NASCAR will race a second consecutive short track this week as the Sprint Cup series moves to Richmond International Raceway for the Toyota Owners 400.
Many drivers had issues last week on the short track of Bristol and will be hoping for better results this week on the 0.75-mile track in Richmond, Virginia. With just 14 degrees of banking through the turns the drivers will have their hands full if they don’t keep their focus in the 400 lap race. The frustrations of last week’s race could spill over to this week if the handling on the car is not right for the start of the 300 mile event.
The drivers and pit crews will need to be perfect on pit road or risk putting themselves down multiple laps if they make a mistake during a green flag stop or losing many positions under the yellow flag pit stops. Those positions will not be easy to make up in a relatively short race for the Sprint Cup series.
For a second week in a row drivers will need to do their best to keep their anger and frustration in check. There is plenty of room to go two and three wide at Richmond. However, if a driver gets too aggressive at the wrong time (or with a car that can’t handle the situation) the result could be disastrous for not only that driver, but also any driver in the area that doesn’t have the time or room to avoid being collected.
As we do each week, let’s take a look at the active drivers with the best performance at this week’s track.
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Richmond
Kyle Busch – 110.4
Kevin Harvick – 110.1
Denny Hamlin – 108.8
Clint Bowyer – 98.6
Kurt Busch – 94.2
Brad Keselowski – 93.9
Ryan Newman – 91.1
Jimmie Johnson – 90.1
Matt Kenseth – 89.0
Carl Edwards – 88.3
(Note: Driver ratings compiled from 2005-2015 races {22 total} among active drivers at Richmond International Raceway.)
There are 14 active Sprint Cup drivers who have won at least one race in their NASCAR careers in the sport’s top division. Kyle Busch leads the group with the most Sprint Cup wins having been to Victory Lane four times. An added fact about his wins are that they have all come in the spring race at Richmond.
Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson are all sitting together with a total of three Richmond wins during their Sprint Cup careers. Worth noting is that Dale Jr., like Kyle, has scored all of his wins in the spring race at the track.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup resumes with a pair of wins at Richmond belong to Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin. Kurt’s second win came in this race last year.
Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski all have scored a single win at the track. Of those five drivers, both Kasey and Joey’s wins came in the spring race at Richmond.
The question is, will there be mayhem as the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers rumble at Richmond or will there be exciting racing with skilled and precise passing from start to finish? Let’s be honest, when NASCAR goes short trackin’ there is more likely to mayhem.
Which driver’s will be able to avoid calamity and be there at the end with a chance to win? We will have to watch starting at 12 noon central time/1 pm eastern on FOX TV time to find out.
By: Buck Stevens
