afternoon, in the first race of the doubleheader weekend.

The Australian started on the pole and dominated the entire race, leading 66 laps and fending off his teammate Josef Newgarden for his first career win of the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series. A limited number of 6,000 fans were in attendance due to COVID restrictions.

“It’s great. It’s been a pretty trying year,” Power said. “Obviously, for everyone it has. I mean, the circumstances are very tough with COVID-19 and all the social distancing that we have to do. But the fact that we’re out here racing and we have some fans is fantastic. We love to do it; we love to entertain, and we love to drive.

“I’m so happy to have the Verizon No. 12 car in Victory Lane. And this is probably the first race, I reckon, in about 10 years that I have just gone hard. Every other race we save fuel and play a strategy game. Today I just said, ‘hey let’s just go hard, man. Screw this. We don’t want to get caught by a yellow. Let’s just run hard and use my raw pace and see what happens.’ And we won the race, so it was a great strategy.”

In what seemed unlikely to happen, the Mid-Ohio 75 lap doubleheader was recently added to the 2020 schedule just a few days ago, when the Ohio state government cleared IndyCar to have two races on site.

Leading up to the Honda Indy 200, Team Penske’s Will Power has not won a race through the first nine races aside from his two teammates Newgarden and Pagenaud.

After setting a blistering lap of 1:06.334 in qualifying, Power set the pace early by leading Newgarden over two seconds. With Power and Newgarden battling for the lead, there was some action in mid-pack with Pagenaud and rookie Rinus VeeKay when Pagenaud spun after making slight contact with VeeKay. Then on Lap 8, four-time winner in 2020, Scott Dixon, made a thrilling move by splitting VeeKay and Andretti to take ninth in the running order. The New Zealander started 17th and was already in the top 10 by Lap 10. Meanwhile, on the same lap, Power had the lead by 2.3 seconds on Newgarden.

Pit stops began as early as Lap 14 when Andretti was the first to pit. Newgarden pitted from second on Lap 20 with Power one lap later. Hoping to keep the lead during the cycle of stops, Power was able to come out in front of Newgarden exiting the pit lane. However, Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi used a different strategy by staying out longer and not pitting until Lap 26.

Despite utilizing a different pit strategy, Power cycled into the lead and continued to lead his teammate Newgarden. Proving to have the best car on the racetrack, the Australian would stretch his lead over the next several laps without looking back. In fact, Power had the lead stretched to 6.2 seconds before making his final stop of the event. During those final stops, there was close action in the pits with Andretti Autosport teammates Rossi and Herta, as they nearly made contact with each other on pit road. The pit stop looked liked it could have been an unsafe release when Rossi exited the pit lane and Herta coming in shortly after. But no action was taken by IndyCar officials.

As the race neared its end, and Power enjoying his lead of eight seconds, dark rain clouds started to loom in the background and posed a threat with rain four miles from the track.

Nevertheless, the rain didn’t show up until after the checkered flag, which was perfect timing for Power who took the checkered flag for the first time at Mid-Ohio after 12 tries, with teammate Newgarden following in the second position.

 “It was a pretty straightforward day,” Newgarden said. “We kind of finished where we started, I was lucky to get by Ryan Hunter-Reay at the start. We missed the chaos. It would have been amazing if this rain would have come 10 minutes sooner. I don’t think I wanted this necessarily made a difference for us today, but it would have been fun to watch. Congrats to Will. He is still Will Power. He’s been knocked down a little bit and has had some tough times. So really happy for him.”

Power led three times for 66 laps en route to his 36th career NTT IndyCar Series victory.

There were no yellows thrown throughout the 75 lap event and four leaders among three different lead changes.

Following the race, Simon Pagenaud was penalized twice. Once for avoidable contact with VeeKay on Lap 1, and the second penalty for a pit safety infraction which will be a post-race fine.

Despite finishing 10th in Race No. 1, Dixon continues to lead the championship points standings by 76 points over second place Josef Newgarden.

Official Results following Race No. 1 of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:

  1. Will Power, led 66 laps
  2. Josef Newgarden
  3. Alexander Rossi, led five laps
  4. Graham Rahal
  5. Ryan Hunter-Reay
  6. Felix Roseqnvist
  7. Jack Harvey
  8. Rinus VeeKay
  9. Colton Herta, led four laps
  10. Scott Dixon
  11. Pato O’Ward
  12. Alex Palou
  13. Conor Daly
  14. Santino Ferrucci
  15. Marcus Ericsson
  16. Max Chilton
  17. Takuma Sato
  18. Simon Pagenaud
  19. Oliver Askew
  20. Zach Veach, 1 lap down
  21. Charlie Kimball, 1 lap down
  22. Dalton Kellett, 1 lap down
  23. Marco Andretti, 1 lap down

Up Next: The NTT IndyCar Series will complete their doubleheader weekend at Mid-Ohio with another 75 lap event on Sunday afternoon, scheduled for 1 p.m./ET live on regular NBC.

