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Ty Gibbs Moves John Hunter Nemechek In Richmond To Continue Season Dominance

by Hunter Thomas April 2, 2022 1 comment

RICHMOND, Va. – Ty Gibbs moved John Hunter Nemechek on the final lap of the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday en route to winning his third NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the 2022 season.

Gibbs started from the pole in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, and throughout the 250-lap race, he and Nemechek swapped the lead on four occasions. The two Joe Gibbs Racing teams were by far the class of the field, and with the race going green all the way through Stage 3, the two drivers battled it out for the win.

“We had a good race,” Gibbs said. “My Monster Energy Toyota GR Supra was really good. We were just a little tight there. I lost some ground there in lap traffic that wouldn’t get out of the way, but that is just racing. I raced John Hunter hard.”

On the final lap of the race, Gibbs put the bumper to Nemechek as they entered Turn 3. Nemechek slid up the track, and Gibbs passed by for his third win in seven races.

“I definitely deserve one back,” Gibbs said. “We are racing for wins, and they are hard to come by, so I had to take it. We were fighting tight all day. We just couldn’t hold the bottom. John Hunter was a little faster and we had a great race. Good for Toyota to finish 1-2. I just got in there deep and had to bump him out of the way up the track. We are short track racing. Thank you to Monster Energy. What a great car, this is awesome for Toyota. Cool to get our third win, so hopefully, we can keep it rolling. Thank you to everybody. Thank you to the Man above.”

After leading a race high of 135 laps, Nemechek had to settle for a runner-up finish in the No. 18 Safeway Toyota. Following the contact with Gibbs, Nemechek wasn’t happy at all.

“Yes, he and I will settle it on Monday,” Nemechek said. “I don’t want to say too much and get myself in trouble, but just got drove through. He didn’t even try to make the corner there. Racers never forget that is for sure.”

JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer captured his best-ever finish of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career. He crossed the finish line in third after starting 11^th, and he also won the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus.

“What a day,” Mayer said. “These guys worked really hard for this, and they deserve it for sure. This team, I think it’s their second Dash 4 Cash in the last two years, so obviously we’re going to go for more next week, but you’ve got to start somewhere. The last couple of weeks have been really, really good for me.”

Rounding out the top-five was AJ Allmendinger and Riley Herbst. Daniel Hemric finished sixth, followed by Josh Berry who bounced back from a pit road penalty, Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg and Parker Retzlaff who also captured his best-ever series finish.

There were no accidents throughout the race and only three yellow flags, two, which were for the end of Stages 1 and 2.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will visit Martinsville Speedway on Friday, April 8. Live coverage of the Call 811 Before You Dig 250 Powered by Call811.com will broadcast on FS1 and MRN at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com