Kevin Harvick is 15/1 to win at Richmond

 

KEVIN HARVICK Richmond Advance No. 4 Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

●  Event:  Richmond 400 (Round 7 of 36) ●  Time/Date:  3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 3 ●  Location:  Richmond (Va.) Raceway ●  Layout:  .75-mile oval ●  Laps/Miles:  400 laps/300 miles ●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 70 laps / Stage 2: 160 laps / Final Stage: 170 laps ●  TV/Radio:  FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

●  Mobil 1 is the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, and the NASCAR Cup Series event this weekend at Richmond (Va.) Raceway marks the debut of its latest product enhancements to the motor oil family: Triple Action Formula and Triple Action Formula+. The “Triple Action” is Performance, Protection, Cleanliness, and Triple Action Formula+ has the additional benefit of maximizing engine efficiency. Both are featured on the No. 4 Ford Mustang of driver Kevin Harvick at Richmond. Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula allows drivers to go 10,000 miles (or one year) between oil changes, and Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula+ gives drivers even more mileage between oil changes – 20,000 miles (or one year). Both help extend engine life – even in severe conditions while increasing engine efficiency – but Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula+ delivers 20 times higher engine protection. These innovations that are now available for consumers have origins in racing, specifically from the rumbling V8 inside Harvick’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang.   ●  Harvick has made 760 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, with 123 of those starts coming on short tracks. And of his 58 Cup Series wins, seven have been at short tracks, with Richmond accounting for three of those victories. Harvick scored his first Richmond win in September 2006, his second in September 2011 and his third in April 2013.   ●  Harvick joined Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2014 and has since recorded 35 of his 58 career NASCAR Cup Series wins. However, none of them have been at Richmond. But Harvick has remained stout at the .75-mile oval. In his last 15 starts at Richmond as a member of SHR, Harvick has two runner-up finishes, eight top-fives and 11 top-10s. He has only one finish outside of the top-15.    ●  Harvick leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in top-10s at Richmond. The driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula Ford Mustang has 27 top-10s in 41 career starts (65.8 percent). Next best is Kyle Busch with 25 top-10s.   ●  Harvick has led 15,794 total laps in his NASCAR Cup Series career, with 1,180 of those laps coming at Richmond.   ●  The Richmond 400 will mark Harvick’s 42nd NASCAR Cup Series start at the Virginia short track. His first start at Richmond came on May 5, 2001. That race was won by SHR co-owner Tony Stewart, who beat then three-time champion Jeff Gordon by .372 of a second. Harvick finished 17th in what was his 10th career Cup Series start. Ten of the 43 drivers in that race have since been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame – Stewart, Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, Ron Hornaday Jr., Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte.   ●  Harvick is the winningest NASCAR Xfinity Series driver at Richmond with seven victories. Kyle Busch is next best with six wins. Harvick finished among the top-10 in all but six of his 21 career Xfinity Series starts at Richmond.

