Race # 26 of 36
Track Size: .75 miles
Banking/Corners: 14 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 8 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees
Frontstretch: 1,290 feet
Backstretch: 860 feet

Qualifying/Race Data

2010 pole winner: Carl Edwards (127.762 mph, 21.133 seconds)

2010 race winner: Denny Hamlin (104.096 mph, 9-11-10)

Track qualifying record: Brian Vickers (129.983, 20.772 seconds, 5-14-04)

Track race record: Dale Jarrett (109.047 mph, 9-6-97)

First, and foremost, it has been noted that the broadcasters of the Wonderful Pistachio’s 400 at Richmond International Speedway Saturday Night, Sept. 10th, will go silent on-air between the laps of 9 – 11 to pay tribute to 9/11.

CHARITIES

While no NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver was able to win the Sprint Summer Showdown presented by HTC EVO 3D at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Tuesday afternoon, Sprint will make a donation of $10,000 to each of the four finalists’ designated charities. The charities are as follows:

#2-Brad Keselowski  Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation
#27-Paul Menard  Habitat for Humanity
#18-Kyle Busch  Kyle Busch Foundation
#9-Marcos Ambrose  Victory Junction

Sixty-four caution laps in Tuesday’s rain-postponed AdvoCare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway means a donation of $12,800 to the American Cancer Society, courtesy of Chevrolet. Chevrolet pledged to make a donation to the American Cancer Society in the amount of $200 for each caution lap that a specially-themed pink Camaro SS pace car ran in Tuesday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

HEADING INTO RICHMOND:

Heading into the final race of the regular season at Richmond, here are the clinch scenarios for the remaining three Chase spots.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt is currently 25 points ahead of 11th place. Regardless of any other driver’s finish, Earnhardt will clinch if he finishes:

·             20th or better

·             21st or better and leads at least one lap

·             22nd or better and leads the most laps

Tony Stewart

Stewart is currently 23 points ahead of 11th place. Regardless of any other driver’s finish, Stewart will clinch if he finishes:

·             18th or better

·             19th or better and leads at least one lap

·             20th or better and leads the most laps

A number of different finishes affect the Wild Card scenario.

-       With a victory, Denny Hamlin will earn at least a Wild Card spot.

-       With a victory, Paul Menard will earn a Wild Card spot.

-       With a victory AND entry into the top 20, Marcos Ambrose or David Ragan will earn a Wild Card spot. Both drivers are currently outside the top 20. Ambrose is seven points outside the top 20; Ragan is 20 points outside the top 20.

With that all said, here are some driver specific stats heading into Richmond:

Clint Bowyer (No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet)

·         One win, one top five, six top 10s

·         Average finish of 9.5

Jeff Burton (No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet)

·         One win, nine top fives, 15 top 10s; one pole

·         Average finish of 14.4

Kurt Busch (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge)

·         One win, three top fives, six top 10s

·         Average finish of 18.0

Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota)

·         Three wins, 11 top fives, 11 top 10s; one pole

·         Average finish of 4.9

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet)

·         Three wins, eight top fives, 10 top 10s

·         Average finish of 14.3

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet)

·         Two wins, 14 top fives, 23 top 10s; five poles

·         Average finish of 14.8

Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota)

·         Two wins, six top fives, seven top 10s; two poles

·         Average finish of 7.5

Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet)

·         One win, five top fives, 13 top 10s; one pole

·         Average finish of 12.0

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Power of Pride Chevrolet)

·         Three wins, five top fives, seven top 10s; two poles

·         Average finish of 16.5

Kasey Kahne (No. 4 Red Bull Toyota)

·         One win, three top fives, six top 10s; one pole

·         Average finish of 17.9

Mark Martin (No. 5 Quaker State/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet)

·         One win, 17 top fives, 27 top 10s; four poles

·         Average finish of 12.2

Ryan Newman (No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet)

·         One win, five top fives, 11 top 10s; one pole

·         Average finish of 11.8

Tony Stewart (No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet)

·         Three wins, nine top fives, 16 top 10s

·         Average finish of 11.0

At Richmond International Raceway:

History

· Originally known as the Atlantic Rural Exposition Fairgrounds, Richmond International Raceway held its first race in 1946 as a half-mile dirt track.

· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was April 19, 1953.

· The spring 1964 race was run on a Tuesday night under temporary lighting.

· The track name changed to Virginia State Fairgrounds in 1967.

· The track surface was changed from dirt to asphalt between races in 1968.

· The track name changed to Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in 1969.

· The track was re-measured to .542-mile for 1970.

· The track was rebuilt as a three-quarters-mile D-shaped oval following the Feb. 21, 1988 race.

· The first race under permanent lights was Sept. 7, 1991.

· The first season with both races as night races was 1999.

Notebook

· There have been 110 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Richmond since the track opened in 1953.

· The current 400-lap race length was established on the .542-mile measurement in March 1976.

· Buck Baker won the pole in 1953.

· Lee Petty won the first race in April 1953.

· There have been 49 different pole winners, led by Bobby Allison and Richard Petty (eight).

· Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with five poles.

· 47 different drivers have posted victories at Richmond, led by Richard Petty (13).

· Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Terry Labonte and Jimmie Johnson (three) lead active race winners.

· Petty Enterprises has won 15 races at Richmond, more than any other team.

· 63 of 110 races have been won from the top five starting positions, including 22 from the pole.

· The last driver to win from the pole was Kyle Busch in 2010.

· The furthest back in the field a race winner has started was 31st, by Clint Bowyer in the 2008 spring race.

· Kyle Busch (4.9), Denny Hamlin (7.5) and Clint Bowyer (9.5) are the only active drivers with an average finish in the top 10.

· Kyle Petty became the first third-generation NASCAR race winner when he won his first race at Richmond, on Feb. 23, 1986. Richard Petty posted his first Richmond victory in 1961 and Leewon the very first Richmond race in 1953.

· Three of the last four races have had a margin of victory less than one second.

· Four drivers have come from outside the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup cut-off to make the Chase at Richmond:

o    Jeremy Mayfield in 2004 made up a 55-point deficit

o    Ryan Newman in 2005 made up a one-point deficit

o    Kasey Kahne in 2006 made up a 30-point deficit

o    Brian Vickers in 2009 made up a 20-point deficit

Source: NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications