Go Bowling 250

This article is about the fall Xfinity Series race. For the spring Xfinity (then Nationwide) Series race in 2012, which was also called the Virginia 529 College Savings 250, see ToyotaCare 250.
Go Bowling 250
NASCAR Xfinity Series
VenueRichmond Raceway
LocationRichmond, Virginia, United States
Corporate sponsorGo Bowling[1]
First race1982
Last race2021
Distance187.5 miles (301.8 km)
Laps250
Stages 1/2: 75 each
Final stage: 100
Previous namesHarvest 150 (1982)
Miller Time 150 (1983)
Miller 150 (1984)
7-Eleven 150 (1985)
Freedlander 200 (1986–1987)
Commonwealth 200 (1988–1989)
Autolite 200 (1990–1992)
Autolite 250 (1993–1995)
Autolite Platinum 250 (1996–1999)
Autolite / Fram 250 (2000–2001)
Funai 250 (2002–2003)
Emerson Radio 250 (2004–2008)
Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (2009–2017)
Most wins (driver)Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch (4)
Most wins (team)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Joe Gibbs Racing (5)
Most wins (manufacturer)Chevrolet (16)
Circuit information
SurfaceAsphalt
Length0.75 mi (1.21 km)
Turns4

The Go Bowling 250 was a NASCAR Xfinity Series stock car race that took place at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia in the month of September. It is held the night before the NASCAR Cup Series race, the Federated Auto Parts 400. Noah Gragson won the 2021 race which was the last year it was run.

In 2018, as part of schedule realignment, the event became the first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs.

In 2020, as part of schedule realignment, this became the only Xfinity Series race at the track as NASCAR decided to give the track one Truck Series race instead. This schedule change was done in a swap with Martinsville Speedway, which previously had two Truck Series races and zero Xfinity Series races and would now have one Truck Series race and one Xfinity Series race (which replaced the spring race at Richmond).

In 2022, the September Xfinity Series race at Richmond was moved to the spring (in exchange for moving the Truck Series race to the summer race weekend) and there was no September race at the track for the first time in the series' history.