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula Ford Mustang

You’ve now sampled the NextGen car on every style of racetrack. Is there a certain genre of track where it performs best, or has it proven to be a pretty steady commodity no matter what kind of track you’re racing on? “I think it’s been pretty steady. The road courses are still going to be the best track because it’s the thing that suits this car the most. For us, it’s just learning the nuances of the car and how much to adjust it, how much you need in the car. We’re still working on that. The cars have run fine at every race, we’ve just had so many things go on. Everybody’s doing a good job. I think the cars have done a pretty good job at every track we’ve taken them to.”   You had a good, solid weekend three races ago at Phoenix with a sixth-place finish. With that track being relatively flat and only a mile in length, can what you learned there be applied to Richmond? “Richmond is quite a bit different just because of the grip level and the tire wear and everything that comes with that. But I think the evolution of the process – the trims, the things that have been consistent through all the races that the guys are starting to grab and starting to navigate toward – it’s meant that we’re not talking about last year’s car at all. It’s all about the trends of this year and the things that have happened this year. You look at the tendencies of Richmond in the past and you try to adapt to what has worked with this new car.”   Coming into this season, it seemed that every weekend would be an R&D session where there’s constant learning and evolution of the NextGen car. Have you found that to be the case? “Really, the car has evolved very little. But I think the teams and the drivers, especially those of us who have done this for so long and have had pretty similar tendencies for 20-something years where we’ve adapted to different driving styles and different adjustments and different tendencies, there’s still a lot that goes into changing your thought processes and being able to do what you want to do with this car. But I think our team has been pretty open minded to stuff and I really think the whole garage, and especially us, we’re learning as we go every week as to what the car is like.”   Have you had to break old habits as you learn the NextGen car? “For sure. I haven’t completely broken them yet, because all the, ‘Don’t overdrive the entry into the corner,’ all that stuff, is pretty much gone, especially when it comes to qualifying. You can be pretty aggressive with the car getting into the corner, and that’s just not the way that I’ve approached it for a long time. We knew just coming into this year that there were going to be a lot of things to adapt to in order to get to where we needed to be. Even now, it’s still not second nature, even when you shift and the way that it feels, and just having that confidence level of going on the racetrack and laying it all out there. Every lap, there’s a confidence level that comes with the security of the car and the things it does. And that’s the same when we go to make adjustments. Are you confident in that, ‘I need to make a big adjustment?’ Well, what is a big adjustment? How much is a big adjustment? Is it a percent on the aero side? Is it a half of a percent on the wedge? What is a big adjustment?”   With Stewart-Haas Racing being a multicar team, how important has sharing information among all four teams been in getting up to speed with the NextGen car? “It’s actually pretty standard in today’s world. There’s a database and a live feed between the engineers, so it’s all out there. As the changes go on in the garage, the other teams can see it. We have people back at the shop making sure that everybody stays on track and is aware of what the other teams are doing. There’s a lot of information out there, but sometimes when you’re at the racetrack, you need all the people around you to hone in on all the things that are important and making the car tick on that particular weekend. A lot of times, it’ll be something that somebody else is doing on a different team, or someone who’s driving on the racetrack with your own cars, and that’s comparing apples to apples. So if somebody hits on a shock or a spring or a camber setting on your own team, those are easy things to apply to your car so you can move forward in practice a little bit quicker. The more that everybody can hit on and try, the better, because if you’re all trying the same thing, you might as well have just one car. Everybody goes down a different path and tries to pick and choose those pieces that help everybody, and that’s what’s important.”   Over the years, do you feel your interest in what you’re driving and learning about the car has been a key to your success? “I think that’s part of the reason why I’ve been somewhat successful because of the fact that I know what I want in the car, and I think that I’m relatively good at explaining what I want in the car. The team believes in the direction that I tell them to go, and they’re good at finding things that help solve problems. For years, that’s something we’ve just been able to figure out – the communication with what you’re feeling in the car and how we fix it, what fixes it, what pushes the hot buttons to help fix the problems in certain areas of the corner. Being able to analyze those things is ultra-important just in order to help the direction of where the car is going, where the development is going, and being able to also stand up and say, ‘Hey, I probably led us down a bad road,’ before you get 10 roads down the street. If you get one or two roads down the street and back up, it’s important to be able to do that, and that’s been important as we develop this car.”

Aric Almirola is 50/1 to win 2019 Federated Auto Parts 400

ARIC ALMIROLA Richmond Ready Aric Almirola has a 16th-place average finish at Richmond. KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (Sept. 18, 2019) – Richmond (Va.) Raceway hosts the second race of the opening round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs where Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will compete in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 looking to continue his quest to advance to the next round.  Almirola is optimistic heading to the three-quarter-mile oval as he sits 12th in the playoff standings with six points ahead of the cutoff line for the Round of 12.  “I’m excited to head to Richmond after a descent weekend at Vegas,” Almirola said after last weekend’s opening playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he finished 13th. “We put ourselves in a better position than some, and Richmond is a great place to head to next when we need to get an even better cushion. I’m confident that we’ll bring a fast Smithfield Ford Mustang this weekend. We just have to stay out of trouble and race smart like we did last year.”  At Las Vegas, Almirola qualified fourth to round out SHR’s third-ever 1-2-3-4 qualifying effort. In the first stage of Sunday’s late-afternoon race, he piloted his No. 10 Ford to third to earn eight bonus points. As the temperature changed, so did the handling of his Ford Mustang and he ultimately finished 13th when the checkered flag flew. A handful of other playoff drivers endured bad luck and experienced lower finishing positions, leaving Almirola content to come home with a top-15 finish.  “Every single point matters,” he said. “The difference between going to the second round or getting kicked out could be the result of me passing a car at the line every stage and every race. It happened to us last year at the roval (at Charlotte Motor Speedway). We were out of contention until that last-lap crash, so every second of the race this weekend will be focused on earning one more spot. It doesn’t matter if you’re in 20th or fifth – you still strive for one more pass.” Almirola finished fifth in last year’s Richmond playoff race after leading the first lap of his career there. He raced in and around the top-five for the entirety of the 400-lap race.  In 15 starts at the Richmond oval, Almirola has captured two top-five finishes and four top-10s. He earned his best finish of fourth in September 2015. He has six Richmond starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with one top-10 finish, 10 laps led and an average finish of 16.2.  As the playoffs continue this weekend, fans can get VIP, behind-the-scenes access in following “Aric ‘Beyond the 10’” by subscribing to his YouTube channel. Episodes showcase never-before-seen footage of Almirola at the racetrack, on family trips, and “A Day in the Life” during the week, as well as all that goes into a NASCAR Cup Series driver’s season. Tune in this weekend for full access to Almirola’s playoff media day, NASCAR Burnout Boulevard and the Vegas race weekend. Click here to subscribe on YouTube and watch the latest episode. Last week, Almirola and Smithfield announced the “Racin’ for Bacon” 1 million slice giveaway program. If Almirola pilots the No. 10 Ford to victory lane Oct. 13 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, 10 lucky fans will earn 100,000 slices of bacon. To sign up, visit www.racinforbacongiveaway.com. Sunday’s 400-mile race at Richmond marks the 24th points-paying event during which the Smithfield livery has adorned Almirola’s No. 10 Ford Mustang this year. Smithfield, a brand of Smithfield Foods, based in Smithfield, Virginia, is in its eighth season with Almirola and its second with SHR. Founded in 1936, Smithfield is a leading provider of high-quality pork products, with a vast product portfolio including smoked meats, hams, bacon, sausage, ribs, and a wide variety of fresh pork cuts.  From his 12th position in the playoff standings, Almirola’s 2,033 points are six more than 13th-place Ryan Newman.

