Richmond International Raceway results from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on April 30, 2017
400 thrilling laps around Richmond International Raceway. This time, it’s a hot and slick Sunday afternoon race. The drivers will engage 100 laps in Stage 1, 100 laps in Stage 2 with a final stage of 200 laps.
This time around, the cars have significantly less downforce. The Goodyear tires are the same as last year. A newer rubber for Richmond, designed to lay rubber over the surface. The walls, are painted short track style. Red and white stripes, like so many bullring short tracks in the South.
After an early slump to the year Jimmie Johnson is on fire again. He’s going for 3 wins in a row.
Green flag, the field heads into turn 1. Matt Kenseth leads Martin Truex Jr and Ryan Blaney. Still on lap 1, Dale Earnhardt Jr finds himself 3 wide and in the middle just outside the top ten.
Erik Jones is the first caution. Lap 7, the Game Stop machine cut a tire. laps earlier, contact with Kasey Kahne poked the hole. Erik Jones was asked what happened, “I got run into the wall on lap 1.” Meanwhile, Dale Jr is the first on pit road.
Restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr is now 3 wide again. This time he’s on the outside, thinking about making it 4 wide. He thinks better of it.
Related: Dale Earnhardt Jr talks living in his father’s shadow
50 laps to go in stage 1, Brad Keselowski is the car on the move. He’s now running 4th.
The line is moving around. Drivers are all over this racetrack. Kasey Kahne and others choose high, against the wall. Chase Elliott and others choose the bottom, against the yellow line. The field is split 50/50 and which line is quicker.
37 to go, caution. Ricky Stenhouse Jr drove it in a little hard on the high side. He loses the rear, it catches the catch fence. RR contact whips the front around and toward the wall. Denny Hamlin was close to his back bumper but checked up enough to avoid him. Hard on the brakes. Denny Hamlin radio, “He wanted to race, lets race. What an idiot.”
The field hits pit road. However, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Chris Buescher were all hit with pit road speeding penalties.
30 to go, Kyle Larson is making progress on the outside. He moves around Brad Keselowski for 4th. Picks off Kevin Harvick, on the lap following. Kyle Larson is coming, he wants that stage win.
10 to go, Matt Kenseth continues to pull on the field. He leads by nearly 3 seconds. Brad Keselowski has a long run car he’s looking to move around Kevin Harvick for 3rd. Denny Hamlin is there as well. Keselowski has progress halted by a lapped car, that allows Hamlin to move passed Keselowski.
Joey Logano has moved from his last place starting spot of 37th up to 10th. It took him 100 laps to get from near last to a playoff points paying position. He will likely be a threat in stage 2.
At the line Kyle Larson slips passed Martin Truex Jr. The highside momentum carried him passed, by a nose.
Stage 1 Results: 1) Matt Kenseth; 2) Kyle Larson; 3) Martin Truex Jr; 4) Kevin Harvick; 5) Denny Hamlin; 6) Brad Keselowski; 7) Ryan Newman; 8) Jamie McMurray; 9) Clint Bowyer; 10) Joey Logano
Stage 1 winner at Richmond International Raceway speaks to Jeff Gordon after his early stage win, “It’s been a good start. But obviously, we’ve had good track position. We haven’t been back in traffic yet. We got a little bit of work to do on our balance, but we certainly have the speed.” Jeff Gordon gives Kenseth a good luck note. Kenseth responds, “All right. You enjoy the air conditioning up there.”
Green flag on stage 2. 100 more laps, Matt Kenseth continues to lead. Kyle Busch is still climbing through the field after his pit road penalty. He looks 3 wide on corner exit. Austin Dillon drifts to the wall even with a car to his outside, he slams the door shut. Kyle Busch jumps hard on the brakes to avoid a crash.
61 to go in stage 2, Matt Kenseth continues to pull away. He’s on the radio, “The balance feels great and this is really fun to drive.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr started 4th. He was involved in a spin earlier that put him on the 5 min crash clock. He’s driven from 30th up to 17th.
Matt Kenseth hasn’t led a lap all season. Yet, he’s led every lap so far today. He might find himself in 2nd fairly soon. He’s deep in lapped traffic and has pressure behind him.
