Gragson Wins Second Straight Xfinity Race at Richmond Raceway

Steve Helber - AP Photo

RICHMOND, VA – RIS – Noah Gragson remains whit hot in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series.  He won his second consecutive race on Saturday afternoon by beating the field.  He had earlier won last week at Darlington Raceway. Gragson held onto the lead after a restart with seven laps to go and held off Justin Haley on Saturday for the win.

Gragson, driving in the race with JR Motorsports owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., ended a 49-race winless streak last weekend at Darlington. His second victory of the season and fourth of his career gives him momentum into the playoffs.  Just one race remains before the field is set for the 12-driver postseason.

"We're starting to get momentum at the right time,'' an emotional Gragson said, adding that the day was more about honoring the victims and heroes of the Sept. 11 terror attacks that were remembered on its 20-year anniversary.

"Today is not about this team or this win. It's about everybody who lost their lives 20 years ago,'' he said. "You know, you got a lot of heavy hearts. At least in America, we can come together on this day ... but it's an emotional day.''

Justin Haley held on for second, followed by John Hunter Nemechek, Gragson teammate Justin Allgaier and Riley Herbst, with just one race left before the 10-race playoffs begin.

"We turned a bad day, gambled on the strategy and made it OK,'' said Haley, whose team opted not to pit when most of the leaders did late and was able to rally. "I think that's a championship caliber effort that we put forth.''

Truck Series driver John Hunter Nemechek finished third behind Gragson and Haley. Nemechek, a regular in the NASCAR truck series, was driving for Sam Hunt Racing, a team owned by VCU graduate and former racer Sam Hunt, a native of Midlothian, about 15 miles from the track.

"I don't think we had enough of a car to win there, but we definitely made the most out of the day,'' said Nemechek, who leads truck series regular with five victories this season. "It's nice to know that this is his home track, and we were able to run really well.''

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. made a rare appearance in the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro. 

Earnhardt, rose to as high as third by gambling on old tires with about 60 laps to go, but quickly faded to 21st because most of the race leaders had fresher tires. He and others got the caution they needed with just over 20 laps to go, but Earnhardt was caught speeding in pit road and only was able to rally for a 14th-place finish.

"We didn't have the car I think that I was looking for and maybe I just couldn't figure out how to get it around the track,'' Earnhardt said before heading to change and be part of the broadcast team for the evening Cup Series race. "I hope I haven't lost any credibility being 14th today," he said.

One race remains in the first segment of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship.  The driver head to Bristol next to race on the high-banked ovel.  Drivers will be eliminated after that race in their quest for the Cup championship.

Unofficial Results: 41st Annual Go Bowling 250, September 11, 2021, Richmond Raceway: 0.75 Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status

1) 3, Noah Gragson, No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet, 250, 8, 4, 2, 22, 5, 50, Running

2) 4, Justin Haley, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 35, Running

3) 27, John Hunter Nemechek(i), No. 26 Safeway Toyota, 250, , 10, , , , 0, Running

4) 5, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 33, Running

5) 20, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Go Bowling Ford, 250, , 8, , , , 35, Running

6) 12, Daniel Hemric, No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota, 250, 7, 5, 2, 17, , 41, Running

7) 15, Ty Gibbs #, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 250, 4, 1, 3, 67, 1, 47, Running

8) 17, Brandon Brown, No. 68 TradeTheChain.com Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 29, Running

9) 2, Harrison Burton, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota, 250, 6, 3, 2, 43, , 41, Running

10) 6, Jeb Burton, No. 10 State Water Heaters Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 27, Running

11) 19, Ty Dillon, No. 02 Fr8Auctions Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 26, Running

12) 38, Sam Mayer #, No. 99 QPS Employment Group Chevrolet, 250, , 7, 1, 7, , 29, Running

13) 11, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMR Construction and Roofing/A-Game Ford, 250, , 9, , , , 26, Running

14) 30, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Unilever United For America Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 23, Running

15) 32, Kyle Weatherman, No. 47 12 Hour Auctions/Big Frig Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 22, Running

16) 1, Austin Cindric, No. 22 Carshop Ford, 250, 3, 6, 2, 50, , 34, Running

17) 34, Mason Massey, No. 78 Gerber Collision & Glass Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 20, Running

