Richmond produced a wild finish this time last year. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was on a 71 race drought and within just 3 laps of a victory when he slammed into the wall in turn 3 after Kyle Busch slid up the track into his No. 88 as they both battled for the lead on lap 398. Kyle was showered with beer cans over the catch fence as the cars circled the track under caution before the green white checkered.
He would hold off Martin to finish second. Hamlin had the race’s most dominant car leading 381 laps, a track record. Hamlin would have a slow leak in his right front tire that would finally put him in a 24th place finish. Dale Jr., after his wreck, still was able to place 15th and remain 3rd in the points standings. Last year was exciting, last week was exciting, this track can produce some great finishes too. Let’s look at the numbers and see who’s hot and who’s not at Richmond.
About The Track:
TV-FOX, 7pm (ET)
Radio-MRN/SIRIUS/XM Satelite
Race Length-400 Laps/300 miles
Layout-.75-mile tri-oval
Banking Turns-14 degrees
Frontstretch-8 degrees
Backstretch-2 degrees
Straights-860 feet Backstretch, 1,290 feet Frontstretch
Pit Road Speed-45mph
Pace car Speed-50mph
Seating Capacity-112,029
Opened-1946 (First Race 1953)
Most Recent Repave-Fall of 2003
2008 Winner-Clint Bowyer
2008 Polesitter-Denny Hamlin
Track Record-Dale Jarrett (1997) 109.047mph
Worst Starting Position To Win-31st Clint Bowyer (2008)
Most Races-63 Richard Petty
Most Wins-13 Richard Petty
Most Wins (Active)-3 Dale Earnhardt Jr., Stewart, Johnson & Terry Labonte
Most Poles-8 Richard Petty, Bobby Allison
Most Poles (Active)-5 Jeff Gordon
Most Top 5’s-34 Richard Petty
Most Top 10’s-41 Richard Petty
Most Cautions-15 (5-3-03)
Fewest Caution-0 (3-7-76)
Most Finishers On A Lead Lap-32 (9-7-2008)
Most Running At The Finish-43 (9-7-2008)
Fewest Running At The Finish-1 (4-19-53)
Manufacturer Wins- 34 Chevy, 28 Ford, 17 Dodge
Races Won From Top 10-(84 of 105)
Races Won From Top 5-(60 of 105)
Races Won From Pole-(21 of 105)
Races Won From 2nd-(12)
Races Won From 3rd-(15)
Top (Active) Lap Leaders At Richmond
1-Jeff Gordon (1,065)
2-Jeff Burton (897)
3-Tony Stewart (815)
4-Kevin Harvick (726)
5-Terry Labonte (663)
6-Bill Elliot (493)
7-Denny Hamlin (452)
8-Dale Jr. (427)
9-Mark Martin (417)
10-Ryan Newman (388)
11-Jimmie Johnson (369)
12-Kyle Busch (345)
Top Driver Averages For Richmond
1-Kyle Busch 6.8
2-Denny Hamlin 8.8
3-Clint Bowyer 9.3
4-Tony Stewart 10.5
5-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 11.1
6-Kevin Harvick 11.5
7-Mark Martin-11.7
8-Ryan Newman 12.3
9-Bobby Labonte 14.7
10-Jeff Burton 15.7
11-Greg Biffle 15.7
12-Matt Kenseth 16.9
13-Kasey Kahne 17.5
14-Jimmie Johnson 17.5
15-David Ragan 18.0
Top Driver Ratings For Richmond
1-Kevin Harvick 118.8
2-Denny Hamlin 115.3
3-Kyle Busch 109.9
4-Tony Stewart 104.9
5-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 97.0
6-Kasey Kahne 94.2
7-Clint Bowyer 93.3
8-Kurt Busch 93.1
9-Ryan Newman 92.3
10-Terry Labonte 91.6
11-Mark Martin 91.0
12-Greg Biffle 89.9
13-Jeff Gordon 89.4
14-Jimmie Johnson 85.9
15-Jeff Burton 83.3
Top (10’s) Leaders For Richmond
1-Mark Martin 25
2-Jeff Gordon 20
3-Bill Elliot 15
4-Tony Stewart 14
5-Jeff Burton 13
6-Bobby Labonte 10
Dale Earnhardt 10
Kevin Harvick 10
7-Matt Kenseth 9
Sterling Marlin 9
8-Ryan Newman 8
9-Jeremy Mayfield 7
10-Kyle Busch 6
COT Richmond Stats (Avg Fin) – Laps Led
1-Tony Stewart (4.0) – 51
2-Jeff Gordon (6.2) – 311
3-Kevin Harvick (7.2) – 185
4-Jimmie Johnson (8.2) – 241
5-Clint Bowyer (8.5) – 17
6-Denny Hamlin (9.0) – 414
7-Kyle Busch (9.8) – 80
8-Mark Martin (11.5) – 2
9-Ryan Newman (14.0) – 34
10-Dale Earnhardt Jr. (15.5) – 105
Who’s Hot
Kevin Harvick – He has 8 top 10’s in a row. Last 5 races were 1st, 7th, 7th, 8th & 7th. This year might not show what he is capable of with a starting average of 20.0 and 21.0 average finish. Out of 9 races this year, he has 2 top 5’s and 2 top 10’s so far. At Richmond, out of 16 starts, he has 1 pole, 1 win, 4 top 5’s, 10 top 10’s. The only concern I have is the crew change. RCR Racing #07 crew will become #29 crew and vise versa. Who knows how this could affect Harvick when every second counts in the pits.
