RICHMOND, Va. – There are many stories to follow during Saturday night’s running of the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway, which can be heard live on the Motor Racing Network starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Kyle Busch Rolling
Busch has already won three times in 2019 with his latest victory coming last week at Bristol Motor Speedway. He is the only driver to finish inside the top 10 in every race of the season. Busch has made 27 starts at Richmond and has an average finish of 6.9. He once again appears to be the driver to beat on Saturday night as he looks for his third straight win at the track.
Practice Speeds | Paint Schemes
Inspection Issues
A number of cars failed pre-race inspection that included four that were slated to start in the top 10 with drivers Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Jimmie Johnson. Read More
Joe Gibbs Racing/Team Penske Power
The eight races run thus far in 2019 have been won by drivers from either JGR or Team Penske. Busch leads the way at JGR with three wins while teammate Denny Hamlin has a pair. Penske running mates Brad Keselowski (2) and Joey Logano (1) account for the other wins in the series. It’s been a weekly story to see which team will rise up and keep either organization from finding Victory Lane again. Hamlin will have to give up his original 18th starting spot as his car failed pre-race inspection.
Richmond: Race Winners | Driver Averages
New Rules Impact
Another weekly exercise is to monitor how the new Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rules package will impact the racing. So far this weekend at Richmond that implication seems minimal with corner speeds being reported just a tad faster. But with limited practice because of weather it remains to be seen just how much drivers will have to adjust to the new rules in race conditions.
Pit Road Focus
Last week at Bristol several drivers and teams suffered challenges on pit road ranging from speeding penalties to uncontrolled tire infractions. Similar issues Saturday night in Richmond will be difficult to recover from with long green flag runs the most recent trend at Richmond and lap times around the .75-mile track clipping off around the 23 second mark.
Johnson Resurgence?
Jimmie Johnson, who will give up his 10th starting spot after his car failed pre-race inspection, has found his way into the top 10 the last two races at Texas Motor Speedway and Bristol. There seems to be life in the No. 48 team and Johnson comes to Richmond on an upward trend. It’s a track the seven-time champion has fared well of late with three straight top-10 finishes at the track.
Tale of Two Ganassi Teammates
Kurt Busch has joined Chip Ganassi Racing with a flourish and registered his best finish of the year last Sunday at Bristol when he followed his brother Kyle across the finish line in second. But it’s been anything but a successful start to the year for his teammate Kyle Larson, who remains winless and has been plagued with challenges and bad luck. Larson is looking to recapture some of his recent Richmond success Saturday night. He won at Richmond in 2017 and scored two seventh-place finishes last season.
