Richmond Raceway was a great place to be behind the wheel of a NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1 on April 2nd, 2023 – not only did a Bow Tie racer take the win, but they swept the podium. Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Camaro, took advantage of a late-race pit stop to leap ahead of the rest of the field, holding on to win the race; he was tailed by Josh Berry, who’s currently subbing for the injured Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Camaro in second, and the No. 1 Camaro of Ross Chastain in third.
The victory at Richmond marked Larson’s 20th overall at the Cup Series level, and his first in the No. 5 Camaro in the 2023 racing season. Larson dove away from his competitors on a late-race restart, though Berry’s No. 9 Camaro and Chastain’s No. 1 Camaro put up a fight.
“It’s really cool, we’ve been close to winning a couple,” Larson said. “Things just worked out and my pit crew had a great stop.”
Meanwhile, the day appeared to belong to the No. 24 Camaro of William Byron, who led 117 laps before contact from the No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry of Christopher Bell knocked him out of contention late in the race.
“I was just re-starting fourth there, just trying to stay tight to the 9 [Berry] and get a good restart and got tagged in the left rear,” Byron explained after finishing the race in 24th. “Just a dive-bomb move on his [Bell] part. It is what it is. I had a great race car.”
Bell tried to deflect the incident, saying that the No. 1 Camaro of Ross Chastain got into his No. 20 Camry, forcing him into Byron’s No. 24 Camaro. “The wrecking ball came in and made us three-wide at the last second, and there wasn’t room for us to be three-wide,” Bell said in a postrace interview, referencing Chastain’s No. 1 Camaro.
Chastain, meanwhile, defended himself in his interview, saying, “I never saw the 24… [Bell] can say what he wants. Like other guys, he walks right by me and doesn’t say anything to me. I don’t think I touched anybody.”
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 400 | 93 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
2 | 30 | 9 | Josh Berry(i) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 400 | 10 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
3 | 4 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Jockey Chevrolet | 400 | 16 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
4 | 21 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Rheem Toyota | 400 | 26 | Toyota TRD Camry |
5 | 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | GEARWRENCH Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
6 | 15 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
7 | 18 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
8 | 1 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 400 | 8 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
9 | 14 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Monster Energy Toyota | 400 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
10 | 24 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Solomon Plumbing Ford | 400 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
11 | 12 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 400 | 56 | Toyota TRD Camry |
12 | 19 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
13 | 32 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
14 | 2 | 8 | Kyle Busch | 3CHI Chevrolet | 400 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
15 | 13 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Quincy Compressor Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
16 | 5 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | SiriusXM Radio Toyota | 400 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
17 | 37 | 13 | * Chandler Smith(i) | Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
18 | 33 | 41 | Ryan Preece | United Rentals Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
19 | 26 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
20 | 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Shingrix Toyota | 400 | 71 | Toyota TRD Camry |
21 | 16 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | BlueGreen Vacations Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
22 | 28 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Leidos Toyota | 400 | 1 | Toyota TRD Camry |
23 | 20 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Quaker State Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
24 | 3 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 400 | 117 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
25 | 27 | 3 | Austin Dillon | BREZTRI Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
26 | 17 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Moen Ford | 399 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
27 | 25 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Action Industries Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
28 | 6 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Discount Tire Ford | 399 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
29 | 29 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
30 | 7 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Castrol Edge Ford | 398 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
31 | 22 | 43 | Erik Jones | U.S. Air Force Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
32 | 36 | 77 | Ty Dillon | NationsGuard Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
33 | 35 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo(i) | DUDE WIPES Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
34 | 31 | 51 | Cody Ware | Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford | 395 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
35 | 8 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Kraft Mac & Cheese Chevrolet | 384 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
36 | 34 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | CW & Sons Infrastructure Ford | 383 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
37 | 23 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet | 303 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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