Toyota Racing NXS Post-Race Recap – Richmond 9.12.20

By
Official Release
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ROOKIE BURTON DRIVES TO TOP-FIVE FINISH AT RICHMOND
Rookie of the Year leader Harrison Burton drives to 12th top-five run of the year

RICHMOND, Virginia (September 12, 2020) – Harrison Burton (fourth) earned a top-five finish to lead Toyota in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday afternoon. Brandon Jones (eighth) joined Burton in the top-10, while Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Riley Herbst clinched his spot in the Playoffs.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Richmond Raceway
Race 25 of 33 – 187.5 miles, 250 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Justin Allgaier*
2nd, Jeb Burton*
3rd, Ross Chastain*
4th, HARRISON BURTON
5th, Noah Gragson*
8th, BRANDON JONES
21st, MASON MASSEY
22nd, STEPHEN LEICHT
28th, CHAD FINCHUM
34th, RILEY HERBST
36th, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

HARRISON BURTON, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 4th

What did the team do to your Supra from last night’s race to today’s race to improve?

“We went the convenience store and we bought the kitchen sink and threw it at the car. We changed everything – whole package change. That always makes me nervous. You don’t have practice, you don’t have a chance to feel out what’s going to work or not. We knew that we had to do something different because last night was embarrassing and really, honestly horrible. I was really happy with today. We ran top-five pretty much all day and I was so proud of that. That’s such a big improvement. Even after finishing fifth in the first stage, I was pumped up, which I’m normally bummed about finishing fifth in the first stage. Just the way our weekend has been so far and then to turn it around overnight with those guys burning the midnight oil and putting in the work and me looking at data at night and trying to relate to see what we needed to do for today, to get that result out of it is a huge confidence booster and I think that’s what builds championship teams.”

Kyle Busch mentioned talking with all of you last night about some of what he experienced in his Xfinity car in last night’s race. Was any of that beneficial to help with your performance today?

“Kyle (Busch) stayed after the race for about 30 minutes and talked to me on pit road. Kind of verified what I was feeling and was helping me find ways and helping our team find ways to kind of go a direction conceptually to go with it. Kyle definitely helped us out. It was a good deal for us to get his notes and what he thought and what they did throughout the race. I think we got better today partially because of that and partially because of or in large part because of the guys on my team just put in the midnight hours and worked really hard last night. Stayed up until about 12:30 or one o’clock last night doing data on my computer as well. Just proud of everyone because it was a tough race last night. It was embarrassing honestly. That was a good turnaround and that’s what makes for really great teams is when you find a way. Normally in racing you don’t turn things around that quickly. You don’t come in the next day with a new idea and say, ‘Hey, this might work,’ and try it and it works. That was the first time I’ve ever had that happen. That’s a testament to this team.”

How are you feeling with one race before Playoffs start?

“I think we’re really confident. We’ve had the speed recently, other than this weekend, to win a lot of races and just haven’t executed. Then today was a little bit of the opposite. We weren’t amazing, but we put things together at the end to have a chance to win the race, which was fun. That’s what it takes from a team is you have to make the best out of the days that aren’t the best car. That was really, really good for us to do that going into the Playoffs and now we’re going to Bristol where we have laps and we have experience as a team. I’ve been there twice with this team now. It’s time to go, time to get some Playoff points before the Playoffs start and then once we get going, we’re going to be locked in and ready to go.”

Did your Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Cup teammates lean on you or your team for information around Richmond in preparation for tonight’s Cup race?

“I think that Kyle (Busch) is the connector between the two. I haven’t had any Cup guys ask me any questions, but I certainly asked them a lot of questions. I think that they learned from us and we learned some things that I think can apply to the Cup cars as well, especially with their package this weekend. Hopefully the JGR guys do well.”

BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/Inspire Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 8th

A solid bounce-back performance after the run from last night. How was your race this afternoon?

“After yesterday’s race, I didn’t know what to even ask. So, I just didn’t, because, typically if you ask the wrong questions, you get the goofy answers back. I stayed away from that a little bit and I went this morning and looked at SMT as much as I could. I didn’t watch any of the race back, but just studied SMT a bunch and put a bunch of notes in my notebook that I have. For today, it finally clicked with me in the race that where I need to be braking at and so I picked up on that. It was really good. A huge gainer for us. I kind of realized today that you cannot drive this track to the limit of the car. The way the track is designed – it’s almost like, you can have a lot of front turn on the entrance and the center, but the way the exit is, you have to wait so much longer on the car. It was quite a challenge in that sense. I think I finally found a couple things that helped that. So now, yesterday, we were great on the short run and weren’t really good on the long run, and I feel like we flip flopped today. We lost some short run speed and gained a bunch on our long run. There’s a lot of things that I’m going to go and study. We can use our sim tools at TRD and even iRacing on my own time to pick out a couple more markers, because I feel like you have to drive this track with markers a bunch.”

