THE RACE: Toyota Owners 400
TRACK: Richmond Raceway
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race #9 of 36
Date: Saturday, April 21, 2018 in Richmond, VA
Scheduled Green Flag (approx): 6:44 pm/et
Sections on this page:
Television | Radio/Streaming | Schedule | Track/Race Info | Race Rundown
Qualifying / Practice / Entry Info | Weather Links | Tire Notes | Odds
NASCAR RaceDay: 3:00pm/et on FS1
NASCAR Sunday Pre-Race Show: 6:00pm/et on FOX
Television Race Coverage: FOX, 6:30pm/et
Practices:
Friday, April 20, 11:05am-11:55am/et, TV-FS1;
Friday, April 20, 12:35pm-1:25pm/et, TV-FS1
Qualifying for positions 1-40, Friday, April 20 at 5:30 pm/et, TV-FS1;
re-air scheduled: None
In the Booth: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon
Pit Reporters: Jamie Little, Regan Smith, Vince Welch, Matt Yocum
In-Race Analyst: Larry McReynolds
Race / Hollywood Hotel Host: Chris Myers
Analysts / Hollywood Hotel: Jeff Gordon, Darrell and Michael Waltrip
Scheduled Race Re-Air Dates/Times:
TBA
TV Listings, Links and Info:
see the TV Listings and Links page
Motor Racing Network (MRN)
SiriusXM Satellite NASCAR Channel 90
ONLINE STREAMING
FOX Sports GO (available with participating TV provider login)
Radio: MRN Live Streaming
SiriusXM Internet Radio (available via internet connected device, with subscription)
EVENT SCHEDULE
Event Schedule times are local to the track
Thursday, April 19
4:00 PM-6:00 PM MENCS HAULERS ENTER (EQUIPMENT UNLOAD)
Friday, April 20
8:00 AM-9:00 PM MENCS GARAGE OPEN
9:15 AM MENCS ROOKIE MEETING, SPOTTER MEETING, & RANDOM DRAWING
11:05 AM-11:55 AM MENCS 1ST PRACTICE
12:35 PM-1:25 PM MENCS FINAL PRACTICE
5:30 PM MENCS QUALIFYING (MULTI-VEHICLE / THREE ROUNDS)
Saturday, April 21
1:00 PM MENCS GARAGE OPENS
4:30 PM MENCS DRIVER / CREW CHIEF MEETING (AMPHITHEATER)
5:50 PM MENCS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS
6:30 PM MENCS RACE (400 LAPS, 300 MILES)
MENCS = Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Richmond Raceway Track News, Stats & Links page
April 2017: see the Richmond Race Info page
August 2017: see the Richmond Race Info page
Race Festivities/Officials:
Grand Marshal: Lauren Fulcher
Command to start engines: Lauren Fulcher
Honorary Starter/Wave Green Flag: TBA
Honorary Pace Car Driver: Michael Rooker
Color Guard: Virginia Division of Capitol Police
Invocation: Fort Lee Installation Senior Chaplain Colonel Terry Romine
National Anthem: Elliott Yamin
Flyover: F/A-18E Super Hornets, Naval Air Station Oceana
Saturday Richmond Notebook: Chase Elliott tries for two important milestones at Richmond; Austin Cindric enjoys career-best NASCAR Xfinity Series finish; Daniel Hemric feels ready for giant step in racing career.[More](4-21-2018)
Friday Richmond Notebook: Kyle Busch hopes to rediscover magic touch at Richmond; Richmond Raceway has grown more unpredictable in recent years; Notable quotes.[More](4-20-2018)
What to Watch For: Richmond Raceway: Kyle Looks to Keep Winning; Gibbs Works on the Next 150; At Lot Has Changed in 1 Year for Logano; Expect a Tight Finish at Richmond; 4 Drivers Dash for Cash at Richmond; Who's Hot and Who's Not - Richmond[More](4-19-2018)
Richmond Weekend Preview Larson looking to improve over second place; Dash 4 Cash provides big incentives for XFINITY drivers.[More](4-19-2018)
A look at many news, notes and story lines for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Richmond Raceway, see the stats on the NASCAR National Series News & Notes -- Richmond Raceway
A look at some of the top statistical performers and top-10 driver ratings at Richmond Raceway, see the stats on the Statistical Advance - Analyzing Richmond Raceway page
Kyle Busch wins third straight race with late charge at Richmond: Busch streaked away from the rest of the field on a series of late restarts, ultimately beating Chase Elliott to the checkered flag in overtime to record his fifth victory at the .75-mile short track and the 46th of his career.[More](4-21-2018)
Kyle Busch won the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway. The win is his 3rd win of 2018, 5th win at Richmond and 46th career win.
