We finally got to see an exciting race this past weekend at Bristol right up until the end when Kyle Busch ran away from his brother to secure his third win of the season. The Penske drivers dominated most of the race, but at the end Kyle rallied from an early race accident to claim the victory.
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
This week the drivers head to Richmond, VA and the Richmond Raceway for the running of the Toyota Owners 400. This is the first Saturday race of the season, so make sure and get your rosters set on time this week. Richmond is another short track at just three-quarters of a mile in length without a lot of banking. I’m thinking this should be another decent race to watch.
Kyle Busch
I have to stick with Kyle to win again this weekend. He won both races here last year and has won here six times overall in his career. He has also finished in the top five in seventeen of his twenty-seven starts at this track. He has been the most consistent driver on the circuit this year and has finished in the top ten in all eight races he has run this year.
Denny Hamlin
Denny has looked pretty good himself this season and has three career wins at this track. He has finished in the top six in six of his last seven starts here and has led more laps here than any other active driver. Give him eleven top five finishes in twenty-five starts and he is another driver you might want on your roster this week.
Kevin Harvick
Kevin is another driver with three wins here. He has also finished in the top five fourteen times and the top ten twenty-three times in thirty-six career starts. He has been off a little bit this season compared to the last couple of seasons and it seems that he still has a lot of issues with his pit crew making mistakes on pit stops.
Joey Logano
Joey has two wins at Richmond and eight top five finishes in his twenty career starts here. He had a streak of nine straight top ten finishes broken here last fall when he finished fourteenth in that race. Regardless, the Penske teams have all looked fast all season long and Joey might be a better pick than Denny this weekend.
Chase Elliott: Chase finished second in this race last year and has three straight top ten finishes here. He has been close all year, but seems to get into some kind of trouble on the track not of his own making. I think he is going to be good here once again this weekend and could possibly win his first race of the year.
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie ran alright at Bristol last week, but I think he knows he can do better and his team is moving in the right direction. This is another week we could put him on our roster as he has three wins at this track and hasn’t finished worse than eleventh in his last nine starts here. Once again this track isn’t so much about the speed of the cars, but the handling and that is where he can make big strides.
Brad Keselowski
Brad has finished eleventh or better in nine of his last ten starts at this track. He has looked very good all year and this week should be no different. I’m not exactly sure what happened to him before the last restart at Bristol where he got penalized for not following NASCAR directions on where to line up and I’m sure that will get straightened out this week.
Kurt Busch
Kurt has been having a great year so far and he runs well at Richmond most of the time. In fact, Kurt has finished eleventh or better in seven of his last nine starts, has scored stage points in five of the last six stages, and lead almost a hundred laps in this race last year. This is the type of track where he really excels.
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin is still looking for his first career short track win and this is one of the short tracks where he is very good. He has scored points in seven of the last stage run here and won three of those. In the last three races here, Martin has led 472 laps. He has started in the top five in his last four starts also. I look for him to contend once again this weekend.
Clint Bowyer
Clint is very good at this track also and is looking for a little redemption this week after having a great chance to win at Bristol last week until he and Joey Logano got together and Clint cut a tire and hit the wall late in the race. He has fourteen top ten finishes in twenty-six starts at Richmond along with two wins.
DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR RICHMOND RACEWAY
Driver Group Game Group A
- Kyle Busch
- Joey Logano
Driver Group Game Group B
- Denny Hamlin
- Kurt Busch
- Clint Bowyer
- Jimmie Johnson
Driver Group Game Group C
- Ryan Preece
- Ty Dillon
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT RICHMOND RACEWAY
- Kyle Busch
- Denny Hamlin
- Joey Logano
- Kevin Harvick
- Martin Truex Jr.
Dark Horse: Daniel Suarez
Stay Away From: Auston Dillon
Big 18: Joey Logano
64 replies on “2019 Richmond Raceway, Toyota Owners 400”
I’m trying to save my #48 usages. Is Newman or Menard a suitable replacement?
Menard only has one top ten finish in 24 races here. Newman might be worth a shot here though. He has looked pretty good the last 2 weeks and he has finished in the top ten here in over half of his starts.
#6 running well.
Can you please explain which races do NOT have the Aero package and/or no restrictor plate racing this year?
