NASCAR Cup Series

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway and discussed Nationwide Insurance, strategy for the Chase, a relief fund for drivers, pressure in Chase and other topics.

KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS, met with media at Richmond to discuss last week’s win in Atlanta, being part of the Chase, qualifying efforts and more.

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed the Chase and the scenarios within that, his expectations of how the racing will be on Saturday night at Richmond, and more.

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, has his season on the line this weekend at Richmond International Speedway. Firmly on the bubble to make the Chase, Biffle spoke about the weekend ahead and the implications of a successful or unsuccessful night with media members Friday afternoon.

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Ford Fusion, was the fastest car in final practice at Richmond International Raceway Friday afternoon after being in the top-five of the morning session. Edwards met with media members Friday to discuss his start to the weekend and more.

I had hoped to announce the NASCAR Ron Thornton series, but I came up about $200 million short. Instead, the former Busch series and soon to be former Nationwide series shall be the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the next 10 years. Oh, so close.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed the teams he thinks are strong contenders to win at Richmond, the challenges of the track for him personally, his view of vying for another championship, the importance of having all four Hendrick teams in the Chase, and more.

Nationwide has expanded its three-year relationship with Hendrick Motorsports to become the majority sponsor of driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Chevrolet SS team beginning with the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

""Not really. For the last 25 races we've known that if you win you're almost for sure into the Chase. It doesn't really change it, but I'm glad we're in because now we don't have to stress about it Saturday night. Like I said, we've known that for 25 weeks and we've been doing the best we can to try to get a win and finish as high as we can. I feel like we're gaining on our performance a little bit and we've been putting together some good races when we don't get caught up in wrecks or have problems we've been finishing pretty good. "

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Richmond International Raceway and discussed making the Chase, his chances at a win Saturday night and many other topics.