Easter Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race provided race fans plenty of storylines. From starting the race on wet-weather tires, to a late caution foiling Martin Truex's bid for victory, to Denny Hamlin stealing yet another win at his home track the Toyota Owners 400 brought all the drama.
Here's four things we learned after Sunday night's race at Richmond.
Toyota's short track dominance continues
"This is a team win for sure!"
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 1, 2024
When @dennyhamlin needed a fast stop, the No. 11 crew delivered. pic.twitter.com/RZIHdtOC5n
After Toyota whipped the field at both Phoenix and Bristol, they showed their short track prowess again at Richmond. Truex dominated the race, leading 228 of 400 laps, while Bristol winner Denny Hamlin nabbed his second win of the season, leading 17 laps en route to victory at his home track.
With fellow Toyotas in Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick also finishing inside the top 10, and 13th place finisher Bubba Wallace running inside the top five for much of the race, Toyota proved they're still the manufacturer to beat on the short tracks.
Watch out for JGR and 23XI to once again be in the hunt for victory next week at Martinsville.
With Truex solidly in front of Joey Logano with two laps to go, it seemed it was time to etch Truex's name onto the coveted Toyota Owners 400 trophy. Alas, it was not to be, as a spinning Kyle Larson brought out the caution, leading to a final round of pit stops and an overtime restart.
Hamlin's pit crew got him out barely in front of Truex, and the two Joe Gibbs racing veterans clashed on the restart, with Hamlin pulling away to notch his second win of the season.
Truex still finished a solid fourth, but after coming so close to victory, he obviously wasn't happy with the outcome, sparring with Larson on the final lap and tearing up both cars.
Martin Truex Jr. isn't happy. pic.twitter.com/CclgSt50hn
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 1, 2024
Speaking of big changes in the results, Wallace, who ran inside the top five for much of the race, finished 13th after a bad pit stop cost him 10 spots on pit road.
NASCAR finally utilizes wet-weather tires to full potential
NASCAR's Elton Sawyer on wet tires, non competitive pit stops, did they see a jumped restart and why the Kyle Busch wall brush was a caution pic.twitter.com/RbMAqUkPfR
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) April 1, 2024
Even if you just turn the calendar back a single year, we likely don't get this race underway anywhere close to the scheduled green flag time of 7:15 p.m. ET.
NASCAR made an early decision to start the race on wet-weather tires, leading to fantastic racing and a start that was only delayed by 15 minutes. As far as progress with weather delays goes, Sunday's race is a big win for both the sanctioning body and NASCAR fans.
After hearing nothing but criticism from the media all week for their poor performance to start the year, Ford finished with three cars inside the top ten and four in the top 11, with Logano coming that close to notching a huge win.
Both RFK cars in Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher finished eighth and ninth, respectively, while Josh Berry flew through the field on the wet-weather tires and led two laps, ultimately finishing 11th.
His SHR teammate, Noah Gragson, was right behind him in 12th, and going to a track in Martinsville where both Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney have previous wins, Ford may be in a spot to notch their first trip to victory lane next weekend.
My 550th #NASCAR Career Cup Series start almost ended in VL. So close… P2 Finish at Richmond
— Joey Logano (@joeylogano) April 1, 2024
P5 in Stage 1 | P3 in Stage 3
Let’s keep the momentum rolling… pic.twitter.com/DIHjbv4coV
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