One more race before the Playoffs, do you feel like you and the team are ready for the charge for a championship?

“Yeah, we have to clean up some things after today, I feel like. I made a bunch of really small mistakes. Those add up over time, eventually, put us outside of where we really should have finished, which is top-five. I think we are ready. When we go the Playoffs, it needs to be solid, and everyone needs to be on the same page. That’s going to be the key to that, but Bristol is a dang good track for us. We’ve been so close to winning there multiple times, so it’s time to take that one, I think. We have the momentum. We have the confidence and speed, and everything is lining up to have a really good day there.”

# # #

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold nearly 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019.

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.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Cindric Clinches Regular Season Championship with 10th at Richmond

By
Official Release
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NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2020
Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 – RICHMOND RACEWAY
FORD PERFORMANCE DRIVER – POST RACE QUOTES

FORD FINISHING RESULTS:
10th – Austin Cindric
16th – Chase Briscoe

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 PPG Ford Mustang — NOT THE RESULT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR WITH YOUR FINISH TODAY, BUT CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP: “Thanks. I am trying to get over it. I had a very frustrating day and I wish we would have been able to do more with our PPG Ford Mustang today. We sat down as a team at the beginning of the year and we all wrote down our top-three goals. I am not a big proponent of setting goals but we put something on paper and my number one was the regular-season championship. From the outside looking in that was maybe a lofty goal but we have a lot of speed and a lot of fight and I am really proud of that effort. We can’t have days like today, especially if we get to make it to the Championship Four. A lot of emotions right now but at the end of the day it is mission accomplished for sure.”

AT TIMES THIS SEASON DID YOU THINK THE GOAL WAS ATTAINABLE? “It was frustrating because it felt so attainable. Especially in the months of June there when we were at Atlanta and Pocono and Homestead, places where we had so much speed. The races just didn’t go our way and it felt like nothing was going our way. Then we go to Indy and had the same thing there. But then we went on that run and it was really big for our points and the stats and the numbers show our consistency throughout the year.”

YOU GET TO GO TO BRISTOL AND RELAX WITH 15 BONUS POINTS IN THE BANK AND A REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP: “Relax at Bristol? That doesn’t happen. I am looking forward to it and looking forward to pushing hard and seeing what this team is capable of over the next couple of months.”

Cindric clinches 2020 Xfinity Series regular-season title

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12, produced mixed emotions for Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 22 PPG Ford Mustang for Team Penske. Despite struggling to keep pace with the leaders throughout Saturday afternoon’s race, a 10th-place run to cap off an eventful doubleheader weekend of racing at Richmond, Virginia, was enough for the Columbus, Ohio, native to claim this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season championship.

After finishing in fourth place on Friday night at Richmond, Cindric rolled off the grid in 12th place as the top-14 finishers from Friday night were inverted for Saturday afternoon’s race. When the green flag waved, Cindric showed early speed at the start as he cracked the top five. With the race progressing into a long run, he started to fall off the pace through the turns and he even dropped out the top 10 in the closing laps of the first stage. Having a tire wearing out, Cindric was able to nurse his No. 22 PPG Ford Mustang across the line in 15th place.

The second stage was an improvement for Cindric, who received adjustments at the start, made his way back into the top 10 on the track and was able to make a late rally on a late restart to finish in sixth place and collect valuable stage points towards the Playoffs and towards his lead in the regular-season standings.

For the final stage, which started with 93 laps remaining, Cindric remained within the bottom half of the top 10 and was trying to bring his car back home in one piece and with an opportunity to wrap up the regular-season title. Despite a late restart with 13 laps remaining, Cindric was able to cross the line under the checkered flag in 10th place and to cap off an up-and-down weekend at Richmond.

By virtue of his 10th-place run, the stage points he collected from the second stage and a strong 25-race regular-season stretch, where he notched five victories, 10 stage wins, 16 top-five results and 20 top-10 results, Cindric secured the regular-season title by being 71 points over fellow competitor Chase Briscoe, who achieved six victories throughout this year’s regular season.

“I had a very frustrating day and I wish we would have been able to do more with our PPG Ford Mustang today,” Cindric said on pit road on NBCSN. “We sat down as a team at the beginning of the year and we all wrote down our top-three goals. I am not a big proponent of setting goals but we put something on paper and my number one was the regular-season championship. From the outside looking in that was maybe a lofty goal but we got a lot of speed and a lot of fight and I am really proud of that effort. We can’t have days like today, especially if we get to make it to the Championship Four. A lot of emotions right now but at the end of the day it is mission accomplished for sure.”