40 laps to go in stage 2, Brad Keselowski has brought his front bumper all the way to the rear bumper of Matt Kenseth. He was on the same charge in stage 1, a caution halted his progress. The #2 Team Penske machine needs long green flag runs.
36 to go, new leader. Brad Keselowski slips passed Matt Kenseth on the bottom of the race track. The setup on Matt Kenseth’s car has swung in the wrong direction. Matt Kenseth radio, “Plowing tight!”
10 to go, Brad Keselowski continues to lead, now by 2 seconds. Danica Patrick and Daniel Suarez are soon to go a lap down. They are racing hard to avoid it. Danger for the leader.
Martin Truex Jr has fallen through the field. He loses 10th spot to Joey Logano.
Stage 2 Results: 1) Brad Keselowski; 2) Matt Kenseth; 3) Kevin Harvick; 4) Denny Hamlin; 5) Kyle Larson; 6) Ryan Newman; 7) Jamie McMurray; 8) Clint Bowyer; 9) Ty Dillon; 10) Joey Logano
Darrell Waltrip speaks to the stage 2 winner at Richmond International Raceway. Brad Keselowski radio, “I got a really good car here to get that long run speed and make that cross over move to take the lead. That was really cool and a lot of fun.”
The field pits. Denny Hamlin comes out the leader. Kevin Harvick 2nd and the stage winner rolls off pit road in 3rd. Keselowski had trouble on the front tire changes. Jimmie Johnson will be sent to the rear, uncontrolled tire.
Green. Final stage, 200 laps to go. Denny Hamlin leads the field off turn 2. Immediate pressure from Kevin Harvick. Denny Hamlin feels like he should be the owner of this place. It’s his favorite track on the circuit, he sat in the grandstands at age 11. Hamlin prevails over Harvick, for now.
Related: Denny Hamlin talks the possibility on a return from Carl Edwards
173 to go, Kevin Harvick is challenging again. This time he’s to the outside. He’s around Hamlin. Brad Keselowski is there as well, he also gets around Hamlin. Kevin Harvick’s lead is short lived. Brad Keselowski takes the lead on the outside.
150 to go, caution. Debris.
The field put on new tires 70 laps ago. Most of the field is still on the bottom of the race track. We could be seeing a change in the track due to rubber being laid down.
116 to go, Denny Hamlin has pressure. Brad Keselowski, has brought his long run car to the front of the field. He’s looking to the outside on turn 1. Syke! It’s a crossover move, he slips under Denny Hamlin on exit. New leader!
110 to go, Denny Hamlin is searching the highside of the track for a new groove. He’s trying multiple lines. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick is searching for the runner up spot. 6 laps later, Harvick slips passed on the bottom.
90 to go, cars are looking evil. Many have moved up the racetrack and even more are sideways on corner exit.
85 to go, Joey Logano is the first on pit road. Green flag pit stops. Martin Truex Jr follows. The flood gates are open, one car after the other is in the pits. 81 to go, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick pit. Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski pit a lap later. Clint Bowyer, Danica Patrick and others are hit with commitment cone violations.
73 to go, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr are yet to pit. Denny Hamlin is pressuring Kevin Harvick for 4th. A battle that will soon be a battle for the lead. Brad Keselowski is in the picture as well. As Hamlin and Harvick slow each other down, Brad Keselowski drives to the bottom. He moves passed both of them.
65 to go, Jimmie Johnson throws in the towel and hits pit road. Brad Keselowski is 6 seconds behind leader Ryan Newman.
Trouble. Jimmie Johnson comes from the bottom to the top, he slams into Dale Earnhardt Jr off turn 2. Crinkled fenders and flat tires for both. Jimmie Johnson radio, “I had no clue anyone was out there. My Apologies.”
55 to go, everyone hits pit road. Brad Keselowski is the new leader. Ryan Newman was handed a gift, he rolls off pit road in 2nd.
Green. 52 to go, Kyle Busch takes everyone 4 wide. He picks up a handful of positions. Brad Keselowski gaps the field. Newman and Hamlin run side by side as the leader pulls away. Kyle Busch is there. Joey Logano is there, challenging Kyle Busch. Kevin Harvick is dropping, he’s 7th.
