Not only does Richmond provide us with great racing, but there are some interesting story lines heading in to tonight’s race - the main one being, “Who will be in The Chase and who will not?”
Open Race Thread: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Saturday Night Chase Qualifier RIR
I could go into great lengths as to the chances that various drivers have in getting into The Chase, but why bother? Matt covered it extremely well just the other day. If you have not had a chance to read what he had to say then just follow this link and give it a look.
Predictions for tonight’s race are a little hard to make because you have various drivers racing for different goals; some are racing to win and some are racing just to get a top 20 finish and then you have everyone else in between, but I’m going to make them none-the-less.
Look for Kyle Busch to win tonight, or crash trying to, since he is locked into The Chase he’s got nothing to loose by going for it. By the same token look for Denny Hamlin to be going for the win too, as a win will secure him into The Chase while any other finish makes him dependent on what other drivers did. My Dark Horse pick is going to be Clint Bowyer as he runs well here and a win will also help his Chase chances and anything less will leave him Chase-less at the end of it.
Starting line-up after the jump. See you on the other side, in the comment section of course.
Starting Line Up by Row
Richmond International Raceway
54th Annual Wonderful Pistachios 400
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, September 09, 2011 @ 06:51 PM Eastern
Track Race Record: Dale Jarrett 09/06/97 02:45:04 109.047
Richmond International Raceway
54th Annual Wonderful Pistachios 400
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, September 09, 2011 @ 06:51 PM Eastern
Track Race Record: Dale Jarrett 09/06/97 02:45:04 109.047
| Row | Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 1 | 00 | David Reutimann | Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota | 21.196 | 127.383 |
| 2 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet | 21.204 | 127.334 | |
| 2 | 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe's Power of Pride Chevrolet | 21.224 | 127.214 |
| 4 | 5 | Mark Martin | Quaker State/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet | 21.246 | 127.083 | |
| 3 | 5 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet | 21.258 | 127.011 |
| 6 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Caterpillar Chevrolet | 21.261 | 126.993 | |
| 4 | 7 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Budweiser Chevrolet | 21.297 | 126.778 |
| 8 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Cheez-It/Kellogg's Ford | 21.309 | 126.707 | |
| 5 | 9 | 43 | A J Allmendinger | Best Buy Ford | 21.311 | 126.695 |
| 10 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Target Chevrolet | 21.313 | 126.683 | |
| 6 | 11 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Shell/Pennzoil Dodge | 21.316 | 126.665 |
| 12 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Red Bull Toyota | 21.323 | 126.624 | |
| 7 | 13 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M's Toyota | 21.325 | 126.612 |
| 14 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 3M Honoring Our Heroes Ford | 21.326 | 126.606 | |
| 8 | 15 | 27 | Paul Menard | Moen/Menards Chevrolet | 21.350 | 126.464 |
| 16 | 20 | Joey Logano | Home Depot/Celebration of Service Toyota | 21.353 | 126.446 | |
| 9 | 17 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet | 21.366 | 126.369 |
| 18 | 39 | Ryan Newman | U.S. ARMY Chevrolet | 21.366 | 126.369 | |
| 10 | 19 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Miller Lite Dodge | 21.382 | 126.274 |
| 20 | 6 | David Ragan | UPS Ford | 21.387 | 126.245 | |
| 11 | 21 | 51 | Landon Cassill(i) | SecurityBenefit/ThankATeacherToday Chev | 21.387 | 126.245 |
| 22 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet | 21.393 | 126.210 | |
| 12 | 23 | 78 | Regan Smith | Furniture Row Chevrolet | 21.397 | 126.186 |
| 24 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Red Bull Toyota | 21.403 | 126.151 | |
| 13 | 25 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ollie's Ford | 21.413 | 126.092 |
| 26 | 30 | David Stremme | Inception Motorsports Chevrolet | 21.417 | 126.068 | |
| 14 | 27 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet | 21.425 | 126.021 |
| 28 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Express Toyota | 21.431 | 125.986 | |
| 15 | 29 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | NAPA Brakes Toyota | 21.456 | 125.839 |
| 30 | 13 | Casey Mears | GEICO Toyota | 21.477 | 125.716 | |
| 16 | 31 | 66 | Michael McDowell | HP Racing Toyota | 21.499 | 125.587 |
| 32 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Scott Brand Toyota | 21.513 | 125.506 | |
| 17 | 33 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Stanley Ford | 21.526 | 125.430 |
| 34 | 35 | Dave Blaney | Pepsi Max Chevrolet | 21.526 | 125.430 | |
| 18 | 35 | 38 | Travis Kvapil(i) | Long John Silver's Ford | 21.560 | 125.232 |
| 36 | 34 | David Gilliland | Honoring Our Heroes Ford | 21.576 | 125.139 | |
| 19 | 37 | 7 | Robby Gordon | SPEED Energy Dodge | 21.615 | 124.913 |
| 38 | 71 | Andy Lally # | Interstate Moving Services Ford | 21.651 | 124.706 | |
| 20 | 39 | 87 | Joe Nemechek(i) | AM FM Energy Toyota | 21.669 | 124.602 |
| 40 | 36 | Stephen Leicht | Golden Corral Chevrolet | 21.670 | 124.596 | |
| 21 | 41 | 46 | Scott Speed(i) | T&T Performance Ford | 21.718 | 124.321 |
| 42 | 32 | Mike Bliss(i) | Safe Skies TSA Luggage Locks Ford | Owner Points | ||
| 22 | 43 | 55 | J J Yeley | Front Row Motorsports Ford | 21.733 | 124.235 |
Did Not Qualify: # 60 Mike Skinner(i); # 37 Erik Darnell; # 50 T J Bell.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 17 2 Ford 12 1
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