NASCAR takes its talents to Richmond Raceway this weekend! After an exciting race at COTA last week, the racers take it back to the east coast for the Toyota Owners 400. Last week, we saw the #45 Tyler Reddick take home first place in his Toyota on the first road course of the season.
NASCAR returns to normalcy with the short track at Richmond. The track has a historic reputation as the “Action Track”. Races at this course typically feature a heavy amount of contentious contact and attrition. In 1998, Jeff Gordon was turned over by Rusty Wallace while racing for the win. Kyle Busch infamously did the same thing to Dale Earnhardt Jr in 2008.
Recent races at Richmond haven’t had quite the same buzz though. As the track’s surface has gained wear and tear and the groove has widened to cover the entire racing surface. Last year’s races were more strategy based than contact. Running straight on green for long stretches and the race was decided on tire age and pit stops.
#11 Denny Hamlin picked up his first win of the season at this course last year. Kevin Harvick, William Byron, Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five. In this piece, I’ll be giving you five drivers to watch this weekend at Richmond Raceway! So, without further delay…
#5 Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson has been one of the most underrated racers this season. People forget that he’s been in the mix in just about every race so far this season. In Daytona, he was running a top-five position before the final wreck on the last lap. He finished second in Las Vegas, after a caution screwed him out of a lead with plenty of clean air. He also finished fourth in Phoenix. And after wrecking on the first lap in COTA, he scraped a 13th-place finish. The #5 has been one of the best cars this season. And is due for a win. Richmond could be the place he gets it done. It hasn’t been kind to him historically. But he’s due.
#4 Kevin Harvick
A bit of an underdog here, but Harvick has run a hard race all season long. The old man won this place back in August of 2022, and came in second a year ago! In his final season, this race could lock his spot in the playoffs in his retirement year. He’s got four career wins, and 17 top-five finishes at Richmond. Watch out for the #4 Mustang running the left turns on Sunday. I figure he’ll be the best Ford on this track this weekend and running towards the top all race long.
#19 Martin Truex Jr.
Another Toyota that’s been in the mix all season long. He ran a hard race at COTA last weekend before getting involved in a late crash. Truex also has a top-10 finish this season earlier this year at Vegas. MTJ is a dark horse selection, but Richmond is the kind of race that could get a little wacky and Truex could benefit. It’s been a weird year for Truex. But I have faith that this could be the week that his Toyota steps up and shows out. Keep an eye on #19.
#8 Kyle Busch
With six career wins at Richmond Raceway, Kyle Busch is an immediate favorite. I don’t usually like to give him too much credit. But it’s undeniable that he’s an immediate favorite on this course. In recent years, he hasn’t finished top five. He finishing just inside the top 10 in the last four races. But odds say he’ll have a great chance to win the thing and probably be in the top five in the final laps with a chance to push. Odds say he could be the best chevy on the track this weekend.
#48 Alex Bowman
Bowman has been sneakily one of the most consistent drivers in NASCAR this season. He’s the current points leader after Hendrick Motorsports’ penalties were rescinded. And he’s finished top 10 in all but one race, and top five in three of them. Richmond was an alright track for Bowman last year. I finished 20th in August but 8th in April. He even won it in 2021. So, he has previous success and could lock up his position in the playoffs with a win this weekend. He’s my personal favorite racer in the business, so maybe a bit of fan service here. But he’s raced hard all season long and had a real chance to win it last week at COTA, and several times this season. Bowman is absolutely somebody to watch and he will be turning heads as much as he’s turning left at Richmond.
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