ToyotaCare 250
Richmond Raceway was the site for the races on Easter Weekend. Parker Retzlaff sat on the pole for the ToyotaCare 250. The stage lengths were 75, 75, and 100 laps. Retzlaff showed speed all weekend as he was 12th in practice and managed to put down a blistering lap in qualifying. Brandon Jones joined him on the front row. Cole Custer, Chandler Smith, and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top five.
Shakin and Bacon
Retzlaff had a great start and was able to lead the first lap with Custer in tow. The outside line had little speed at the drop of the green flag and Allgaier was able to scoot around Custer early. Then, AJ Allmendinger made contact with Jesse Love and pushed him up the track.
All was good until Ryan Vargas brought out the first caution when he had smoke coming out from under his car.
The green flag was back out on lap 28 and it was three wide for the lead as they came out of turn two after the restart. Allgaier was able to snag the lead from Retzlaff, while Corey Heim and Custer managed to get past him as well for second and third.
Aric Almirola diced through the field early into the top five. Jones brought out the second caution with what seemed to be a mechanical failure. However, before the caution came out, Heim was able to pass Allgaier.
Under caution, Blaine Perkins stalled and had to bring the car behind the pit wall. Upon the restart, Heim and Allgaier had a drag race for two laps. Ultimately, Allgaier was able to edge out in front.
Almirola kept moving forward into the second position. He was on a tear in stage one and able to pass Allgaier for the lead with 10 to go.
Notably, Brennan Poole moved forward all stage being the biggest mover. He eventually worked his way up to second.
At the green-white-checkered flag, Almirola won stage one over Poole, Heim, Allgaier, and Riley Herbst in the top five. Custer had trouble getting out of his pit box which cost him several spots.
Domination
Almirola had a big jump to restart the race in stage two and Herbst managed to get to second. Side-by-side racing and battling for position led to good racing action across the track.
Logan Bearden, making his debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, brought out another caution as he got loose and hit the wall. On the restart, Parker Kligerman got shoved into the wall in turn one, while Sheldon Creed dealt with some mechanical issues to add to the group with similar issues. At the same time, Shane Van Gisbergen learned the ropes of an oval track a bit being in 15th and in traffic.
Almirola dominated and won the second stage. Sam Mayer was able to finish the stage in second. and the young Taylor Gray finished the stage in fourth. Josh Williams, who started 26th, finished the stage in 10th.
In short-track fashion, Tay. Gray made contact with Mayer as they exited the pits.
Bumpers Fly
Mayer began the third stage with a tire rub from the pit road contact as Almirola scampered away in the lead. But, before long, C. Smith passed Almirola for the lead.
Mayer was able to make it to the pits to fix his fender and replace a cut tire. He rejoined the track down two laps.
The next caution came out when Joey Gase backed into the wall after he was shoved into the turn. He picked up his rear bumper cover and threw it at the No. 4 car of Dawson Cram.
Once back to racing, Custer passed Allgaier on the outside to assume the lead. But, C. Smith passed Custer for the lead with 60 to go. He continued to be the fastest of the field throughout the stage. C. Smith and Almirola pulled away from the field.
With 26 laps left, Custer pitted to grab tires and fuel under the green flag. With the pit stop, he did fall to two laps down, however he gained a lap back passing C. Smith in the lead.
Bubba Pollard raced for JR Motorsports in the No. 88 and was very impressive as he battled Kligerman for eighth late in the race. Near the end, Hailie Deegan pulled the car into the pits as she complained of no power.
C. Smith got the white and checkered flag as he pulled out to a four-second lead over Almirola and never looked back. Almirola finished in second with Tay. Gray, Heim, and Love in the top five.
Marvin’s Thoughts
This was a good race from start to finish. I love the NASCAR Xfinity Series. I believe it provides the best racing. While the talent isn’t as deep as the NASCAR Cup Series, I believe the car lends more to the driver’s ability to control it and push it to the limit. Richmond is not my favorite track by any means, but we had a very good race there on Easter Weekend.
