Dominant Dale Takes Home the Victory in the ToyotaCare 250

Earnhardt Jr. Nabs First Win in Car He Owns

RICHMOND, Va. (April 23, 2016) – Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominated the ToyotaCare 250 race at Richmond International Raceway en route to his first victory NASCAR XFINITY Series race at the ¾ mile racetrack since 2002.
 
Earnhardt led 128 laps, surviving two late race cautions and a hard-charging Ty Dillon in a Green-White-Checkered finish.
 
“In the first 20 laps there was a lot of guys as good maybe better than us,” Earnhardt said. “I think you was Ty (Dillon) was better than me on the last couple of laps. It was a good race and a good finish.”      
 
The first scheduled day race for the track since 1998 featured two 35 lap heat races and a 140 lap feature.
 
While Dillon came home second, he will still go home $100,000 richer, as he took home the XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash as the highest finishing eligible driver.
 
“You’re sure this is Richmond, right?” Dillion laughed. “This place has been really tough on me and my team as a whole. To finish second and run the way we did all day was just impressive.”
 
While the win is the 24th of Earnhardt’s career, it’s his first victory while driving a car he owns.
 
“I knew we had great cars at Richmond and that’s why I picked to run here,” Earnhardt said. “This was one of the races I asked if I could run, so I was lucky to just be able to drive our stuff here.”
 
Virginia native Elliott Sadler came home third. Daniel Suarez and Austin Dillon rounded out the top-five.
 
Cole Custer, in his XFINITY Series debut, finished sixth.
 
“It was just a great day for us,” Custer said.
 
Racing returns to Richmond International Raceway tomorrow for the TOYOTA OWNERS 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
 
The race begins at 1:00 p.m.
 
Tickets are on-sale now and may be purchased at www.rir.com.