Kyle Busch became the second driver to ever win on his birthday, after winning at Richmond back in March of 2009. Cale Yarborough is the only other driver to accomplish this and did it twice. The first was at Wilkesboro in 1977 and the second was at Atlanta in 1983.
For the win, Busch would get a quick start on a late restart to pass Edwards again. He then had his sites set on the leader Jeff Gordon. He would finally race past Gordon for the Richmond sweep.
Let’s tally up the numbers and see who’s hot at Richmond, same track types and current momentum coming into this weekend’s event.
Track Numbers;
70 -Races
27,898 – Total Laps
2,548 – Total Cars
505 – Total Leaders
502 – DNF’s @ 2.75%
Track Specs;
Race Length: 400 laps, 300 miles
Track Length: 0.75 mile oval, measured 13 1/2 feet in from SAFER Barrier
Track Width: 60 feet with 10-foot apron
Banking: turns: 14 degrees; frontstretch 8 degrees; backstretch 2 degrees
Straights: Backstretch – 860 feet; Frontstretch – 1290 feet
Pit Road: 64-foot width, 43 concrete pit stalls, each measuring 28’x19’
Pit Road Speed: 45mph
Pace Car Speed: 50mph
Seating Capacity: 112,029
Opened: 1946 (First NASCAR race was 1953)
Last Repaved: Fall of 2003
New Paint Schemes at Richmond;
Kasey Kahne – Retro Budweiser Throw Back
Matt Kenseth – Crown Royal Patriotic
Kevin Harvick – Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
Clint Bowyer – BB&T
Ryan Newman – U.S. Army Medicine
Dale Earnhardt Jr. – National Guard
Carl Edwards – Scott’s Turfbuilder
Past 6 Polesitters At Richmond;
2009 – Mark Martin
2009 – Brian Vickers
2008 – Weather
2008 – Denny Hamlin
2007 – Jimmie Johnson
2007 – Jeff Gordon
Past 6 Winners At Richmond;
2009 – Denny Hamlin – Started 3rd
2009 – Kyle Busch – Started 14th
2008 – Jimmie Johnson – Started 5th
2008 – Clint Bowyer – Started 31st
2007 – Jimmie Johnson – Started 1st
2007 – Jimmie Johnson – Started 4th
Top Average Starts – Last 4 Races @ Richmond;
4.5 – Denny Hamlin
6.8 – Martin Truex Jr
6.8 – Mark Martin
7.5 – Kyle Busch
8.5 – Jimmie Johnson
9.0 – Brad Keselowski (1 race)
11.5 – Kasey Kahne
11.5 – David Stremme (1 race)
11.8 – Jeff Gordon
13.5 – Brian Vickers
Top Fin Averages – Last 4 Races @ Richmond;
4.25 – Mark Martin
5.75 – Kyle Busch
6.25 – Tony Stewart
7.00 – Jeff Gordon
9.25 – Clint Bowyer
9.50 – Jeff Burton
10.50 – Deny Hamlin
13.25 – Ryan Newman
14.50 – Kevin Harvick
14.50 – Greg Biffle
Fastest Drivers Late In A Run – Last 10 @ Richmond;
Average Finish / Speed
8.5 – 116.246 – Denny Hamlin
6.0 – 116.206 – Kyle Busch
6.8 – 116.088 – Tony Stewart
15.4 – 115.997 – Kurt Busch
11.3 – 115.934 – Ryan Newman
9.1 – 115.888 – Kevin Harvick
10.0 – 115.880 – Clint Bowyer
19.9 – 115.846 – Matt Kenseth
17.6 – 115.792 – Jeff Gordon
9.9 – 115.789 – Mark Martin
Fastest Laps Run – Last 10 @ Richmond (of 3,263 laps);
352 – Denny Hamlin
335 – Kevin Harvick
266 – Kyle Busch
261 – Kurt Busch
231 – Kasey Kahne
209 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
186 – Jeff Gordon
182 – Tony Stewart
143 – Mark Martin
137 – Jimmie Johnson
Fastest On Restarts – Last 10 @ Richmond;
118.332 – Denny Hamlin
117.864 – Kyle Busch
117.772 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
117.665 – Martin Truex Jr.
117.595 – Mark Martin
117.517 – Jeff Gordon
117.483 – Kevin Harvick
117.479 – Kurt Busch
117.437 – Travis Kvapil
117.381 – Reed Sorenson
Lap Leaders – Last 4 races @ Richmond;
832 – Denny Hamlin
199 – Jeff Gordon
106 – Kyle Busch
105 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
104 – David Reutimann
80 – Kevin Harvick
45 – Ryan Newman
32 – Jimmie Johnson
28 – Martin Truex Jr.
