Chandler Smith wins second Xfinity race at Richmond
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RICHMOND, Va. — Chandler Smith led a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep at Richmond (Va.) Raceway Saturday afternoon cruising to a 4.495-seconds victory over teammates Aric Almirola and Tanner Gray in the ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
It marks back-to-back wins in this race for Smith – answering his first career Xfinity Series victory last Spring – and he led the final 60 laps in the No. 81 JGR Toyota, 76 laps on the day for his third career win, second of the season. It was his teammate Almirola, who won both Stages and led a race best 95 of the 250 laps in his No. 20 JGR Toyota, but the former fulltime NASCAR Cup Series driver ultimately could not catch Smith, who pulled away in the closing laps.
“Never give up, never give up,” said Smith, who has top-10 finishes in all six races this year. “This car was not good. Stage 1 wasn’t good, but we were able to do some strategy there with this No. 81 Supra in Stage 2.
“Back here winning races on a consistent basis and took over the points lead too, I’m just blessed,” he added.
For his part Almirola acknowledged he just didn’t have what he needed to catch the 21-year old Georgia-native in the closing laps. He’ll have another chance at victory next week as he’s in the car again at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
“We just got a little bit too loose,” Almirola said. “The run before that in Stage 2, when I took off my car was really, really good. At the end, it just felt a little tight and that last run for whatever reason, different set of tires or what, I let Chandler go and when I started to just creep back to him, I didn’t have anything to go with.
“I was too loose in and couldn’t get throttle down on exit. Hate that to win both stages and feel like we had the dominant car and then to let it slip away there at the end, is disappointing.”
The JGR team can also take pride in its third-place finish – considering it was the 19-year old Gray’s series debut. NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series full-timer Corey Heim was fourth followed by series rookie Jesse Love.
It was also a big outing for renowned late model racer Bubba Pollard, punctuating his series debut with a sixth-place finish in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – particularly impressive considering Pollard started 37th.
“I just got behind in qualifying there and it made for a long day,” Pollard said. “But these guys gave me a great race car, JR Motorsports.
“I needed that long green flag run just to get in a rhythm. This place is tough, it’s technical and probably one of the toughest places I’ve been to, and I’ve been to a lot of places.
“I’m happy with it. I enjoyed it and had fun and hopefully the fans enjoyed it too.”
Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, JR Motorsports Sammy Smith and reigning series champion Cole Custer rounded out the top-10. The 20-year old Parker Retzlaff, who won his first career pole position Saturday, finished 16th in the No. 31 Jordan Anderson Chevrolet and led a career high 27 laps.
With their work, Smith, Almirola, Love and Kligerman have qualified for next week’s Dash 4 Cash event at Martinsville Speedway, and the highest finisher of the four Dash 4 Cash drivers in the race will collect an extra $100,000 bonus.
With the win, Smith takes a 10-point driver standings lead over Hill to next Saturday’s DUDE Wipes 250 (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). John Hunter Nemechek is the defending race winner.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 6
Race Results for the ToyotaCare 250 - Saturday, March 30, 2024
Richmond Raceway - Richmond, VA - 0.75 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 250 Laps - 187.5 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 3/30/2024 @ 04:21 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 4 81 Chandler Smith Mobil 1 Toyota 250 7 3 52 Running 2 76 5
2 10 20 Aric Almirola He Gets Us Toyota 250 1 1 55 Running 4 95 2
3 27 19 Taylor Gray(i) Place of Hope Toyota 250 9 4 0 Running
4 6 26 Corey Heim(i) GearWrench Toyota 250 3 5 0 Running 2 15
5 8 2 Jesse Love # Whelen Chevrolet 250 32 Running
6 37 88 Bubba Pollard Rheem Chevrolet 250 31 Running
7 9 48 Parker Kligerman Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet 250 30 Running
8 16 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 250 7 33 Running
9 13 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Flying J Coffee Chevrolet 250 10 29 Running
10 3 00 Cole Custer Haas Automation Ford 249 8 9 32 Running 1 7
11 5 7 Justin Allgaier DeCA/Hellmann's Chevrolet 249 4 6 38 Running 3 28
12 26 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 249 25 Running
13 14 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 249 6 29 Running
14 7 16 AJ Allmendinger Action Industries Chevrolet 249 23 Running
15 12 97 Shane Van Gisbergen # WeatherTech Chevrolet 249 22 Running
16 1 31 Parker Retzlaff FUNKAWAY Chevrolet 249 8 24 Running 1 27
17 23 91 Kyle Weatherman myradar/DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet 249 20 Running
18 31 38 Matt DiBenedetto Viking Motorsports Ford 249 19 Running
19 29 92 Josh Bilicki Chesterfield Auto Parts Chevrolet 249 18 Running
20 25 42 Leland Honeyman # RANDCO Chevrolet 249 17 Running
21 36 6 Garrett Smithley Long Drink Chevrolet 249 16 Running
22 32 14 Logan Bearden Bearden Automotive Chevrolet 249 10 16 Running
23 34 28 Kyle Sieg Eastern Fuel System Ford 249 14 Running
24 17 51 Jeremy Clements Nordic Logistics Chevrolet 249 13 Running
25 33 4 Dawson Cram # TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet 248 12 Running
26 21 27 Jeb Burton CELSIUS Live Fit Chevrolet 248 11 Running
27 22 43 Ryan Ellis Southern Elevator Chevrolet 248 10 Running
28 19 44 Brennan Poole Finance Pro Plus Chevrolet 248 2 18 Running
29 18 5 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 248 8 Running
30 11 1 Sam Mayer 10X Health Chevrolet 246 5 2 22 Running 2 2
31 24 15 Hailie Deegan # AirBox Ford 241 6 Running
32 15 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 220 5 Running
33 28 29 Blaine Perkins AutoParkit.com Ford 181 4 Running
34 38 35 Joey Gase NCPC Race Against Crime Chevrolet 171 3 Accident
35 20 18 Sheldon Creed Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota 118 2 Brakes
36 35 07 Patrick Emerling Southern Tier Security Chevrolet 95 1 Brakes
37 2 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Nibco Chevrolet 42 1 Engine
38 30 32 Ryan Vargas Chevrolet 18 1 Engine
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 18 Mins, 35 Secs. Average Speed: 81.179 MPH Margin of Victory: 4.495 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 44, 26, 7, 1, 98, 81, 00, 19, 8
Stage 2 Top 10: 20, 1, 81, 19, 26, 7, 21, 31, 00, 14
Caution Flags: 6 for 51 laps; Laps: 21-27 (#32 Incident Turn 3 [None]); 44-56 (#9, 39 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 77-84 (Stage 1 Conclusion [39]); 97-101 (#6, 14 Incident Turn 4 [None]); 152-159 (Stage 2 Concluson [6]); 174-183 (#4, 35 Incident Turn 1 [44]).
Lead Changes: 14 among 7 drivers; P. Retzlaff 1-27; J. Allgaier 28-42; C. Heim(i) 43-56; J. Allgaier 57-64; A. Almirola 65-78; C. Heim(i) 79; A. Almirola 80-154; S. Mayer 155; A. Almirola 156-158; S. Mayer 159; A. Almirola 160-162; C. Smith 163-178; J. Allgaier 179-183; C. Custer 184-190; C. Smith 191-250.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: April 6, 2024 - Martinsville Speedway
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