Crown Royal presents the Russell Friedman 400 Race Preview

Richmond International Raceway -- 05/2/2009

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Tuesday Apr 28 2009 7:11pm

After a wild racing week in Talladega, it may be a wild weather week ahead in Richmond.

The National Weather Service forecast for the area is calling for a 40-50 percent chance of rain for the next several days, straight through the weekend and into Monday.

If the forecast is accurate, one of the biggest effects on the NASCAR weekend will be qualifying. If time trials are rained out, drivers will line up by owner points, putting Kurt Busch on the pole after he passed Jeff Gordon in the Cup standings following Talladega.

The race is planned for Saturday night with a scheduled green flag of 7:43 PM Eastern time. Like Talladega, Richmond will be an impound race, one of only three this year, with two practices scheduled for Friday and qualifying on Friday as well. After qualifying, NASCAR will ‘impound’ the cars which can’t be worked on again until after the start of the race on Saturday.

Richmond is a relatively flat 3/4-mile D-shaped oval track that combines some of the best characteristics of a short track and a superspeedway, making it a favorite among drivers. It has a fair amount of grip and better passing lanes than in the past, and it's the only track on the circuit that holds all of its major events at night under the lights.

NASCAR has been racing here since 1953 with a total of 105 Cup races in the record books. Clint Bowyer won the race here last April, while Jimmie Johnson prevailed in September.

Many drivers and crew chiefs relate racing at RIR to Phoenix, where the series just ran two weeks ago. Mark Martin won that race, with Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart also having stout cars.

“Things will cross over from Phoenix to Richmond,” notes Jimmie Johnson. “I'm not sure if we'll have that same tire or not, but that tire at Phoenix threw us for a loop and I think threw a lot of the teams for a loop. Once we get a good idea of the tire we can work on our set-up and either expand on last year's set-up, if it's the same tire from last year, or if it's the Phoenix tire we could be a little better and have to work on that and make the car turn the corner a little faster.` [Goodyear tire notes are not available at this time]

Johnson not only won this race last September, but also swept the track in 2007. He’s one of three active drivers with three race wins at Richmond; the others are Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Gordon has two wins, and a number of drivers are single race winners, including Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, and Mark Martin.

Although Chevy drivers have won six straight races here dating back to 2006, two Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota drivers top the list for best average finish at RIR - Kyle Busch with a 6.8 and Denny Hamlin with an 8.8. Neither has won yet at Richmond, but they’ve both run well and led a lot of laps. Busch has three second-place finishes here while Hamlin has a second and two thirds.

Following the two JGR boys in the average finish category are Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin.

Over the last five Richmond races (both spring and fall dates), Kevin Harvick edges out Stewart for the most points accumulated, including bonus points. Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin round out the top 5 in this category.

Jeff Gordon holds the current Richmond records for most poles (5) and laps led (1065).

This will likely be a good week overall for the Hendrick, Gibbs and Childress teams, but weather may end up being a major player as well.

Current odds for select drivers for the “Crown Royal Presents ‘The Russ Friedman 400’” at Richmond International Raceway:

Jimmie Johnson +480

Kyle Busch +600

Denny Hamlin +600

Tony Stewart +800

Jeff Gordon +800

Kurt Busch +900

Mark Martin +900

Carl Edwards +1000

Greg Biffle +1800

Dale Earnhardt Jr. +1800

Matt Kenseth +2200

Kevin Harvick +2800

Clint Bowyer +2800

Please check back before the race for our practice and qualifying update.

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