44 to go, caution. More trouble for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Flat left rear tire this time. Slight contact with the outside wall. Clint Bowyer and Ty Dillon wreck under caution. Unsure how that happened but I would guess someone is mad at someone.
39 to go, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch are looking to take the lead. The #2 got a bad restart. Hamlin gets to the lead. Likely backs off to avoid a restart penalty. Kyle Busch see’s opportunity, he slips passed Hamlin for 2nd. Flat tire for Matt Kenseth! Sparks everywhere, no caution yet. Contact with Chase Elliott caused it. Caution for debris.
The entire field pits, except Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. They could be in deep trouble on this restart. It’s going to get exciting.
30 to go, new leader, Joey Logano! Brad Keselowski throws a block to Kyle Busch. It’s short lived, Kyle Busch slips passed for 2nd, setting sights on Joey Logano. Denny Hamlin puts the bumper to Brad Keselowski. It doesn’t work.
23 to go, they tried 4 wide into turn 3. It didn’t work. Ryan Blaney nets a flat tire on corner entry. He hits the wall, caution.
The field hits pit road except Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chris Buescher, Martin Truex Jr, and others stay out. Kyle Busch commitment cone violation! he will be sent to the rear, again.
Related: Watch the pitlane trick Joey Logano pulled on Kyle Busch at Richmond
Green. It takes two laps for Joey Logano to climb to 2nd. A lap later, he returns to the lead.
10 to go, Brad Keselowski moves to 2nd. Joey Logano is gone, 1 second ahead.
Joey Logano wins at Richmond International Raceway on a pit road gamble! Brad Keselowski needed about 10 more laps to get it done.
From victory lane, “I was driving my guts out there. We won with a car that might not have been the winning car. So that’s something to be very proud of.”
“The caution came out,” Logano said of the final yellow. “The boys had a great stop which gave us good track position to pass the cars that stayed out. We were able to have a good start, work our way past those cars and tried to take off the best I could. I knew the 2 (Keselowski) was so much faster than everybody, and I had to get out there as quick and as far as I could.
“He was on his way to catch me. I think he was catching me a couple tenths a lap. That was all I had inside the car, and I burned them up early trying to go. I’m proud of the effort of the team. We executed under pressure today and brought a car home that was a fifth-to-10th-place car to Victory Lane.”
Runner-up finisher Brad Keselowski talks philosophical about the race, “I was just hoping for another restart or the race to get extended for another 10 laps,” Keselowski said. “I think we had a ton of long-run speed today. That short run at the end … half the field came, half the field didn’t. I just got stuck in a lane of cars that didn’t go.
“By the time I did, he (Logano) had a whole straightaway on me. I got it down to a couple of car-lengths at the end. All and all, I’m happy for Team Penske with the 1-2 finish. We’ll take it and move on.”
It was the 300th start for Joey Logano in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He won it. Starting from the last row on the grid.
View full Richmond International Raceway results below.
Author: Shane Walters
Richmond International Raceway Video Recap
Richmond International Raceway Results
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
April 30th, 2017
1) Joey Logano
2) Brad Keselowski
3) Denny Hamlin
4) Ricky Stenhouse Jr
5) Kevin Harvick
6) Jamie McMurray
7) Ryan Newman
8) Kurt Busch
9) Aric Almirola
10) Martin Truex Jr
11) Jimmie Johnson
12) Daniel Suarez
13) Trevor Bayne
14) Kyle Larson
15) Clint Bowyer
16) Kyle Busch
17) Chris Buescher
18) Danica Patrick
19) David Ragan
20) Austin Dillon
21) Landon Cassill
22) Kasey Kahne
23) Matt Kenseth
24) Chase Elliott
25) Paul Menard
26) Ty Dillon
27) Cole Whitt
28) Matt Dibendetto
29) Michael McDowell
30) Dale Earnhardt Jr
31) Gray Gaulding
32) Corey LaJoie
33) Reed Sorenson
34) Timmy Hill
35) Jeffrey Earnhardt
36) Ryan Blaney
37) AJ Allmendinger
38) Erik Jones
LINKS
Richmond International Raceway
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
