Multiple storylines fought for the checkered flag in the dwindling laps of Saturday’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway.
However, 20-year-old Chandler Smith would not be denied.
Smith slipped past John Hunter Nemechek on lap 239 and won a late tackle for his first Xfinity Series win.
Smith led his Kaulig Racing Chevrolet for 83 laps and won by 0.298 seconds. But unlike his previous three top-five finishes this season – including in Las Vegas when he led at the white flag but ended up third – he led the most important round on Saturday.
“Feels great,” said a beaming Smith. “This is proof that Vegas dominated this race but didn’t win and said it was all in God’s timing. … Here we are in Richmond, my favorite circuit, and we are sitting on the road to victory.”
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Nemechek was second again at Richmond, an all too familiar feeling for the 25-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver. That was his third straight 3/4 mile short course finish, the last two in the Xfinity Series and the one before that in the NASCAR Truck Series.
“In the short term we weren’t very good; We had a long-distance car,” said Nemechek. “…Frustrated but we’ll get back to work. The 16 (Smith) just had the best car in the short term.”
Much like Nemechek, Josh Berry was bitten by bad brakes late in the race. A household name among Virginia short track fans, Berry amassed Late Model wins across the Commonwealth before winning breakthrough in the Xfinity Series at Martinsville Speedway in April 2021.
Until a series of late restarts, he appeared to be in a good place for his sixth Xfinity win of his career. On lap 228 his JR Motorsports Chevrolet was unable to match Nemechek’s Toyota, who held the lead until Smith’s late move. Berry led 63 laps and Nemechek 11.
Fourth went to Kaz Grala, a fixture in the top 10 over the last 100 laps for VCU grad Sam Hunt’s team. Grala lined up on the second line in each of the last two restarts, but failed to attack while getting stuck on the outside each time.
The result equaled Grala’s best performance in the series and gave Hunt’s team their fourth top five finish in 92 career races.
Cole Custer rounded out the top five. Sheldon Creed was sixth, Ryan Sieg seventh and Parker Kligerman eighth. Austin Hill, three-time winner this season, finished ninth.
Derek Kraus completed the top 10 in his Xfinity debut for Kaulig Racing.
The Dash 4 Cash turned into an attrition as Justin Allgaier pocketed the extra $100,000 with a 13th place walker. After starting from pole in the rainy qualifying he faded and was no longer a factor.
“Strange day today, we didn’t start quite as well as we had hoped but they kept working, great pit stops all day,” said Allgaier. “It’s weird finishing 13th and still standing here with this check but the other guys have had a tough day.”
Among the other Dash 4 Cash competitors, Sammy Smith led 40 laps but finished 19th. Sam Mayer and Daniel Hemric had less eventful days, finishing 17th and 24th respectively.
Allgaier will battle Smith, Berry and Nemechek for the next $100,000 check on April 15 in Martinsville.