Aric Almirola: Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What kind of challenge does a short track like Richmond bring?  “I would say Richmond is one of the most challenging racetracks we go to for managing your tires throughout the run. The first 10, 15 or 20 laps of the run can make you feel like Superman roaring through the field, but you will pay a major penalty for that by lap 40. It makes it fun because, when we show up to Richmond, it really is about managing tire fall-off and making sure your car stays consistent throughout the run as the tires fall off.” What’s it like to race at Richmond?  “Richmond is an awesome track to race at. It’s Saturday-night racing at its finest. Beating and banging, and the track has very little grip and the tires wear out, so it’s a really fun racetrack. You can see the sparks flying, and having the glow of the brake rotors and everything lit up is neat. It’s also pretty close to Smithfield, Virginia, so it’s a hometown race for Smithfield. It’s just a lot of fun to go there and race.”     Is it difficult to adjust from the larger tracks you race on to all of a sudden being at a smaller track like Richmond?  “No, I think that’s what makes racecar drivers special, especially the ones who are at the top of what they do, like us. We’re able to adapt so fast. Whether we go from a big track like Michigan International Speedway, or to a place like Martinsville Speedway, we all get really good at adapting to whatever racetrack we go to.”

Richmond NASCAR Cup Series Notes - 2019 Federated Auto Parts 400

Kyle Busch leads active drivers with 6 Richmond wins.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Next Race: Federated Auto Parts 400

The Place: Richmond Raceway

The Date: Saturday, September 21

The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

TV: NBCSN, 7 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 300 miles (400 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 100),

Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 200), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 400)

2018 Race Winner: Kyle Busch

Mike Stefanik decal to honor late legendary champion

This weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will honor NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Mike Stefanik, who died in a plane crash last Saturday. A decal commemorating his life will be placed on the A-Pillar on each car. The decal will reflect the red of his most recent paint schemes, as well as his stylized name from his car. Additionally, the years of his nine NASCAR championships (seven in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and two in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) are listed on the decal (1997 and 1998 are repeated for his championships in both series in the same year).

The decal will also run on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR Pinty’s Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East cars competing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. The Modifieds will then carry the decal for the remainder of the 2019 season.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Truex locked into second round of Playoffs

For the first time this season, Martin Truex Jr. takes over the top position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings thanks to a hard-fought victory in last week’s Playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. And he arrives at Richmond Raceway for Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) the most recent winner there – earning the win last April.

Truex’s five victories in 2019 are most in the series. He and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch are the only two drivers in the series to win at least four races a season the last four years. They each have won a series high 21 races since 2016. And neither appears to be slowing down. 

Truex, specifically, boasts some important momentum. He has 11 top-five and 16 top-10 showings through the opening 27 races and holds a three-point edge on second place Kevin Harvick in the Playoff driver standings following Las Vegas. He has five top-six finishes in the last seven races. His previous wins came in April (at Richmond), May (at Charlotte, Dover) and June (Sonoma).

Richmond has been a good place for Truex, who was third in this Playoff race last year and has five top-10 runs in the last seven races there. Ironically, his worst finish in that stretch was a 20th in the 2017 regular season finale at Richmond and Truex would go on to win his first Cup title two months later. He won four of the 10 Playoff races that year, including the Homestead-Miami season finale.

