Pit Stops : Richmond Raceway

• Richmond Raceway
• ToyotaCare 250
• Pole Winner: Parker Retzlaff
• Age: 20
• Team : No. 31 - FUNKAWAY Chevrolet
• Owner: Jordan Anderson
• Crew Chief: Chad Kendrick
• Parker Retzlaff won the Pole Award for the ToyotaCare 250 with a lap of 22.42 seconds, 120.428 mph.
• This is his first pole in 48 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
• This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2024.
• This is his first pole in three races at Richmond Raceway.
• Brandon Jones (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2024 and his seventh in 14 races at Richmond Raceway.
• Cole Custer (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Richmond Raceway. It is his fourth in six races this season.
• Jesse Love (eighth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

• Saturday, March 30th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Chandler Smith wins second Xfinity race of the season at Richmond

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.

• Drivers Entered: 38
• Laps Scheduled: 250
• Margin of Victory: 04.495 Seconds
• Time of Race: 2 Hours 18 Minutes 35 Seconds
• Average Speed: 81.179
• Cautions: 6 for 51 laps
• Lead Changes: 14
• Green Flag Passes: 1,668 (8.4 passes per green flag lap)

• Richmond Raceway
• ToyotaCare 250
• Race Winner: Chandler Smith
• Age: 21
• Team : No. 81 - Mobil 1 Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs
• Crew Chief: Jeff Meendering
• Chandler Smith won the ToyotaCare 250, his third victory in 42 Xfinity Series races.
• This is his second victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2024.
• This is his second victory and second top-10 finish in two races at Richmond Raceway.
• Aric Almirola (second) posted his second top-10 finish in seven races at Richmond Raceway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2024.
• Taylor Gray (third) posted his first top-10 finish in his series track debut at Richmond Raceway.
• Jesse Love (fifth) was the highest finishing rookie.
• Chandler Smith leads the point standings by 10 points over Austin Hill.