Federated Auto Parts 400 Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the sixth time this season, a pit road penalty handcuffed Martin Truex, Jr., and he once again remains a bridesmaid on short tracks, finishing an agonizing third behind fellow “Big Three” members Kevin Harvick and race winner Kyle Busch in Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway. It was Truex’s race to lose as he lead 162 of the first 203 laps, and swept both stages in the process. Without any hurdles, it appeared that his bid of finally capturing his first short trackRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer A late charge for the lead left Brad Keselowski fading in the Federated Auto Parts 400. The Team Penske driver plummeted from having a chance to win four races in a row to ninth in the final 40 laps at Richmond Raceway. After the final restart, Keselowski battled eventual race winner Kyle Busch for the lead. It took 10 laps for his No. 2 Reese / DrawTite Ford Fusion take the lead from Busch. However, Keselowski couldn’t break away from Busch, who hounded him forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – On a night of important milestones, in a car hastily repaired after a brush with the wall during qualifying, Kyle Busch held off Kevin Harvick to win Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway to advance to the second round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. After a pitched battle against Brad Keselowski that lasted 21 laps, Busch made the winning pass for the lead on Lap 364 of 400 at the .75-mile track. Busch’s first victory in aRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Like many road course ringers, when Alon Day made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in 2016, he was out of his element. Although the NASCAR Next alum was competing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the racing required a radically different approach than he has had in Europe. Day drove the No. 40 FLWaterFront.com Dodge Challenger to an impressive 13th-place finish in his debut. The 26-year-old turned heads in the woefully underfunded MBM Motorsports car, running inside the Top-10 for much of the race. DayRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – It’s been a mixed bag of emotions for NASCAR Playoff driver Chase Elliott this week. He received fantastic news that one of his major corporate sponsors, Hooters, would be re-upping with his Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet team through 2021. He also arrived at Richmond Raceway on Friday with a more immediate task at hand – righting his 2018 playoff ship. Elliott, 22, who crashed out and finished 36th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener at Las Vegas MotorRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – Brad Keselowski makes no apologies for hoisting the last three trophies in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, despite not dominating any one of the races – at Darlington, S.C., Indianapolis or the playoff opener at Las Vegas last week. A win is a win. Is a win. …in Keselowski’s case. And that last win, at Vegas, moves the veteran Team Penske driver into the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs. It’s high confidence and big expectations for the 2012 CupRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Following a wild opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in Las Vegas, the championship contenders head back to the East Coast this weekend to take on Richmond Raceway in their inaugural playoff date. Often described as the perfectly designed racetrack by drivers, the 0.75-mile track lends itself to not only short track characteristics of beating and banging, but also the characteristics of a larger track with the side-by-side racing that will take place throughout the event. Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400,Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer When Alon Day makes his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Oval debut at Richmond Raceway, he will be introducing Best Bully Sticks to the NASCAR world. The Federated Auto Parts 400 will be a home race for the Richmond, VA based company. Best Bully Sticks is a high-quality dog chew and treat brand that was founded in 2008. As part of their first foray in NASCAR, the company chose Day, a dog lover, to be the driver of their No. 23 Toyota Camry for BKRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer NASCAR Next alum and 2017 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Elite 1 Champion Alon Day will return to Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition this weekend. He will make his first oval start in the Premier Series in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway for BK Racing. Day will pilot the No. 23 Best Bully Sticks Toyota Camry for the team that he made his Premier Series debut with at Sonoma Raceway last year. He is the only Israeli-born driver to compete in theRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Even with a penalty causing him to start from the rear of the South Point 400, Austin Dillon flew under the radar at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With nine of the 16 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid drivers involved in incidents, Dillon quietly kept his nose out of trouble. Dillon finished just outside the Top-10 after being forced to climb through the field throughout the race. Halfway into the first stage, his No. 3 Dow Frost Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 finally caught up to JimmieRead More