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By Michael Jaworecki
After another successful weekend at COTO with the Next Gen car NASCAR will head to Richmond Raceway Complex for a weekend of Short Track racing.
The weekend kicks off Friday April 1st with Virginia is for Race Lovers 150. Under the lights the NASCAR WMT will compete for over $112,000.00 in posted awards. The WMT makes its return after a successful opening weekend during Speedweeks at New Smyrna Speedway.
The current entry list has a strong contingent of thirty-one teams entered. New Smyrna race winner Matt Hirschman plus last year’s Richmond winner Ryan Preece have not so entered its wide open for the race win and the points lead. Jon McKennedy in the Middlesex Interiors #79, Eric Goodale in the GAF #58, Patrick Emerling # 07, last year’s points runner up in the points standing will all be strong. Justin Bonsignore the 2021 champion in the Pheonix Communications #51. Justin will be looking for redemption after finishing last in the opening race f the season in Florida.
Catch the action live Friday night at 6:30 at the track or on FloRacing.
Saturday the racing continues with the NASCAR Xfinity Toyota Care 250. This race will be part of the NASCAR Dash for cash series. 4 drivers who qualified at the Circuit of the Americas will be looking for an extra $100,000.00. AJ Almendinger, Noah Gragson, Sam Mayer and Austin Hill will be in a race within the race for the extra payday.
Two New England fan favorites will be in the Xfinity field for the Toyota Care 250. Derek Griffith will make his Xfinity debut in the #26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing.
Ryan Preece has only been in two races this season, neither for his primary team. This year he will compete in the NASCAR Cup series as a part time driver for Stewart Haas Racing with United rentals as a primary sponsor. This weekend he is making his first Xfinity start in the BJ McLeod #5 Ford sponsored by Mohawk Northeast Inc.
Qualifying for the Toyota Care 250. Saturday morning at 9:00 will be tough as forty-three cars have entered for thirty-eight starting spots.
Sunday the weekend wraps up the Toyota Owners 400 for the NASCAR Cup Series. So far this season NASCAR has raced on a 1/4-mile temporary track, a 2 1/2-mile Super Speedway; a Road Course, the Atlanta Re-pave turning it into a 1 1/2-mile Super Speedway a 2-mile oval, a 1 1/2-mile Tri oval plus a 1-mile Tri oval and now it’s time for some short track racing. This will be the first of three short tracks in a row for NASCAR and 2 in the state of Virginia with Martinsville next week.
Several Cup veterans are looking to rebound this weekend after rough starts to their 2022 season. Kevin Harvick, who has not won a race since 2020, is in 14th points. 2021 NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larsen languishes in 16th place after 34th, 30th and 29th finishes in the last three races. Denny Hamlin is off to one of the worst starts of his career and is 22nd in points. Driving a Toyota for Joe Gibbs and winning on Sunday when Toyota is sponsoring the event could be a huge jump start for Denny.
Heading to Richmond the young guns are all starting to make some noise with the Next Gen car. Chase #14 Brisco, Tyler Reddick #8 and Austin Cindric #2 look to continue their strong starts to their season. Trackhouse Racing in only its second year on the NASCAR Cup circuit is coming on strong, Daniel Suarez #99 while 15th in points has been fast and will grace victory lane before this year is over. Ross Chastain #1 already a winner at COTA last week would love to go back-to-back and prove his win was no fluke.
Thirty-seven cars will make the starting field including all chartered teams completing for a purse of over $7,000,000.00. Their qualifying will be two rounds on Saturday at 11:00 AM.
We had a few moments to speak to Richmond Raceway Track President Dennis Bickmeier about the upcoming race weekend.
What events do you have for the fans this weekend?
” First, we look forward to welcoming NASCAR back and all the fans for the spring race. It’s been a couple of years since we have had all the fans for the spring race”.
“We are happy to have the Whelen Modifieds back. We are also extremely excited to have the full fan experience for the 2022 Spring race. I’ve been here for 11 years, and this is the first time we will have three stages on race weekend”.
” What we are doing on the fan experience side is bigger than anything I can remember in my 11 years at the track. It’s now such a big focal point across the sport. Our job as promoters is as much as what happens on the racetrack to do as much as we can to deliver entertainment for the fans. Driver access., WMT autograph session on Friday, concerts, and fan access to the garage area. We are going to make sure everyone has a great time from when they get here to the time they leave”.
Are you looking forward to a more normal weekend with practices for all the divisions?
It’s great, having practice for us is a real plus. We have an infield Fan experience that we cut the ribbon in 2018 which we haven’t been able to use much. Fans will get the opportunity to see the crews working on the cars, headed out to practice etc. it only adds to the entertainment value”.
What are your thoughts about the Next Gen cars coming to Richmond Raceway Short track? “We are proud to say this is the first track they ever tested on with Austin Dillon. I am anxious to see what we get this weekend with the new car. It’s been a rough winter here and we looking to see if the track is a little abrasive on these tires. We also know that cars must lean on each other for real estate, and we can’t wait to see how the new car handles that”.
Gates open at noon on Friday and the action continues until the last checkered flag on Sunday afternoon for the Toyota Owners 400.
Myracenews will be there all weekend on Myracenews.com, Facebook Twitter and Instagram. Check back all weekend for updates.
For more info go to https://www.richmondraceway.com/ for more information about this weekend and to buy tickets.
