Two of NASCAR’s national series are in action at Richmond International Raceway (3/4-mile, Richmond, VA) this weekend, the XFINITY Series on Saturday and the Monster NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday. The Camping World Truck Series is off until May 12 at Kansas Speedway. Storylines for this weekend follow… The Race: Toyota Owners 400 The Place: Richmond International Raceway The Date: Sunday, April 30 The Time: 2 p.m. ET TV: FOX, 1:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 300 miles (400 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 100), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 200), Final Stage (Ends on lap 400) Jimmie Johnson Goes For Third Straight Win And A Tie With Yarborough Jimmie Johnson maneuvered around Kevin Harvick with 21 laps left in Monday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway and outlasted a hard-charging Clint Bowyer to win his second consecutive race. The victory gives Johnson 82 career wins. With a third straight victory in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway (2 p.m. ET on FOX), Johnson would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough for sixth on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series all-time wins list (83). The No. 48 Chevrolet driver trails Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for fourth on the all-time wins list (84) by a mere two checkered flags. In 30 career starts at Richmond, Johnson claims three wins, seven top fives and 12 top 10s. Johnson sits sixth in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings – 116 markers below first-place Kyle Larson. His 10 playoff points are tied with Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski for the most on the circuit. Johnson and Keselowski are the only drivers with multiple wins this season. Bowyer Hopes To Build On Runner-Up Result Clint Bowyer’s move to Stewart-Haas Racing seems to have revived his career. The No. 14 Chevrolet driver wheeled his way to a runner-up finish Monday at Bristol – his best showing since placing second at Richmond – the site of this weekend’s race – on April 27, 2013. Bowyer’s two top-five and four top-10 finishes this season outnumber his totals of zero top fives and three top 10s from last year. He sits eighth in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings – 121 markers behind leader Kyle Larson. The Kansas native hasn’t placed better than 19th in the final standings since finishing seventh in 2013. Richmond is one of Bowyer’s top tracks. In 22 starts at the Virginia oval, he owns two wins, four top fives and 12 top 10s. Larson Continues Breakout Season, Extends Points Lead Kyle Larson continued his breakout season with a stage win and sixth-place finish at Bristol. He now holds a 27-point advantage over Chase Elliott in the standings on the strength of one win, five top fives and six top 10s. The 24-year-old Chevrolet driver will try to extend his lead in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway. In six starts at Richmond, he has posted one top-10 finish – a runner-up showing last fall. He has never finished worse than 16th at the Virginia track and has an average finish of 11.3 there. Hamlin Tough To Pass At Richmond Chesterfield Virginia native Denny Hamlin returns home to Richmond International Raceway where he’ll go for his second straight win after visiting Victory Lane there in last year’s regular season finale. In 21 starts at Richmond, Hamlin owns three wins, eight top fives and 12 top 10s. He holds the second-best driver rating (109.9), as well as the third-best average finish (10.1) and average running position (7.8) there. Hamlin has started the season off slow. He is currently 15th in the points standings – 176 markers behind leader Kyle Larson. Could Richmond Be The Site Of Kyle Busch’s First Win? Kyle Busch visited Victory Lane nine times in the previous two seasons, but he’s still searching for his first win of 2017. That first triumph could come this weekend at Richmond International Raceway – a track where the Las Vegas native has excelled throughout his career. In 23 starts at the .75-mile track, Busch claims four wins, 15 top fives and 17 top 10s. Among active drivers, he boasts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ top average finish (7.0) and driver rating (110.8), along with the second-best average running position (7.7) at the .75-mile track. Busch led 78 laps in last year’s spring race at Richmond before his teammate Carl Edwards moved him for the win off Turn 4 on the final go-around. The No. 18 Toyota driver ranks 11th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings – 146 points behind leader Kyle Larson. Furniture Row Puts On Show At Bristol Furniture Row Racing continued to display its speed in Monday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Martin Truex Jr. placed second in Stage 1 and won Stage 2, before finishing eighth due to a pit road speeding penalty that took him out of contention for the race win. He led 116 laps on the day. The No. 78 Toyota driver’s 20-year-old teammate Erik Jones flashed his immense potential, finishing third in Stage 1 and sixth in Stage 2, but finished 17th as the result of a wreck and pit road penalty. Truex is third in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings on the strength of one victory and a series-leading five stage wins. His 10 playoff points are tied with Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson’s totals for the most in the series. Jones sits 12th in the points standings, the highest ranking among Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders. The Race: ToyotaCare 250 The Place: Richmond International Raceway The Date: Saturday, April 29 The Time: 1 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 12:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 187.5 miles (250 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 75), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 150), Final Stage (Ends on lap 250) Dash 4 Cash Round 3 of 4: Richmond International Raceway For the third time this season NASCAR XFINITY Series championship contending drivers will have the chance to battle it out for the Dash 4 Cash, and the giant $100,000 check that comes with it. JR Motorsport’s driver Justin Allgaier snagged the first Dash 4 Cash win at Phoenix International Raceway, and then last week at Bristol, Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric grabbed the second installment