Past winners

2017 Virginia 529 College Savings 250
Year Date No. Driver Team Manufacturer Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph)
Laps Miles (km)
1982 September 11 01 Butch Lindley Emanuel Zervakis Pontiac 150 81.3 (130.839) 1:03:29 76.839
1983 September 10 7 Morgan Shepherd Whitaker Racing Oldsmobile 150 81.3 (130.839) 1:16:24 63.848
1984 September 8 12 Tommy Ellis Ellis Racing Pontiac 150 81.3 (130.839) 1:14:49 65.199
1985 September 7 12 Tommy Ellis Ellis Racing Pontiac 150 81.3 (130.839) 1:00:54 80.539
1986 September 6 8 Dale Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 200 108.4 (174.452) 1:25:23 76.174
1987* September 12 21 Mark Martin Bruce Lawmaster Ford 180* 97.56 (157.007) 1:28:27 66.18
1988 September 10 7 Harry Gant Whitaker Racing Buick 200 150 (241.401) 1:40:38 89.434
1989 September 9 8 Bobby Hamilton FILMAR Racing Oldsmobile 200 150 (241.401) 1:37:45 92.071
1990 September 8 22 Rick Mast A.G. Dillard Motorsports Buick 200 150 (241.401) 1:30:13 99.759
1991* September 6 7 Harry Gant Whitaker Racing Buick 200 150 (241.401) 1:43:47 86.719
1992 September 11 59 Robert Pressley Alliance Motorsports Oldsmobile 200 150 (241.401) 1:34:22 95.373
1993 September 10 60 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 250 187.5 (301.752) 1:54:12 98.511
1994 September 9 8 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford 250 187.5 (301.752) 1:55:24 97.487
1995 September 8 32 Dale Jarrett Dale Jarrett Ford 250 187.5 (301.752) 1:47:13 104.928
1996 September 8* 8 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford 250 187.5 (301.752) 1:51:24 100.987
1997 September 5 3 Steve Park Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:24:42 77.747
1998 September 11 3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:17:05 82.067
1999 September 10 3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:08:12 87.754
2000 September 8 9 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:06:07 89.203
2001 September 7 1 Jimmy Spencer Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:04:47 90.156
2002 September 6 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:24:04 78.089
2003 September 5 43 Johnny Sauter Curb Racing Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 1:53:01 99.543
2004 September 10 55 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:10:15 86.372
2005 September 9 21 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 253* 189.75 (305.373) 2:08:27 88.634
2006 September 8 21 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:11:23 85.627
2007 September 7 5 Kyle Busch Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 252* 189 (304.166) 2:00:45 93.913
2008 September 7* 60 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:03:55 90.787
2009 September 11 60 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 250 187.5 (301.752) 1:50:53 101.458
2010 September 10 33 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 1:54:45 98.039
2011 September 9 18 Kyle Busch[2] Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:03:45 90.909
2012 September 7 33 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:02:39 91.724
2013* September 6 22 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Ford 250 187.5 (301.752) 1:55:37 97.304
2014 September 5 54 Kyle Busch* Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:01:11 92.835
2015 September 11 9 Chase Elliott JR Motorsports Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:04:54 90.072
2016 September 9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 250 187.5 (301.752) 1:48:30 103.687
2017 September 8 22 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 250 187.5 (301.752) 1:55:15 97.614
2018 September 21 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:03:08 91.364
2019 September 20 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 250 187.5 (301.752) 1:57:16 95.935
2020* September 11 7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:02:59 91.476
2021 September 11 9 Noah Gragson JR Motorsports Chevrolet 250 187.5 (301.752) 2:14:57 83.364
  • 1987: Race shortened due to rain. Last race on old half-mile layout.
  • 1991: Race moved to a Friday night event.
  • 1996: Race postponed from Friday to Sunday due to power outage.
  • 2005 & 2007: Races extended due to NASCAR overtime.
  • 2008: Race postponed from Friday to Sunday due to rain from Hurricane Hanna.
  • 2013: Marked the 1,000th race held in series.[3]
  • 2014: Kyle Busch led all 250 laps.
  • 2020: Race held as the first race of a doubleheader weekend (the second race replaced the race at Michigan International Speedway due to COVID-19).

Track length

  • 1982–1987: 0.5-mile oval
  • 1988–present: 0.75-mile D-shaped oval

Multiple winners (drivers)

# Wins Driver Years Won
4 Kevin Harvick 2005–2006, 2010, 2012
Kyle Busch 2007, 2011, 2014, 2016
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1998–1999, 2002
2 Tommy Ellis 1984–1985
Mark Martin 1987, 1993
Harry Gant 1988, 1991
Kenny Wallace 1994, 1996
Carl Edwards 2008–2009
Brad Keselowski 2013, 2017
Christopher Bell 2018–2019

Multiple winners (teams)

# Wins Team Years Won
5 Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 1986, 1997–1999, 2002
Joe Gibbs Racing 2011, 2014, 2016, 2018–2019
4 Roush Fenway Racing 1993, 2000, 2008–2009
3 Whitaker Racing 1983, 1988, 1991
FILMAR Racing 1989, 1994, 1996
Richard Childress Racing 2005–2006, 2012
JR Motorsports 2015, 2020–2021
2 Team Penske 2013, 2017

Manufacturer wins

# Wins Make Years Won
16 United States Chevrolet 1986, 1997–1999, 2001–2003, 2005–2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2020–2021
10 United States Ford 1987, 1993–1996, 2000, 2008–2009, 2013, 2017
5 Japan Toyota 2011, 2014, 2016, 2018–2019
3 United States Pontiac 1982, 1984–1985
United States Oldsmobile 1983, 1989, 1992
United States Buick 1988, 1990–1991

References

  1. ^ "Richmond Raceway Strikes with Go Bowling as Fall NASCAR Xfinity Series Entitlement Sponsor for the Go Bowling 250". Richmond Raceway. February 5, 2018. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  2. ^ Kurz Jr., Hank (September 9, 2011). "Kyle Busch wins Nationwide race at Richmond, his eighth of the season". Washington Times. Richmond, Virginia. Associated Press. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
  3. ^ NASCAR (September 3, 2013). "Richmond to be 1000th Nationwide Series race". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on September 6, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013.