NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Can Claim a Clutch Richmond Victory?
Richmond Raceway is upon the NASCAR horizon once again, this time as the last regular season date on a short track. 400 laps around the Commonwealth bullring will either secure one driver’s Playoff fate, or add onto their bonus points. Richmond already saw Cup cars take to its tight confines in April. With much higher temperatures projected on Sunday, we will see a different on-track product. Here are a few favorites to keep an eye on for the Cook Out 400.
Denny Hamlin
Coming off a controversial Pocono victory, Hamlin aims to go back-to-back at his home track. The 11 has seen Richmond victory lane four times before, most recently in April 2022. A dismal 20th-place run in this year’s spring event ended a four-race Richmond top-five streak for Hamlin though. Leaving one of his favorite tracks for another, Hamlin anticipates another strong showing Sunday.
“It’s going to be hot and slick, but it’s still going to be the same thing we’ve seen at Richmond with this car,” Hamlin said. “It’s going to be difficult to pass, but you may see different pit strategies with how long the stages are. That can mix things up quite a bit. I’m looking forward to it though. I feel like we tend to run better in the hotter races for whatever reason, and I have a lot of confidence going to Richmond regardless of what car or weather or whatever that we have going on. It has been a great track for us, and I hope to continue that this weekend.”
Laps led in the last six Richmond races and four top-fives in that same span have Hamlin as one of the favorites for Sunday. Keep an eye on the 11 to perhaps score a second-straight victory in Hamlin’s backyard. Toyotas have won nine of the last 15 Richmond races, expect the 11 to try and pad this record.
Kevin Harvick
The defending Richmond summer race winner, Kevin Harvick came in clutch last year. Taking the lead late from Denny Hamlin, Harvick’s fresher tires prevailed for his 60th career victory. This also marks his most recent trip to victory lane, with the 4 still being winless in 2023. Making his 45th and final Richmond Raceway start Sunday, Harvick hopes to leave the Commonwealth with a trophy.
“Richmond falls into that flat-track category and we’ve always been really good at the flat-track stuff,” Harvick said. “As I’ve gone through the years, Richmond has just been one of those places that’s been really good. I know it’s not Rodney (Childers, crew chief)’s favorite racetrack to go to, but it’s one of my favorites to go to, and I’m glad we finally got to victory lane because we’ve had some good nights and some good cars there, and to be able to pull that off last year was good for everybody. Richmond is just a good short track.”
Driver 4 claims four Richmond victories, including last August’s triumph. Harvick also boasts nine top-10s in the last 10 trips to RVA. Strategy fell perfectly in line for Harvick to narrowly beat the Toyotas last year. Should Sunday play out similarly, Harvick could be chasing down a fifth Richmond checkered flag.
Martin Truex Jr
Three-time Richmond winner Martin Truex Jr. has been one of the best here recently. Falling to 11th on old tires in April was MTJ’s worst Richmond result since 2018 and his first outside of the top-10. This same timespan has seen all of Truex’s victories, with the most recent being in 2021. If not for messing up on tire strategy, Truex had a potential winning car earlier this year. Retribution is certainly on the 19 team’s minds heading to one of their favorite tracks.
“I love Richmond, it’s great,” Truex said. “Been very successful there, especially lately with our Bass Pro Shops Camry. Been lucky enough to win some races there. I really enjoy the track because it’s kind of unique. It’s a short track, but it races like a bigger track than it is. You can really move around there the way the tires wear out and the track is really slippery, and that makes it fun and a challenge, and it’s always a good race for the fans.”
“I’ve always really liked it, to be honest. From the first time I raced there in 2003, I’ve always enjoyed the track. There was a long period where I didn’t have great numbers there, but I felt like I loved the track and always ran well there and had a lot of crazy things happen there throughout my career. Once I got to Furniture Row, we started leading a ton of laps there. We also had a couple of heartbreaking finishes there where we should have won the race but didn’t, and I wondered if it was ever going to happen. Then we went on a streak there, so it’s been a great track and it’s a ton of fun.”
“We had a great run going there in the spring and thought we had a shot at winning, then we were down a set of tires and the cautions didn’t go our way. I think we’ve improved our program a ton and have been putting on a show at some of the short tracks and places like Richmond. I hope for myself and my team we can get our Bass Pro Shops Toyota back in victory lane there like we’ve done before.”