With his accomplishment, Cindric, currently in his third full-time Xfinity Series season, became the fourth different competitor to claim the Xfinity regular-season title since its inception in 2017, joining names like Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Tyler Reddick who have also won the title prior to the Playoffs. In addition, Cindric will be awarded 15 bonus points for the Playoffs, which will commence at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 26, as he aims to join Brad Keselowski as the lone Xfinity competitors to win a Drivers’ Xfinity championship while driving for team owner Roger Penske.

“[The goal to win the regular-season title] was frustrating because it felt so attainable,” Cindric added. “Especially in the months of June, there when we were at Atlanta and Pocono and Homestead, places where we had so much speed. The races just didn’t go our way and it felt like nothing was going our way. Then we go to Indy and had the same thing there. But then, we went on that run and it was really big for our points and the stats and the numbers show our consistency throughout the year. I am looking forward to [Bristol next weekend] and looking forward to pushing hard and seeing what this team is capable of over the next couple of months.”

Cindric, along with his fellow Xfinity competitors, will cap off this year’s regular-season stretch at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 18, where the race will start at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Carter Earns First Global Mazda MX-5 Cup Win on Wild Final Lap at Mid-Ohio

By
Official Release
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LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sep. 12, 2020) – A wild white flag lap at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course earned Michael Carter (No. 08 Carter Racing Enterprises) his first-ever Global Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires win on Saturday. Carter narrowly beat Robert Noaker (No. 13 Copeland Motorsports) and Gresham Wagner (No. 5 Spark Performance) to the finish line.

The second Global Mazda MX-5 Cup race of the day at Mid-Ohio was shaping up to be similar to the first; polesitter Wagner led Carter and Noaker in a three-car pack that was comfortably clear of the rest of the field. That all changed on the last lap of the 45-minute race, when Carter made his move for the win.

“I planned on making a move earlier in the race, but Gresham (Wagner) and Robert (Noaker) were there and if I made a move they would start racing,” Carter said. “We got a break away a couple of times and I decided to stay in line. It ended up working out! With three laps to go, I wanted to make my move for the lead. With two to go, I tried to make it, but wasn’t close enough. I was able to get it on the last lap even going three-wide.”

Noaker, who had been patiently lapping in third, knew Carter’s bold move was his best shot for a win as well and made it three-wide going into Turn Six.

“Fourth and back kept fighting so I decided to sit where I was and pull away,” said Noaker, who had a record-setting win at Mid-Ohio in 2018 and returned to victory circle at the track again in 2019. “I ended up with a 15-second gap by the end of the race. The last lap was interesting because I got knocked off the track going into Turn Six three-wide.”

Carter emerged the victor of the three-car battle, but only just: his margin of victory over Noaker was 0.6660-second. The distance was of no consequence to Carter, who was overjoyed to get his first ever MX-5 Cup win.

“It was just hard racing,” Carter smiled. “Hats off to my competitors. It feels great getting a win.”

Noaker maintains his Global Mazda MX-5 Cup Championship lead as the only driver to finish on the podium of every race thus far.

“I am glad we ended up in second,” Noaker said. “It would have been better to finish in front of Michael Carter since he and I are fighting for the championship, but I am happy with two podiums – it keeps us in the lead.”

After scoring his first win in the Round Five race earlier in the day, Wagner led 27 laps of the 28-lap race, but he didn’t lead the one that counted most. He knew the charge from Carter was coming, but there was nothing he could do to stop it.

“I could tell Michael (Carter) had a whole race behind him,” Wagner said. “He knew where I was stronger and where he was stronger. He had 27 laps to plan out his final move. He did the smart thing of riding behind until the final couple of laps so we could race each other clean.

“I went a tad deep on the brakes exiting the Keyhole and then Robert (Noaker) snuck up with us going three-wide. Luckily, we all got away with everyone keeping clean. I would have liked to win, but the way it unfolded was ok. We had a good, hard-fought race and a successful weekend.”

Up until the final lap, the best battle on track was from positions four through nine. There may not have been many “official” position changes at the scoring line, but the door-to-door racing and late-braking battles were too numerous to count.

JaredThomasIt was Robert Stout (No. 3 White Racing) who successfully defended fourth place to the checkered flag. He was followed by Jared Thomas (No. 96 Carter Racing Enterprises) who started ninth but made an impressive run to fifth.

Alex Bachoura (No. 33 Slipstream Performance) missed all of Friday’s sessions, including qualifying, due to a schedule conflict. As a result, he started from the back of the grid in both races. His first laps around the track this weekend were in Saturday morning’s race. By the second race, he had his bearings and ended up with the Hard Charger Award for picking up six positions to finish 11th.

