Keep an eye on Harvick at Richmond
Picking favorites
I think people will look at Jimmie Johnson Saturday night as the favorite at Richmond International Raceway simply because of how well he runs there. But I think it would be a mistake to overlook Kevin Harvick. Kevin has six straight top 10 finishes at Richmond, including a win in 2006. He's led a ton of laps there. Even though he started the season hot, Kevin has hit a lull of late and Richmond is definitely the place I can see him turning things around because he has always run well there.
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I think Kevin and his two teammates at Richard Childress Racing are championship contenders. We in the media pay attention to leading laps, but the RCR cars have finished almost every single lap of all races run so far. I just think for Kevin, Richmond is a great opportunity for him to win. I think this is one of those places that Kevin has circled on his calendar as a place he can win.
Larry McReynolds: My sleeper pick for Richmond, if he doesn't beat himself or have a mechanical problem, is Robby Gordon. He's always run well there but doesn't have the finishes to back it up. We watched him a couple years ago make up something like three laps at Richmond, back when he was driving for Richard Childress. So watch Robby as my sleeper pick for Saturday night.
Kyle in control
You can't count out the hottest driver in NASCAR's top three racing series, Kyle Busch. Other than finishing 20th last September, his record at the .75-mile track is pretty strong. Kyle and his crew chief Steve Addington work so well together. Steve is the strong silent type and Kyle, well, he's Kyle. The bond and trust they have between the two of them is why they are doing so well. I think Kyle really respects Steve and when a crew chief has that from his driver, the sky is the limit.
Jorge Mondaca: The bad news for the competition? Talladega Superspeedway, where Kyle Busch picked up a victory last weekend, was his second worst track on the circuit. This week, we head to his best track, Richmond International Raceway — maybe that means he'll skip over all the drama and ride up front the whole time.
Dale Jr. breaking through?
A lot of people are pointing to this track as the place that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is going to break his 71 race winless streak. He and Tony Stewart are the only active drivers to have three wins at Richmond. He comes in there third in points and, like I said last week, they have had a chance to win at almost ever race so far this season. So the big story this weekend is whether Richmond is the place for the winless streak to end.
As an side note, I came across an interesting statistic this week. During Dale Jr.'s 71 race winless streak, 19 different Sprint Cup drivers have won a race.
Lee Spencer: For those who don't believe that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in championship mode, think again.
The Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 marks the 10th event of the season and yes, the No. 88 has not made a trip to Victory Lane in a points race, but there are other drivers, most notably Matt Kenseth in 2003 and Terry Labonte in 1996, that won a race or two and with consistency soldiered on to the championship.
Keep an eye on Carl
Somebody that may be overlooked is Carl Edwards. He had a great race at Richmond in September, but then had an engine problem. After taking two hard shots last week at Talladega in both the Nationwide and the Sprint Cup races, I think Carl is someone we need to keep our eye on.
Carl also gets his crew chief, Bob Osborne back this week from his six weeks of suspension and that's a huge boost. They have run well and won three times in his absence, so I think that shows the depth of the organization. Carl and Bob are opposites in their personality, but they absolutely are best suited for each other.
Welcome to Denny's
Another storyline has to be Denny Hamlin. I mean he grew up not far from the track and that would mean the world to him to win there, especially since he won at the other Virginia track earlier this year at Martinsville. He's led laps at Richmond, plus he has finished second and third, so clearly this is a good track for Denny.
Everybody loves Richmond
I think the track is also one of the storylines because the drivers all seem to like it. This is a track where the drivers feel they can make a difference and where they also feel they have options of being able to run high or low. This is one of the few tracks where you almost get unanimous consent from the drivers and that is rare. There's just no reason not to like it. There have been 103 Sprint Cup races at Richmond and this will be the 40th race on this .75-mile configuration.
This car is so well built that we aren't seeing so many cars fall out of races anymore. Attrition or cars falling out used to be a fairly regular thing. Richmond is a place where you need to finish well because there won't be that many cars with DNFs there.
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