The NASCAR post-season will be “Short Trackin’ Saturday Night” under the lights of Richmond Raceway in the Federated Auto Parts 400.
The second race of the NASCAR Playoffs will be quite a challenge for the 15 drivers that have not secured their spot in the next round. Kevin Harvick punched his ticket to the Round of 12 by winning last weekend at Darlington.
The two goals of the 15 still looking to advance are simple to say. Goal one: win the race to automatically advance to the next round. Goal two: if not a win score as many points as possible to be above the cut line for the playoffs. Below is the 2020 NASCAR Playoff Standings heading to Richmond this week.
As I said, the goals for this weekend are simple to state. However, they are not going to be as simple to achieve. When NASCAR goes “Short Trackin’ Saturday Night” at Richmond Raceway there will be plenty of challenges for the drivers. The shape of the track reminds people of larger tracks. It also allows faster speeds than the other short tracks on the circuit since it is 3/4 of a mile instead of 1/2 of a mile.
However, it is still a short track. When a car is not handling well the wall can be found very quickly. The cars tend to be closer together on the sort tracks as well. That means when a driver has an issue there are often several other cars close by that can get caught in the incident. Quite often by the end of a race at Richmond many fenders and tempers are bent out of shape.
Here’s the track and race data the teams and drivers will be dealing with.
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
Season Race #: 28 of 36 (09-12-20)
Playoff Race #: 2 of 10
Race Length: 400 laps / 300 miles
Stages 1 & 2 Length: 100 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 200 laps
Here are the active drivers that have performed well during their Cup Series careers at Richmond Raceway.
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Darlington
Kyle Busch ………………………… 111.0
Kevin Harvick ………………..……. 110.1
Denny Hamlin ……………………… 107.6
Brad Keselowski …………..………. 99.1
Kurt Busch ………………….………. 94.7
Clint Bowyer …………………..……. 93.9
Martin Truex Jr. ……….……………. 91.4
Joey Logano ………………………… 91.0
Matt Kenseth …………………………. 90.0
Jimmie Johnson ……………………… 89.0
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2020 races (17 total) among active drivers at Darlington Raceway.
Note: Driver names in red are currently in championship contention in Playoffs.
Here are the active drivers that have won at Richmond Raceway during their careers in NASCAR’s top division.
Kyle Busch – 6 Wins
Denny Hamlin – 3 Wins
Kevin Harvick – 3 Wins
Jimmie Johnson – 3 Wins
Martin Truex Jr. – 2 Wins (Both 2019 Races)
Clint Bowyer – 2 Wins
Joey Logano – 2 Wins
Kurt Busch – 2 Wins
Matt Kenseth – 2 Wins
Brad Keselowski – 1 Win
Ryan Newman – 1 Win
Note: Driver names in red are currently in championship contention in Playoffs.
Kyle Busch is the defending Cup Series Champion. He has the most Richmond wins by at least two times over the other active drivers with wins. However, he has not won a race in 2020 yet. Will this be the week that changes?
Martin Truex Jr. was so close to winning the race last weekend. He swept both Richmond races in 2019. Will he get the “Golden Ticket” to the Round of 12 this weekend?
Jimmie Johnson is not in NASCAR Playoff contention in his final full-time season. It has been years since he has been to Victory Lane. Will he get another Richmond win as his Hall of Fame career draws to a close?
It is hard top predict the specifics when NASCAR goes “Short Trackin’ Saturday Night Under the Lights.” The general is easy to predict. There will side-by-side racing and bumper-to-bumper action. We will find all the specifics starting at 6:30 PM central time (7:30 PM eastern time) Saturday, September 12th in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway.
By: Buck Stevens