Rounds Five and Six were only the first half of a Mid-Ohio double dip. The series will be right back at the 2.258-mile road course in two week’s time, September 24 – 26. They will race alongside the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Challenge and support series.

About: The Global Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires is the signature spec series for the Mazda Road to 24 (#MRT24). Mazda-powered grassroots champions earn a Mazda scholarship to advance their career. The Global Mazda MX-5 Cup champion earns a $200,000 scholarship.

Find out more at http://www.mx-5cup.com.

Allgaier sweeps Richmond in doubleheader weekend

By
Andrew Kim
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Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 BRANDT Chevrolet, celebrates inn Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 at Richmond Raceway on September 12, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.

Coming off his late surge and dominating win on Friday night in Richmond, Virginia, while recording a milestone win for JR Motorsports, Justin Allgaier backed it up by winning the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday afternoon, September 12, for his third NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season and in the past six races as he also claimed his second victory of the weekend. The win was Allgaier’s 14th of his Xfinity career and 11th while driving JRM’s No. 7 car as JR Motorsports recorded its 51st NASCAR Xfinity career victory.

The starting lineup was based on the results from Friday night’s race at Richmond, where the top-14 finishers were inverted. With that, Tommy Joe Martins started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Brandon Jones. Chad Finchum started at the rear of the field due to an engine change. Rookie Myatt Snider also started at the rear of the field in a backup car.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Martins and Jones battled dead even for the lead before Jones was able to prevail through Turns 3 and 4 and lead the first lap. Behind, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Sieg made a three-wide move on Martins entering Turn 1 before both moved up to second and third behind Jones. Not long after, Kaz Grala also moved up into fourth followed by Michael Annett while Martins continued to fade and lose spots on the track.

By the fifth lap, Jones was ahead by nearly three-tenths of a second over Briscoe with Sieg trailing by half a second. Five laps later, on Lap 10, Jones stabilized his advantage to nearly three-tenths of a second over Briscoe. Behind, Grala moved into third place over Sieg while Noah Gragson joined the battle. Austin Cindric was in sixth followed by Annett, Justin Haley, teammate Ross Chastain and rookie Riley Herbst. Justin Allgaier, winner of Friday night’s Xfinity race at Richmond, was in 11th ahead of cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton while Tommy Joe Martins fell back to 20th.

On Lap 17, Briscoe emerged with the lead after passing Jones on the inside lane the previous lap in Turn 1. Behind him. Grala moved into second place followed by Gragson while Jones settled in fourth place ahead of Haley and Cindric. Four laps later, Haley, who finished in second place on Friday night behind Allgaier, continued his march to the front after passing Jones for fourth place. By then, Allgaier cracked the top 10.

By Lap 25, the top-three competitors on the track led by Briscoe and followed by Grala and Gragson were ahead of fourth-place Haley by a second with Cindric trailing by more than a second and Annett by more than two seconds. Shortly after, Gragson moved into second place over Grala.

Thirty laps into the event and with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Gragson emerged with the lead after passing Briscoe the previous lap in Turn 1. Briscoe maintained second place over Grala while Haley and Cindric stabilized themselves inside the top five. Behind, Allgaier moved up to sixth place and Ross Chastain moved up to eighth place while Jones fell back to 11th behind teammates Herbst and Harrison Burton.

While Gragson slowly extended his advantage, Grala and Briscoe battled for second place with Haley joining the party and heavy lapped traffic in front of them. On Lap 37, Haley, Briscoe and Grala went three wide for second place amid the lapped traffic for nearly a full circuit before Haley prevailed and took the spot. Behind, Allgaier rocketed his way into third place while Briscoe and Grala settled in the top five ahead of Cindric. Shortly after, Allgaier moved into second place. 

With the battling for positions settling down, Gragson was able to maintain the lead just as the competition caution flew on Lap 40. Under caution, few that included Joey Gase and Tommy Joe Martins made a pit stop while the rest remained on track.

The race resumed under green on Lap 45 as teammates Gragson and Allgaier battled for the lead while Briscoe made a three-wide move to move up to third place. At the front, Allgaier emerged with the lead entering Turn 2 and after restarting on the inside lane. Behind, Haley passed Briscoe for third place while teammate Chastain overtook Annett into fifth place in pursuit of more on the track.

Fifty-five laps into the event, Allgaier was ahead by three-tenths of a second over teammate Gragson while Kaulig Racing teammates Haley and Chastain trailed behind. Annett, teammates to Allgaier and Gragson at JR Motorsports, was back in fifth place while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Herbst and Burton battled with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Briscoe for sixth and seventh. Penske’s Cindric was in ninth while RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg was in 10th. Richard Childress Racing’s Grala was back in 12th behind Sieg.

