NASCAR returned to Richmond Raceway this weekend and delivered yet another fantastic race. It’s hard to match the intensity of the Circuit of the America’s in Austin, Texas. But Richmond, Virginia certainly delivered in its first rendition of the course this season.
I gave you a preview earlier this week of who I thought would perform on this short track and what to look for. So, we’ll recap this race, and then take a look at how those five drivers panned out. Much like last week, let’s go stage by stage, and deliver the highlights from the Toyota Owners 400!
STAGE 1
The first green flagged waived with the #48 Alex Bowman taking first place. Due to a rainout during qualifying and practicing, there was no formal line-up decided by lap times. Instead, it was assigned by points. So following Bowman was Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, and Tyler Reddick.
#19 Martin Truex Jr complained about steering issues early on before the race began. Something that could have been prevented if there were practicing and qualifying on Saturday. But he fought through despite that. Posting a good race overall. But we’ll get to that later.
#47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr was climbing up the ranks early as we hit the laps of the 20s before hitting the competition caution and his car needed a ton of work. He returned with a -14 lap disadvantage coming out of pit road. Effectively ending his chances at any meaningful points. But as the Daytona 500 winner this year, I doubt he’s losing sleep over it.
Coming into the competition caution, #24 William Byron led the way, with Chastain, Reddick, Bowman, and Stenhouse Jr following him. After everybody makes their adjustments and Stenhouse spends some tough time at the pit. The new top five were Byron, Chastain, Reddick, Bowman, and Kyle Larson.
Another caution would come at lap 45 when #15 JJ Yeley was turned into a wall by #11 Denny Hamlin in questionable contact. Social media took to question if Hamlin’s contact was intentional. Well, I’ll let you decide.
You saw it, indeed! ?@jjyeley1 spins after contact with @dennyhamlin. pic.twitter.com/ClHX8EdPky
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 2, 2023
The top five coming out of the second caution of the day were Byron, Chastain, Larson, Kevin Harvick, and Reddick. And that would remain (Larson would overtake Chastain for second) to the end of stage one.
STAGE 2
Stage two would begin with a speeding penalty to Denny Hamlin, sending him from inside the top 12 to 17th. We’d also see #22 Joey Logano in his Mustang enter the top five, taking Tyler Reddick’s spot.
The first caution of the stage would come at lap 95 when #9 Josh Berry, filling in for Chase Elliott, would get spun by #12 Ryan Blaney. So the yellow flag comes out, with the top five being much the same with William Byron holding strong. Chastain, Larson, Logano, and Harvick follow.
Yeah … he did have some help. https://t.co/OWSmkC5UJn pic.twitter.com/4Keew3JYsF
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 2, 2023
After a visit to pit road, the new top five at lap 102 would be Byron maintaining, with Larson, Chastain, Christopher Bell, and Bowman returning to the top of the list. #4 Kevin Harvick would have a terrible pit that drops him to 16th. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney would be black-flagged as a wedge wrench wasn’t removed from his car. So, the #12 would have to return to pit road and lose valuable position.
Can't take it with you. pic.twitter.com/JNAjwbgBMu
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 2, 2023
Stage two at Richmond Raceway would see plenty of clean racing after this. As it ends without another caution. #11 Denny Hamlin would pick up a stage win. Christopher Bell, William Byron, Martin Truex Jr overcomes his early struggles, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
STAGE 3
The top five at the restart would be Hamlin, Byron, Bell, Truex Jr, and Bowman. Hamlin had a bad pit later in this stage that cost him a top 10 position, and Bubba Wallace would have a pit violation that would bring him back after leading half a lap.
The car to watch at this point was #9, Josh Berry. He hung out on the lead lap the longest to position him at a top position when the next caution would come with 29 laps to go. #45 Tyler Reddick would spin out and cause the yellow flag. Byron would have the lead at this caution, with Truex, Larson, Berry, and #34 Michael McDowell would have his Ford to round out the top five.
The caution is out. pic.twitter.com/vsOHEieZTo
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 2, 2023
Denny Hamlin would suffer a second speeding penalty coming out of pit road that would again, cost him a valuable position on the standings.
THE FINISH
Coming out of this caution with 22 laps to go, William Byron held strong taking first place. Martin Truex Jr continued to fight on, with Kyle Larson, Berry, and Bell rounding out the top five.
On the restart, William Byron would fall behind and Bell would catch his rear end and send Byron to the outside wall. Effectively ending his chances for the win. Kyle Larson would take the lead after this caution, with the #9 Josh Berry following. Truex, Chastain, and Bell round out the final top five coming out of the caution.
Trouble on the restart. pic.twitter.com/NMWuHHeM6m
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 2, 2023
Larson and Bell would dash to the finish, but Bell just couldn’t keep up with one of the best cars in the association. Larson gained ground and never looked back, taking the victory at Richmond Raceway! Josh Berry pulls in a respectable second place. Ross Chastain and Christopher Bell follow. With Kevin Harvick taking home the best Ford on the track in fifth place.
DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: #9 Josh Berry
Berry served the #9 car well at Richmond Raceway this weekend. In Chase Elliott’s absence, he’s had some huge shoes to fill. It hasn’t always been pretty, and maybe Berry doesn’t deserve the bulk of the credit. His crew chief called a hell of a race to keep him out there and gain some ground on that pit. But a round of applause to the team for bringing this car back to the front. It’s remained relevant in Elliott’s absence. He should be coming back within the next month or two as he recovers from that snowboarding accident a month ago.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
As I referred to earlier, I gave you all five drivers to watch at this race. So, let’s revisit to see how they did and who shined, and who let me down.
Kyle Larson made me look really smart at Richmond Raceway on Sunday. He had a rough season, through no fault of his own. Ended up in some late wrecks, screwed by some late cautions. And was beginning to be forgotten about by NASCAR at large. The #5 turned all that around with a huge win.
I also had a feeling that #4 Kevin Harvick would be the best Ford on the day. Turns out that was also true as he placed fifth. Harvick continues to rack up the points in his final season and continues to get closer to his first win of the year to send him to the playoffs. In one last hoorah in hopes of getting a Cup Series Championship.
I was worried that Martin Truex Jr’s early struggles would cost my prediction of him doing well. But despite the issues with his #19 Toyota, he led a good number of laps and was top three for most of the race. Despite a finish just outside the top 10. I feel pretty good about what I saw about Truex at Richmond Raceway, and this race should give him some positive momentum.
Kyle Busch is the lone bad pick on this one. He started second but quickly fell to the low teens, and even beyond at some points. The #8 finished 14th. I think Busch really needed that qualifying and practice to keep it going. He tends to lose some ground if he doesn’t. Look at his 2020 season. Busch will be back at Bristol Dirt next week. A race that he won a year ago.
Finally, Alex Bowman. The #48 car is my favorite in NASCAR. So maybe I was a little biased in my pick to have the points leader be a man to watch. But he didn’t disappoint. He ran hard all race long and gets back into the top 10 with an eighth-place finish at Richmond Raceway. As per usual for the Ally Camaro. At Bristol Dirt last year, he finished sixth. So, we’ll see if Bowman can make any progress on NASCAR’s messiest track. At the very least, he keeps his points lead with 263.
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