This week will be NASCAR under the lights Saturday night at Richmond Raceway for the Cup Series drivers and teams in the Toyota Owners 400.
This week is kind of a hybrid between short track racing and intermediate track racing for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams to deal with. Richmond is less than a mile long. However, the long straights give the drivers time to build up speed. That will present a challenge for the drivers to deal with racing and the crews to set-up for with the cars.
Here is a look at the track and race data for this weekend’s race.
Richmond Raceway Data
Track Size: 0.75-miles
Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 14 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 14 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 8 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 1,290 feet
Backstretch Length: 860 feet
Toyota Owners 400 Data
Season Race #: 9 of 36 (04-13-19)
Race Length: 400 laps / 300 miles
Stage 1 and 2 Length: 100 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 200 laps
Which active drivers have managed to handle that hybrid short track-intermediate track racing style well?
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Richmond
Kyle Busch ……………………………. 110.2
Kevin Harvick ………………………… 110.0
Denny Hamlin ……………………….. 107.9
Brad Keselowski ……………………… 97.8
Kurt Busch ……………………………… 95.3
Clint Bowyer ……………………………. 93.1
Kyle Larson …………………………….. 92.6
Joey Logano …………………………… 90.2
Jimmie Johnson ………………………. 89.6
Ryan Newman ………………………… 88.4
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2018 races (28 total) among active drivers at Richmond Raceway.
There are ten active drivers that have been able to find their way to Victory Lane at Richmond during their careers.
Kyle Busch – 6 Wins (including both 2018 races at Richmond)
Denny Hamlin – 3 Wins
Jimmie Johnson – 3 Wins
Kevin Harvick – 3 Wins
Clint Bowyer – 2 Wins
Joey Logano – 2 Wins
Kurt Busch – 2 Wins
Brad Keselowski – 1 Win
Kyle Larson – 1 Win
Ryan Newman – 1 Win
Which drivers and teams find that balance of speed and handling for the hybrid-style of racing this week? The green flag will reveal the answer Saturday night, April 13th starting at 6:30 PM central time (7:30 PM eastern time) from Richmond Raceway in the Toyota Owners 400.
By: Buck Stevens
