AUTO RACING: Hamlin steals a `W' from Truex on pit road to win at Richmond. Martinsville is next

Updated Apr. 2, 2024 3:03 p.m. ET

Associated Press

All Times Eastern

NASCAR CUP SERIES

Cook Out 400

Site: Martinsville, Va.

Schedule: Saturday, practice, 4:35 p.m., and qualifying, 5:20 p.m.; Sunday, race, 3 p.m. (FS1).

Track: Martinsville Speedway.

Race distance: 400 laps, 210.4 miles.

Last year: Kyle Larson won after starting 19th.

Last race: Denny Hamlin gained the lead on pit road preparing for a green-white-checker finish and held off Joey Logano to win for the fifth time in his career at Richmond.

Fast facts: Hamlin's victory was his second of the season and pulled Joe Gibbs Racing even with Hendrick Motorsports with three wins each through seven races. ... It also was the 53rd of Hamlin's career, 13th all-time. ... Hamlin led twice for just 17 laps while teammate Martin Truex Jr. led for 228 but finished fourth after a caution forced overtime. ... Joey Logano was second, followed by Larson. Chase Elliott finished fifth. ... Truex is the only driver to have finished on the lead lap in every race and remained the points leader by 14 over Larson and 18 over Hamlin. ... The caution that forced overtime was just the fifth in the race.

Next race: April 14, Fort Worth, Texas.

Online: http://www.nascar.com

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

DUDE Wipes 250

Site: Martinsville, Va.

Schedule: Friday, practice, 5:05 p.m., and qualifying, 5:40 p.m.; Saturday, race, 7:30 p.m. (FS1).

Track: Martinsville Speedway.

Race distance: 250 laps, 131.5 miles.

Last year: John Hunter Nemechek won after starting second.

Last race: Chandler Smith took the lead with 59 laps to go and won the spring race at Richmond for the second year in a row.

Fast facts: Smith led a 1-2-3 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing — Aric Almirola won the first two stages and finished second and Taylor Gray was third — and a 1-2-3-4 finish for Toyota, just the second in the manufacturer's history in the series. ... The victory was the third of Smith's career in the series and second this year. ... Austin Hill finished eighth, ending his streak of finishing in the top five in every race this year. He also lost the points lead, falling 10 behind Chandler Smith.

Next race: April 13, Fort Worth, Texas.

Online: http://www.nascar.com

NASCAR TRUCK SERIES

Long John Silver's 200

Site: Martinsville, Va.

Schedule: Friday, practice, 3:05 p.m., qualifying, 3:40 p.m., and race, 7:30 p.m. (FS1).

Track: Martinsville Speedway.

Race distance: 200 laps, 105.2 miles.

Last year: Corey Heim won after starting fourth.

Last race: Heim led 31 of the 46 laps and cruised to victory in overtime at the Circuit of the Americas, his first victory this year and the sixth of his career.

Fast facts: Heim's victory was the first for Toyota after Chevrolets won the first four events on the schedule. ... Heim has a series-best five top 10s in as many races and leads Ty Majeski by 10 in the points race. ... There have been no repeat winners in the series thus far this season.

Next race: April 12, Fort Worth, Texas.

Online: http://www.nascar.com

FORMULA ONE

Japanese Grand Prix

Site: Suzuka, Japan.

Schedule: Thursday, practice, 10:30 p.m.; Friday, practice, 2 a.m., and 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 2 a.m.; Sunday, race, 1 a.m. (ESPN).

Track: Suzuka International Racing Course.

Race distance: 53 laps, 191.053 miles.

Last year: Max Verstappen won from the pole position in September.

Last race: Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari ended Verstappen’s nine-race winning streak dating to last year when Verstappen retired early with a fiery mechanical failure in Australia.

Fast facts: The victory came two weeks after Sainz missed the race in Saudi Arabia after an appendectomy. ... Verstappen, the three-time defending series champion, has won the pole in all three races this season. ... Verstappen's 19th-place finish in Australia dropped his average finishing spot to 7th and cut his points lead to 4 over Charles Leclerc and five over Sergio Perez.

Next race: April 21, Shanghai, China.

Online: http://www.formula1.com

INDYCAR

Last race: Two-time and reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou won the Thermal $1 Million Challenge, leading all 20 laps of IndyCar’s first non-points race since 2008.

Next race: April 21, Long Beach, California.

Online: http://www.indycar.com

NHRA DRAG RACING

Last event: Finals postponed in Pomona, California.

Next event: April 7, Phoenix, Arizona.

Online: http://www.nhra.com

WORLD OF OUTLAWS

Next events: April 6, Osborn, Missouri; April 7, Colcord, Oklahoma

Online: http://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars

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