#9-Elliott finished 2nd (his 8th career 2nd place finish) followed by #11-Hamlin, #22-Logano, #4-Harvick, #48-Johnson, #42-Larson, #2-Keselowski, #14-Bowyer, and #19-Suarez.
Pole winner #78-Truex, Jr. lead 121 laps, but had a slow pit stop near the end of the race and finished 14th.
The race ended after the first attempt at NASCAR overtime, set up by a caution when #17-Stenhouse, Jr. hit the wall.
Stages 1 and 2 were both won by #22-Logano. He finished 4th.
There were 16 lead changes among 7 drivers and 6 cautions for 46 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 96.215mph.
See unofficial race results, awards, laps led, cautions and more at:
Unofficial Race Results (pdf)
Cumulative Report (pdf)
Penalty Report (pdf)
See OFFICIAL race results & points standings on the Official Race & Points Report (pdf).
MENCS at Richmond:
- Green-white-checkered finish
- Kyle Busch: 3rd straight win and 7th straight top-3 finish
- Kyle Busch: 5th driver since 1980 with multiple 3-race win streaks
- Kyle Busch: 2nd driver this season with a 3-race win streak (Kevin Harvick)
- Kyle Busch: 5th career win at Richmond, 2 more than any other active driver
- Kyle Busch: started 32nd
- Joe Gibbs Racing: 26th win on short-track in last 10 seasons, 16 more than any other team
- Chase Elliott: 2nd place; 8th 2nd place and 24th top-5 finish in full-time MENCS career but has yet to win a race
- Joey Logano: 4th place; won Stage 1 and Stage 2, first stage wins for Team Penske this season
- Jimmie Johnson: 6th place; best two finishes have been last 2 races (3rd at Bristol)
- Martin Truex Jr.: 14th place; led race-high 121 laps
(ESPN Stats & Info)
Race Fast Facts - Richmond
- Kyle Busch: 3rd straight win; 2nd career 3-race win streak - 2nd driver with 3 race win streak this season (Kevin Harvick)
- Busch: started 32nd, his worst starting position in 45 career Cup Series wins (previous worst was 30th at Sonoma in 2008)
- Busch: 1st driver to win race starting outside top 30 since Jimmie Johnson at Atlanta in March 2015 (started 37th)
- Busch: 3rd driver to win at Richmond starting 30th or worse; others are Clint Bowyer (31st) and Richard Petty (30th)
- Chase Elliott: finished 2nd, 8th career runner-up finishes (0 wins); only 4 drivers in series history have had at least 8 runner-up finishes before 1st win, including his father Bill
- Denny Hamlin: finished 3rd, finished 6th or better in last 6 Richmond races (18th or worse in previous 5)
- Joey Logano: finished 4th, 3rd top 5 this season (had 4 in 27 races after encumbered Richmond win last year)
- Jimmie Johnson: finished 6th (was 3rd last week), first time finishing 6th or better in consecutive races since last April (won Texas and Bristol)
(NASCAR Integrated Sports Marketing)(4-21-2018)
2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Driver Chase Standings:
[after Richmond, race 9 of 36]
#18-Kyle Busch [3 wins], 415
#4-Kevin Harvick [3 wins - 2 can be used for playoffs], 324
#14-Clint Bowyer [1 win], 329
#78-Martin Truex Jr. [1 win], 284
#3-Austin Dillon [1 win], 208
#22-Joey Logano, 359, -56
#2-Brad Keselowski, 303, -112
#11-Denny Hamlin, 286, -129
#12-Ryan Blaney, 282, -133
#41-Kurt Busch, 282, -133
#42-Kyle Larson, 279, -136
#10-Aric Almirola, 248, -167
#20-Erik Jones, 233, -182
#88-Alex Bowman, 209, -206
#48-Jimmie Johnson, 200, -215
#24-William Byron, 192, -223
See the Unofficial Drivers Points Standings page (pdf) and Unofficial Owners Points Standings page (pdf)
See OFFICIAL race results & points standings on the Official Race & Points Report (pdf).
