Starting Lineup | Pit Stall Assignments | Final Practice
Stories to follow in Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway, which can be heard live on the Motor Racing Network starting at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Short Track Season Pt. 1
Saturday night’s race is the third on a short track in the season’s first nine events. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series won’t return to a track less than a mile in length until Bristol rolls back around on the schedule in August. So far the first two short track races have been dynamically different with Clint Bowyer taking the checkered flag at Martinsville in a relatively tame affair while Kyle Busch won a slam bang affair last week in Bristol. Kyle Larson, who led final practice at Richmond, led 200 laps and finished second at Bristol. What lies ahead at the .75-mile track in Richmond?
Busch from the Back
Speaking of Busch he’ll have his hands full on Saturday night coming from deep in the field. Busch is shooting for his third straight series win after triumphs in Texas and Bristol, but he’ll have to come from the 32nd starting spot to do so. The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 team had trouble in qualifying and did not make it out of the first round. Busch is certainly capable of getting to the front but history is not on his side as he has never won a Cup race during his career starting outside the 30th position. Previous Richmond winner Brad Keselowski also failed to make it out of the first round of qualifying and will start 28th.
Under the Gun
JGR had its share of air gun problems last week in Bristol with both Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suarez suffering loose wheels. The team blamed challenges with the new common air gun teams are using this year and both Hamlin and team owner Gibbs were vocal of their frustration. Hamlin would like nothing better than to score another win at his home track in Richmond to follow up his victory on Thursday in his Denny Hamlin Short Track Challenge at nearby Langley Speedway, but the No. 11 team will need a near perfect day on pit road to do so. Hamlin will start fourth after early struggles to start Friday when the team went to work on the his car following the first practice where he was 29th on the leaderboard (Read More).
Long Drought for Logano
It has now officially been one year since Joey Logano last won a Cup race. His victory in the 2017 edition of the Toyota Owners 400 was of the then called encumbered variety and wasn’t allowed for Logano to use as playoff eligibility. He not only missed the playoffs completely, he’s been shutout of Victory Lane ever since. He finished second at Richmond last September and has the best average finish of active drivers over the last 10 races at the track of 6.2. Logano has been in the top 10 seven of the first eight races and another Richmond checkered flag would continue is solid start to the season while also erasing a bitter memory.
Truex Jr. Seeks Richmond Redemption
Martin Truex Jr. will start from the pole and is looking to shake off two straight weeks of disappointment with a good run in tonight’s race. The defending series champion has been impressive as of late at the .75-mile track and has combined to lead 391 laps in the last two races that have been held under the lights (Read More).
Best Starting Spot for Elliott
Chase Elliott has suffered through a very challenging season to date with a pair of L1 penalties adding to his woes of falling to 23rd in the point standings. Elliott, who led the first practice at Richmond, is looking to bounce back after being involved in a crash early last week in Bristol. The Hendrick Motorsports driver will start outside the front row after a stellar qualifying effort – his best of the season – and a similar finish would go a long way to bringing up the morale around the No. 9 team.
