Asterisk Mark Report – Richmond #1 2023
Martin Truex Jr. – Martin Truex Jr. finished 11th earlier this year at Richmond but you can pull out an asterisk mark for that result. “Performance Wise”, I think Truex was the best and if a late caution didn’t come out which had him at a tire disadvantage at the end, I think it was his race to lose.
William Byron – This spring at Richmond, William Byron was a contender to win, but he finished an asterisk mark 24th. In the race, Byron had the best average running position (3.4), led the most laps (117), had the best Total Speed Ranking and was the race leader at the time of a late race changing caution. That caution dropped him back to 4th following the race off pit road and he was then collected in a “restart wreck.”
Denny Hamlin – This spring at Richmond, a compelling case could be made that Denny Hamlin actually had the best car, but he finished an asterisk mark 20th. Hamlin’s afternoon was far from incident free. In the race he got a speeding penalty in Stage #1, won Stage #2, led 71 laps, had a slow pit stop in the final Stage while leading that dropped him from 1st to 12th and then to cap off his race, he got another speeding penalty near the end.
Bubba Wallace – In April at “The Action Track”, Bubba Wallace finished 22nd but you can get out an asterisk mark. During green flag pit stops in the lap 290’s while running in 11th, Wallace got a safety violation pit penalty which dropped him off the lead lap back to 19th. For much of the race leading up to that, Wallace ran around the low double-digits to mid-teens. For the afternoon, Wallace had the 13th best Total Speed Ranking.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – This spring at Richmond, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had speed, but his competitive afternoon was over by the lap 30 competition caution. On lap 21 while running in 6th, Stenhouse was running a higher groove than others and was said to have one of the fastest cars on the track. Then during the competition caution, the #47’s hood was popped up and he was eventually pushed into the garage area for about 15 laps.
Chris Buescher – This spring at Richmond, Chris Buescher finished 30th but you can get out an asterisk mark for that result. Buescher’s lack luster result can be traced to the #17 team pitting twice during a green flag pit stop after fears of having a loose wheel. For that reason, I wouldn’t read too much into his afternoon. I’ll note, Buescher had the 12th best Total Speed Ranking and ranked #1 for speed late in a run (can be skewed by pit strategy).
Noah Gragson – This spring at Richmond, Noah Gragson had an on-brand performance for himself and crashed which led to his 37th. In the race, Gragson finished about 32nd in Stage #1, finished about 30th in Stage #2 and then in the final Stage on lap 304 while he was running in 29th, Gragson got into the wall hard which marked the end of his race.