Five laps later, on Lap 60, Allgaier continued to lead by half a second over Gragson with Haley trailing by seven-tenths of a second and Chastain trailing by more than a second. Jones was back in 14th while Martins was back in 27th. In addition, Grala overtook Cindric for 10th place. 

When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Allgaier emerged at the front of the field as he claimed his 10th stage victory of the season. Gragson settled in second place behind his teammate followed by Haley, Chastain and Harrison Burton while Annett, Herbst, Jeb Burton, Sieg and Grala settled in the top 10. By then, Briscoe and his No. 98 Go Bowling Ford Mustang dropped back to 11th place ahead of Brandon Jones while Cindric and his No. 22 PPG Ford Mustang also fell back to 15th place. 

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead following his pit stop ahead of teammate Gragson, Chastain, Haley, Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton. Following the pit stops, Sieg was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

The second stage commenced on Lap 82 and Chastain made a bold three-wide move beneath Allgaier and Gragson in Turn 1 to take the lead. Eight laps later, on Lap 90, Chastain stabilized his advantage to a second over teammates Allgaier and Gragson while Jeb Burton moved up to fourth place in front of Haley and Harrison Burton. Behind, Cindric rallied from his late issues near the end of the first stage to run in seventh place followed by Herbst, Briscoe and Brett Moffitt. Annett, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones, Brandon Brown and Grala were running in the top 15.

Another 10 laps later, on Lap 100, Chastain stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Allgaier, whose car slowly came to life and with speed on long runs like the first stage, with Gragson trailing by more than a second. Behind, Jeb Burton continued to maintain fourth place over Haley. 

By Lap 110, Allgaier cut his deficit to three-tenths of a second over Chastain as the leaders started to approach heavy lapped traffic. Both Chastain and Allgaier were ahead of third-place Gragson by more than two seconds with Haley in fourth. Behind by more than four seconds were cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton, both battling for fifth place, with Herbst joining the party. Cindric was back in eighth place ahead of Briscoe and Annett.

Ten laps later, on Lap 120, Allgaier started to pressure Chastain for the lead as they cleared the lapped traffic. He then attempted to gain a run and set up a pass on the outside lane, but Chastain was able to stabilize his narrow lead.

When the race reached its halfway point on Lap 125, Chastain was still ahead with the lead as Allgaier settled right behind the rear bumper of Chastain’s No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro. Three laps later, Allgaier and his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro moved back into the lead after fending off a challenge by Chastain, who refused to back out of the gas.

Behind, Harrison Burton made his way to third place after passing Gragson while Herbst moved up to fifth place after passing Haley. Jeb Burton settled in seventh place in front of Cindric, Jones and Briscoe. Shortly after, Herbst muscled his No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra into fourth place.

With 10 laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew for an incident involving in Turn 3 involving Colby Howard. By then, Allgaier was leading by more than a second over Chastain with Harrison Burton trailing by less than four seconds. Under caution, some like Chastain, Haley, Harrison Burton, Herbst, Cindric, Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones and Briscoe pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on track. Following the pit stops, Jones was sent to the rear for speeding on pit road.

With five laps remaining, the short dash to the conclusion of the second stage started under green and with Allgaier and Grala restarting on the front row followed by teammates Gragson and Annett. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead while Chastain rocketed his way on the outside lane to move all the way up to second place in two laps and on fresh tires than Allgaier. All this occurred as the field scrambled for positions between those on fresh tires versus those on old tires. 

A lap later, teammates Chastain and Haley made a three-wide move on Allgaier for the lead with Chastain reassuming the lead while Allgaier was overtaken by a handful of cars on fresh tires and dropped back to the top 10. By the time the second stage concluded on Lap 150 and with the scrambling for positions still ongoing through every turn and straightaway, Chastain emerged out in front and claimed his second stage victory of the season. Teammate Haley and his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro settled in second followed by Jeb Burton, Briscoe and Harrison Burton while Cindric, Herbst, Allgaier, Gragson and Grala settled in the top 10.

Under the stage break, some like Allgaier, Gragson, Jeb Burton, Grala, Clements and Brandon Brown pitted while the rest led by teammates Chastain and Haley remained on track. 

The final stage commenced under green with 93 laps remaining and with Chastain and Haley on the front row. At the start, Chastain took off with the lead followed by Briscoe and Jeb Burton while Haley got shuffled out of the top five entering Turn 2. In one lap, Allgaier moved up to sixth place on fresh tires. 

At the front, Jeb Burton made a move beneath Chastain to take the lead with 90 laps remaining. Shortly after, Allgaier rocketed into third place after passing Cindric while Briscoe settled in fifth place in front of Harrison Burton.