of the program and his first Dash 4 Cash win. Richmond International Raceway has been a part of the Dash 4 Cash program since 2011. Only two drivers have won the Dash 4 Cash at Richmond – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2011 and Ty Dillon in 2016. JR Motorsport’s Elliott Sadler Extends Points Lead Over Teammate William Byron Elliott Sadler’s stranglehold on the NASCAR XFINITY Series points continues. Just when it looked like second-place William Byron was going to catch Sadler following Texas, Sadler found another gear and opened the points gap back up to 16 following his third top five of the season. Sadler is on a six-race streak of finishing inside the top 10; dating back to the second race of the season at Atlanta. In seven starts this season, Sadler has posted three top fives and an average finish of 9.0. Expect the top 10 streak to continue at Richmond. In Sadler’s last 12 starts at the famous half-mile track, he has posted nine top-10 finishes. Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric Arrives In The Top Five In Points Richard Childress Racing’s Sunoco Rookie Daniel Hemric showed some signs of life last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway winning Stage 2 of the race and posting his first career series top-five finish as he took home the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus. On top of all that, the young Kannapolis, North Carolina, native has moved into the top five in the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship standings, 80 points back from the standings lead and just four points back from fourth-place Ryan Reed. In seven starts this season, Hemric has posted one top five, three top 10s and an average finish of 15.4. Hemric will be making his NASCAR national series debut at Richmond International Raceway this weekend. Kyle Benjamin To Make Series Debut For Joe Gibbs Racing At Richmond Joe Gibbs Racing has tapped NASCAR Next graduate Kyle Benjamin to pilot the No. 20 Toyota Camry with crew chief Chris Gabehart at Richmond International Raceway in the ToyotaCare 250 this weekend. Benjamin has built quite the resume working his way up the ranks. He became the youngest pole winner (15 years old) in ARCA Series history at Toledo Speedway in 2013. Later that same season, he became the series’ youngest winner when he took the checkered flag at Madison International Speedway. Not long after that he moved over to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, where over the past three seasons he has posted five wins, 14 top fives and 19 top 10s. He also finished a career-best second in the final NKNPSE championship points in 2016. Benjamin is scheduled to compete in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for Joe Gibbs Racing at Richmond this weekend, and then Pocono Raceway (06/10/17), Iowa Speedway (07/29/17) and Kentucky Speedway (09/23/17). A total of 79 drivers in NASCAR XFINITY Series history have made their series debut at Richmond International Raceway. Six of the 79 are competing this weekend – Ryan Blaney (04/27/12), Cole Custer (04/23/16), Austin Dillon (09/07/08), Brandon Brown (09/09/16), Daniel Suarez (04/25/14), and Ryan Reed (04/26/13). NASCAR XFINITY Series Etc. Virginia Natives To Look For: Three Virginia natives will be attempting to compete this weekend at Richmond International Speedway – series standings leader and JR Motorsports driver Elliott Sadler (Emporia), King Autosport’s driver Brandon Brown (Woodbridge) and Brandon Gdovic Racing’s driver Quin Houff (Weyers Cave). JGR Tops In Wins Over Last Five Seasons: Over the last five full seasons (not including 2017), no other team has visited Victory Lane more than Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. From 2012 to 2016, the series has run 165 events and nine different organizations have posted at least one win. Joe Gibbs Racing leads the series in wins during that time with 64 (38.7%) victories, followed by Team Penske (33 wins), JR Motorsports (23), Richard Childress Racing (22), Roush Fenway Racing (12), Chip Ganassi Racing (six), HScott Motorsports (three), Biagi-DenBeste Racing (one) and Richard Petty Motorsports (one). Monster Names To Watch This Weekend: This weekend at Richmond International Raceway, five Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers will attempt to compete in the ToyotaCare 250 – Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson. New RIR Winner Probability Is High: Of the 42 drivers entered this weekend in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Richmond International Raceway only one is a former winner – Morgan Shepherd – who won on Sept. 10, 1983. If Shepherd makes the race, the chances for a new winner are at 97.5%, if he doesn’t it goes up 100%. Top 10 In Points Still Looking For A Win: Seven of the current top 10 in the NASCAR XFINITY Series standings are still looking for their first career series victory – William Byron, Daniel Hemric, Darrell Wallace Jr, Blake Koch, Brennan Poole, Matt Tifft and Michael Annett have yet win in the series. Richmond has hosted six first-time series winners in Victory Lane since 1982 – Kyle Busch (2004), Robby Gordon (2004), Jeff Purvis (1996), Bobby Hamilton (1989), Butch Lindley (1982) and Tommy Houston (1982). Sunoco Rookie of the Year Update: William Byron continues to hold on to the rookie standings lead by 17 points over second-place Daniel Hemric followed by Cole Custer (-30), Matt Tifft (-33), and Spencer Gallagher (-41). Car Owner Points Update: Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang team has opened the lead in car owner points to 53 markers over the second-place Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota Camry team through the first seven races despite not having a win. Penske is looking to win his fourth NASCAR XFINITY Series owner title this season. NXS Milestones: Elliott Sadler will be making his 337th series start this weekend, tying Kevin Harvick for 13th on the NASCAR XFINITY Series all-time starts list. … BJ McCleod will attempt to make his 50th NASCAR XFINITY Series start this weekend. Next Race: Toyota Tundra 250 The Place: Kansas Speedway The Date: Friday, May 12 The Time: 8 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 8:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 250.5 miles (167 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 40), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 80), Final Stage (Ends on lap 167) source – NASCAR communications
