This weekend’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway is the final regular season race of the NASCAR 2017 season and many drivers need to win to get in the playoffs.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will go “short trackin'” under the lights in Richmond Saturday night, September 9th. The racing is always more exciting on the short track, but add in the need to win to get in The Chase for many drivers and this could get really exciting.
To begin with, NASCAR will line-up 40 cars to race 400 laps around the 0.75-mile track of Richmond International Raceway. That means there will be bumper-to-bumper racing and side-to-side racing from the start to the finish. There is enough room on the track to go three-wide to make a pass somewhat safely if you have a car with the handling and power to do it. However, going four-wide is a risky proposition for any car or driver unless it is on the parade laps like in the picture below.
There will be a lot riding on every pit stop as well. The drivers will need to be mistake free getting on and off pit road. The crews will have to be fast and mistake free to get their drivers on and off pit road without losing spots and perhaps even gaining a spot or two in the process. For the drivers that need to win to get on the Chase Grid every second and every spot is more import than it has been all season.
Below is a look at the Chase Grid heading into Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
The first 13 drivers on the Chase Grid have at least one win this season and have clinched their spots in the playoffs for a chance to win the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
The 14th, 15th and 16th places are all filled based solely on points. Since there are only three points separating 16 from 14, any of them could be pushed down to the last spot on the grid. Why is that important to mention? If any of the drivers from 17th place to 30th in the point standings happens to win at Richmond, the driver among those three currently on the grid with the least amount of points will instantly be moved BELOW the cutoff line for the Chase Grid.
With all of that in mind, which drivers have performed well at Richmond International Raceway in the past? Let’s take a look.
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Richmond
- KevinHarvick – 110.4
- Denny Hamlin – 110.3
- Kyle Busch – 109.8
- Brad Keselowski – 96.9
- Kurt Busch – 94.3
- Clint Bowyer – 93.5
- Matt Kenseth – 90.5
- Jimmie Johnson – 90.3
- Ryan Newman – 89.7
- Kyle Larson – 88.3
NOTE: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2017 races (25 total) among active drivers at Richmond International Raceway.
Four active drivers have won three times at Richmond. Three of those drivers are already guaranteed a spot in The Chase. Denny Hamlin has clinched his spot in The Chase and is the defending 2016 winner of this race. Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick are the other two drivers with three Richmond wins that have clinched their spots in the playoffs.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the fourth active driver with three wins at the track. He announced earlier this season that he will will retire form full-time driving after this season. While Dale Jr. has won championships in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series, he has yet to win a Cup Series Championship. If he wants one last chance to reach that goal, he will have to win at Richmond to get on The Chase Grid.
Kurt Busch has two wins during his career at Richmond and he has also already clinched his playoff spot this season with his Daytona 500 win to start the season.
Matt Kenseth is another driver with two previous wins at the track and is currently one of the three drivers on the Chase Grid based on points alone. That means he could be pushed out of the playoffs if he doesn’t win at Richmond.
Joey Logano won the spring race at Richmond this season to tally two career wins at the track. However, due to a NASCAR rule infraction that win was encumbered and does not clinch his spot on the Chase Grid. He has to achieve back-to-back Richmond wins in order to make the playoffs.
Clint Bowyer is the last active driver with a pair of Richmond wins on his resume. Clint is currently the first driver below the Chase Grid cutoff line and can only move above the line with a win.
The three active drivers with a single career Richmond win have all clinched their spots in the playoffs. Those drivers are Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne and Brad Keselowski.
The remaining 11 drivers in the top 30 in the point standings have never won at Richmond. Those drivers can catapult their way onto the Chase Grid by getting their first win at the track this weekend.
The drivers that have clinched their spots in The Chase will still be driving hard to gain the much needed momentum and playoff points to start the final ten races of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and help them toward winning the championship.
It should all add up to an exciting night of NASCAR short track racing Saturday, September 9th starting at around 6:30 PM central time (7:30 PM eastern time) in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
By: Buck Stevens
