Richmond Raceway, Virginia’s 0.75-mile oval short-track, featured the Cup and XFINITY races on Saturday. The Trucks rejoin the other two series next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. At the drop of the green flag to begin the Cup race, Martin Truex Jr. crossed the start/finish line ahead of pole-sitter Denny Hamlin. That called for a penalty. Truex was black-flagged and had to drop to the rear of the field for the restart. 400 laps later, Truex crossed the start/finish line first again, but this time he was the race winner. The latest results and upcoming scheduled events for the NASCAR feeder series are included below as well as brief details on all tracks mentioned in this column.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Sat, Sep 11, Federated Auto Parts 400 – Richmond Raceway – 400 laps.
– No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Saturday night’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Kyle Larson (#5 Chevrolet Camaro) P1 on the starting grid. Denny Hamlin (#11 Toyota Camry) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #19 Martin Truex Jr., #1 Kurt Busch, #4 Kevin Harvick, #22 Joey Logano, #2 Brad Keselowski, #12 Ryan Blaney, #10 Aric Almirola and #20 Christopher Bell formed the rest of the top-10 in that order. Did not make the 40-car field: No one, only 37 entries.
Update: Larson’s car failed pre-race inspection multiple times. Based on NASCAR rules, the #5 Camaro had to drop to the rear of the field at the start of the race. Hamlin and Truex Jr. moved up to P1 and P2 respectively to set the front row before the green flag waved.
– Martin Truex Jr. (#19 Toyota Camry) scored his 31st victory in 577 NCS races. This is his 4th victory and 15th top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 3rd victory and 14th top-10 finish in 31 Richmond races. Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin (2nd) led a race-high 197 laps and posted his 19th top-10 finish in 30 races at Richmond. It is his 19th top-10 finish in 2021. Christopher Bell (3rd) posted his 2nd top-10 finish in three Richmond races. Chase Briscoe (16th) was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender (ROTY).
– NCS points leader: Kyle Larson by 24 points over Denny Hamlin.
– NCS Playoffs – Round of 16: (G/L)
1. Kyle Larson (P)
2. Denny Hamlin (P)
3. Martin Truex Jr. (P)
4. Joey Logano +2
5. Ryan Blaney
6. Kevin Harvick +1
7. Chase Elliott +3
8. Christopher Bell +1
9. Brad Keselowski -1
10. Kyle Busch +4
11. Aric Almirola
12. Kurt Busch -8
—————–
13. Alex Bowman
14. Tyler Reddick -2
15. William Byron
16. Michael McDowell
(P) Clinched a spot in the Round of 12 by winning a Round of 16 race or having enough of a points lead.
– After the next race (Bristol), the bottom 4 will not advance to the NCS Playoffs Round of 12 that starts on September 26 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
– Next: Sat, Sep 18, Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race – Bristol Motor Speedway – 500 laps.
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Sat, Sep 11, Go Bowling 250 – Richmond Raceway – 250 laps.
– No practice or qualifying sessions. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Saturday’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Austin Cindric (#22 Ford Mustang) P1 on the starting grid. Harrison Burton (#20 Toyota Supra) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #9 Noah Gragson, #11 Justin Haley, #7 Justin Allgaier, #10 Jeb Burton, #51 Jeremy Clements, #16 AJ Allmendinger, #2 Myatt Snider and #1 Michael Annett formed the rest of the top-10 in that order. 41 cars entered for the 40-car field: #13 Timmy Hill did not make the race.
– Noah Gragson (#9 Chevrolet Camaro) scored his 4th victory in 94 NCS races. This is his 2nd consecutive victory and 16th top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 1st victory and 5th top-10 finish in six races at Richmond. Justin Haley (2nd) posted his 4th top-10 finish in five Richmond races and his 17th top-10 finish in 2021. Truck Series regular John Hunter Nemechek (third) posted his 2nd top-10 finish in four races at Richmond. Ty Gibbs (7th) was the highest finishing ROTY. Pole-sitter Austin Cindric led 50 laps and finished in 16th place.
– NXS points leader: AJ Allmendinger by 5 points over Austin Cindric.
– TOP-12 NXS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. AJ Allmendinger
2. Austin Cindric
3. Justin Allgaier
4. Daniel Hemric
5. Harrison Burton
6. Noah Gragson +1
7. Justin Haley -1
8. Jeb Burton
9. Jeremy Clements
10. Brandon Jones
11. Riley Herbst
12. Myatt Snider
– Next: Fri, Sep 17, Food City 300 – Bristol Motor Speedway – 300 laps.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
– NTS points leader: Sheldon Creed by 2 points over John Hunter Nemechek.