Few tracks have been better suited to Martin Truex Jr. recently than Richmond. 56 laps led in the spring was the fourth time in the last five races he’s paced that many circuits. In a dogfight against William Byron for the regular season championship, Truex should be a strong winning contender on Sunday.
Kyle Larson
The most recent Richmond winner, Kyle Larson took the checkers on the 3/4-mile track in April. Three months ago Larson picked up his second career Richmond victory after his pit crew got him out first with 25 laps left. Larson has been quietly great on all short tracks this year, and anticipates a potential Richmond sweep for the Hendrick 5 team.
“All of our wins this year have been on short tracks: Richmond, Martinsville and North Wilkesboro,” Larson said. “We were good at Loudon, even compared to our teammates. Honestly, we have been pretty good everywhere this year. Especially early on in the year, we were really good on 1.5-mile tracks, intermediate tracks and superspeedways even. I’ve been upfront, but crash or whatever. I’m excited about going to Richmond this weekend and going back to a track that we won at earlier this year. As the season progresses, setups change and the weather is going to be different than it was earlier this year. It’s not going to be the same, but I’m confident because we have been good on all the short tracks.”
It’s been four years since a driver has taken both Richmond races. Larson’s 5 crew will do everything in their power to add onto this list. The 5 did lead 93 laps in the spring, but was not the class of the field. The championship-winning pit crew behind Larson may just come in clutch again.
Christopher Bell
Another Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Christopher Bell has been oh so close to multiple Richmond wins. The 20 ran second in this race last year, chasing down Harvick over the closing laps. Across six career Richmond starts, Bell has five-straight top-10s including fourth in April. Bell is expecting another strong Sunday drive at Richmond for all of JGR.
“The new downforce package we’ve been running since the start of the year seems to benefit the cars that are looser,” Bell said. “You need to be able to carry corner speed, you cannot be tight and slow your mid-corner down, you’ve got to be able to roll the corner and be really free but you have to have forward drive and that’s kind of a trade off from short runs to long runs at Richmond. With as fast as our cars have been recently, I expect Richmond to be a great race for the JGR group.”
Bell’s 5.7 Richmond average finish leads the Cup Series, besting many past winners. While Bell has taken a great liking to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Richmond is not far off with his performance. If the 20 takes the checkers first Sunday, do not be that surprised between historic Richmond strength from both Toyota and Bell.
Joey Logano
One of Richmond’s most consistent drivers over the past decade has been Joey Logano. The past 20 Richmond dates have seen the 22 inside the top-10 all but four times. This span includes both of Logano’s Commonwealth triumphs, and 222 laps led in this race a year ago. Team 22 is gearing up for a possible winning performance on Sunday.
“Richmond is probably one of our best tracks,” Logano said. “I feel really good about it. It’s a track that, for whatever reason, Paul (Wolfe, crew chief) really has his head wrapped around and gives me a really strong racecar. I assume he’s gonna be able to do that again because he’s done that for years. It’s also a track that fits into my wheelhouse and we can really work together.”
“Richmond’s a track that’s not a hammer track. It’s not one of those new asphalt tracks where you can drive so hard every lap without penalty. You eventually pay a penalty at Richmond, so that makes it kind of fun for me. You go back to the old school style of racing with a lot of tire fall off and it makes you feel like you have a bunch of horsepower, but you actually can’t put the power down, so all of that type of stuff is pretty fun.”
So far in 2023, Fords have been on fire certain weeks and nearly nonexistent in other races. Richmond may be a positive sign for the Blue Oval brigade and Logano especially. Hoping to gather as many bonus points as possible before the Playoffs, the defending champion could sneak in a Richmond victory.
Being the last short track in the regular season, Richmond may preview who will be in contention at pivotal Playoff races. Bristol, Martinsville and Phoenix are arguably the three most important postseason dates, and all will use the same package as Richmond. The Cook Out 400 goes green Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 400 laps around the short track provides plenty of opportunity for flaring tempers and trading paint. Following the ups and downs seen in Pocono, potential Richmond drama is can’t miss television.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
