Many of the NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers will be looking to rebound this week in the Federated Auto Parts 400 after the wild start to the post-season racing last week. However, that task will not be an easy one at Richmond Raceway.
The first race in the playoffs at Las Vegas saw more than half of the 16 driver Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs encounter at least some kind of issue. Some of those drivers encountered major issues. If these drivers want to have any chance of advancing to the next round of the playoffs after the next two weeks; they will need to perform well this weekend when NASCAR goes “Short Trackin’ Saturday Night Under the Lights.”
Richmond is a challenge for drivers to have even a decent day of racing let alone a chance to win. The short track is big enough to get moving pretty fast. The problem is there are very few places to make a pass without putting yourself in jeopardy of getting in a crash. That makes bumpers and tempers get bent. That can result in emotional moves and more mistakes being made. That also leaves drivers open to being collected by other drivers with issues that doesn’t even involve a driver that ends up wrecked. You get the idea, the chance of a snowball effect is greater on the short track with NASCAR.
Here is the plain data for the track and race that the drivers and teams will be dealing with this weekend.
Richmond Raceway Data
Track Size: 0.75-miles
Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 14 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 14 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 8 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 1,290 feet
Backstretch Length: 860 feet
Federated Auto parts 400 Data
Season Race #: 28 of 36 (09-22-18)
Race Length: 400 laps / 300 miles
Stage 1 and 2 Length: 100 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 200 laps
Here is a look at the top active drivers at Richmond Raceway during their careers in NASCAR’s top division.
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Richmond
Kyle Busch…………………………. 110.1
Kevin Harvick……………………… 109.4
Denny Hamlin……………………… 108.9
Brad Keselowski……………………. 96.9
Kurt Busch…………………………… 95.6
Clint Bowyer…………………………. 93.5
Kyle Larson………………………….. 92.3
William Byron……………………….. 91.3
Matt Kenseth………………………… 91.0
Joey Logano…………………………. 90.1
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2018 races (27 total) among active drivers at Richmond Raceway.
The winner of the April 2018 race at Richmond is also the active driver with the most wins at the track, Kyle Busch. Kyle has gone to victory lane at the track five times in the NASCAR Cup Series. Kyle is one of the favorites to have a shot at the championship this year. Sweeping the Richmond races this year would give him an automatic advance to the next round of the playoffs.
Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson all have three Richmond wins on their racing resumes. These three drivers are also among the playoff contending drivers that had a rough start to their playoff runs. Kevin, Denny and Jimmie need to at least have a good showing Saturday night. A win for any of them would be the best recovery from last week’s race and would propel them to the Round of 12.
Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch have a pair of wins each at Richmond. Joey had a decent start to his playoff run last week while Clint and Kurt stumbled at Las Vegas a little. Like all of the other contenders a win would earn these drivers an automatic advance to the next round of the playoffs.
Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne each has a single win at Richmond. Kyle Larson is the defending winner of this race from 2017. He is currently mid-pack on the NASCAR Playoffs Leader Board and could use a repeat win in this race to advance. Brad won last week and therefore has secured his spot in the Round of 12. However, he could put the pressure on the other contenders by winning his fourth consecutive 2018 win. Ryan and Kasey can play the role of spoiler to the contenders by winning this weekend.
After last week’s wild start to the playoffs in Las Vegas, this week at Richmond Raceway will likely be another drama-filled race as NASCAR goes “Short Trackin’ Saturday Night Under the Lights” in the Federated Auto Parts 400 September 22nd at 6:30 PM central time (7:30 PM eastern time).
By: Buck Stevens
