Chandler Smith got to the front when it counted and never looked back. He led 76 laps en route to victory in the Xfinity Series at Richmond Raceway, and every one of those laps came in the final stage after getting around his teammate Aric Almirola who was dominant early in the race.
“Never give up,” Smith said. “Never give up. This car was not good Stage 1, wasn’t good Stage 2, but we were able to do some strategy there with our Mobil 1 GR Supra and this thing was as fast as Xfinity internet at the end when it counted.”
Not only did Smith back up his win last year at Richmond in the Xfinity Series when he drove for Kaulig Racing, it’s his second win this season after moving to Joe Gibbs Racing.
“All glory to God. I mean, if it wasn’t for Him, I wouldn’t be surrounded by all these great men and women at Joe Gibbs Racing. Wouldn’t be with the greatest manufacturer, Toyota. I’m back home with them and it’s great, I’m back winning races here on a consistent basis. I think we took over the points lead again today too, so, I’m just blessed.”
Aric Almirola won both stages but just needed something more at the end. He still ended up second to his teammate.
“Well, we just got a little too loose,” he explained. “The run before that in Stage 2, when I took off, my car was really, really good, and at the end it just built a little bit tight. That last run, for whatever reason, I don’t know if it’s a different set of tires or what, I paced myself. I let Chandler go and then when I started trying to creep back to him, I didn’t have anything to go with. I was loose in and I just couldn’t get the throttle down on exit.”
Almirola returned to Joe Gibbs Racing this season after years in the Cup Series for different organizations to help develop their Xfinity program. This was his third race this year and a much better result as his first top-ten.
“I hate that, to win both stages and feel like we had the dominant car and then just let it slip away there at the end is disappointing. But so fun this weekend, coming back to Richmond eighteen years after making my first start for Coach.”
Through his new role at the team, he’s served as a mentor to the team’s younger drivers. That made the 1-2-3 finish for the team, with Smith and Almirola followed by Taylor Gray in third, particularly “huge.”
“A lot of people don’t realize just how much work goes into the organization during the offseason to get it to where it’s at,” he said. “To add a whole fourth team to the organization was a huge undertaking. Just really proud of all the men and women back at the shop at Joe Gibbs Racing, and everybody, for working so hard to get a fourth team up and going and to have the speed that we’ve had every single week.”
Super late model superstar Bubba Pollard, making his Xfinity debut with JR Motorsports in the No. 88, finished sixth, followed by Parker Kligerman, Austin Hill, Sammy Smith, and reigning champion Cole Custer who all scored a top-ten finish.
The race featured six cautions, four of which were for cause, but came down to the long run in the final stage. When the caution flew for Joey Gase’s spin, the field split on whether to pit with the top fourteen cars staying out, banking on a late-race caution that never came.
That final caution was a spectacle in itself, though. In the battle for the free-pass position, Dawson Cram was late on the brakes behind Joey Gase, sending Gase spinning as he slowed to make Turn 1.
The damage to the car ended up terminal, which left Gase particularly unhappy with the driver who’s raced for his own then-named Emerling Gase Motorsports team in the past.
Gase responded by tearing the whole rear bumper cover off of his wrecked racecar and walking down to the line of cars following the pace car under caution. When he saw Cram, he let loose and threw the cover right on his hood.
After the incident, Gase did not hold back and addressed Cram’s current team owner Johnny Davis directly.
“I think him just not having his head screwed on right,” Gase said of the reason for the contact. “I gave the kid his first opportunity in Xfinity ever.
“I know Johnny Davis isn’t in the business of wrecking race cars and we’re definitely not. We’re a small team and racing hard for the free pass. Apparently he didn’t know how to lift. Maybe his throttle’s stuck. I don’t know.”
Gase and Cram will get the opportunity to air out their frustrations when the Xfinity Series returns on Saturday, April 6th for a night race at Bristol.
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