NASCAR Cup Series

“We did have a strong run at Richmond earlier this year. We led quite a few laps and we had a Ford Fusion that was capable of winning. This is another one of the tracks where our results are not indicative of our performance. We need to fix that this weekend.

“I think our FedEx team has shown over the past couple months a lot of improvement at a variety of different tracks, and we are close to hitting our stride right when the Chase is about to start. Obviously, Richmond is one of my favorite tracks to race at, and one that we have had success on in the past, but we didn’t run all that well there the last couple times.

“I think it’s going to be a battle. It’s going to be intense. It’s not just about the guys on the cusp for points, it’s about anyone that can win. The intensity is going to kick in. To be honest with you, it’s been there all year. I think that every week you show up, your goal is to win and you do everything you can to try to get that win.”

After qualifying for this weekend's race at Richmond International Raceway (RIR), the final race before The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Aric Almirola and the No. 43 team will officially make The Chase. Last weekend, the team turned their momentum around with a Top-10 finish and look to continue building momentum leading into The Chase this weekend at RIR as Almirola pilots the No. 43 Gwaltney Ford in the 400-mile event.

Heading into the last race before The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins, Marcos Ambrose and the No. 9 DEWALT Ford team should not be overlooked. Ambrose and the team have two Top-Five finishes at short tracks this year, and Ambrose has finished in the Top-Five before at Richmond. The team is more than capable of grabbing the last spot with a win this weekend.

This Week's American Ethanol Chevrolet at Richmond International Raceway ... Austin Dillon will pilot Chassis No. 477 in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway. This is the same Chevrolet SS that Dillon raced to a 14th-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July.

Edwards stayed in the Top-10 for 240 laps of the 335 lap overtime race, 51 of them in the top-five. He survived nine cautions while fighting a tight condition in his car the entire race. He was able to capture a hard fought fifth place finish when the checkered flag flew after two great restarts in the wild scramble at the end of the race.

Do you think you can predict the perfect Chase for the NASCAR Sprint CupTM grid? Beginning Sunday, September 7 on NASCAR.com, sports fans everywhere will have a chance to do just that: fill out a perfect Chase Grid™ – from the Challenger Round, which begins at Chicagoland Speedway®, to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami SpeedwaySM – for a chance to win $100,000.

DID YOU KNOW? … Two father-son duos have won NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Richmond International Raceway in a Ford. Bobby and Davey Allison won two times each while Ned (1) and Dale Jarrett (2) combined to win on three occasions.

“It’s the last race for us to make the Chase so we have to go for the win. Richmond is typical short track racing which is always a lot of fun. It is important to have a car that turns in the center with good drive off. I’m really looking forward to Saturday night’s race at Richmond and hopefully we can get our Fifth Third Bank Ford into victory lane and a Chase spot.”