18) 8, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet, 250, 1, 2, 3, 39, 1, 38, Running

19) 13, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Prolon/rousseau/Silver Wax Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 18, Running

20) 16, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Menards/Atlas Toyota, 250, , , , , , 17, Running

21) 21, Matt Mills, No. 5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 16, Running

22) 10, Michael Annett, No. 1 PFJ Thank A Trucker Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 15, Running

23) 14, Josh Williams, No. 92 WORKPRO Tools Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 14, Running

24) 33, Josh Berry #, No. 31 Bommarito.com/Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 13, Running

25) 9, Myatt Snider, No. 2 Superior Essex Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 12, Running

26) 7, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 One Stop Convenience Store Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 11, Running

27) 28, Bayley Currey(i), No. 15 TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 0, Running

28) 37, David Starr, No. 66 Sharelife Vacations/Helluva Ranch Toyota, 249, , , , , , 9, Running

29) 29, JJ Yeley, No. 17 Thundercat Technology Chevrolet, 248, 5, , , , , 14, Running

30) 26, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 0 LifeGR 9/11 Tribute Chevrolet, 248, , , , , , 7, Running

31) 23, Joe Graf Jr., No. 07 Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet, 248, , , , , , 6, Running

32) 22, Patrick Emerling, No. 23 Spirit Snorkeling Chevrolet, 248, 10, , , , , 6, Running

33) 35, Spencer Boyd(i), No. 90 MiniDoge Chevrolet, 248, 9, , , , , 0, Running

34) 40, Akinori Ogata(i), No. 52 KYOWA PRECISION Chevrolet, 247, , , , , , 0, Running

35) 25, Ryan Vargas #, No. 6 Rich Mar Florist Chevrolet, 246, , , , , , 2, Running

36) 18, Jade Buford #, No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet, 246, , , , , , 1, Running

37) 24, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 Alpha Prime Chevrolet, 227, 2, , 1, 5, , 10, Accident

38) 36, Stephen Leicht, No. 61 Jani-King Toyota, 220, , , , , , 1, Running

39) 31, Landon Cassill, No. 4 Voyager Chevrolet, 179, , , , , , 1, Ignition

40) 39, CJ McLaughlin(i), No. 74 SciAps Chevrolet, 111, , , , , , 0, Accident

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 14 Mins, 57 Secs.

Race Length: 250 Laps - 187.5 Miles

Average Speed: 83.364 MPH

Margin of Victory: 0.381 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 16, 44, 22, 54, 17, 20, 18, 9, 90, 23

Stage 2 Top 10: 54, 16, 20, 9, 18, 22, 99, 98, 39, 26

Comments: Noah Gragson won the Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway, his fourth victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: No. 52 (Missing driver intros), Nos. 02 and 15 (Driver change).

Failed to Qualify: (1) 13 Timmy Hill(i).

Caution Flags: 9 for 58 laps;

Laps: 37-42 (Competition  [0]);

77-84 (Stage 1 Conclusion [4]);

87-91 (No. 44, 90 Incident Turn 2 [07]);

148-158 (No. 74, 48 Incident Turn 3 / Stage 2 Conclusion [4]);

171-176 (No. 15, 5 Incident Turn 3 [66]);

183-187 (No. 4 Stopped On Track [10]);

224-230 (No. 52, 92 Incident Turn 2 [78]);

232-236 (No. 44 Incident Turn 1 [15]);

239-243 (No. 2, 51 Incident Frontstretch [5]).

Lead Changes: 15 among 8 drivers;

A. Cindric 1-45;

A. Allmendinger 46-69;

T. Martins 70-74;

A. Allmendinger 75-78;

T. Gibbs # 79;

A. Cindric 80-84;

D. Hemric 85-97;

T. Gibbs # 98-153;

D. Hemric 154-157;

N. Gragson 158-165;

T. Gibbs # 166-175;

H. Burton 176-184;

S. Mayer # 185-191;

H. Burton 192-225;

A. Allmendinger 226-236;

N. Gragson 237-250.

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Noah Gragson, No. 9

Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Ty Gibbs, No. 54

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2021, Issue 9, Posted 9:21 PM, 09.11.2021