Richmond. What a strange track that is. Cars going round and round separately, not tied together like conjoined twins, as was the case at Talladega. Oh, how will we deal with the spectacle?

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]My guess is we’ll do just fine. So should the trio of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Jeff Gordon. Looking back over the past three years, and six Richmond races, you could say the trio has been rather proficient in the Old Dominion. Gordon has five Top Tens, with 12th his worst over the time period. Hamlin has won twice there, including the past two fall races, while Busch has 2 wins, was the runner-up twice, a total of 5 Top Fives in his last six attempts.

Friday marks the Intimidator’s 60th birthday. Did you know that of the 62 Cup championships claimed since 1949, 34 of them went to one of just eight drivers? Earnhardt and Richard Petty had seven each, with Jimmie Johnson the past five. Jeff Gordon has four, with three each won by Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, and Darrell Waltrip. In case you were wondering, two remain active, two are already in the Hall of Fame, two more enter in May, and those other two should get their invitations in time to party next January.

All eight of NASCAR’s most decorated champions have had success at Richmond. The King won there 13 times between 1961 and 1975. Waltrip and Pearson were six time winners, Earnhardt had five. Yarborough and Johnson (the last in 2008) had three, with Lee Petty and Gordon (1996, 2000) a pair each.

The great ones have found a way to win at Richmond, and more than once. Along with the six mentioned above, three time winners also include such legends and current stars as Hall of Famer Bobby Allison (7 times), Rusty Wallace (6 times), Joe Weatherly, Terry Labonte, Tony Stewart (last time in 2002), and Dale Earnhardt Jr (who claimed his third in the spring of 2006). Few who win at Richmond have done so without having an impressive resume, or who are in the midst of building one. Don’t expect to be overly surprised by who shows up in Victory Lane Saturday night.

In fact, only 10 drivers have won at Richmond who did not eventually wind up with at least 15 career victories. One, ironically enough, was Tim Richmond while another is four time winner Clint Bowyer. Of the other eight, Cotton Owens and Dave Marcis won only 14 times between them, but they both won on this track twice.

As for the car of choice, Chevy leads Ford 34-26, but Toyota has won the last four races run at Richmond. Meanwhile, between 1955 and 2002, twenty-eight were won by makes no longer running in NASCAR. That last one was Tony Stewart’s third win there in a Pontiac.

Noah, Talladega, and Daytona did things two-by-two. Richmond will be a different animal altogether this weekend.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]After a week off in the NASCAR circuit, it’s back to racing at the Richmond International Raceway. If you aren’t too excited about heading into Richmond this week, someone might want to check your pulse! The 2 race teams that seem to understand what it takes to win here are Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch. Each of these drivers have won 2 in the last 2 years, the last different driver to win here, Jimmie Johnson in 2008.

What makes this track so unique? It’s only 3/4 of a mile long, with 14° turns, and only an 8° frontstretch. The Crown Royal Presents The Matthew & Daniel Hanson 400 is only 300 miles long, one of the shorter races of the year. But after all of these unique characteristics, my favorite is that it is Saturday night! Usually I don’t like Saturday races, being that there is nothing to look forward to on Sunday, but who doesn’t like short track racing on Saturday night?

I have done pretty decent in my picks in the previous weeks, with it being such a strange year thus far, I think that says a lot! Here are my 2011 Crown Royal Presents 400 Fantasy Picks:

Target: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Newman

Avoid: Any Roush Driver, Jamie McMurray, and AJ Allmendinger

Analysis: Four of the last five races have been won by Joe Gibbs Racing cars. Ryan Newman isn’t a threat to win, but is a consistent top-10 finisher.

Bargain: Brad Keselowski had two top-15 finishes in 2010, and Marcos Ambrose finished P5 in the Fall race.

I anticipate this week’s race to be filled with lot’s of action, and even more drama as we look ahead onto the “Lady in Black” next week!

This week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Schedule:

Practice~ (Friday 12pm, 2:30pm)     Qualifying (Friday 5:30pm)     Race (Saturday 7:30pm) all times are EST

Until we meet again, “Let’s go racing boys!”- DW

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”246″][/media-credit]Clint Bowyer wasn’t supposed to win at Richmond in May of 2008. Sometimes though, things just fall into a driver’s lap and on that night it was Bowyer’s turn.

The Richard Childress Racing driver had just won his second career race and it was a weight lifted off his shoulders. While many say once the first win has been checked off the rest will come easy. But that’s not always the case as there’s pressure and need to win again in order to show the first one wasn’t a fluke.

“Well, that was probably the biggest thing and to be honest with you, it was a surprise,” said Bowyer on Tuesday afternoon about his Richmond victory. “Kyle got into Dale Jr. and it opened the door up for me to win that race. Usually I don’t ever get one – that was the first race that I would say that I got handed to me.”

“Usually, you know, you have a good feeling throughout the race, you have a good feeling the night before,” he continued. “You were faster than the field, with 30 to go you were maybe a second ahead and that’s how the normal win happens. You feel it, you know it, and you make it happen.”

Such as Bowyer did in 2007 at New Hampshire. After qualifying for the Chase without winning a race, he dominated the first Chase race. He led 222 of 300 laps on his way to his first career win. In September of 2010 Bowyer again said he had that feeling as went out and won after leading 177 of 300 laps.

“That one [2008] was just completely shocked me, and it was out of the blue, and it was one that was so much fun to celebrate because it was such a surprise.”

As Bowyer celebrated others were left standing with their jaws dropped and arms outstretched. Wondering what had just happened.

After leading 381 of 400 laps it appeared that just as quickly as he had things in control, Denny Hamlin was taken out of contention. Dale Earnhardt Jr. inherited the lead with 20 laps to go before his shot at victory was also taken away. It wasn’t from a deflated tire like Hamlin, it was his from the front bumper of Hamlin’s teammate Kyle Busch.

That’s where Bowyer entered the picture. He snuck past the carnage left by Earnhardt Jr. and Busch in turn three as the caution came out. He then ended up in victory lane after a green-white-checkered finish.

While Bowyer calls the win shocking, in a way it wasn’t. For one thing his Chevrolet had been fast all evening. Richmond is also one of Bowyer’s favorite racetracks and for good reason. One year before winning the Cup race, he celebrated after winning the 2007 Nationwide Series race at RIR, giving him victories at the track in NASCAR top two series.

In 10 Cup starts Bowyer has an average finish of 9.8 with the aforementioned win and 57 laps led. He also holds the title of starting the furthest back in the field and winning, 31st, and has a driver rating of 96.6 at the track.

Should he win again maybe fans will remember it this time. The fireworks following the Busch and Earnhardt Jr. accident have some forgetting there even was a winner in 2008. Instead extra security was being called for Busch who from that day forward became public enemy No. 1 for Junior Nation. Hamlin was left explaining to NASCAR why he stopped on track to being out the caution.

Bowyer’s win that night was just a blip on the radar but wouldn’t be this time around. This weekend BB&T, whom ironically were on the car for both his Richmond wins, will be his primary sponsor in the Matthew & Daniel Hensen 400. He would love to steal another victory, which would be his first of the 2011 season after finishing second the last two weeks.

And as far as Bowyer is concerned whether or not his 2008 win was overshadowed or not makes no difference to him.

“I don’t care,” he said laughing. “I don’t know if it is or isn’t. I darn sure don’t care though. I know where that trophy is at and that’s the main goal there.”