Racing in front of hundreds of friends and family, all the while attempting to grab a most coveted victory at a hometown track, can unload heavy pressure on any driver.

Any driver except Denny Hamlin, apparently.

Richmond International Raceway is Denny Hamlin’s Holy Grail track. He wants to win there more than any other track – and he’s come achingly close.

The most glaring example took place last season at the spring Richmond race. Hamlin won the pole that race, and went on to lead 381 laps – only to finish 24th thanks to an end-of-race tire problem.

In that event, Hamlin had race-high marks in Average Running Position (2.3), Driver Rating (129.1) and Fastest Laps Run (104).

That was just one race in a long line of successful races at Richmond for the native of nearby Chesterfield, Va.

Hamlin has raced at Richmond six times, and every time he has led laps. He has also registered three top fives, four top 10s and two poles (coincidentally each pole resulted in a finish outside the top 10).

Continue reading “Denny Hamlin hopes for home state win at Richmond”

First-Time Winners — Making just his fifth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start on Sunday, Brad Keselowski (No. 09 Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet) was the surprise winner in a wild finish at Talladega Superspeedway.

The victory, Keselowski’s first in NASCAR’s premier racing series, qualifies him as a driver for next month’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“Talladega is such a crapshoot,” Keselowski said shortly after his landmark victory. “You can’t expect anything. You can’t expect to win; you can’t expect not to win. I was here today to win and I’ve got no other reason to be here than to win and put these guys in Victory Lane.”

Continue reading “Finch & Keselowski grab first time Cup wins”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet) is looking to build upon some momentum he created with his second-place finish last week at Talladega. The finish moved Earnhardt up four positions in the point standings to 15th, currently 45 points out of the top 12. Richmond has been one of Earnhardt’s most successful tracks, as he’s posted three wins, eight top fives and 10 top 10s there.

Check out our podcast featuring Dale Jr. Listen Here (2.9 MB)

Subscribe Here

ON RICHMOND
“I like Richmond a lot. We always thought we run good there ’cause it’s a lot like Myrtle Beach, where I ran a lot in the late models. There’s a lot of similarities. But I just like short-track racing. We seem to do really good on the short tracks. It’s got a lot of different grooves that you can run. You can move around. I think it puts on one of the more exciting races in the season. It ranks right up there as some of the best. “ …

ON CONSISTENCY
“We just have to finish like we did Sunday, and not have any problems. I think we’re doing a better job on pit road. I think we changed some things around with individuals. We got a little bit faster pit crew. We did a real good job this weekend. Other than that, we have a couple of good race tracks coming up. We do pretty good at Darlington. I always love running at Charlotte. I can’t wait to get there. …

Continue reading “Q&A with Dale Earnhardt Jr.”

Continue reading “Carl Edwards on Ellen DeGeneres Show”

Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge), the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, is back on top of the point standings for the first time since March 13, 2005.

Busch moved up two spots in the standings last week following his sixth-place finish at Talladega, his sixth top-10 showing on the season. He holds a slim five-point lead over four-time series champion Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) heading into Richmond.

Busch has had mixed success at Richmond. In 16 career starts there, he has one win (Sept. 2005), two top fives and five top-10s, but only an average finish of 19.1.

Busch’s 93.1 Driver Rating at Richmond ranks just eighth among the current top 12 drivers. However, his season Driver Rating of 103.1 ranks fourth best among the top 12.

“I really enjoy racing at Richmond,” says Busch. “Both of the races there are pure excitement. They call Richmond the ‘action track.’ We can race low, we can race in the middle or you can race in the high groove. There’s always some good action on the race track at Richmond.”

Continue reading “Kurt Busch back atop the Cup Series points”