Richmond International Raceway
Toyota Owners 400
By Richard Tix
Heading into Richmond NASCAR comes off its first bye week of the season. I hope everyone is making it through this rough time, but at least we had a weekend were we could relax, some of us celebrating Easter, some just spending time with family, and others just getting some Spring yard work done (what I heard through Twitter NASCAR fans were doing this past week).
No matter how you spent the NASCAR bye week we can all say we are ready for racing to be back! This week NASCAR heads to Richmond and after 8 races Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Matt Kenseth are all win less. Maybe this is the week one gets off the streak? Lets take a look at who has run well in the last few years at Richmond in the Good, Middle, and Bad.
No matter how you spent the NASCAR bye week we can all say we are ready for racing to be back! This week NASCAR heads to Richmond and after 8 races Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Matt Kenseth are all win less. Maybe this is the week one gets off the streak? Lets take a look at who has run well in the last few years at Richmond in the Good, Middle, and Bad.
Check out last years Preview and Review of the first Richmond International Raceway stop on NASCAR's schedule.
The Good, Middle, and Bad
(This is just a review of each drivers recent past performance, generally about 5-10 past races)
(This is just a review of each drivers recent past performance, generally about 5-10 past races)
The Good
- Kyle Busch- Any RIR list should include Rowdy, no matter if you are looking at past results, fantasy value, or future potential. In 18 races he has finished top 10 13 times, with 12 top 5,s and 4 wins. All 4 of those wins have come in his last 10 races. Do note, his last 3 starts are finishes of 19, 24, and 16th. But fear not, he should get back on top.
- Carl Edwards- In his last 10 races at RIR he has 7 top 10's, 4 top 5's and a win last year in the last race before the Chase. His career average finish of 9.7 is 3rd best of current drivers.
- Denny Hamlin- DH has 9 top 10's in his 15 career starts at RIR. 7 of those were top 5's and 2 were wins. DH is in the same category at Rowdy, he is very good here but his last 2 finishes have left something to be desired (21st and 18th).
- Extra Credit: Kevin Harvick
The Middle
- Ryan Newman- Newman has 6 top 10's in his last 10 starts at RIR but only two of them have resulted in top 5's and none of them turned into wins. The other four finishes are 11th, 15th, 15th, and 20th. So he hasn't been bad here lately, but he hasn't been spot on either.
- Extra Credit: Tony Stewart
The Bad:
- Danica Patrick- True, Danica only has one season under her belt and two total races at RIR, but both came with almost the same result. Her two finishes here are 29th and 30th place. If she keeps her car clean she could end up top 25 otherwise look for another 30th place finish.
- Paul Menard- In the last 10 races at RIR Menard has one top 10 with an average finish of 23.6. So, he hasn't been very good here, but there is a bright side with him. That top 10, was actually a top 5 and it was his last time at RIR. Also, his average finish in his last 4 here is 13.5 (he has two 13th place finishes and a 23rd to go with that 5th place finish last time here).
- Brian Vickers- I don't expect BV to actually run poor this time around at RIR, but simple fact is, in his last 10 starts he has run poor here. In fact, his last 3 finishes have been 24th, 35th, and 33rd. I think the last two on the bad list do have a shot this season as decent finishes, but this section is about past history. If you want more from the fantasy side, head on over to ThisSportz. They have you covered every week on Fantasy advice and another view of the Power Rankings.
Track Stats:
- Richard Petty once won 7 RIR races in a row, 9 of 10, and 12 of 17. All were from 1967 to 1975.
- Last year Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards won from the 17th and 26th positions.
- Toyota has won 7 of the last 10 races at RIR but didn't win once in the two trips last year.
- Michael Waltrip has 45 career starts at RIR and no wins or top 5's. He does have two career top 10's though.
- In 42 tries, Jeff Gordon has 6 total career Poles at RIR. He also has 2 wins, 16 top 5's and 26 to 10's.
- With 18 career starts at RIR, Kyle Busch has the best active career average finish at 7.2. He also has 13 career top 10's, 12 of which are top 5's.
More NASCAR Articles:
- TV/Race Schedule
- Driver Entry List
- Quarter Season Review
- Fantasy Articles on ThisSportz (I do not do fantasy advise, but these guys have some helpful articles)
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