FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: RICHMOND PLAYOFF NOTES
A busy weekend is scheduled to take place at Richmond Raceway as all three of NASCAR’s top series compete, beginning on Thursday night with the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series regular season finale. The NASCAR XFINITY Series will race on Friday and Saturday while the NASCAR Cup Series runs its second playoff race to close out the weekend on Saturday night.
This Week’s Schedule:
Thursday, Sept. 10 – NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Series, 8 p.m. (FS1)
Friday, Sept. 11 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 7 p.m. (NBCSN)
Saturday, Sept. 12 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 2 p.m. (NBCSN)
Saturday, Sept. 12 – NASCAR Cup Series, 7:30 p.m. (NBCSN)
TOP 5 SEASON IN THE WORKS
Kevin Harvick’s dramatic win in Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway was Ford’s 15th NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season. That already ranks as the fourth-highest single-season total for Ford in the NASCAR modern era (1972-present) and is within five of matching the manufacturer’s all-time high of 20. Here is a look at Ford’s best seasons in terms of victories since 1972.
1994 – 20
2018 – 19
1997 – 19
2005 – 16
1992 – 16
2020 – 15
1998 – 15
FORD SETS A WINNING PACE
Harvick’s second win of the season at Darlington Raceway continued Ford’s string of success since NASCAR returned to action on May 17 at the track Too Tough to Tame. Since then, Ford has won 13 of the 23 Cup points races (57%) and 10 of the 19 XFINITY events (53%). Overall, Ford leads each series in total wins (15 in Cup and 11 in XFINITY), and also tops both in the manufacturers’ standings.
FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT RR
· Ford has 32 all-time series wins at Richmond.
· Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski have Ford wins at Richmond while Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer also have series victories.
· Logano is tied with seven other Ford drivers for most victories at Richmond with two.
ROUND OF 16 NCS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 12 advance after Bristol)
1. Kevin Harvick (Clinched: Darlington win)
3. Joey Logano +27
4. Brad Keselowski +22
12. Aric Almirola +0
13. Clint Bowyer -0
14. Cole Custer -3
15. Matt DiBenedetto -17
16. Ryan Blaney -17
FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT RR
· Ford has 19 series wins at Richmond.
· Mark Martin leads Ford with five series wins at Richmond.
· Cole Custer is the last Ford winner at Richmond (2019).
FORD IN THE NASCAR GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES AT RR
· Ford has two all-time series wins at Richmond.
· Ben Rhodes, Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton have qualified for the playoffs.
· Todd Gilliland holds the final playoff spot based on points with one race to go.
RICHMOND CUP HIGHLIGHTS
GOLDSMITH GOLDEN
The first time Ford went to victory lane in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond 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 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 Glenn 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 RR 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 RR 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 NCS races at the three-quarter-mile track, and the first since 1997. Logano won the first RR 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 (1)
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)
2019 – Cole Custer (1)
FORD NASCAR GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT RICHMOND
1999 – Greg Biffle
2000 – Rick Carelli
