- Xfinity 250 - Martinsville Speedway - 1. (#91) Zack Saunders - 2. (#1) Cory Mott - 3. (#29) Steward Harding Walker - 4. (#69) Caleb Tipton - 5. (#94) Thomas Wolfe - 6. (#22) Nic Vasquez - 7. (#6) Stephen Menke - 8. (#3) Ben Lawson - 9. (#37) Joe T. Wright - 10. (#16) Nathaniel Campbell - 11. (#57) Michael Deitch - 12. (#00) Garth Griswold - 13. (#11) Nishil Condoor - 14. (#7) Steven Carlile - 15. (#8) Zach Johnson - 16. (#99) Justin Bell - 17. (#74) Caleb Sheets - 18. (#30) Mason Hoeffner - 19. (#96) Vince Mitchell
RICHMOND: The VRS Truck Series took to the short track of Richmond Raceway on Monday night. With 4 races to go for drivers to claim one of last 6 spots in the VRS Truck Series Playoff, Short track racing at Richmond was guaranteed to get spicy. Unfortunately, the racing was over seasoned with cautions and carnage with a sprinkle of an exciting finish at the end.
Qualifying
The biggest surprise of the evening was the absence of Xpress Esports driver Johnny Avila who was unable to make it to Virginia in time for qualifying, but his teammate Cody Porter picked up where he left off last week at Rockingham and reclaimed his claim to the front row throne with a time of 22.230. Zack Saunders would start second on his outside with a time of 22.344. Nishil Condoor would start third, Tyler Krawczyk fourth, and Stephen Menke fifth.
Caution Fest
Stage 1 would have a total of nine cautions in the first 70 laps of the race, with five more cautions in Stage 2. It was difficult for drivers to get any long green flag runs which would keep tires fresh and tire temperatures low. All these cautions would also make it difficult for drivers to move up in the field which in turn caused some aggressive driving on restarts to gain spots. The trend would continue into the final stage where the caution would fly ten times over the final 110 laps.
Just like in reality with NASCAR Officials working overtime to issue rulings on their race. Race Control Competition Director Gordon Fraley will have a big paycheck from working overtime this week. Fraley will be reviewing all these incidents and handing out penalties for accidents caused to deter poor driving performance in the future. That penalty report is expected to be released sometime this week.
“Seeing as we had a record breaking caution count and one incident that involved 17 Trucks. Expect to see half the field serving drive through penalties at the beginning of the next race.” Gordon Fraley, RC Competition Director
STAGE WINNERS
With both stages ending early due to the #15 Cody Leach wrecking on Lap 68 and Lap 139, the stage wins were determined by positioning at the line on the completion of the lap. Stage 1 was won by Zack Saunders who led 56 laps in the stage. Cody Porter would take 2nd, and Stephen Menke third. Stage 2 was won by Porter with Noah Hamilton coming in second and Stephen Menke once again clinching third.
ALMOST A CINDERELLA STORY
Oskar Jensen’s race got off to possibly the worst start that he has had in the VRS Truck Series. After the first caution Jensen noticed he was having some mechanical failures in his race car. Jensen would pull into the pits to try and fix the issue, but would go four laps down. He was probably the only driver who was rooting for the cautions as Jensen would finally get back to the lead lap on Lap 180.
Once Jensen was able to get back to the lead lap he fired towards the front faster than Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 Rocket, finding himself in the Top 10 with 50 laps to go. Within 5 laps Jensen broke into the Top 5 and Porter’s fired missile alarm was screaming, and by lap 211 Jensen was sitting in third with 39 laps to go.
In a span of 30 laps Jensen would go from one lap down to sitting in second and would stay on Porters bumper until the end. On the final lap Jensen would try his best Austin Dillon impersonation and full send it into Turn 4 making contact with Porter’s bumper. Porter would get loose and slide up into the wall but unlike Joey Logano he would get the truck under control and maintain the lead to the finish line.
“It felt like it took 10 years to get back on the lead lap, I didn’t have a great restart their at the end and my only hope was for Cody to make a mistake. The finish was really good after all we had to deal with and I am happy to take second after all that.”
Oskar Jensen, #46, Xpress Esports, Ford
In what would have been a fairy tale ending for Jensen to come back from 4 laps down to win, Porter wanted to write a different ending to this story. This is Porter’s second straight win of the split and his third win this season in the VRS Truck Series. Xpress Esports has dominated the VRS Series with Porter and Avila winning the last seven races.
“It was nice to get the win, Noah, Zack, and Oscar put up one heck of a fight, it wasn’t easy, and the cautions didn’t make it any easier either.”
Cody Porter, #04, Xpress Esports Ford
The VRS Truck Series has 3 races to go before the playoffs begin on September 16th. Porter overtook Avila in the Split 3 Standings with Tyler Krawczyk keeping ahold of the 3rd place position. Thomas Villano is trailing Krawczyk by 8 points to crack into the Split 3 playoff spot and is trailing 26 points to Stephen Menke for a wildcard spot. Matthew Owens moved ahead of Garth Griswold in the Wildcard standings with Menke securing the third and final playoff position with 3 races to go.
The Truck series will have an off week next week, before racing action resumes on August 26th at the Milwaukee Mile. For the final two races the VRS Truck Series will travel to Watkins Glen on September 2nd, and to the Nashville Fairgrounds for the final race of the regular season on September 9th.
To watch the race replay in its entirety click here.
Don’t forget to follow us on our social media!