Kyle Busch looking to bounce back by defending at Richmond

After a couple challenging weeks behind the wheel, Kyle Busch welcomes the opportunity to restore his Playoff course this week at Richmond Raceway, where he is the defending race winner. The Monster Energy Series Regular Season Champion has suffered back-to-back rough outings in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – a season-worst 37th-place finish at Indianapolis two weeks ago and a 19th place in the Las Vegas Playoff opener last week.

Although Busch’s work this season earned him the top ranking to start the Playoffs, the tough luck at his home track of Las Vegas has now dropped him to fourth in the standings – 19 points behind the points leader, his JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. It’s the lowest Busch has been ranked since the first Las Vegas race of the season, when he was also fourth in the standings. The upside for the 2015 Monster Energy Series champion is that he led the points for 14 weeks. And he leads the Monster Energy Series with six victories at this week’s venue, Richmond Raceway.

Busch swept both Richmond races in 2018 and is coming off an eighth-place finish at the track in April. He has top-10 finishes in eight of the last 10 races. And he is one of only four active drivers to win a Richmond race from the pole position (2010). He has the best average finish (7.0) in the field since 2005 and boasts the second-best driving rating – 110.2, compared to Kevin Harvick’s series-best 110.4.

Since 2005, Busch has a series best 17 top-five finishes in 28 starts at Richmond - 60 percent of the time he finishes in the top five. His six career wins is twice that of any driver in this week’s field. His victory in May 2018, from the 32nd starting position is the farthest on the grid a race winner has started in the track’s 126-race history.

Busch’s four wins this season have come at ISM Raceway, Auto Club Speedway, Bristol-1 and Pocono-1 – however that last win was June 2. He’s been runner-up at Sonoma and Kentucky since then.

The good news for Busch is that both his 13 top-five and 21 top-10 efforts are tops in the series. And the 15 bonus points Busch earned for winning the regular season title carry over to the next Playoff round.

“It’s kind of an insurance policy,’’ Busch said. “We all pay for insurance to hopefully never have to use it, but it’s there just in case.

“For us, we’ve done a great job of being able to build those points up throughout the regular season and it’s nice to be able to have that point structure in place to kind of give you the opportunity to have your early season success help you through the postseason. I think it’s the most-fair structure that we’ve had through the Playoff era.’’

Harvick is peaking at the right time

Kevin Harvick conceded two weeks ago that maybe his 2019 Playoff push would benefit from better timing. Last year he had a career-high eight-win season but had won five of those before the midpoint of the regular season. This year, Harvick seems to be peaking just in time for the 10-race Playoff.

The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford has won two of the last five races, three of the last eight. He won the Indianapolis regular season finale from the pole position and led a dominating 118 laps. Last week he led 47 laps and finished runner-up to Martin Truex Jr. in the Las Vegas Playoff opener.

Harvick shows up at Richmond Raceway ranked second in the points – tying his best points position of the year (he was ranked second for two of the season’s opening three weeks).  And more bad news for competition: Harvick is the highest rated Playoff driver at Richmond.

He has three wins – the last in May 2013, won four pole positions, and earned a series best 24 top 10s and 15 top fives in 37 starts. He has finished top 10 in 64.8 percent of his starts. His seven Xfinity Series victories is most all-time, and he tied an amazing statistic – winning three Xfinity races in a row (2005-06) – to equal a mark set by Harry Gant in 1991-92.

Harvick is currently on a seven-race streak of top-10 finishes at Richmond and was runner-up to Kyle Busch in this Playoff race last year. He’s led laps in four of the last five Richmond races and twice – in 2006 (272 laps) and 2011 (202 laps) – led more than half the race total laps.

“I think the back-up plan is to survive and advance, but we want to win,’’ Harvick said. “We want to be racing for the lead and trying to win stages and be aggressive. I think being aggressive is just going to bite you less than kind of being passive and just trying to mediocre your way into the next round by looking at points.’’

Virginia is home for Hamlin

Denny Hamlin has long considered Richmond Raceway his “home” venue. Having grown up in nearby Chesterfield, Va., doing well at Richmond was always a goal. And he’s succeeded.

Hamlin has three Monster Energy Series victories and three Xfinity Series wins at the 0.75-mile oval. His 1,659 laps led in Cup there is most in the field. He is one of only four active drivers to win from the pole position (2016).

