Chandler Smith earns first Xfinity win at ‘favorite race track’ as Kaulig Racing continue winning spree

Chandler Smith won his first Xfinity Series race, taking the checkered flag for the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday (April 1). Having started the race in eighth position, Smith took the checkered flag ahead of the resurgent John H. Nemechek.

Kaulig Racing also won the road course race at the Circuit of the Americas last weekend, with A.J. Allmendinger in the #10 Chevrolet. Smith's victory at Richmond marks back-to-back victories for the Matt Kaulig-led team.

Smith came close to a win in Las Vegas but finished the race on the podium. The #16 Chevrolet driver has a good track record in Richmond, having won the NASCAR Truck Series race last year.

NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250

Speaking about his maiden Xfinity win, Smith said in an interview from the victory lane:

"Feels great, Vegas, we dominated that race (but) didn’t win. Said it was all in God’s timing. He’s creating something way bigger and better than I know what to do with. Here we are at Richmond – my favorite race track and we’re sitting in Victory Lane. So, all glory goes to God."

He added:

"Thank you Chris Rice, Matt Kaulig, Quick Tie Products, my smoking hot wife and everybody at Kaulig Racing. This is unbelievable."

Chandler Smith took the green and white checkered flag for the first stage and was third at the end of the second stage. Smith's eventual competitor John H. Nemechek started the race in 10th position and dropped down the order due to a botched strategy before rising through the field to fight for the win.

After the final restart, Chandler Smith and J.H. Nemechek were on a six-lap dash to the checkered flag. Smith, however, managed to hold off the #20 driver and win the race by three-tenths of a second.

Josh Berry finished in third position, while Kaz Grala and Cole Custer rounded off the top five. Pole sitter Justin Allgaier finished the race in 13th position.

---

John H. Nemechek left disappointed after losing out to Chandler Smith

John H. Nemechek was left dejected after losing out in a close battle with Chandler Smith. The #20 driver, who has finished runner-up in the last three races in Richmond, drove a brilliant race after suffering from a bad strategy.

In a post-race interview, Nemechek told the media about the shortcomings of the car and the effort he had to put in. He said:

"We weren’t very good on the short run. We had a long run speed car. Came from the back up there to battle for the win and put ourselves into position … Disappointed to run runner-up again. That’s the last three races here (where) I’ve run second, so it’s frustrating but we’ll go back to work."