Next Race: Toyota Owners 400 The Place: Richmond Raceway The Date: Saturday, April 13 The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET TV: FOX, 7 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 300 miles (400 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 100), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 200), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 400) 2018 Winner: Kyle Busch Kyle Busch looking for three in a row They say Virginia is for lovers and one thing Kyle Busch would love to do is win his third straight race at Richmond Raceway this Saturday (April 12, 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader and winner of three races already this season (including last weekend’s battle at Bristol) is looking to do what was last accomplished in the early 1980s by Bobby Allison – win three consecutive races at the 3/4-mile track. Only three drivers have won three or more in a row at Richmond – all NASCAR Hall of Famers – David Pearson (three, 1965-66), Richard Petty (seven, 1970-1973) and Allison (three, 1982-83). And in the last 20 years, only one other driver has ever won back-to-back races – Jimmie Johnson in a sweep of the 2007 season races. It will be hard to bet against Busch achieving that mark of three straight this weekend. The Las Vegas native remains the lone Monster Energy Series driver to finish in the top 10 in each race this season. And last year the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry also won Bristol the weekend before the Toyota Owners 400. Overall, Busch has six Richmond Cup wins in 27 starts – along with 17 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes. And even if he doesn’t visit Victory Lane on Saturday, he still stands a good shot at extending his top-10 streak to 11 races as he has an average finish of 6.9 at Richmond. Harvick still hungry for a win After posting eight wins in 2018, Kevin Harvick is winless thus far in 2019 and has to be missing the sweet sound of confetti cannons in Victory Lane. Despite failing to post a win through the opening eight races, the 2014 Monster Energy Series champ has six top 10s (Daytona and Bristol being the lone exceptions) and three top fives. And a fun fact there – all of those top fives were fourth-place finishes for the driver of the No. 4 Stewart Haas Racing Ford Mustang. But could Richmond be the place that puts Harvick back on top? He has three wins at the track and finished in the top five in both races last season. Overall in 36 starts at Richmond, Harvick has 14 top-five and 23 top-10 finishes. He’s completed over 99% of the laps in those races, led 1,109 laps (fourth on his career tally list: Phoenix – 1,595, Dover – 1,442, Atlanta – 1,197) and has yet to post a DNF at the 0.75-mile track. However, it’s been five years since his last win at Richmond Raceway – which came in the spring race in 2013 while he was still with Richard Childress Racing. But in the 10 races at Richmond since joining Stewart-Haas, Harvick has been amazingly consistent – posting seven top fives and recording worst finish of 15th. So, could this be the track that puts Harvick back on top? Survey says…possibly! Seven-time getting back on track The last time a winner of a Richmond Raceway Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series contest went on to win the year-end title was 2008. And in fact, that same driver achieved the same feat in 2007. The driver? Jimmie Johnson. After posting his second top-10 finish in a row, and fourth of the season, last weekend at Bristol, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is hoping this positive trend continues as he hopes to end a nearly two-year winless streak…and potentially march towards a record-setting eighth championship. The last time Johnson visited Victory Lane was in June of 2017 at Dover. Through eight races last year, he had two top 10s and an average finish of 19.12. This year, he has an average finish of 14.5 to accompany his four top 10s. There’s a reason to have optimism that Johnson can post a solid finish or even reach Victory Lane at Richmond this weekend. He has three wins, seven top-five, and 15 top-10 finishes and has finished all but one race in 34 starts. And he has top-10 finishes in seven of the past nine races at the track – including a sixth-place result in this race last season. Next Race: ToyotaCare 250 The Place: Richmond Raceway The Date: Friday, April 12 The Time: 7 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 6:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 187.5 miles (250 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 75), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 150), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 250) 2018 Winner: Christopher Bell Christopher Bell not done cashing in Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell will be making his 49th NASCAR Xfinity Series career start this weekend at Richmond Raceway, and with how his career has skyrocketed it should be no surprise his name is being mentioned with some of the all-time greats of the series. Last season, Bell set the Sunoco Rookie single-season record for wins with seven victories, surpassing previous rookie record holders Greg Biffle (2002), Kyle Busch (2004) and Carl Edwards (2005) with five wins each. This past weekend at Bristol, Christopher Bell won his 10th NASCAR Xfinity Series race in his 48th career start – a winning percentage of 20.83%. How impressive is that? Well, only four other drivers in series history have recorded 10 or more wins in their first 48 Xfinity Series starts – Darrell Waltrip (12 wins), Dale Earnhardt (11 wins), Harry Gant (10 wins) and Jack Ingram (10 wins). Last weekend’s performance was also Bell’s 25th Xfinity career top-five finish, making him one of seven drivers all-time to post 25 or more top fives in their first 48 races, joining Jack Ingram (34 top fives), Sam Ard (29), Darrell Waltrip (28), Brett Bodine (26), Geoff Bodine (26), and Dale Earnhardt (25). Bell heads to Richmond this weekend to add to his already fast start to 2019. Bell swept both Richmond races in 2018; including the fall race from the pole. He has made three series starts at the 0.75-mile circuit, posting two wins, three top 10s and an average finish of 2.7. Richmond Raceway: Stats Snapshot Below are some quick stats to get you up to speed for this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway (Friday, April 13 at 7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio): Races/Starts: Richmond Raceway is tied with Dover International Speedway for hosting the third-most (70) NASCAR Xfinity Series races in series history. The first Xfinity Series race held at Richmond Raceway was on February 20, 1982, and the event was won by Tommy Houston driving for car owner Mike Day (Pontiac). The series has competed at Richmond Raceway three times the first season (1982) and then twice a season since 1983. In total, 484 different NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers have made starts at Richmond Raceway, and 336 drivers have competed in more than one. Kenny Wallace leads the series in starts at Richmond Raceway with 36. Poles: In total, the NASCAR Xfinity Series has seen 38 different drivers win the pole award at Richmond Raceway; led by Kyle Busch with six poles (2004, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2017). Geoff Bodine won the series’ first pole (96.207 mph) at Richmond Raceway in 1982 and Christopher Bell won the most recent Xfinity pole (118.990 mph) at Richmond last September. The youngest Xfinity pole winner at Richmond Raceway is Kyle Busch (May 14, 2004, at 19 years, 0 months and 12 days). Harry Gant is the oldest series pole winner at Richmond Raceway (September 10, 1988, at 48 years, 8 months, 0 days). Kyle Busch holds the NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying record at Richmond Raceway with a speed of 129.348 mph (May 14, 2004). Wins: In total the NASCAR Xfinity Series has seen 34 different drivers win the race at Richmond Raceway; led by Kevin Harvick with seven victories (2003, 2005, 2006 sweep, 2010, 2012 and 2014). Tommy Houston won the series’ first race at Richmond Raceway in 1982 and Christopher Bell won the most recent Xfinity race at Richmond last September. Only two former winners are entered this weekend – Jeff Green (2000) and Christopher Bell (2018). The youngest Xfinity race winner at Richmond Raceway is Kyle Busch (May 14, 2004, at 19 years, 0 months, 12 days). The oldest series winner at Richmond is Harry Gant (March 7, 1992, at 52 years, 1 month, 26 days). Denny Hamlin holds the race record in the series at Richmond Raceway with an average speed of 108.415 mph (April 29, 2011). Next Race: JEGS 200 The Place: Dover International Speedway The Date: Friday, May 3 The Time: 5 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 4:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 200 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200) 2018 Winner: Johnny Sauter source – NASCAR communications
