Saturday night (9/12) NASCAR took the post-season to Richmond Raceway for the second race of the Playoffs. Brad Keselowski dominated the Federated Auto Parts 400 on his way to the win.
Often when the NASCAR Cup Series goes “Short Trackin'” there is beating and banging, bumping and running and tempers burning. However, this race on the 3/4 mile track at Richmond was free of cautions die to on track incidents.
The only yellow flags were issued for the competition caution at lap 32 and the two ending the first two stages of the race. Denny Hamlin scored the win in stage one while Brad Keselowski was the winner of stage two.
While there was not any sheet metal bending action on the track, there was plenty of racing. Nine drivers exchanged the lead 19 times. Brad Keselowski led the most laps with 192 laps out of 400 laps as the race leader. Most of the race the only drivers that looked like they might be able to steal the win from Brad were Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano.
However, Brad took the lead for the last time on lap 352 and held the lead for the final 48 laps. The win was Brad’s first in the 2020 Playoffs and his fourth in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. That also give Brad an automatic advance to the next round of the Playoffs.
Martin Truex Jr. came on fairly strong near the end of the race and was able to capture a runner-up finish. Joey Logano claimed a third place finish with Austin Dillon finishing in fourth place. Chase Elliott rounded out the top five. See the complete race results for the Federated Auto Parts 400 here.
Kevin Harvick remains at the top of the Playoff standings. Brad Keselowski jumps up to second place in the standings with his win. Denny Hamlin clinched his place in the Round of 12 based on points following the race at Richmond and holds the third spot in the standings. Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. sit in fourth and fifth places respectively. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series standings here.
The NASCAR Playoffs will spend another week “Short Trackin’ Saturday Night” this weekend in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway September 19th.
By: Buck Stevens
