MONSTER
ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
Toyota
Owners 400
Richmond
International Raceway – Richmond, Virginia
Sunday,
April 30, 2017
Race
Winner: Joey Logano
Age:
26
Team:
No. 22 – Shell Pennzoil Ford
Owner:
Team Penske
Crew
Chief: Todd Gordon
IN
THE WORDS OF THE WINNER
– “Coming from the back, being the
300th start and pulling into victory lane, man, that feels good. I drove my
guts out there. We ended up with the winning car, something I’m really proud
of. It’s nice to finally break through to get a win.”
-- Joey
Logano
----------------
·
Joey
Logano won the 63rd annual Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR
Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway Sunday afternoon. For Logano,
it is his first victory of the year and his 18th win in 300 Monster
Energy NASCAR Cup Series races. Prior to
today, the last time Logano won was on November 13, 2016 at Phoenix.
·
It
is Logano’s second win in 17 starts at Richmond International Raceway. His initial win there occurred on April 26,
2014.
·
With
the win Logano now has notched at least one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
race in six straight seasons.
·
Logano
becomes the fifth driver in series history to win in his 300th
career start, joining Denny Hamlin (Talladega, 2014), Kyle Busch (Texas, 2013),
Kasey Kahne (Charlotte, 2012) and Rusty Wallace (Atlanta, 1993).
·
Brad
Keselowski (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish and sixth in the top-5 in
nine races this year.
·
Denny
Hamlin (third) posted his 13th top-10 finish in 22 career Monster
Energy Series races at Richmond International Raceway. It is his best finish of 2017 and his best
showing since he also was third on October 30 of last year at Martinsville.
·
Daniel
Suarez (12th) was the highest finishing rookie today.
·
For
2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series
where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points
awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the
top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).
·
Matt Kenseth won Stage 1 of today’s race, while Brad
Keselowski captured Stage 2.
·
Kyle
Larson (398) leads the point standings by 40 points over Martin Truex Jr.
(358). They are followed by Chase Elliott (346), Joey Logano (333) and Brad
Keselowski (327).
·
With
today’s win, Logano becomes the seventh driver to qualify for the 16-driver
field of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The list also consists of Kurt Busch, Brad
Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson and Jimmie Johnson, each
of whom has won at least one race this season. The Playoffs culminate with the
Ford EcoBoost 400 championship finale on November 19 at Homestead-Miami
Speedway.
·
In
eight career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Homestead-Miami
Speedway, Joey Logano has posted three top-10 finishes, including two in the
top-5. He has been a part of the
Championship 4 in the Ford EcoBoost 400 in both 2014 and 2016.
NASCAR
XFINITY SERIES
·
Kyle
Larson won the 30th annual ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race
at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday afternoon. It is Larson’s seventh
victory in 96 career NASCAR XFINITY Series races, and his second of 2017 (at
Auto Club, 3/25).
·
It
is his first victory and third top-10 finish in five career XFINITY Series
races at Richmond International Raceway.
·
Justin
Allgaier (second) accounted for his fourth top-10 finish and third top-5 in
eight races this year. Allgaier also won
Stage 2 of Saturday’s race.
·
Daniel
Hemric (third) was the highest finishing rookie.
·
Austin
Dillon captured Stage 1 of the race.
·
With
one win apiece this year, Justin Allgaier and Ryan Reed have clinched spots in
the 12-driver playoff field in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs.
The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship
race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 18.
·
Elliott
Sadler (295) leads the XFINITY Series points standings by 41 points over Justin
Allgaier (254). They are followed by rookies William Byron (251) and Daniel
Hemric (228).
NASCAR
CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
·
The
Camping World Truck Series was off this weekend. They will resume action
on Saturday, May 12 with the Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway.