In seven of the last eight Richmond races, Hamlin has finished sixth or better. He was fifth this April. He has 12 top-five and 16 top-10 efforts in 26 starts, including a runner-up finish to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2006 - his first ever Monster Energy Series race at his home track. Six times he’s led at least 100 laps, including 381 of 400 laps from the pole position in 2008 – only to finish 24th while Clint Bowyer celebrated in Victory Lane.

Hamlin could really use some of his hometown magic. He tumbled from second in the points standings to start the 10-race Playoff push to a season-low seventh place following a 15th-place finish in the Las Vegas Playoff opener last week. 

Still Hamlin’s season statistics are impressive. He has 13 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes through the opening 26 weeks and is averaging a 9.9 finish. In seven of the last nine races he’s finished sixth or better – and that includes two victories, at Pocono2 and then Bristol-2 from the pole position.

Team Penske performing

All three Team Penske drivers – Brad Keselowski (third), Ryan Blaney (fifth) and Joey Logano (ninth) – earned top-10 finishes in the Las Vegas Playoff opener. And Logano’s 105 laps led was most among all competitors.

They arrive in Richmond with a lofty record to launch from. Logano is a two-time Richmond Monster Energy Series race winner (in 2014 and 2017). Keselowski won in 2014 and has four Xfinity Series victories at the track.

The reigning Cup champion Logano is ranked third in the Playoff standings – only seven points behind leader Martin Truex Jr. Keselowski is fifth, 24 points out. And Blaney is 10th, 43 points behind Truex and 12 points up on 13th place Ryan Newman with two races remaining to settle which 12 drivers move on to the next round of the Playoffs.

Richmond has been a stellar overall venue for Team Penske, which swept both race wins in 2014, including one of the most dominant performances in track history from Keselowski who led 383 of the 400 laps to win the fall race.

Logano has the second-best average finish (10.2) on the season among the top five in the points. Of those drivers, only regular season champ Kyle Busch (8.6) has a better average finish.

On the bubble

Four drivers came out of the Las Vegas Playoff opener ranked below the top-12 cutoff with two races left to try and get inside that group to advance to the Round of 12.

Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman is 13th in the standings – six points behind 12th place Aric Almirola. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch, the 2004 Monster Energy Series champion, is ranked 14th, 14 points behind Almirola.

Clint Bowyer, who won the pole position last week at Vegas but finished 25th, is ranked 15th – 21 points behind his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Almirola. And Erik Jones, who is points leader Martin Truex Jr.’s teammate, is currently 16th in the standings – 26 points behind Almirola. Jones has had horrible luck the last two weeks with a finish of 39th in the Indianapolis regular season finale and then 36th last week at the Vegas opener with his No. 20 Toyota suffering a mechanical problem.

Newman, Kurt Busch and Bowyer all have previous victories at Richmond. Both Busch (2005 and 2015) and Bowyer (2008 and 2012) have two wins. Newman won in 2003.

Of the four, Newman has the best career average finish (12.5) and top 10 mark (19) in 35 Richmond starts.  Bowyer is averaging a 12.7 finish in 27 starts with 15 top 10s. Busch has a 15.3 average finish in 37 starts. Busch and Newman have the most top-five finishes (seven) among the four drivers.

Best of the rest

Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson made good on his promise to remain highly-competitive in the Playoffs even though for the first time in his 16-year Monster Energy Series career, he is not part of the championship mix.

Johnson finished 11th  - best among non-Playoff drivers at Las Vegas. He and Austin Dillon (12th) were the only non-Playoff competitors among the top 15.

Daniel Suarez, who is ranked 17th in the points – tops among those drivers that did not qualify for the championship run – started second and led 29 laps but finished 20th. He holds a 35-point edge over Johnson in the standings. Johnson holds a 35-point advantage on Paul Menard.

Johnson is easily the most successful at Richmond Raceway among those not to secure Playoff berths. He has three victories at the track – scoring those three wins in a four-race span between 2007-09. He’s finished 12th or better in the last 10 consecutive Richmond races – seven times among the top 10. He is the only driver not competing in the Playoffs with a victory there.

Competition highlights

In winning his first pole position in 12 years, Clint Bowyer became the 13th different polesitter this season and completes a four-driver pole sweep for Stewart-Haas Racing. SHR is tied with Hendrick Motorsports with the most pole positions on the season (eight). Kevin Harvick leads all drivers with five. Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron is next with four.

Team Penske is the only team other than Stewart-Haas Racing to have a pole-winning sweep. All three of its drivers – Joey Logano (two), Brad Keselowski (two) and Ryan Blaney (one) have also earned the top qualifying spot.

When it comes to race wins, Joe Gibbs Racing continued to set the high mark with Martin Truex Jr.’s win at Las Vegas on Sunday. There have been 11 winners representing six race teams. But JGR has nearly tripled the work of the next best – earning 14 wins. Next closest is Team Penske with five. Truex, alone, has a Cup Series high five victories.

