Richmond International Raceway Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer For Virginia native Denny Hamlin, a trip to Richmond is like coming home. Hamlin grew up in Chesterfield, Virginia, less than 25 miles from Richmond International Raceway, and has taken to his hometown track like a duck to water. Despite early season success of winning the Daytona 500 and two additional top-five finishes in the first five races of 2016, Hamlin and his No. 11 team have been struggling through the month of April, having yet to score a finish higher than 12th in theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Yesterday, 18-year-old Gray Gaulding became the latest driver to get an opportunity to drive a Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Roush Fenway Racing. Gaulding is scheduled to make his series debut in the No. 60 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 19th with a second race coming at Richmond International Raceway in September. Both a sponsor and a crew chief are to be determined, although the young driver has a personal services contract with Krispy Kreme. Even at a young age, GauldingRead More

RICHMOND, Va. – Joe Gibbs Racing brought guns to a knife fight on Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway. But JGR’s Matt Kenseth did his teammates one better — he brought a howitzer. Leading 352 of 400 laps in a race he owned from the outset, Kenseth pulled away from Kyle Busch after a restart with 18 laps left and won the Federated Auto Parts 400 by .951 seconds over his teammate. Kenseth’s fourth victory of the season, tying him for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series lead with Jimmie JohnsonRead More

RICHMOND, Va. – Reigning NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott was first off pit road under caution on Lap 218 of 250 and held the top spot the rest of the way in breaking a 39-race winless streak on Friday night at Richmond International Raceway. Elliott’s victory in the Virginia529 College Savings 250 trimmed his deficit to 21 points behind series leader Chris Buescher, who finished 10th. Elliott’s first victory of the season was also the first in 24 races for an XFINITY Series regular at RIR. “We always wantRead More

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Wednesday that Denny Hamlin tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee, but is expected to race the remainder of the season and postpone the surgery until after the season finale in Homestead. Hamlin suffered the injury playing basketball Tuesday night, with confirmation coming following an MRI Wednesday morning. The 34-year-old previously tore his ACL in his left knee January 2010, also while playing basketball. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Richmond this weekend for the final race before the Chase for theRead More

RICHMOND, Va. – Suspension to redemption. After being suspended for three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races earlier this season after an alleged domestic violence incident, Kurt Busch won Sunday’s postponed Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway in a dominating performance, virtually locking up a spot in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. “It’s an incredible feeling,” said Busch, who was reinstated March 11 and granted a waiver into the Chase. “It’s a total team effort. And the way that everything came together, it just seemed like weRead More

RICHMOND, Va.—Domination must be contagious. Six days after Joey Logano led all 300 laps in a NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Bristol, Denny Hamlin led 248 of 250 circuits in winning Friday night’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond International Raceway. The only two laps that spoiled a Hamlin no-hitter were Brian Scott’s dive bomb off Turn 4 to lead Lap 154 by inches and Elliott Sadler’s contrarian fuel strategy, which allowed him to lead Lap 226 during a cycle of green-flag pit stops before Hamlin, on fresh tires, roared back pastRead More

RICHMOND, Va.—Sometimes it pays to go for broke—particularly when you have little to lose. That was the case for Joey Logano in Friday’s time trials for Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway (7 p.m. ET on FOX). Logano’s crew made significant adjustments to his No. 22 Team Penske Ford between the second and final rounds of knockout qualifying, and the changes paid off with Logano’s third Coors Light Pole Award and fifth front-row start of the season. Logano earned the top spot on the grid for SaturdayRead More