Friday, September 6, 2013

Final Richmond Driver Ratings Following all Practice and Qualifying Sessions

Micah Roberts‘ Top-10 Driver Ratings 
Federated Auto Parts 400
Richmond Internationals Raceway
Saturday, September 7, 2013 -  7:46 p.m. ET

Rating    Driver     Odds       Practice 1   Practice 2     Qualified     Spring ‘13*

 1. Kyle Busch 5/1                     3rd             2nd               13th             24th 
Three-time winner, the last in 2012. Tops among active drivers with 6.5 average finish.
 2. Jeff Gordon 10/1                  5th             1st                 1st              11th 
Two-time winner, the last in 2000; finished 12th or better in 11 of 13 past starts there.
 3. Clint Bowyer 12/1                 2nd           12th                4th               2nd 
Two time winner, including last fall; using runner-up chassis from the April race.
 4. Denny Hamlin 12/1              17th          11th                6th             DNP 
Two-time winner, missed April race due to injury. Very fast on long runs during practices.
 5. Kasey Kahne 8/1                  8th             6th               18th              21st 
2005 winner; best 10-consecutive lap average in practice 1 and second best in practice 2.
 6. Brad Keselowski 7/1             1st            27th               3rd              33rd  
Needs lots of help and a great run to make Chase; using fourth-place New Hampshire chassis.
 7. Kevin Harvick 12/1              10th            16th              17th              1st  
Three-time winner, including spring race, and he‘s using same winning chassis this week.
 8. Matt Kenseth 7/1                   4th             8th                5th               7th  
2002 winner with only three other top-5 finishes in 27 starts; looked very good in practice.
 9. Jimmie Johnson 7/1            11th           22nd              10th             12th 
Three-time winner; starts from rear after missing practices and qualifying - wife gave birth Friday.
10. Jeff Burton 100/1                19th            5th                19th              5th 
1998 winner on his home track; using third place-chassis from New Hampshire.

Note: Using results from this seasons previous events at Phoenix New Hampshire is a good handicapping tool to use for Richmond. The set-up requirements are similar at all three relatively flat tracks, and drivers that do well on one usually do well on the others during a season.

* Results from the April 27, 2013 Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond.

Odds courtesy of the LVH Super Book.

Micah Roberts, a former sports book director, has been setting NASCAR lines in Las Vegas since 1995. For more Roberts insights on the race, go to The Linemakers on SportingNews.com or follow on Twitter: MicahRoberts7.

Practice write-up will come later

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