The average Margin of Victory through the opening 27 races is 1.610-seconds and there have been 15 races where the Margin of Victory is less than a second.

Green flag passes for the lead are up considerably – 41.2 percent – compared to last season. In fact, there has been record green flag passing this season at Las Vegas-1, Bristol-1, Kansas-1, Chicago, Kentucky and Indianapolis.

Parade Laps: Insights ahead of this week’s driver media rotations

Six drivers from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series – Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ryan Preece, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer and Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman will be participating in this week’s media rotations at Richmond Raceway in advance of Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ Federated Auto Parts 400 (7:30 p.m., ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Alex Bowman, 26, of Tucson, Ariz., had a stellar top-10 start to his 2019 Monster Energy Series Playoff run, finishing sixth in the Playoff opener at Las Vegas last week. He’s ranked 11th now in the championship – good enough to keep him inside the 12-driver cutoff for the next Playoff round in two weeks. It is, however, only his second top 10 since notching his first career win at Chicago in June – 11 races ago. Bowman has certainly turned in an improved scoresheet at Richmond since joining Hendrick Motorsports fulltime last year. In the three races he’s competed in for Hendrick at Richmond, he has three top 20s, including a best of 12th in this fall race last year. He was 17th at the track in April. Prior to joining the Hendrick team, Bowman had four finishes of 28th or worse at Richmond. He’s led only one lap in his career at the track – this race, last year. 

Ryan Preece, 28, of Berlin, Conn., comes to Richmond with an encouraging mark of three top-20 finishes in the last five races. He was seventh at Michigan in August – one of three top 10s he’s earned this season. The driver of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet started 16th and finished 20th in the series’ April stop there. It’s been a challenging venue in Preece’s young career as he is 0-for-3 in top-10 finishes in the Xfinity Series as well. His best showing at the track, an 18th place last fall. Preece does still remain hot on the pace of Sunoco Rookie of the Year points leader Daniel Hemric, who sits 25th in the championship standings with only a 29-point advantage.

Aric Almirola, 35, of Tampa, Fla. is making his third consecutive Playoff appearance and started the title run with a 13th-place finish at Las Vegas on Sunday.  He hasn’t scored a top 10 since a seventh at the summer Daytona race. He has 10 top 10s and one top five (ISM Raceway-1) on the season and heads into the second race of the three-race opening Playoff round ranked 12th – with 12 drivers advancing to the next round. Richmond has been a solid venue for Almirola in the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. He was 23rd there in April but was fifth in this race last year and led his first career lap at the 0.75-mile oval. His best showing is fourth in the 2015 fall race. He has a pair of top fives and five top 10s in 15 Richmond starts.

Kyle Larson, 27, of Elk Grove, Calif., is coming off a solid eighth-place finish in the Playoff opener at Las Vegas and is ranked eighth in the championship - his highest ranking since the fifth race of the season. The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet has six top-10 finishes in the last seven races, including a runner-up showing at Darlington, S.C. three races ago. He’s led laps in the last four races – 113 of his 304 laps led on the season. Richmond Raceway has been a strong venue for Larson. He won this fall race in 2017 and finished seventh in the 2018 Playoff race there. But Larson crashed out and finished 37th in April. He has a pair of top-five and four top-10 finishes – three of those top 10s in the last four races.

Clint Bowyer, 40, of Emporia, Kans. won his first pole position in 12 seasons at Las Vegas last weekend, but a late race collision dropped him to 25th in the final race standings and he heads to the second race of the Playoffs at Richmond in a precarious 15th-place ranking. Two races remain in this Playoff opening round to decide which 12 drivers will advance to the next round of the Playoffs. The good news for the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team is that Bowyer’s tough luck at Vegas was the first time he’d finished outside the top 10 in the last four races. He is a two-time winner (2008 and 2012) at this week’s Richmond Raceway Playoff venue. He was third at Richmond this April and has three top 10s in the last four races there. Plus, he has 15 top 10s in 27 starts at the track – better than 50 percent.

Ryan Newman, 41, of South Bend, Ind. is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes – including a 10th-place showing in the Las Vegas Playoff-opening race. He has 10 top-10s on the season now and has finished 12th or better in four of the last five races. He is a Richmond Raceway winner (2003) and polesitter (2004) and has 19 top-10 finishes in 35 starts at the track. He was ninth in April in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford and has finished top-10 in three of the last five races there – leading 29 laps in that span. He goes to Richmond ranked 13th in the championship, only six points behind 12th place Aric Almirola with two Playoff races remaining to set the 12 drivers who will advance to the second round.