With 87 laps remaining, Allgaier overtook Chastain for second place as Jeb Burton continued to lead by a second. Seven laps later, with 80 laps remaining, Allgaier cut his deficit to Jeb Burton down to less than three-tenths of a second. Behind, Chastain trailed by two seconds in third place followed by Gragson and Cindric while Harrison Burton and Haley battled for sixth place.

Two laps later, Allgaier made his way back into the lead after passing teammate Jeb Burton. Another five laps later, with 73 laps remaining, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than a second over Jeb Burton’s No. 8 LS Tractor Chevrolet Camaro.

As the green-flag run progressed and with Allgaier ahead by more than two seconds, Chastain took second place over Jeb Burton with Gragson and Haley in the top five. Cindric was in sixth place followed by Harrison Burton, Annett, Grala and Herbst while Briscoe was back in 12th place in front of Jones, Clements and Brown.

With 60 laps remaining, Allgaier stabilized his lead to three seconds over Chastain. Ten laps later, with 50 laps remaining, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than five seconds over Chastain with Jeb Burton trailing by less than six seconds.

Another 10 laps later and with 40 laps remaining, Allgaier continued to extend his advantage by seven seconds over Chastain with Jeb Burton trailing by more than eight seconds. Fourth-place Haley was trailing by 10 seconds while Gragson and Harrison Burton trailed by more than 12 seconds. By then, names like Ryan Sieg, Brett Moffitt and Chase Briscoe were lapped.

Under 30 laps remaining, Allgaier’s lead expanded to eight seconds over Chastain with Jeb Burton trailing by nine seconds, Haley by less than 11 seconds and Harrison Burton by less than 15 seconds. Gragson retained sixth place ahead of teammate Annett and Grala while Cindric and Jones were scored in the top 10. Behind, Alex Labbe was in 11th place ahead of Herbst, Clements, Brandon Brown and Matt Mills. Jeffrey Earnhardt was in 16th place, a lap down, while Sieg and Briscoe were back in 17th and 19th. 

With approximately 20 laps remaining, the caution flew after contact from Brandon Brown sent Herbst hard into the Turn 1 outside wall and with significant damage sustained to the rear end of Herbst’s No. 18 Toyota that knocked Herbst out of contention in the closing laps of the race. The caution erased a nearly nine-second advantage for Allgaier. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of Jeb Burton and Chastain.

The race restarted under green with 13 laps remaining and with teammates Allgaier and Burton on the front row while Chastain and Harrison Burton lined up on the second row. At the start, Allgaier withstood a challenge from Jeb Burton to retain the lead, 

With 10 laps remaining, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to nearly four-tenths of a second over teammate Jeb Burton with Chastain trailing behind and the pack behind jostling for late positions. Two laps later, Allgaier extended his advantage to six-tenths of a second.

With five laps remaining and Allgaier leading by more than a second, Jeb Burton continued to maintain second place ahead of Chastain and Harrison Burton with Haley in fifth place ahead of Gragson.

With the leaders encountering lapped traffic, Chastain started to challenge Jeb Burton for second place followed by Harrison Burton and his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra. Despite encountering lapped traffic in front of him, Allgaier was able to stabilize his advantage and navigate his way through one final circuit and come back around to win by two seconds and for his second checkered flag of the weekend.

Through the first 19 regular-season races of this year, Allgaier had yet to fill in the win column to his stats in 2020. Since recording his first victory at Dover International Speedway in August, Allgaier’s pair of victories this weekend at Richmond allowed him to join Cindric, Briscoe and Brandon Jones as the lone Xfinity competitors to achieve three or more victories throughout the regular-season stretch. In addition, Allgaier joined Cindric as the lone Xfinity competitors to achieve two victories in a doubleheader weekend at a track, when Cindric made his accomplishment at Kentucky Speedway in July.

“I knew how good our car was all day,” Allgaier said in Victory Lane on NBCSN. “It seems like lately, we haven’t been able to get [BRANDT] to Victory Lane. It wasn’t for lack of effort. I knew at the end there, I knew we had speed. I knew when we needed to go we could. I just didn’t know how fast. My teammate, Jeb Burton, did a fantastic job today on that last restart. I’m just so proud of these guys.”

In addition, Allgaier, who won on Friday night at Richmond, spent time afterwards working with his crew to install a new front nose on his No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro prior to Saturday afternoon’s race, where he went on to win.

“I have to thank the Man upstairs,” Allgaier added. “Tonight was definitely a push to the end, but we just had the luck we needed. I say luck, but luck is opportunities and preparation. We were prepared and the opportunities came tonight and we did a good job. I’m really proud of these guys.”