Top-Ten Stage 2 Results (lap 200) of the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway (lap 200/400):
#22-Logano, 10pts, 1 playoff point
#14-Bowyer, 9pts
#10-Almriola, 8pts
#41-Busch, 7pts
#24-Byron, 6pts
#18-Busch, 5pts
#31-Newman, 4pts
#2-Keselowski, 3pts
#78-Truex, Jr., 2pts
#4-Harvick, 1pt
Top-Ten Stage 1 Results (lap 100) of the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway (lap 100/400):
#22-Logano, 10pts, 1 playoff point
#10-Almirola, 9pts
#41-Busch, 8pts
#24-Byron, 7pts
#14-Bowyer, 6pts
#18-Busch, 5pts
#9-Elliott, 4pts
#3-Dillon, 3pts
#78-Truex, Jr., 2pts
#4-Harvick, 1pt
Lucky Dogs, drivers that got a lap back during the cautions (and their finish):
Caution 1: #43-Wallace, 25th
Caution 2: #38-Ragan, 33rd
Caution 3: #31-Newman, 37th
Caution 4: #42-Larson, 7th
Caution 5: #42-Larson (2), 7th
Caution 6: #6-Bayne, 21st
Saturday Pre-Race schedule at Richmond Raceway:
6:27 p.m.: Pledge of Alliance: Cool Springs Baptist Church Cub and Boy Scout Park 521
6:27 p.m.: God Bless America: Sophia Nadder
6:30 p.m.: Invocation: Chaplain Col. Terry Romine
6:31 p.m.: National Anthem: Elliott Yamin
6:37 p.m.: "Drivers Start Your Engines" by: Lauren Fulcher
6:44 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400
See the starting lineup for the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway on the Starting Lineup Page (pdf).
To the rear: none
NASCAR Overtime Race Procedure: Rule and notes on the NASCAR Overtime rules/news/stats page.
Wave Around: how the wave around rule works: All vehicles between the leader and the caution vehicle at the start/finish line when the "one to go" signal is given by the starter are considered "Wave Around" eligible. "Wave Around" vehicles will not be permitted to enter pit road at any time during this yellow flag/caution period. "Wave Around" vehicles must receive the green flag on the race track before being permitted to enter pit road without a penalty. Vehicles under a penalty and the "Free Pass" vehicle will not be eligible to receive a "Wave Around".
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway have been made.
With the field at 38 cars, pit stalls 5 and 21 are not in use.
Pole winner #78-Truex, Jr.chose pit stall 1, the first stall available [as do most pole sitters].
Outside pole winner #9-Elliott. took pit stall 6, with an opening in front of it.
#22-Logano, who starts 3rd, took the 4th stall, with an opening behind it.
The final pit stall was taken by #1-McMurray, who starts 8th.
To see where the drivers/teams pit stall is, see the pit selection chart on Jayski.com's Pit Stall Selection chart.(4-20-2018)
Links to results, practices, qualifying PDF's: (will be added as available)
Official Race & Points Report
Race Results
Drivers Points
Owners Points
Cumlative Race Report
Penalty Report
Pitstalls
Crew Rosters
Starting Lineup
Qualifying Results
Qualifying Order
Happy Hour Practice Speeds
Practice 1 Speeds
Latest / Final Entry List
Preliminary Entry List
See the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race results page
QUALIFYING INFO, PRACTICE SPEED and ENTRIES
Martin Truex Jr. claims pole at Richmond for 450th start: After a dismal two weeks that saw the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. crash out of races at Texas and Bristol, Truex found a welcome stroke of success on Friday at Richmond Raceway. With a lap at 123.859 mph (21.799 seconds) in the final round of knockout qualifying, Truex claimed the Busch Pole Award for Saturday night's Toyota Owners 400, edging Chase Elliott (123.621 mph) for the top starting spot by .042 seconds. [More](4-20-2018)
#78-Martin Truex, Jr. won the Busch pole for the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway with speed of 123.859mph for his 3rd pole of 2018, 1st at Richmond and 18th of his career. Truex, Jr. has won 3 times from the 17 previous poles.
#9-Elliott will start 2nd followed by #22-Logano, #11-Hamlin, #42-Larson, #41-Busch, #20-Jones, #1-McMurray, #24-Byron, #4-Harvick, #88-Bowman, and #17-Stenhouse, Jr.
#11-Hamlin was fastest in the second round with a speed of 124.476mph, will start 4th.
#78-Truex, Jr. was quickest in the first round with a speed of 124.127mph.
Driver(s) who will miss the race: none as 38 were entered for 40 spots
See round-by-round qualifying results on the Qualifying results page (pdf) and the complete starting lineup on the Starting Lineup page (pdf).(4-20-2018)
Richmond Raceway - Qualifying Fast Facts:
Martin Truex Jr. won the Busch Pole Award for the 64th Annual Toyota Owners 400 with a lap of 21.799 seconds, 123.859 mph.
This is his 18th pole in 450 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races. Truex becomes the fourth driver in series history to win a Busch Pole on his 450th start joining Dale Jarrett (2001, Dover), Rusty Wallace (1998, Richmond) and Sterling Marlin (1999, Pocono).
This is his third pole and sixth top-10 start in 2018.
This is his first pole in 25 races at Richmond Raceway.
Chase Elliott (second) posted his fourth top-10 start of 2018 and his second in six races at Richmond Raceway.