Odds to win 2019 Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond

Kyle Busch has 6 Richmond wins.

WESTGATE LAS VEGAS SUPERBOOK

ODDS TO WIN 2019 FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400

RICHMOND RACEWAY

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2019 - 7:45 PM ET

Kyle BUSCH 3/1
Kevin HARVICK 6/1
Martin TRUEX JR 6/1
Denny HAMLIN 6/1
Joey LOGANO 7/1
Brad KESELOWSKI 8/1
Chase ELLIOTT 16/1
Erik JONES 16/1
Kyle LARSON 14/1
Clint BOWYER 20/1
Kurt BUSCH 25/1
Ryan BLANEY 40/1
Aric ALMIROLA 40/1
Alex BOWMAN 40/1
William BYRON 40/1
Daniel SUAREZ 80/1
Jimmie JOHNSON 80/1
Ryan NEWMAN 100/1
Austin DILLON 100/1
Ricky STENHOUSE JR 300/1
Matt DiBENEDETTO 300/1
Chris BUESCHER 500/1
Paul MENARD 500/1
Daniel HEMRIC 1000/1
Ryan PREECE 1000/1
Ty DILLON 1000/1
Darrell WALLACE JR 1000/1
Michael McDOWELL 2000/1
David RAGAN 2000/1
Matt TIFFT 5000/1
Corey LAJOIE 5000/1
Landon CASSILL 5000/1
Reed SORENSON 5000/1
FIELD (all others) 1000/1

Odds to win 2019 Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond

Kyle Busch won both Richmond races last season.

WESTGATE LAS VEGAS SUPERBOOK

ODDS TO WIN 2019 TOYOTA OWNERS 400

RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2019 - 7:45 PM ET

Kyle BUSCH 2/1
Kevin HARVICK 7/1
Brad KESELOWSKI 7/1
Joey LOGANO 7/1
Martin TRUEX JR 7/1
Denny HAMLIN 10/1
Ryan BLANEY 12/1
Chase ELLIOTT 12/1
Clint BOWYER 20/1
Kyle LARSON 20/1
Aric ALMIROLA 20/1
Kurt BUSCH 25/1
Erik JONES 30/1
Jimmie JOHNSON 30/1
Daniel SUAREZ 60/1
Austin DILLON 100/1
Ryan NEWMAN 100/1
Ricky STENHOUSE Jr. 100/1
Alex BOWMAN 100/1
Matt DIBENEDETTO 100/1
William BYRON 300/1
Chris BUESCHER 300/1
Paul MENARD 300/1
Ryan PREECE 500/1
Daniel HEMRIC 500/1
Ty DILLON 1000/1
Darrell WALLACE Jr. 1000/1
Michael McDOWELL 2000/1
David RAGAN 5000/1
FIELD (all others) 1000/1

Kyle Busch wins at Richmond for seventh win of 2018

Kyle Busch wins at Richmond for sixth time in his career.

Kyle Busch holds off Kevin Harvick to win Richmond Playoff race

September 22, 2018
By Reid Spencer

RICHMOND, Va. – On a night of important milestones, in a car hastily repaired after a brush with the wall during qualifying, Kyle Busch held off Kevin Harvick to win Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway to advance to the second round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

After a pitched battle against Brad Keselowski that lasted 21 laps, Busch made the winning pass for the lead on Lap 364 of 400 at the .75-mile track. Busch’s first victory in a fall race at Richmond was his sixth at the track, most among active drivers, and it gave him a season sweep at the short track.

The win was Busch’s seventh of the season—tying him with Harvick for the series lead—and the 50th of his career, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famers Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett for 11th on the all-time list.

Martin Truex Jr., who won the first and second stages and led a race-high 163 laps, recovered from a penalty for an uncontrolled tire to run third, marking the first time this season NASCAR’s so-called Big Three have finished 1-2-3 in a race.

Busch, who led 92 laps, had to fight for the win. Harvick passed Keselowski for second on Lap 372 and quickly gained ground on Busch, who had punished his equipment in the fight against Keselowski.

"Yeah, that was a little too close for my comfort," said Busch, who started from the rear of the field after his team did yeoman work on the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry to repair the damage sustained during qualifying. "I thought we were a little bit better than that on the long runs, (but) I know Harvick… that’s kind of his specialty. We had a really, really good race car tonight.

"The guys did a great job coming back from a dismal qualifying effort and preparing a really, really good race car for us tonight. We started dead last, came up through the field and won this thing… I put us a little bit behind yesterday in qualifying, and the guys did a great job rallying to put it together.

