Richmond Heath Calhoun 400 Odds and Ends For This Week

compiled by Mike Forde
NASCAR Media Services

At Richmond International Raceway:

History
· Originally known as the Atlantic Rural Exposition Fairgrounds, Richmond International Raceway held its first race in 1946 as a half-mile dirt track.
· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was April 19, 1953.
· The spring 1964 race was run on a Tuesday night under temporary lighting.
· The track name changed to Virginia State Fairgrounds in 1967.
· The track surface was changed from dirt to asphalt between races in 1968.
· The track name changed to Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in 1969.
· Track was re-measured to a half-mile in April 1969; then to 9/16th-mile in September; then to .542-mile the following March.
· The track was rebuilt as a three-quarters-mile D-shaped oval following the Feb. 21, 1988 race.
· The first race under permanent lights was Sept. 7, 1991.
· The first season with both races as night races was 1999.

Notebook
•There have been 107 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Richmond since the track opened in 1953.
•The current 400-lap race length was established on the .542-mile measurement in March 1976.
•Buck Baker won the pole in 1953.
•Lee Petty won the first race in April 1953.
•There have been 46 different pole winners, led by Bobby Allison and Richard Petty (eight).
•Jeff Gordon (five) leads active drivers with five poles.
•47 different drivers have posted victories at Richmond, led by Richard Petty (13). •Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson (three) lead active race winners.
•Petty Enterprises has won 15 races at Richmond, more than any other team.
•61 of 107 races have been won from the top five starting positions, including 21 from the pole. •The last driver to win from the pole was Jimmie Johnson in September 2007.
•11 of the past 13 races have been won from the top 10. •The furthest back in the field a race winner has started was 31st, by Clint Bowyer in 2008’s spring race.
•Kyle Petty became the first third-generation NASCAR race winner when he won his first race, at Richmond, on Feb. 23, 1986. Richard Petty posted his first Richmond victory in 1961 and Lee won the very first Richmond race in 1953.
•Two active drivers have a finish inside the top 10: Kyle Busch (6.0) and Denny Hamlin (8.5). Tony Stewart averages a finish just outside the top 10 (10.4).
•Seven of the last nine races have had a margin of victory less than one second.

NASCAR in Virginia
•There have been 267 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Virginia.
•158 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Virginia.
•There have been 18 race winners from Virginia in NASCAR’s three national series.

Richmond International Raceway Data
Race # 10 of 36 (5-1-10)
Track Size: .75 miles
· Banking/Corners: 14 degrees
· Banking/Frontstretch: 8 degrees
· Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees
· Frontstretch: 1,290 feet
· Backstretch: 860 feet

Driver Rating at Richmond
Denny Hamlin 121.0
Kevin Harvick 113.6
Kyle Busch 111.5
Tony Stewart 102.2
Kurt Busch 97.0
Mark Martin 96.1
Jeff Gordon 96.0
Ryan Newman 93.7
Clint Bowyer 92.3
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 90.9
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2009 races (10 total) at Richmond.

Qualifying/Race Data
2009 pole winner: Brian Vickers (127.131 mph, 21.238 secs.)
2009 race winner: Kyle Busch (90.627 mph, 5-2-09)
Track qualifying record: Brian Vickers (129.983, 20.772 seconds, 5-14-04)
Track race record: Dale Jarrett (109.047 mph, 9-6-97)

Estimated Pit Window: Every 85-95 laps, based on fuel mileage