I think the idea of the new package was to make racing more competitive and help out the smaller teams. The Ford’s and Toyota’s were dominating the sport and they had to do something to keep Chevy in the mix. So, the short tracks where speed isn’t the reason people win don’t need the package. The speeds don’t get high enough to make a difference. Not sure why they won’t run them at Pocono. Maybe because of the configuration of the track.
I’m in a survivor league, choose 1 driver then can’t choose them again for the season. I’m picking between the 48 and the 9. Get points for stage wins, laps led and final place. Whats your call?
I go with Elliott here and save Johnson for Dover if they find a little more speed.
Thanks!
Could you tell me why the 22,2 were not penalized for being ahead of the pace car on a pit stop?
I didn’t see that. So, I don’t know what happened.
Ryan Preece?
Had a good run going at Phoenix until he crashed on pit road. Short track driver.
Gotcha thanks!
18-22-11-19 my pick
4
Thanks
18-22-11-19-4-2-9 my pick?
14
Thanks
ALMIROLA OR BLANEY
The numbers are telling me Almirola but my gut is telling me Blaney. Who has a better chance this week? Or should I go with your dark horce Suarez? I can only take one of the 3. Thank you, JC
I usually find that the gut is right.
No that’s funny!
Hamlin or Suarez?
This is a tough one to call with the final practice being cancelled. Hamlin was a little faster in both single lap and 10 lap average speeds but is starting 18th where Suarez was fast but not as fast and is starting 9th. Both are good on short tracks, so the question is how many starts do you have left for each and are you willing to take a shot at using Suarez to save a start for Hamlin. Go with your gut.
I guess im going Hamlin after Suarez failed inspection and is going to the back.
Good call.
Elliott or Suarez then Almirola or Suarez?
Sorry meant Elliott or Larson the Almirola or Suarez ?
Elliott and Suarez
Harvick, Hamlin, or Logano
I’m sticking with my top 5 prediction. Hamlin, then Logano, then Harvick.
Who would you recommend
Since half my picks are now starting in the back lol which would you leave in Hamlin or Suarez?
Thank you
Have to go with Hamlin now. Starting at the back on this short track can be a disaster as you will find yourself in traffic from the beginning and the leaders will catch the back of the pack in a hurry.
Stick with Suarez?
Not if you have someone better to start. As in someone who didn’t fail inspection.
Who would you recommend?
As of right now, inspection is still ongoing. There might be more that end up going to the rear. Who do you have on your roster?
I’m in a different league but I took 18, 1, 42, and #41
Who can you use besides the 41?
Jeff I’m looking like this for richmond… 1,4,18,19,22… I know this may be a dumb ? But 2 or 42 as my garage driver? Brad has been better than the 42 I know, but the 42 lead practice & was 2nd in the 1st round of qualifying! Who would you put in? Thanks!!
I would go with Larson. He was faster on the 10 lap average during practice too.
thanks
Anybody really. Maybe the #10
He’s going to the back too. How about the 4?
If you are looking for a C driver. Ty Dillon looked okay.
Bowyer?
He wasn’t very good on the practice. Not sure about him this weekend.
Byron?
Yeah, he was top ten in 10 lap average in practice.
Jeff,the 41 &10 both going to the back,
Yes, I see that. This is another thing I don’t like about the rules NASCAR has right now. Why do they wait so long to have cars go through pre-race inspection? If the cars were impounded after qualifying, why didn’t they run inspection right away?
Do you still like Hamlin starting 30th?
I’m still starting him because I have Johnson, who is going to the back and Bowyer who wasn’t very fast in practice on my bench.
That’s a tough call, I had Bowyer too.
Hamlin was pretty good in practice.
Jeff everyone in my league is having g trouble with the fantasy app… we can’t see our rosters or live race results… is there someone you can get in touch with over this? thanks??
It’s working now thanks
Hi Jeff,
Can you tell me which races this year do not have the Aero package employed and therefore would allow the drivers to drive more loosely?
It won’t be run on any short tracks. Other than that the only places it won’t be run is at Pocono and Homestead.
What about Dega?
No race this weekend. The Talladega article will be out sometime later this week or this weekend.
oh yeah thanks