2012 Richmond 400 Odds & Ends

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.

·         The track was re-measured to .542-mile for 1970.

·         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 111 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 50 different pole winners, led by Bobby Allison and Richard Petty (eight).

·         Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with five poles.

·         47 different drivers have posted victories at Richmond, led by Richard Petty (13).

·         Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Terry Labonte and Jimmie Johnson (three) lead active race winners.

·         Petty Enterprises has won 15 races at Richmond, more than any other team.

·         63 of 111 races have been won from the top five starting positions, including 22 from the pole.

·         The last driver to win from the pole was Kyle Busch in 2010.

·         The furthest back in the field a race winner has started was 31st, by Clint Bowyer in the 2008 spring race.

·         Kyle Busch (5.0) and Denny Hamlin (7.5) are the only active drivers with an average finish in the top 10.

·         Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Richmond International Raceway winner: Richard Petty (04/23/1961 – 23 years, 9 months, 21 days).

·         Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Richmond International Raceway winner: Harry Gant (09/07/1991 – 51 years, 7 months, 28 days).

·         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 Petty won the very first Richmond race in 1953.

·         Three of the last four races have had a margin of victory less than one second.

Richmond International Raceway Data

Race #: 9 of 36 (04-28-12)

Track Size: .75 miles

Race Length: 300 miles

·     Banking/corners: 14 degrees

·     Banking/straights: 8 degrees

·     Frontstretch: 1,290 feet

·     Backstretch: 860 feet

 

Top 12 Driver Rating at Richmond
Denny Hamlin	117.6
Kyle Busch	114.8
Kevin Harvick	112.6
Jeff Gordon	98.5
Clint Bowyer	96.3
Tony Stewart	95.4
Ryan Newman	93.0
Kurt Busch	92.7
Mark Martin	91.5
Jimmie Johnson	88.6
Carl Edwards	86.4
Jeff Burton	85.6

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2011 races (14 total) at Richmond.

 

Qualifying/Race Data

2011 pole winner: Juan Pablo Montoya

(128.639 mph, 20.989 seconds)

2011 race winner: Kyle Busch

(95.280 mph, 04-30-11)

Track qualifying record: Brian Vickers

(129.983, 20.772 seconds, 5-14-04)

Track race record: Dale Jarrett

(109.047 mph, 9-6-97)

 

Driver Ratings for Winners

Driver	Year	Pre-Race Driver Rating	Pre-Race Driver Rating Rank
Kyle Busch	2011 Spring	113.8	2nd
Kyle Busch	2010 Spring	111.5	3rd
Kyle Busch	2009 Spring	109.9	3rd
Clint Bowyer	2008 Spring	88.8	11th
Jimmie Johnson	2007 Spring	60.3	30th
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2006 Spring	65.9	22nd

* Pre-Race Driver Ratings of the year the driver won at Richmond (last six spring races).

 

NASCAR in Virginia

• There have been 275 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Virginia.

Track Name	City	NSCS
Martinsville Speedway	Martinsville	127
Richmond International Raceway	Richmond	111
Langley Field Speedway	Hampton	9
Norfolk Speedway	Norfolk	2
Old Dominion Speedway	Manassas	7
Princess Anne Speedway	Norfolk	1
South Boston Speedway	South Boston	10
Southside Speedway	Richmond	4
Starkey Speedway	Roanoke	4

• 163 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:

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCWTS
Joe Weatherly	25	0	0
Ricky Rudd	23	1	0
Jeff Burton	21	27	0
Denny Hamlin	19	11	1
Curtis Turner	17	0	0
Ward Burton	5	4	0
Glen Wood	4	0	0
Elliott Sadler	3	7	1
Emanuel Zervakis	2	0	0
Lennie Pond	1	0	0
Wendell Scott	1	0	0
Tommy Ellis	0	22	0
Jimmy Hensley	0	9	2
Rick Mast	0	9	0
Hermie Sadler	0	2	0
Elton Sawyer	0	2	0
Stacy Compton	0	0	2
Jon Wood	0	0	2