NASCAR: 'Toyota Owners 400' at Richmond Raceway preview

Tyler Auffhammer, The Mountaineer, Waynesville, N.C.
·2 min read
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Mar. 31—This weekend will be the first split weekend on the NASCAR schedule, with the Cup and Xfinity Series at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, and the Craftsman Truck Series serving as the companion race to the NTT IndyCar Series at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas.

This weekend will be the first of three straight short tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. The three tracks are Richmond Raceway, Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia, and Bristol Dirt in Bristol, Tennessee. Driver's feelings, and their cars, can get bent out of shape at these short tracks considering the confrontations that have already happened this season (most notably Phoenix's Hamlin/Chastain dust-up).

On-track action kicks off bright and early Saturday morning with Xfinity Series (NXS) practice for 30 minutes at 8 a.m., followed immediately by qualifying. Then at 10 a.m., the Cup Series (NCS) heads out for a 50-minute practice followed immediately by qualifying.

Meanwhile, the Craftsman Truck Series starts its practice and qualifying at 10:30 a.m. at Texas Motor Speedway. All coverage for this action will be on FS1 for TV viewers and MRN/SiriusXM Ch. 90 for radio listeners.

Following the practice and qualifying action at 12:30 p.m., the NXS drivers will hit the grid for opening ceremonies and at 1 p.m., the command will be given to start the 250-lap "Toyota Care 250." Can Austin Hill (No. 21) rebound from his disastrous COTA 36th-place showing?

Then at 4:30 p.m., the Craftsman Trucks will line up, pray, sing and fire their engines for their 167-lap "SpeedyCash.com 250." Who will be the lone driver in victory lane in the Lone Star State when the trucks cross the finish line?

Sunday, the NCS gets ready to battle at Richmond Raceway with opening ceremonies and the command to fire engines at 3:30 p.m. for its 400-lap "Toyota Owners 400." Will the Cup series see William Byron (No. 24) back at the front of the field like he has been most of the season? Or will Toyota get its second win of the season in the Toyota-sponsored event?

Tune in to FS1 for TV viewers and MRN (92.5 WESC) or SiriusXM Ch. 90 for radio listeners to find out.