NASCAR Cup Series

The drama of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is building to a crescendo with the Sept. 30 Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 on the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL™. With slightly more than a week until the cutoff race for the first round of the playoffs – contested on Charlotte’s innovative, 17-turn, 2.28-mile ROVAL™ – drivers are preparing for a challenge like no other on the NASCAR schedule.

Kenseth will make his 37th career MENCS start at Richmond on Saturday. In 36 previous races at the 0.75-mile track, Kenseth has two wins, six top-fives, 16 top-10 finishes, three poles and an average finish of 16.8.

Las Vegas Recap: Denny Hamlin was forced to retire early from Sunday’s NASCAR Playoffs kick-off race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, collecting a 32nd-place finish after sustaining significant damage to his #11 FedEx Ground Toyota during a spin in the closing laps of the 267-lap event. Hamlin started Sunday’s race third and battled tight conditions early on, falling outside the top-10 as Stage 1 continued under green. He went on to finish the first 80-lap segment in 15th, then fluctuated position throughout Stage 2 to ultimately cross the line 14th as the segment concluded.

Now it gets real. There is no argument as to whom the contenders are, and who are the pretenders. Say what you will, but even though there might be forty cars on the track, only 16 matter.

Austin Dillon is seeking to advance to the Round of 12 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs following a challenging race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Starting from the tail of the field was a setback for a driver confident in the speed of his car.

Chase Elliott on racing at Richmond: “I don’t really think of Richmond as a short track. I think Bristol and Martinsville are kind of the only two short tracks on the schedule. Richmond is just a different place and I think that is what makes it so tough. It seems everyone knows how to drive the racetrack and it’s hard to be different. That may be what makes the racing pretty good there because it’s hard for people to be different and everyone is kind of choked into doing the same thing and you really have to be superior to show your strength.”

FDNY FOUNDATION: Leavine Family Racing is proud to feature the FDNY Foundation aboard the No. 95 Camaro ZL1 for the second time this season. The FDNY Foundation provides funding for programs that advance the New York City Fire Department’s goals, which include maintaining operational excellence, reaching out to the community with an array of fire and health safety programs, and increasing diversity within the Department’s uniformed ranks.

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1 RACING AT RICHMOND RACEWAY: "We're looking forward to short track, Saturday night racing at Richmond Raceway this weekend, and we really want to make sure we have a good setup off the truck," Allmendinger said. "We get limited practice time with the shorter schedule, so we want to take advantage of everything we can. The older surface at Richmond Raceway makes it really easy to wear the front tires off of our Kroger ClickList Camaro ZL1. The track has also gotten really slick throughout the years. The key is finding the balance between having good forward drive off the corner, having good turn through the corner, and not burning the tires off all at the same time. We had a good run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and we are trying to build some momentum for the final races. Our goal is to continue improving upon that and getting all we can out of the last nine races of the season."

Roush Fenway Racing rolls north to the Commonwealth this weekend as the 2018 NASCAR Playoffs are underway in both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS). Ryan Reed begins his playoffs run Friday night under the lights, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Matt Kenseth and Ty Majeski all look for strong runs at the .75-mile track.

Stenhouse has 11 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Richmond with an average starting position of 15.5 and average finishing position of 20.4.