Joey Logano (third) posted his 11th top-10 start at Richmond Raceway. It is his eighth in nine races this season.
William Byron (ninth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(4-20-2018)
Second Round of Qualifying for the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway is over, after 10 scheduled minutes.
#11-Hamlin 124.476
#9-Elliott 124.435
#22-Logano 124.327
#78-Truex, Jr. 123.938
#1-McMurray 123.859
the rest of the top 12: 41 17 88 24 4 42 20
out of the top 12 and not advancing to round 3: 12 31 38 14 48 43 37 21 6 8 3 34
(4-20-2018)
First Round of Qualifying for the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway is over, after 15 scheduled minutes.
#78-Truex, Jr. 124.127
#24-Byron 123.893
#48-Johnson 123.813
#11-Hamlin 123.700
#14-Bowyer 123.643
the rest of the top 24: 22 20 6 1 42 38 4 31 41 37 34 3 9 21 12 17 43 8 88
out of the top 24 and not advancing to round 2: 10 19 32 2 95 15 13 18 47 23 72 00 55 51
Drivers who will miss the race: none, 38 entered
(4-20-2018)
Coverage of Qualifying for the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway is scheduled for Friday, April 20, 2018 at 5:30pm/et.
Television (TV): FS1, 5:30pm/et
Group qualifying under the three-round qualifying format:
• Round 1 -- All entries will have 15 minutes to post a qualifying time, after which the 24 registering the fastest laps will advance to the second round. Those failing to advance will be sorted based on first-round times in descending order (from fastest to slowest).
• Round 2 -- The 24 fastest from the first round will have 10 minutes to post a second-round qualifying time, with the 12 fastest advancing to a third round. Those not advancing will earn starting positions 13 through 24 based on time, again in descending order.
• Round 3 -- The final round will be five minutes in length. The fastest times from this session will determine the first (Coors Light Pole Award) through 12th starting positions.
There will be a seven-minute break between each round; teams may make adjustments to their entries only during the individual breaks. They will not be allowed to jack the vehicle or raise the hood, and once the car or truck enters the garage, it will no longer be permitted to return to the track for additional qualifying attempts.
Qualifying Order for the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway is posted.
The first driver to be lined up on pit road will be #37-Buescher
The final driver lined up on pit road will be #9-Elliott.
The order is set by a random draw, how cars park on pit road before they qualify, held about an hour before the first practice.
After the first round, the cars lined up by speed.
For the qualifying order, see the Qualifying Order page (pdf).(4-20-2018)
Happy Hour (final) practice for the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway is over, after 50 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#42-Larson 120.315
#43-Wallace 119.952
#1-McMurray 119.904
#14-Bowyer 119.904
#17-Stenhouse, Jr. 119.893
best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 32 drivers): #42-Larson 119.110.
slowest: #15-Chastain 115.202 & #51-Rhodes 115.036
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Happy Hour Practice speeds page (pdf) (4-20-2018)
First practice for the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway is over, after 55 scheduled minutes, the top-five, slowest and notes:
#9-Elliott 121.327
#42-Larson 121.076
#78-Truex, Jr. 120.757
#1-McMurray 120.703
#22-Logano 120.660
most laps run: #88-Bowman, 67 laps.
best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 31 drivers): #4-Harvick 119.652
slowest: #55-Sorenson 115.207 & #51-Rhodes 115.139
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Friday Practice speeds (pdf) (4-20-2018)
Entry List for the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway is posted, 38 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Some of the drivers entered include: #15-Chastain, #51-Rhodes, #55-Sorenson, #72-Whitt.
Since only 38 cars are entered, all drivers will make the race.
See the full entry list on the Entry List (pdf)
For qualifying rules and formats, see the Qualifying Rules page
How to Calculate Track Speeds: use the formula Speed = Distance divided by Time. Distance is Track Length, and Lap Time into Hours. Once hour is 3600 seconds, so the calculation for a 48 second lap at Daytona(2.5 miles) would be: Speed = 2.5 x (3600/48), = 2.5 x 75 = 187.500mph. For a 19 second lap at Richmond(.533 miles): Speed = .533 x (3600/19), = .533 x 189.474 = a speed of 100.990mph
Weather Channel
Accuweather
National Weather Service
Race Weather
Race Day Forecast
WeatherBug
Weather Underground
Richmond Goodyear Tire Notes See complete tire information for the race weekend across all series on the [Goodyear Tire Notes - Richmond Raceway page.(4-17-2018)
RACE & CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS
Vegas Insider
Race and Championship odds
NASCAR Top-Five Finish Prediction
Richmond Race Preview by Micah Roberts
Bovada Sportsbook:
Race and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Championship