23 – Tony Stewart
Top 20 Leaders @ Short Tracks;
13 – Jeff Gordon – 622 Laps Led
13 – Jeff Burton – 185 Laps Led
13 – Denny Hamlin – 1,693 Laps Led
12 – Clint Bowyer – 101 Laps Led
12 – Carl Edwards – 84 Laps Led
11 – Tony Stewart – 291 Laps Led
11 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 251 Laps Led
11 – Ryan Newman – 93 Laps Led
11 – Greg Biffle – 169 Laps Led
11 – Jimmie Johnson – 1,005 Laps Led
Top 10 Leaders @ Short Tracks;
11 – Denny Hamlin
11 – Jeff Gordon
9 – Jimmie Johnson
9 – Ryan Newman
8 – Mark Martin
8 – Kyle Busch
8 – Tony Stewart
8 – Clint Bowyer
7 – Kevin Harvick
7 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Top 5 Leaders @ Short Tracks;
11 – Denny Hamlin
8 – Jeff Gordon
7 – Kyle Busch
7 – Jimmie Johnson
6 – Tony Stewart
5 – Mark Martin
3 – Greg Biffle
3 – Jeff Burton
3 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3 – Clint Bowyer
Top Short Track Winners;
4 – Jimmie Johnson
4 – Denny Hamlin
3 – Kyle Busch
1 – Carl Edwards
1 – Clint Bowyer
1 – Jeff Burton
Top Short Track Average Fin since 2005;
9.4 – Denny Hamiln
10.3 – Jimmie Johnson
10.7 – Jeff Gordon
11.1 – Tony Stewart
11.8 – Mark Martin
12.8 – Kyle Busch
14.0 – Kevin Harvick
14.3 – Jeff Burton
14.4 – Carl Edwards
14.8 – Greg Biffle
2010 Average Start Leaders To Date;
8.2 – Jimmie Johnson
9.0 – Kurt Busch
9.0 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9.7 – Tony Stewart
11.0 – Jeff Gordon
11.2 – Kyle Busch
11.4 – Juan Pablo Montoya
12.8 – Mark Martin
13.8 – Joey Logano
14.1 – Kasey Kahne
2010 Average Finish Leaders To Date;
9.7 – Kevin Harvick
10.4 – Greg Biffle
10.6 – Jimmie Johnson
11.0 – Matt Kenseth
13.2 – Kyle Busch
13.3 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
13.8 – Mark Martin
15.3 – Kurt Busch
15.3 – Carl Edwards
15.4 – Jeff Gordon
2010 Season Top Average Rating;
114.5 – Jimmie Johnson
103.9 – Jeff Gordon
96.2 – Jeff Burton
96.1 – Kyle Busch
95.6 – Kurt Busch
94.0 – Kevin Harvick
90.9 – Greg Biffle
89.2 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
89.1 – Juan Pablo Montoya
89.0 – Tony Stewart
2010 / Spoiled – Last 4 Race Avg – Wingless;
9.00 – Denny Hamlin
9.00 – Mark Martin
10.50 – Kyle Busch
10.75 – Martin Truex Jr
11.25 – Jimmie Johnson
12.00 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
12.75 – Ryan Newman
14.00 – Kevin Harvick
14.00 – David Ragan
14.50 – Jeff Gordon
2010 Average Running Position Through Race 9;
6.85 – Jimmie Johnson
9.83 – Jeff Gordon
10.86 – Kyle Busch
12.37 – Jeff Burton
12.95 – Tony Stewart
13.01 – Greg Biffle
13.80 – Kurt Busch
14.26 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
14.67 – Mark Martin
14.72 – Matt Kenseth
2010 Laps Run On The Lead Lap;
98.92% – Kyle Busch
98.56% – Greg Biffle
98.06% – Jimmie Johnson
97.38% – Matt Kenseth
92.79% – Jeff Gordon
91.74% – Tony Stewart
88.69% – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
88.12% – Jeff Burton
86.43% – Paul Menard
86.36% – Carl Edwards
2010 Quality Passes;
972 – Jeff Burton
919 – Jimmie Johnson
906 – Kyle Busch
854 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
796 – Denny Hamlin
786 – Jeff Gordon
734 – Brian Vickers
733 – Kasey Kahne
716 – Kurt Busch
694 – Greg Biffle
Drivers to watch at Richmond;
Kyle Busch – Last 10 races, all were top 15 except one which was 20th. Last 4 were – 2nd, 15th, 1st & 5th. In the last 4 races he has spent 90.6% of the laps in the top 15 in the last 4 races here.
Tony Stewart – Last 10 races, all were 8th or better except for 18th and 17th. Last 4 were – 4th, 2nd, 2nd & 17th. He has spent 78.3% of the laps in the top 15 in the last 4 races here.
Denny Hamlin – 8 races, all were top 15 except for 24th. Last 4 were 24th, 3rd, 14th & 1st. He has the best of all drivers in the last 4 races in the top 15 at 98.4%.
Kevin Harvick – Last 10 races, all were 10th or better except one at 34th. The others were 5th, 10th, 3rd, 1st, 7th, 7th, 8th, 7th & 9th. 90.8% is the percentage of laps he has run in the top 15 in the last 4 races.
Jeff Gordon – Last 6 races – 4th, 4th, 9th, 8th, 8th & 3rd. He has run 85.4% of his laps in the top 15 in the last 4 races.
Mark Martin – Last 4 races – 3rd, 5th, 5th & 4th.
Clint Bowyer – Last 4 races – 1st, 12th, 18th & 6th.
Ryan Newman – Last 6 races – 6th, 11th, 6th, 3rd, 4th & 10th.
Mid-pack Runners;
Greg Biffle – Last 4 races – 14th, 14th, 17th & 13th.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Last 4 races – 15th, 4th, 27th and 21st.
Kasey Kahne – Last 4 races – 10th, 19th, 29th & 12th.
Jimmie Johnson – Last 6 races – 1st, 1st, 30th, 1st, 36th & 11th.
Other Notables;
Sam Hornish Jr. – Last 2 races here – 6th & 8th.
Juan Montoya – Last 2 races here – 10th & 19th.
Be sure to factor in practice speeds and qualifying. A dialed in car in a great pit position can make the difference.Out of 10 drivers last year for this race averaged 13.30 per driver pick. Good luck and enjoy the race!
**READS: 561