"Hey, I finally won a fall race at Richmond! What do you know?"

Harvick simply ran out of time in his quest to reel in the race winner, but he was pleased with his recovery from an accident that sidelined him 73 laps into last Sunday’s Playoff opener at Las Vegas. Currently third in the standings and 57 points ahead of 13th place, Harvick has a comfortable cushion heading to the Round 1 cutoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

"We were starting to track him down there at the end," Harvick said. "I needed about 25 more laps… Any other round of the Playoffs, I would say it didn’t matter—we just needed to try to win. But I’m terrified of next week, to tell you the truth, just because there are so many unknowns."

Thanks to his stage wins, Truex retook the series lead from Busch and clinched a spot in Round 2 on points. Chase Elliott ran fourth, recovering from a Las Vegas wreck as did Harvick. Aric Almirola came home fifth, scoring his second top five of the season.

Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Erik Jones, and Alex Bowman finished sixth through 12th, respectively, as Playoff drivers swept the top 12 positions. Bowyer, Johnson, Jones and 16th-place finisher Denny Hamlin are 13th through 16th in points and in danger of falling out of the Playoffs after the elimination race at Charlotte.

Busch’s only complaint after the race was an aching back.

"My back is killing me," said the 33-year-old driver. "You’re so on edge here that you’re just trying to feel the race car the entire time, and you’re clenched, and you can never let go.

"You can never relax and it’s just that way the entirety of this race. Long runs like that, it wears on you a little bit, especially when you get to be an old man."

But the "old man" can relax now, with nothing on the line at the Charlotte Road Course except for the desire to add another new track to his portfolio.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race - Federated Auto Parts 400

Richmond Raceway

Richmond, Virginia

Saturday, September 22, 2018

 

               1. (11) Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, 400.

               2. (1) Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, 400.

               3. (3) Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, 400.

               4. (18) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 400.

               5. (6) Aric Almirola (P), Ford, 400.

               6. (26) Austin Dillon (P), Chevrolet, 400.

               7. (9) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 400.

               8. (21) Jimmie Johnson (P), Chevrolet, 400.

               9. (7) Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 400.

               10. (24) Clint Bowyer (P), Ford, 400.

               11. (8) Erik Jones (P), Toyota, 400.

               12. (13) Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 400.

               13. (15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 400.

               14. (12) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 399.

               15. (16) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 399.

               16. (2) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 399.

               17. (38) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 399.

               18. (5) Kurt Busch (P), Ford, 398.

               19. (4) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 398.

               20. (19) William Byron #, Chevrolet, 398.

               21. (14) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 398.

               22. (20) Paul Menard, Ford, 397.

               23. (40) David Ragan, Ford, 397.

               24. (23) Michael McDowell, Ford, 397.

               25. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 396.

               26. (10) Cole Custer(i), Ford, 396.

               27. (25) Bubba Wallace #, Chevrolet, 395.

               28. (29) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 395.

               29. (28) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 394.

               30. (22) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 394.

               31. (39) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 394.

               32. (31) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 393.

               33. (30) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 392.

               34. (27) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 391.

               35. (35) Joey Gase(i), Chevrolet, 388.

               36. (36) * Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 387.

               37. (32) * Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, 387.

               38. (34) Alon Day, Toyota, 383.

               39. (37) * Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 382.

               40. (33) * Gray Gaulding, Ford, Brakes, 289.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  103.152 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 54 Mins, 30 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.777 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  3 for 23 laps.

Lead Changes:  16 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   K. Harvick (P) 1-40; M. Truex Jr. (P) 41-103; B. Keselowski (P) 104; M. Truex Jr. (P) 105-203; A. Almirola (P) 204; C. Elliott (P) 205-213; B. Keselowski (P) 214-243; C. Elliott (P) 244-268; A. Bowman (P) 269; M. Truex Jr. (P) 270; R. Stenhouse Jr. 271-272; B. Keselowski (P) 273-286; Kyle Busch (P) 287-327; B. Keselowski (P) 328; Kyle Busch (P) 329-342; B. Keselowski (P) 343-363; Kyle Busch (P) 364-400.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  M. Truex Jr. (P) 3 times for 163 laps; Kyle Busch (P) 3 times for 92 laps; B. Keselowski (P) 5 times for 67 laps; K. Harvick (P) 1 time for 40 laps; C. Elliott (P) 2 times for 34 laps; R. Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 2 laps; A. Almirola (P) 1 time for 1 lap; A. Bowman (P) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 78,4,2,9,41,10,20,88,11,22

Stage #2 Top Ten: 78,4,10,9,2,88,3,48,42,22