Kyle Busch – Out of 8 races here, he has finished in the top 5 each time but twice. Those were 15th and 20th. The others were 4th, 4th, 5th, 2nd, 2nd & 2nd. Kyle has shown time and time again he can get to the front. His average start is 11.9 nand average finish is 6.8. He has started 34th and finished 2nd, started 21st and finished 5th. He is currently 6th in the standings -175 from older brother Kurt.
Denny Hamlin – Last year’s tire leak hurt Denny’s average. He led almost every lap last year and had he won (instead of placing 24th) his average would be 5.00 instead of 8.8! But wait a minute, 8.8 is not too shabby either. Out of 6 races, his finishes were 2nd, 15th, 3rd, 6th, 24th & 3rd. Denny is having a decent season holding 5th in the standings -105 back. He got caught up in the big one at ‘Dega but I look for him to do well at his home track. His average start is 5.2 and he has finished 100% of his laps to date.
Tony Stewart – From 2005 to the present (2 races per year), Tony has placed in the top 10 , 7 times and top 5 , 4 times. His last 4 finishes have been solid placing 8th, 2nd, 4th and 2nd. His average start is 15.7 and 10.5 is his average finish. He has completed 98% of his laps at Richmond.
Jimmie Johnson – You always have to keep an eye on this crew cheif – driver combo. Johnson has won 3 of the last 4 races here. His career here, however is anything but tarnished. Besides these wins, he’s only had one other top 5 in 14 races back in 2004. He has had some sinkers, placing 31st, 36th, 40th & 30th last year. He is still a driver to watch for what he has done in recent seasons and currently -64 points back in 3rd place.
Jeff Gordon – His average is 18.6, but his last 4 visits have told a different story. In the last 4 races, he has placed 4th, 4th, 9th & 8th. He has led 311 laps here, and has a 6.2 average COT finish here. He has 20 top 10’s and is 1st in lead laps here with 1,065. He is in a different place than he was last year, now 2nd place in the standings and only -5 points back.
Who’s Not
Matt Kenseth – Past 2 races here were 38th & 39th
AJ Allmendinger – Career here is 32nd, 23rd, 39th & 43rd
J.P. Montoya – Career here is 26th, 41st, 32nd & 30th
David Gilliland – Career here is 36th, 42nd, 22nd, 41st & 18th
Brian Vickers – Last 4 races were 24th, 24th, 28th & 36th
Others to watch
Clint Bowyer – Avg Fin 9.3
Mark Martin – Avg Fin 11.7
Ryan Newman Avg Fin 12.3
Last week I picked Carl Edwards to win based on stats and final practice speeds. Carl had decent numbers at Talladega and dialed his car in at the final practice for the fastest time. I picked him and sat back and waited for him to make his move. I thought he would win by a nose, not lose by one (nose of a car that is.) You can take this info and mix it with practice or qualifying as you wish, but trying to figure in the unknowns will be your biggest trouble. Good Luck and enjoy the race.
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I had Dale Jr. in the Richmond Avg with 11.1, but I meant to add him to the drivers to watch. Sorry Jr nation, just an oversight on my part. Jr’s last year near miss win and the later race he placed 4th. Out of 19 races,he has 10 top 10’s. Since being with Hendrick, his numbers have improved from the ending of the DEI season. Look for Dale Jr. to do well. Again, sorry for that oversight.