Behind, Jeb Burton settled in a career-best second place in his 40th series start followed by Chastain, who racked up his 12th top-five result of this season. Harrison Burton rallied from a 16th-place result on Friday night to finish in fourth place while Haley recorded a fifth-place run for his second top-five result in two days and for his eighth top-five finish of this season. Gragson finished in sixth place while Annett, Brandon Jones, Grala and Cindric rounded out the top 10. By finishing in 10th place, Cindric clinched this year’s regular-season championship and he will be awarded 15 bonus points for this year’s Playoffs.

By finishing 15th and 34th, Ryan Sieg and Riley Herbst clinched their spots for this year’s Xfinity Playoffs, thus joining Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Ross Chastain and Michael Annett for this year’s championship battle.

Brandon Brown finished in 11th place and he holds sole possession of the 12th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs by 49 points over Clements, who finished 17th, and 88 over Snider, who finished 31st, as the series makes its way to the regular-season finale next Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

There were nine lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 29 laps.

Results.

1. Justin Allgaier, 135 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Jeb Burton, 12 laps led

3. Ross Chastain, 58 laps led, Stage 2 winner

4. Harrison Burton

5. Noah Gragson, 16 laps led 

6. Justin Haley

7. Michael Annett

8. Brandon Jones, 16 laps led

9. Kaz Grala

10. Austin Cindric

11. Brandon Brown

12. Alex Labbe

13. Matt Mills

14. Jeffrey Earnhardt

15. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

16. Chase Briscoe, one lap down, 13 laps led

17. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

18. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

19. Bayley Currey, one lap down

20. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

21. Mason Massey, two laps down

22. Stephen Leicht, three laps down

23. Joey Gase, three laps down

24. B.J. McLeod, three laps down

25. Josh Williams, three laps down

26. Tommy Joe Martins, three laps down

27. Joe Graf Jr., three laps down

28. Chad Finchum, four laps down

29. Kody Vanderwal, four laps down

30. Dexter Bean, four laps down

31. Myatt Snider, four laps down

32. Vinnie Miller, five laps down

33. Jesse Little, six laps down

34. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

35. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident

36. Timmy Hill – OUT, Fuel pump

The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season finale will occur at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 300, which will occur on Friday, September 18, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN. 

Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report – Richmond: Race 2

By
Official Release
-

Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report
Track: Richmond Raceway: Race 2
Race: Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250
Date: September 12, 2020
__________________________________________________
No. 22 Snap-on Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 12th
Stage 1: 15th
Stage 2: 6th
Finish: 10th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 250/250
Laps Led: 0
Point Standings (ahead of second): 1st (+71)

Notes:

Austin Cindric and the No. 22 PPG Ford Mustang team clinched the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season championship after finishing in the 10th position in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday afternoon. The finish was Cindric’s fifth top-10 in six starts at the Virginia short track and his 20th top-10 finish of the 2020 season. Cindric continues to lead the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings, 71 markers ahead of Chase Briscoe.

Cindric started the 250-lap, 187-mile event from 12th position after the top-15 finishers from Friday nights Richmond Raceway event were inverted. The first 75-lap stage saw two cautions, including the competition caution on lap 40. Cindric was scored in the sixth position after battling a tight PPG Ford Mustang. As Stage 1 progressed, the handling condition worsened and with five-laps remaining in Stage 1, Cindric radioed the right front tire might be going down. He was able to remain on track, but slipped out of the top-10, finishing Stage 1 in 15th position. Crew chief Brian Wilson called the PPG Ford down pit road for four tires, fuel, and adjustments to aid the handling of his Mustang.
The Mooresville, N.C. native started Stage 2 from the eighth position on lap 83. During the long run he communicated the rear drive was better in his PPG Ford but needed more to run with the leaders. The second 75-lap stage saw its first caution with eight-laps remaining and once again, Wilson called Cindric to pit road for four tires, fuel, and adjustments. The driver of the PPG Ford restarted 12th with five-laps remaining in the stage and finished sixth on lap 150.

Wilson elected to stay out during the stage caution and Cindric restarted the final stage sixth and quickly moved up to fourth. As the laps ticked off during the final stage, Cindric continued to battle a tight Ford. Big picture racing for the regular-season championship title, the team played it conservative and dropped to the ninth position. The fifth caution of the race fell with 22-laps remaining. Cindric came to pit road for four tires, fuel, and an adjustment for the short run. He restarted ninth on lap 236, finishing 10th and clinching the regular-season championship at the checkered flag.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action at Bristol Motor Speedway, Friday September 18th, for the final regular season NXS race before the start of the Series Playoffs. Live coverage will begin at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Quote: “I wish we would have been able to do more with our PPG Ford Mustang today. We sat down as a team at the beginning of the year and we all wrote down our top-three goals. I am not a big proponent of setting goals but we put something on paper and my number one was the regular-season championship. From the outside looking in that was maybe a lofty goal but we have a lot of speed and a lot of fight and I am really proud of that effort and the effort of my team.”

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