23XI, Trackhouse Hope To Be Richmond Dark Horses

Bubba Wallace hopes to lead 23XI Racing to a Richmond Raceway victory. (Wyatt Tinsley/Motorsports Hotspot photo)

RICHMOND, Va. – In the yearly NASCAR Cup Series visit to Richmond Raceway, different contenders and sleepers normally rise to the occasion at the three-quarter-mile short track.

Last year it was Austin Dillon that turned heads, and this summer with building momentum Trackhouse and 23XI Racing could be dark horse threats to contend under the lights.

23XI Brings Quartet Of Toyotas To The Commonwealth

Last time out, and for the first time in 23XI Racing history, both Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick finished inside the top 10 on a road course.

At Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l, Wallace came home eighth for his first road course top 10 of the year and best-ever finish at the Glen. Teammate Reddick was ninth for his fourth top 10 on the road this season.

It has been an extension of Wallace’s remarkable summer surge dating back to his Brickyard 400 win.

“Indy was life changing. It allowed me to come to Watkins Glen and not harp on all of the mistakes that I usually make at a road course and figure out how to make less and we did that,” said Wallace. “Our car wasn’t capable of winning at all, but 10th to 12th place is where we determined our team is a couple months ago, and we exceeded that, so that’s a win.”

“Watkins Glen was an all-around fun weekend. The big boss [23XI co-owner Michael Jordan] was here, so it was good to get him a couple of top 10s.”

In eight of the last nine Richmond races in the Next-Gen era, 23XI hasn’t finished worse than 16th as an organization. Most recently, in the August race last summer, Reddick and Wallace qualified inside the top 10 and finished third and fourth, respectively.

The 31-year-old Wallace has four top fives in his last eight races on short tracks, and most recently finished sixth at Iowa three weeks ago. While Reddick has struggled on short circuits, his best career Cup Series finish on a short track was his Richmond effort last season.

With that in mind, the veteran duo will look to carry the banner for team co-owners Jordan and Denny Hamlin, alongside a pair of young stars in Cup rookie Riley Herbst and Truck Series ace Corey Heim, who’s making a return to the top level this weekend.

Trackhouse Racing Hoping To Right Its Short-Track Ship 

Last weekend at Watkins Glen, Trackhouse had all three team cars finish inside the top 10, with Shane van Gisbergen winning the race, Ross Chastain finishing fifth and Daniel Suarez in seventh.

It marked the first time in the organization’s history that three cars all finished inside the top 10.

“It felt nice to get a good finish for this No. 99 team. For the last couple of months, I feel like we’ve had decent top-10 speed. We just haven’t been able to execute,” said Suarez. “At Watkins Glen, we were able to execute a decent race. The team did a good job last week.

“We were pretty good there, I don’t know if it was good enough to win that race, but it was good enough to be fighting in the top-10 and that’s where we ended up.”

Daniel Suarez (99) chases teammate Shane van Gisbergen during practice for the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. (John Harrelson/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Watkins Glen was the first time Suarez finished inside the top 10 since he was 10th at Texas Motor Speedway in May. The Glen was also his highest finish of the season in five months going back to his runner-up at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.

Ross Chastain collected his first top 10 since the Chicago (Ill.) Street Race five weeks ago. With his win in the Coca-Cola 600 in May, he sits 11th in the playoff standings and hopes to stack as many points before the postseason reset as possible.

Despite all that positivity, however, all three Trackhouse cars line up outside the top 20 in Richmond. There is still promise though due to the team’s and drivers’ recent Richmond success.

In the summer race last season at Richmond, both Chastain and Suarez finished inside the top 10 with fifth and 10th place finishes, respectively. The organization has two top fives, three top 10s, and 189 laps led at the Virginia short track.

Those totals could be credited to Trackhouse’s improved short track package. Chastain has finished 11th or better in his last six short track races. The track Suarez led the most laps at recently was Richmond last August.

“Lately, we’ve just had a lot of accidents and things that were out of our control,” said Suarez, who still believes his No. 99 team can join Chastain and van Gisbergen in the playoffs. “Hopefully we can carry this momentum into the next couple of races and get a win.”

Ryan Preece will start on pole under the Richmond floodlights, but both 23XI and Trackhouse could mix up the leaderboard before the night is done.

Coverage of the Cook Out 400 from Richmond is slated for Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.