FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: RICHMOND NOTES
After races at Martinsville Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway in the
last month, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series continues its recent
short track run this weekend at Richmond Raceway. Ford Mustang
drivers make up half of the Top 10 in the series point standings, led
by Joey Logano, who moved from fifth to third after his third-place
effort on Sunday.
FORD IN THE MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES AT RR
· Ford has 32 all-time series wins at Richmond.
· Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch have Ford wins
at Richmond while Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer also have series
victories.
· Logano is tied with seven other Ford drivers for most
victories at Richmond with two.
FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT RR
· Ford has 18 series wins at Richmond.
· Brad Keselowski has Ford’s last three wins at the track
(2013 sweep and last Fall).
· Mark Martin leads Ford with five series wins at Richmond.
GOLDSMITH GOLDEN
The first time Ford went to victory lane in the Monster Energy NASCAR
Cup Series at Richmond International Raceway was on May 5, 1957 when
Paul Goldsmith started seventh and won the Richmond 250. That was his
second win of the season and came on a day that Ford dominated from
start to finish by leading all 200 laps. Pete DePaolo fielded three
cars under his DePaolo Engineering sponsorship and watched as Fireball
Roberts jumped to the lead and held it for the first 159 laps before
Goldsmith came on and passed him with 41 laps remaining. Goldsmith
went on to win the race by one lap with Roberts finishing second and
Marvin Panch third to give Ford and DePaolo a sweep of the top three
spots. Goldsmith ended up winning a career-high four races with Ford
that season, which included victories in Greensboro (NC), Lancaster
(SC), and Raleigh (NC).
KYLE PETTY’S FIRST WIN
The Wood Brothers have 99 all-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
victories and many of those have been first-time wins for whoever was
lucky enough to be behind the wheel. Kyle Petty was that man in the
mid-1980s and on Feb. 23, 1986 found himself in the right place at the
right time. Driving the No. 7 Ford for Glen Wood – the car carried
that number because of sponsor 7-Eleven – Petty was the beneficiary of
an ongoing battle between Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt. After
Waltrip passed Earnhardt to take the lead with two to go, Earnhardt
made contact with Waltrip and both cars went spinning into the wall.
Others got collected in the aftermath, but Petty was able to get
through unscathed and took the checkered flag under caution for his
first series triumph.
BURTON WINS BATTLE OF THE JEFFS
Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon waged a memorable battle at RIR on Sept.
12, 1998 in the Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 in which Burton
emerged victorious. The two drivers exchanged the lead eight times
during the middle stages of the 400-lap feature until Jimmy Spencer
joined them. Those three combined to lead the final 259 laps, but the
winner was in doubt until the very end as Gordon steadily chased down
Burton, who grabbed the top spot from Spencer with 40 to go. Gordon
was on Burton’s bumper as the two took the white flag, and he dove to
the inside as they entered turn three. Burton maintained his high
line and got enough momentum off turn four to win by half-a-car length
(.051 seconds).
A PENSKE SEASON SWEEP
Thanks to Team Penske, Ford dominated the 2014 season at RIR as both
Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski made it to victory lane. Keselowski
clinched the top seed for the ensuing Chase with a dominating
performance that saw him lead all but 17 of the 400 laps, including
the final 274 circuits. The win was his fourth of the season and
marked the third time Ford swept both MENCS races at the
three-quarter-mile track, and the first since 1997. Logano won the
first RIR race after passing Matt Kenseth with four laps to go to
claim his fifth career series victory.
FORD MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP WINNERS AT RICHMOND
1957 – Paul Goldsmith
1959 – Tom Pistone and Cotton Owens
1960 – Speedy Thompson (2)
1963 – Ned Jarrett (2)
1965 – Junior Johnson (1)
1968 – David Pearson (1)
1969 – David Pearson (1)
1970 – James Hylton (1)
1979 – Bobby Allison (2)
1980 – Bobby Allison (2)
1981 – Benny Parsons (2)
1984 – Ricky Rudd (1)
1986 – Kyle Petty (1)
1988 – Davey Allison (2)
1990 – Mark Martin (1)
1992 – Bill Elliott (1)
1993 – Davey Allison (1)
1994 – Ernie Irvan (1)
1995 – Rusty Wallace (2)
1996 – Ernie Irvan (2)
1997 – Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett
1998 – Jeff Burton (2)
1999 – Dale Jarrett (1)
2001 – Ricky Rudd (2)
2002 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2005 – Kurt Busch (2)
2013 – Carl Edwards (2)
2014 – Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski
2017 – Joey Logano
FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT RICHMOND
1987 – Mark Martin
1993 – Mark Martin (Sweep)
1994 – Kenny Wallace (2)
1995 – Kenny Wallace (1) and Dale Jarrett (2)
1996 – Kenny Wallace (2)
1997 – Mark Martin (1)
1998 – Jeff Burton (1)
1999 – Mark Martin (1)
2000 – Jeff Burton (2)
2002 – Jason Keller (1)
2005 – Carl Edwards (1)
2008 – Carl Edwards (2)
2009 – Carl Edwards (2)
2013 – Brad Keselowski (Sweep)
2017 – Brad Keselowski (2)
