Richmond doesn’t suffer fools. You ever notice how not too many rookies or fledgling drivers get their first wins at this track. Richmond is a track that requires a little more skill than the other short tracks.
So you may read from this that I am not prognosticating a David Ragan win.
While the likes of Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson have been dominating the headlines, other veteran racers have bee running well, but not well enough to pick up wins.
From a pool of old hands like Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr., I expect we’ll find a winner.
Any one of these guys is capable. The lack of wins leads casual fans to think these guys are having bad seasons, when in reality they’ve been running quite well- for the most part.
As you may gather from the headline (Dale Jr. has a win at Michigan), I am NOT forecasting a Dale Jr., though I am expecting a better race from him tomorrow than what he’s ran in a little while. “Lil E” alwasy does better where “aero” is a factor. If every week were Atlanta, Texas, Daytona or Talladega, Earnhardt would be mentioned in the same breath as Richard Petty. Junior does better on the short tracks than he does road courses, but I’m not going with him for a win tomorrow.
The RCR boys tend to do well on the short tracks. The bull rings are something of a specialty for Clint Bowyer and Lord knows as an “on the bubble” guy, he needs a good race. Jeff Burton has the patience to get through all the traffic, provided he doesn’t get caught up on somebody else’s wreck- a symptom of not qualifying well, which JB generally doesn’t. Happy Harvick will be the best from RCR tomorrow, and that will be good as he’ll need it to fortify his Chase chances. I expect Harv will run a top 5. Harvick has been a true survivor, a guy who’s run well when he’s had to, even if his car was a “plugger”- which it has been on more than one occasion.
Tony Stewart just might win this race. You have to give “Smoke” props. It’d be tempting for the departing JGR driver to “mail it in” as he runs his final races for the old ball coach, but he’s not. Stewart wants to go out on top, and a win here would help support that notion.
Jeff Gordon will win at Richmond. He has to. What works for Gordon are a couple things. in the practice sessions that the Cup drivers were able to pull off, it was evident that Gordon’s car was “good off the truck.” It is also my opinion thata track like this puts the onus more on the driver and less on the car, which works for Gordon. Of course, Gordo’s crew will need to be good, but given what’s at stake, they’ll pull it off. It’d be weird not to have Gordon in the Chase, and if he doesn’t do well tomorrow, he could be in serious trouble.
No worries Gordon fans. He’ll be there. The veteran guys always come through when they need to, provided the equipment is good.
It will need to be tomorrow.
