The 2023 Worldwide Express 250 for Carrier Appreciation was the 16th stock car race of the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the final race of the regular season, and the 4th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, July 29, 2023, in Richmond, Virginia at Richmond Raceway, a 0.750 miles (1.207 km) permanent quad-oval shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 250 laps to complete. Carson Hocevar, driving for Niece Motorsports, would make a late-race pass for the lead on Ty Majeski with under five laps to go, and held on to earn his third career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win.[1] Majeski would dominate the entire race, starting from the pole, winning both stages, and eventually came back from an early pit road speeding penalty. Majeski's pit road strategy to stay out for the remainder of the final stage would be unsuccessful, as Hocevar would take advantage in the final laps. To fill out the podium, Majeski, driving for ThorSport Racing, and Zane Smith, driving for Front Row Motorsports, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
The ten drivers that would qualify for the NASCAR playoffs are Corey Heim, Zane Smith, Carson Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes, Nick Sanchez, Matt DiBenedetto, and Matt Crafton.[2] Heim would also claim the Regular Season Championship during the race.[3]
Background
Richmond Raceway (RR), formerly known as Richmond International Raceway (RIR), is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia, in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the IndyCar series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted two USAC sprint car races.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Friday, July 28, at 5:05 PM EST, and would last for 20 minutes.[4] Ty Majeski, driving for ThorSport Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 22.813, and an average speed of 118.354 mph (190.472 km/h).[5]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 22.813 | 118.354 |
| 2 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 22.844 | 118.193 |
| 3 | 19 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 22.995 | 117.417 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Friday, July 28, at 5:35 PM EST.[4] Since Richmond Raceway is a short track, the qualifying system used is a single-car, two-lap system with only one round. In that round, whoever sets the fastest time will win the pole.[6] Ty Majeski, driving for ThorSport Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 22.689, and an average speed of 119.000 mph (191.512 km/h).[7]
Race results
Stage 1 Laps: 70
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 11 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 19 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 1 | William Sawalich | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 35 | Jake Garcia (R) | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 4 | Chase Purdy | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 51 | Matt Mills | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 2 Laps: 70
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 11 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 19 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 35 | Jake Garcia (R) | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 1 | William Sawalich | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 2 | Nick Sanchez (R) | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 51 | Matt Mills | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 3 Laps: 110
| Fin[8] | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 250 | 64 | Running | 48 |
| 2 | 1 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 250 | 168 | Running | 55 |
| 3 | 15 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 250 | 0 | Running | 34 |
| 4 | 12 | 35 | Jake Garcia (R) | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | Running | 42 |
| 5 | 5 | 51 | Matt Mills | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | Running | 35 |
| 6 | 2 | 11 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 250 | 9 | Running | 47 |
| 7 | 8 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 250 | 0 | Running | 40 |
| 8 | 14 | 2 | Nick Sanchez (R) | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Running | 31 |
| 9 | 13 | 23 | Grant Enfinger | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Running | 28 |
| 10 | 3 | 1 | William Sawalich | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 249 | 0 | Running | 35 |
| 11 | 6 | 19 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Running | 40 |
| 12 | 4 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 249 | 9 | Running | 43 |
| 13 | 21 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 249 | 0 | Running | 24 |
| 14 | 19 | 17 | Taylor Gray (R) | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 249 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 25 | 13 | Hailie Deegan | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 249 | 0 | Running | 22 |
| 16 | 7 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 249 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 10 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 18 | 11 | 41 | Bayley Currey | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 248 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 16 | 24 | Rajah Caruth (R) | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 248 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 24 | 66 | Conner Jones | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 248 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 18 | 43 | Daniel Dye (R) | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 248 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 22 | 9 | 4 | Chase Purdy | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Chevrolet | 248 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 23 | 30 | 56 | Timmy Hill | Hill Motorsports | Toyota | 248 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 24 | 27 | 9 | Colby Howard | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 247 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 20 | 5 | Dean Thompson | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 247 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 26 | 29 | 02 | Will Rodgers | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 247 | 0 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 23 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 247 | 0 | Running | 10 |
| 28 | 22 | 45 | Lawless Alan | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 247 | 0 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 26 | 32 | Bret Holmes (R) | Bret Holmes Racing | Chevrolet | 247 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 28 | 30 | Ryan Vargas | On Point Motorsports | Toyota | 246 | 0 | Running | 7 |
| 31 | 34 | 90 | Justin Carroll | TC Motorsports | Toyota | 245 | 0 | Running | 6 |
| 32 | 35 | 22 | Christian Rose | AM Racing | Ford | 244 | 0 | Running | 5 |
| 33 | 31 | 33 | Derek Lemke | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | 243 | 0 | Running | 4 |
| 34 | 33 | 20 | Mason Massey (i) | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 242 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 35 | 32 | 12 | Spencer Boyd | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Running | 2 |
| 36 | 36 | 34 | Josh Reaume | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | 239 | 0 | Running | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
- ^ Skala, Chris (July 29, 2023). "Carson Hocevar Steals Truck Series Win at Richmond". Frontstretch. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ "2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoff field set". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. July 29, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ "Corey Heim wins regular season Truck Series championship". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. July 29, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ a b "2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Richmond Race Page". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
- ^ "Practice Results: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond". TobyChristie.com. July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
- ^ "2023 NASCAR Qualifying Procedures". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
- ^ Watson, Wyatt (July 28, 2023). "Ty Majeski Earns Richmond Truck Pole". Frontstretch. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Worldwide Express 250 - Racing Reference". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved July 30, 2023.