PREVIEW: Multiple Truck drivers and teams return for qualifying showdown at Richmond

IMAGE: @J23app

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Saturday, August 13, 2022 (8:00 P.M. ET, FS1)

TRUCKS Race 18 of 23

Round of 10: Race 2 of 3

Worldwide Express 250 for Carrier Appreciation at Richmond

2021 Last-Place Finisher (April): Ryan Truex

ENTRY LIST

There are 42 teams entered for 36 spots, meaning six will fail to qualify. This stands as the largest entry list for a Truck Series race since 42 also arrived in this year’s Daytona opener.

RETURNING: #5-Hill Motorsports

Tyler Hill rejoins the circuit for the first time since his 30th-place finish at Pocono, seeking his fifth start of the year and first at Richmond.

RETURNING: #6-Norm Benning Racing

Perennial underdog Norm Benning faces long odds in making his first Truck Series race of the season, rejoining the circuit for the first time since his third and most recent DNQ in Pocono. MDIA, Inc. is the listed sponsor as Benning seeks his third Richmond start. He ran 30th in 2020 and 32nd last year.

RETURNING: #7-Spire Motorsports

Rajah Caruth rejoins the Truck Series garage for the first time since his impressive 11th-place debut at Gateway, and looks to bounce back from a disappointing last-place finish in the XFINITY race at Pocono.

MISSING: #13-ThorSport Racing

Johnny Sauter is not entered following his 12th-place run at IRP. Sauter had earned a track-best 5th-place finish in his most recent start here last year.

RETURNING: #14-Trey Hutchens Racing

Still another driver rejoining the circuit this weekend is Trey Hutchens III, who made his most recent start at Kansas, taking 29th, before withdrawing from the race in Charlotte. Hutchens seeks his first Truck Series start on a short track since 2019, when he made his third career start at Iowa, taking 29th for NEMCO Motorsports.

DRIVER CHANGE: #20-Young's Motorsports

Welcome back Joey Gase, who returns for the first time since his wife Caitlin was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in July. Joey makes his first attempt to qualify for a NASCAR top three series race since the XFINITY race at Atlanta on July 9, where he ran 26th, and his first in a Truck Series race since he took 24th at Knoxville. 

DRIVER CHANGE: #30-On Point Motorsports

Kaden Honeycutt seeks the fourth Truck Series start of his career and his second for the On Point team, with which he finished 25th in his most recent start at Pocono. Honeycutt takes the place of Chris Hacker, who finished 24th at IRP after a late-race tangle for a position in the Top 20. The Friends of Jaclyn is the primary sponsor.

RETURNING: #32-Bret Holmes Racing

Bret Holmes seeks his first Truck Series start since Texas, where he ran 15th, and makes his first attempt since he narrowly missed the field in Nashville. This would be Holmes’ first start at Richmond.

DRIVER CHANGE: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing

DRIVER SWAP: #43-Reaume Brothers Racing

Nick Leitz makes his return to the Truck Series for the first time since he ran 26th in his series debut at Nashville, where his run in Josh Reaume’s #43 entry saw him come home on the lead lap. This time, Leitz runs the flagship #33, moving Reaume himself to the #43 in place of Blake Lothian, who finished next-to-last at IRP after an early driveshaft issue. 

MISSING: #41-Niece Motorsports

DRIVER SWAP: #44-Niece Motorsports

News broke on Tuesday that Kris Wright had parted ways with Niece Motorsports, ending Wright’s difficult 2022 with the Niece team where he’s yet to finish better than 15th. Taking his place this week in the #44 is Chad Chastain, who at IRP finished 30th in the Niece #41 entry. The #41 is not entered this week.

RETURNING: #46-G2G Racing

As team manager Tim Silva discussed in a recent video on Twitter, G2G Racing is back in action with a Toyota entered in the Richmond race. Taking the wheel is Brennan Poole. Poole’s most recent start for G2G came at Gateway, where he was swapped from the withdrawn #47 entry to the #46, which finished 34th after rear gear issues. The G2G effort hasn’t run a race since a rough Mid-Ohio weekend, where multiple mechanical issues left them in last place with Mason Filippi.

RETURNING: #90-Terry Carroll Motorsports

Justin S. Carroll makes his fourth attempt in 2022 to make his NASCAR Truck Series debut, again entered in his family’s #90 Carroll’s Automotive Toyota. He’s previously missed the show at Martinsville, Gateway, and Nashville.

RETURNING: #96-Peck Motorsports

Mason Maggio with his HMY Yacht Sales sponsorship returns to the Truck Series for the first time since Gateway, where Maggio finished 27th in his series debut driving for Reaume Brothers Racing. This time, Maggio drives for Peck Motorsports, which hasn’t made an appearance in the Truck Series since they were withdrawn from last fall’s Phoenix finale with Todd Peck as driver.

Dry Shine and Ace are also listed as associate sponsors.

CUP INVADERS: None

Sunday, August 14, 2022 (3:00 P.M. ET, USA)

CUP Race 24 of 36

Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond

2021 Last-Place Finisher: Kurt Busch

ENTRY LIST

There are only the 36 Chartered entries in this weekend's Cup race, making this the first Cup event without a single “open” team since Pocono, three races ago. It’s also the 22nd short field in 23 races.

MISSING: #33-Richard Childress Racing

RCR’s part-time #33 entry is not among this weekend’s field after Austin Hill enjoyed a solid 18th-place finish in his Cup debut at Michigan.

TEAM UPDATE: #42-Petty-GMS Racing

With Ty Dillon already confirmed out of this car at the end of 2022, Noah Gragson was named his replacement on Wednesday. Dillon runs the Allegiant Airlines paint scheme on the #42 this week.

TEAM UPDATE: #45-23XI Racing

Once again, Kurt Busch expected to return to the Cup Series for the first time since his concussion at Pocono. While Busch has improved this past week, he announced on Wednesday he is still not at 100%, and will allow Ty Gibbs to make his 4th career Cup start and first on a short track. Gibbs won a close XFINITY race here in the spring after a battle with then-teammate John Hunter Nemechek. For the second time this year, the #45 will be decorated in the design of iconic Jordan basketball shoe, this time the Concord 11s.

DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports

Landon Cassill makes his first Cup start since Atlanta in July, again carrying the Voyager: Crypto for All sponsorship with which he ran 24th in that race.

Saturday, August 20, 2022 

XFINITY Race 22 of 33

Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen

2021 Last-Place Finisher: Kyle Tilley

The XFINITY Series takes the week off and returns for more road course racing in Watkins Glen.

TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (August 11, 1991): J.D. McDuffie lost his life in a violent two-car accident with Jimmy Means on Lap 5 of the Budweiser at the Glen at Watkins Glen.