Ryan Preece, who starts on the pole, is among several drivers starting in the top 10 who seek their first win of the season.
RICHMOND, Va. — Last summer’s race at Richmond saw a driver score their first victory of the season. If that happens tonight, the playoff race could change dramatically.
Austin Dillon won the race at Richmond last August, but NASCAR didn’t count his victory toward playoff eligibility after he wrecked Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap to win.
With eight of the top 12 starters in tonight’s race seeking their first win of the season and clinch a spot in the playoffs, the intensity should be high for this 400-lap race.
Here is what to watch for in tonight’s race on USA Network (coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET):
Can RFK Racing claim one of the last playoff spots?
Ryan Preece, the first driver outside a playoff spot, will lead the field to the green flag after scoring his second career Cup pole.
Preece trails RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher by 34 points for the final playoff spot. Buescher starts 12th.
“I’m just grateful to be a part of this opportunity or to have this opportunity because it’s been a lot of fun,” said Preece, who seeks to make the Cup playoffs for the first time. “It’s been a lot of fun for me as a racer who has put a lot into my career and really been able to finally put something together that is allowing me to go and contend.”
Team co-owner Brad Keselowski, who needs a win to make the playoffs, starts sixth.
He notes that life outside a playoff spot this late in the regular season is “not a fun place to live. You want to just go out and win and not worry about it. We had a couple of shots to do that. They just slipped through our fingers, which was kind of disappointing. We need to capitalize on that opportunity when it comes.”
Buescher looks to avoid a repeat of last year. Chase Briscoe’s Southern 500 victory in the regular season finale claimed the final playoff spot and eliminated Buescher, who had held that spot entering the race.
If not RFK, then who could get their first win?
Tyler Reddick, who starts second, could clinch a playoff spot even if he doesn’t win tonight due to his points advantage.
Alex Bowman, who starts ninth, enters the race in a playoff spot. He’s average finish of 9.3 in the last nine races is the best in the series.
“Obviously it’s a stressful time of the year and team is all in right now,” Bowman told NBC Sports. “Where some guys can take these couple of weeks to prepare for the playoffs, we are not doing that. Obviously, we’re still preparing ahead and everything but just we are all in every week right now trying to perform the best we can.
“We need to win. That would make life less stressful but we’ve been doing a lot of good things.”
Can the momentum continue for two drivers?
Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace both enter this race having scored four consecutive top-10 finishes.
“I think we’ve been executing really well,” said Blaney, who starts 20th. “Haven’t really been making mistakes anywhere and our cars have just been where they need to be.
“I’ve been really happy with the little bit of consistent finishes, finishing in the area that we should. Really hadn’t had that a lot this year, just had a lot of unfortunate things happening but we just waited it out and kept doing our job and this is definitely where this team should be at and where they deserve.”
Said Wallace, who starts seventh, about the momentum from his Indianapolis victory in this run: “It’s really nice just to see everybody performing at the levels that we all should be performing and seeing the results come through. That kind of validates everybody’s efforts.”
Who makes the right call on pit road?
Richmond’s abrasive track surface leads to tire wear. Add in Goodyear’s soft tire and that could make tire strategy key. Teams have eight sets of new tires along with the set of tires they’ll start the race.
The right side tire is the same as the right sides that were used with the option set in the race last August. The left side tires this weekend are softer than what was used in that race last year.
While Keselowski raised concerns about if it teams would have enough sets for the race, NASCAR and Goodyear expressed confidence in what they saw in tire fall-off in practice Friday.
Managing tires and when to put on a new set of tires could be key in determining who wins.
Category: General Sports
