2023 Worldwide Express 250


The 2023 Worldwide Express 250 for Carrier Appreciation was the 16th stock car race of the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the final race of the regular season, and the 4th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, July 29, 2023, in Richmond, Virginia at Richmond Raceway, a permanent quad-oval shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 250 laps to complete. Carson Hocevar, driving for Niece Motorsports, would make a late-race pass for the lead on Ty Majeski with under five laps to go, and held on to earn his third career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win. Majeski would dominate the entire race, starting from the pole, winning both stages, and eventually came back from an early pit road speeding penalty. Majeski's pit road strategy to stay out for the remainder of the final stage would be unsuccessful, as Hocevar would take advantage in the final laps. To fill out the podium, Majeski, driving for ThorSport Racing, and Zane Smith, driving for Front Row Motorsports, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
The ten drivers that would qualify for the NASCAR playoffs are Corey Heim, Zane Smith, Carson Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes, Nick Sanchez, Matt DiBenedetto, and Matt Crafton. Heim would also claim the Regular Season Championship during the race.

Background

Richmond Raceway, formerly known as Richmond International Raceway, is a 3/4-mile, D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia, in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the IndyCar series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted two USAC sprint car races.

Entry list

' denotes rookie driver.
  • ' denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Practice

The first and only practice session was held on Friday, July 28, at 5:05 PM EST, and would last for 20 minutes. Ty Majeski, driving for ThorSport Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 22.813, and an average speed of.

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, July 28, at 5:35 PM EST. Since Richmond Raceway is a short track, the qualifying system used is a single-car, two-lap system with only one round. In that round, whoever sets the fastest time will win the pole. Ty Majeski, driving for ThorSport Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 22.689, and an average speed of.

Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 70
Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts
198Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord10
299Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord9
311Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota8
419Christian EckesMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet7
588Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFord6
61William SawalichTricon GarageToyota5
735Jake Garcia 'McAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet4
84Chase PurdyKyle Busch MotorsportsChevrolet3
951Matt MillsKyle Busch MotorsportsChevrolet2
1025Matt DiBenedettoRackley WARChevrolet1

Stage 2 Laps: 70
Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts
198Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord10
299Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord9
311Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota8
419Christian EckesMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet7
542Carson HocevarNiece MotorsportsChevrolet6
635Jake Garcia 'McAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet5
788Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFord4
81William SawalichTricon GarageToyota3
92Nick Sanchez Rev RacingChevrolet2
1051Matt MillsKyle Busch MotorsportsChevrolet1

Stage 3 ''Laps: 110''

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings
  • Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.