Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Nascar Next Gen Ford Mustang, battled Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry for the win at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 4th. While Harvick’s No. 4 Mustang ultimately finished second to Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota, the Ford team took advantage of pit strategy to have a shot at the win.
The No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro of William Byron led the field for most of the final stage of the race. Byron’s team gambled on pit strategy and pitted far before Harvick’s No. 4 Mustang and Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota, hoping that his tires would maintain grip for the rest of the race. Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Toyota, attempted a similar strategy, although took fresh tires well after Byron’s No. 24 Chevy did. As the laps wound down, Truex’s No. 19 Toyota began to reel in the No. 24 Camaro of Byron, but both cars fell off in the final laps as their tires lost grip.
This opened the door for Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota and Harvick’s No. 4 Mustang to charge to the front of the field. Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota made the pass for the lead with five laps left, followed closely by Harvick in the No. 4 Mustang. However, Harvick just didn’t have enough time to make the pass on Hamlin, and ultimately finished second. Byron’s No. 24 Chevy finished third, and Truex’s No. 19 Toyota came in fourth.
It’s worth noting that at the end of the race, Byron’s No. 24 Chevy ran 90 laps on its last set of tires. Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota had just 47, and Harvick’s No. 4 Mustang had 48.
Polesitter Ryan Blaney, driver of the no. 12 Mustang, led 128 total laps, but was relegated to a seventh place finish. His No. 12 Mustang team currently leads the Nascar Cup Series championship, tied for points with the No. 9 Chevy of Chase Elliott. Truex in the No. 19 Toyota sits in third place in the points standings.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Express Toyota | 400 | 5 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 2 | 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 2 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 400 | 122 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 6 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 400 | 80 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 21 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 9 | 20 | Christopher Bell | SiriusXM Toyota | 400 | 63 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford | 400 | 128 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 28 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Mars Crunchy Cookie Toyota | 400 | 1 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 10 | 25 | 3 | Austin Dillon | BREZTRI Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 4 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 16 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 19 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Violet Defense Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 15 | 9 | Chase Elliott | A SHOC Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 18 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Violet Defense Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 14 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | CommScope Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 399 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 17 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 399 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 8 | 1 | Ross Chastain | ONX Homes/iFly Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 20 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Discount Tire Ford | 399 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 21 | 10 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 398 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 12 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 398 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 5 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 30 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Chevyliners.com Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 22 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Black's Tire Ford | 397 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 29 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Dr Pepper Toyota | 397 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 27 | 26 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 32 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | SunnyD Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 36 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 24 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Navage Nasal Care Ford | 395 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 31 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Nations Guard Chevrolet | 392 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 23 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet | 390 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 35 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Nabor Force Ford | 390 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 34 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Surface Sunscreen/MaintenanceSupplies.com Ford | 386 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 35 | 27 | 45 | Kurt Busch | Embrace Home Loans Toyota | 291 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 36 | 33 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 241 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 37 | 37 | 44 | * Greg Biffle | Norfolk State University Chevrolet | 96 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
- * – Rookie
- i – Points ineligible
- * – Part-time driver
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