NTS Playoffs – Round of 10:
1. Sheldon Creed +1 (P)
2. John Hunter Nemechek -1 (P)
3. Matt Crafton +1
4. Stewart Friesen +1
5. Ben Rhodes -2
6. Todd Gilliland +2
7. Carson Hocevar
8. Austin Hill -2
—————–
9. Zane Smith
10. Chandler Smith
(P) Clinched a spot in the Round of 8 by winning a Round of 10 race or having enough of a points lead.
– After the next race (Bristol), the bottom 2 will not advance to the NTS Playoffs Round of 8 that starts on September 24 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
– Next: Thu, Sep 16, UNOH 200 – Bristol Motor Speedway – 200 laps.
NASCAR Feeder Series
ARCA Menards Series:
Sun, Sep 5, Southern Illinois 100 – DuQuoin State Fairgrounds – 100 laps.
Winner: Landon Lewis – P1: Landon Lewis – Points Leader: Ty Gibbs
Next: Thu, Sep 16, * Bush’s Beans 200 – Bristol Motor Speedway – 200 laps.
* ARCA Menards Series (AMS), ARCA Menards East (AME) Combo
ARCA Menards East:
Sun, Aug 29, Sprecher 150 – Milwaukee Mile Speedway – 150 laps.
Winner: Ty Gibbs – P1: Ty Gibbs – Points Leader: Sammy Smith
Next: Thu, Sep 16, * Bush’s Beans 200 – Bristol Motor Speedway – 200 laps.
* ARCA Menards Series (AMS), ARCA Menards East (AME) Combo
ARCA Menards West:
Sat, Sat, Sep 11, Portland 112 – Portland International Raceway – 57 laps.
Winner: Taylor Gray – P1: Jake Drew – Points Leader: Jesse Love
NEXT: Thu, Sep 23, Star Nursery 150 – The Bullring at Las Vegas – 150 laps.
Whelen Modified Tour:
Fri. Sep 10, Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 – Richmond Raceway – 150 laps.
Winner: Ryan Preece – P1: Justin Bonsignore – Points Leader: Justin Bonsignore
Next: Sat. Sep 18, Miller Lite 200 – Riverhead Raceway – 200 laps.
Pinty’s Series: (Sunday Double-header 125s)
Sun, Sep 12, Motomaster Batteries 125 – Flamboro Speedway – 125 laps.
Winner: Andrew Ranger – P1: Treyten Lapcevich – Points Leader: Alex Tagliani
Sun, Sep 12, QwickWick 125 – Flamboro Speedway – 125 laps.
Winner: TBD – P1: DJ Kennington – Points Leader: TBD.
** Rain postponed the second half of the double-header. A decision has yet to be made on rescheduling the QwickWick 125.
Season Finale: Sun, Sep 26, Pinty’s Fall Brawl – Delaware Speedway
Peak Mexico Series:
Sun, Sep 5, Autodromo del Ecocentro de la Union Ganadera, Queretaro
Winner: Salvador De Alba Jr. – Points Leader: Abraham Calderon
Next: Sun, Sep 26, Autodromo Monterrey in Monterrey Mexico
Track Details
Autodromo del Ecocentro de la Union Ganadera – 0.79-mile oval – Queretaro
Autodromo Monterrey – 1.0-mile oval – Monterrey, Mexico
Bristol Motor Speedway – 0.533-mile concrete oval – Bristol, Tennessee
Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 3/8-mile paved oval – Las Vegas, Nevada
Delaware Speedway – 0.5-mile oval – Delaware, Ontario
Daytona Int’l Speedway – 2.5-mile tri-oval – Daytona Beach, Florida
DuQuoin State Fairgrounds – 1-mile clay oval – DuQuoin, Illinois
Flamboro Speedway – 0.333-mile oval – Millgrove, Ontario
Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 1.5-mile tri-oval – Las Vegas, Nevada
Milwaukee Mile Speedway – 1-mile oval – West Allis, Wisconsin
Portland Int’l Raceway – 1.967-mile road course – Portland, Oregon
Richmond Raceway – 0.75-mile oval – Richmond, Virginia
Riverhead Raceway – 0.25-mile oval – Riverhead, New York