#SrigleyStats Weekend Recap: Richmond Raceway / Texas Motor Speedway
Taking a look back at a busy weekend for #SrigleyStats with the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series at Richmond, and the NASCAR Truck Series at Texas. Plus, this week's Spotlight Driver Dean Thompson.
PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Parks, HHP, Courtesy of Team Chevy
For the first time this year, NASCAR’s top-three series were spread across the country, with the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series competing at Richmond Raceway, while the NASCAR Truck Series remained in Texas at Texas Motor Speedway.
It was another action-packed weekend of racing, with the benefits of short-track racing shining through at Richmond Raceway, and some of the best elements of intermediate track racing in the NASCAR Truck Series being displayed.
Let’s take a look back at some of the #SrigleyStats from Richmond and Texas, as well as a quick recap of each race’s finishing order, and the #SrigleyStats Spotlight Driver.
For those looking for the #SrigleyStats Sheet, don’t worry, that will be released to paid subscribers later today or tomorrow! If you’re interested in gaining access to the #SrigleyStats Sheet, you can subscribe for $5/month or $50/year, down below:
NASCAR Cup Series - Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond - Top-10:
#5 Kyle Larson - Hendrick Motorsports
#9 Josh Berry - Hendrick Motorsports
#1 Ross Chastain - Trackhouse Racing
#20 Christopher Bell - Joe Gibbs Racing
#4 Kevin Harvick - Stewart-Haas Racing
#34 Michael McDowell - Front Row Motorsports
#22 Joey Logano - Team Penske
#48 Alex Bowman - Hendrick Motorsports
#54 Ty Gibbs - Joe Gibbs Racing
#6 Brad Keselowski - RFK Racing
NASCAR Xfinity Series - ToyotaOwners 250 at Richmond - Top-10:
#16 Chandler Smith - Kaulig Racing
#20 John Hunter Nemechek - Joe Gibbs Racing
#8 Josh Berry - JR Motorsports
#26 Kaz Grala - Sam Hunt Racing
#00 Cole Custer - Stewart-Haas Racing
#2 Sheldon Creed - Richard Childress Racing
#39 Ryan Sieg - RSS Racing
#48 Parker Kligerman - Big Machine Racing
#21 Austin Hill - Richard Childress Racing
#10 Derek Kraus - Kaulig Racing
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series - SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas - Top-10:
#42 Carson Hocevar - Niece Motorsports
#4 Chase Purdy - Kyle Busch Motorsports
#52 Stewart Friesen - Halmar Friesen Racing
#98 Ty Majeski - ThorSport Racing
#35 Jake Garcia - McAnally-Hilgemann Racing
#13 Hailie Deegan - ThorSport Racing
#11 Corey Heim - TRICON Garage
#30 Ryan Vargas - On Point Motorsports
#51 Jack Wood - Kyle Busch Motorsports
#99 Ben Rhodes - ThorSport Racing
#SrigleyStats Spotlight Driver: Dean Thompson
PHOTO CREDIT: Rachel Schuoler, LAT Images, Courtesy of Toyota Racing
Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Texas Motor Speedway was without a doubt the best run of Dean Thompson’s career to date, piloting the No. 5 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage.
Thompson, who enters his second full season of competition in the NASCAR Truck Series, spent a whopping 89.5% of the laps running inside the top-15, per NASCAR’s Loop Data, many of which were spent inside the top five.
In fact, the 21-year-old driver spent more laps inside the top five in Saturday’s SpeedyCash.com 250 than he had in his previous 28 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts combined.
Without a doubt, Saturday’s event showed that Thompson is capable of competing for top-five results, and even victories, should the circumstances fall the right way, something he was unable to show with Niece Motorsports.
Though, unfortunately, the conclusion of the race didn’t play out as Thompson or TRICON Garage were hoping when the Anaheim, California-native got loose in turn four, and spun on the frontstretch, before getting slammed into by Matt Mills, Trey Hutchens, and Armani Williams.
Thompson would be loaded onto a stretcher after climbing from his truck and was later transported to a local hospital, where he was evaluated and released on Saturday night.
The TRICON Garage driver will have to be cleared to compete in Saturday’s event at Bristol, something that hasn’t been publicly announced as of the time of the Weekend Recap’s release.
Leaving Texas, Thompson sits 27th in NASCAR Truck Series points but has proven that he is more than capable of mixing it up with the leaders on a consistent basis in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
WELCOME TO THE NEW AGE
With his victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Richmond Raceway, Chandler Smith became the first driver born after 01/01/2000 to score a victory in at least two of NASCAR’s top-three divisions.
Smith scored the victory at Richmond in the ToyotaCare 250, on top of the several NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victories he collected over the last two seasons with Kyle Busch Motorsports.
NO DOWNFORCE, NO PROBLEMS
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway featured a total of 3,681 green flag passes over the course of the event, the most that a NASCAR Cup Series event at Richmond has had since the implementation of NASCAR’s Loop Data (2005).
The 400-lap contest was the second test of the new lower downforce aero package on a short track, and the first at Richmond Raceway. Based on these metrics, it appears that on the surface the change was a success.
JOSH BERRY: THE NEWEST SUPER SUB
After playing some pit strategy in the closing stages of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event from Richmond Raceway, Josh Berry was able to salvage a runner-up finish, the best result of his career to date, and his first top-five in his sixth start.
With that result, Berry becomes the first driver to record a non-superspeedway top-two result in their first six NASCAR Cup Series races since Kasey Kahne in 2004, nearly two decades ago.
Berry will return the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro until Chase Elliott is able to return to the seat.