There is only one race left before the start of the Chase. Right now there are fourteen drivers locked into the Chase with the other two spots still open. If we don’t get a new winner this week Paul Menard should make the Chase as he has a thirty-nine point lead over Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer just needs to stay out of major trouble to lock up the last spot.
That means that the rest of the drivers in the top thirty in points who aren’t qualified for the Chase have what is known as “One last race to make the Chase”. Could one of those drivers win this race and knock Clint or Paul out of the Chase. It is possible, so there are a couple of drivers who are going to be a little bit nervous when this race begins on Saturday night.
FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400
This week the series heads to Richmond International Raceway for the running of the Federated Auto Parts 400. Richmond is a three-quarter-mile flatter D-shaped oval track with a tight pit road. If you want to win this race you need to qualify good enough that you can get a good pit stall because you want to be able to get in and out quickly if a late race caution flag flies.
There will be many different strategies this weekend with drivers not in the Chase taking any chance they might have to win this race and propel themselves into the Chase while drivers that are locked in will be trying to get that one last win to pick up the three bonus points they will get when the Chase starts at Chicagoland the following week. So, all in all I think just about every driver will take any chance they can to win this race. That could be staying out and hoping you don’t run out of gas at the end of the race or taking two tires or maybe gas only late in the race.
Kyle Busch: I am picking Kyle to win his fifth race of the season and catapult himself to the top of the standings as the Chase begins. Kyle has four wins and thirteen top five finishes in twenty starts at Richmond which tells me he knows how to get around this track. After Kyle broke a leg and an ankle in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona in February and missed the first eleven races of the season most people wrote him off for the year. If he wins the race this weekend he will have gone from worst to first in fifteen races.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin has three wins at Richmond and comes to the track every week with a car capable of winning. He has also finished in the top ten in eighteen of his twenty-nine starts here and would love to win another race and keep his momentum going as the Chase starts next week. You can never count this guy out of any race.
Denny Hamlin: Denny has two wins at this track and nine top ten finishes in eighteen starts here. Those are pretty good numbers but, the only active driver to lead more laps at this track than Denny is Jeff Gordon, who has 247 more laps led than Denny. However it took Jeff twenty-seven more starts to accumulate those numbers. Denny just needs everything to go his was and he will find himself in victory lane once again this weekend.
Ryan Newman: Ryan is locked into the Chase once again this year without a win and that doesn’t really matter as he proved last year. He has one win at Richmond and sixteen top ten finishes in twenty-seven starts here. Those are very telling stats and what they tell me is Ryan really knows how to get around this place in a hurry and can communicate which changes he wants made to his car to keep up with the track as the race progresses.
Tony Stewart: Tony has three wins and four runner-up finishes in his career at Richmond. He also has nineteen top ten’s in thirty-two starts and this team has shown they are starting to get the handle on the adjustments they want to make as the race progresses. The biggest problem this team has is slow pit stops and that definitely won’t cut it at Richmond. You can’t afford to lose spots every time you pit at a place where track position is so important.
Carl Edwards: Carl has one win and is coming in with a lot of momentum following his win at Darlington last weekend. Carl fought his way back to the front from two laps down early in the race. That alone will give this team a lot of confidence heading into the Chase and this weekend. Look for Carl to run well once again this weekend.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has won three races at Richmond with the last of those wins coming back in 2006. This team will need to pick it up a little bit if they want to compete for a championship. Although Dale has been good most every week, this team needs to get even better and win some races during the Chase which guarantees you will move to the next round.
Brad Keselowski: Brad won this race two years ago and looked very good last week at Darlington. I think this is a team that is getting to the point they need to be to have a legitimate shot of winning another championship. They have shown a lot of speed all year and now they are making the right adjustments and avoiding mistakes on pit road which is one of the most important things with the way the Chase is set up now.
Kurt Busch: Kurt won the April race here and always seems to run well on this type of track. He has had cars that are just as fast as his teammate, Kevin Harvick, has had all season. They just need to avoid the mistakes on pit road that seem to eat them up late in races and take them out of contention. By no means is this team going to win a championship unless they can eliminate more of the mistakes that cost them.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has won three times here and this team currently is tied for the lead in wins with Kyle Busch with four. However, the way they have been running lately, they have a lot to improve on if they want to contend for another championship. Handling seems to be their biggest issue right now with tire wear coming in as a close second. They are very good for a small portion of the race and then they seem to lose the handle and spin out or blow a tire and crash. That will not win you a championship.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Kyle Busch
- Denny Hamlin
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Carl Edwards
- Kurt Busch
- Tony Stewart
- Clint Bowyer
Yahoo Driver Group C
- Justin Allgaier
- Danica Patrick
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
- Kyle Busch
- Denny Hamlin
- Kevin Harvick
- Kurt Busch
- Brad Keselowski
Dark Horse: Kyle Larson
Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.