Kyle Busch tries to match Harvick
Busch going for third win in a row at Richmond
Ford Motor Co. announced this week that it will field the Mustang model in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series next season.
The move had been rumored in NASCAR garages for months. Of the three car manufacturers racing in the Cup series, Ford has the “oldest” entry in the Fusion.
In a bit of irony, the Fusion has been out front much of this season. Ford drivers have won four of the first eight races leading into Saturday’s Toyota Owners
400 at Richmond Raceway (Fox, 6:30 p.m. ET).
Kevin Harvick, who will be among Saturday’s favorites, has three of those victories. He said the three-quartermile track changes from day to night and from moderate to cool temperatures. The race is scheduled to start at
6:30 and temperatures are expected to range from the high 50s to the mid-40s during the 400-lap race. (Unlike last weekend at Bristol, no snow is expected).
“Richmond is a racetrack where you have to have a plan,” Harvick said. “When I say you have to have a plan, you have to know that it’s going to be 50 degrees or high 40s as we go into the night and into the race. As you go from daytime practice where it always seems like the car is pushing, then you’ll go into the night and the car will start turning better. The next thing you know you’re starting to get loose off the corner.
“You have to anticipate where the racetrack is going to go because of the fact the tires wear out so fast. You’re going to have a certain condition of tight throughout the practice sessions, the tires wear out fast and it only seems to get tighter with the cycles on the tires. It’s a very difficult place to practice on, and you have to have a notebook that tells you what the racetrack has done consistently over the past few years.”
Adding to the challenge for the rest of the field is the fact that Kyle Busch seems to have taken control of the series. Over the past six races, his finishes have been second, second, third, second, first, first. A victory Saturday — he has won four times at Richmond — would give Busch the second “hat trick” of his Cup career.
Busch has an average finish of 7.4 at the track, best among active drivers. He last won at Richmond in 2012.
“We’ve kind of lost a little bit of what our handle was there a few years ago when we were really good,” Busch said of his Joe Gibbs Racing team. “More rule changes to create parity takes away advantages, and that kind of knocked us back a little bit. We haven’t quite figured out what it takes to get some of that back.”
Busch came on strong late in the race to win Monday at Bristol in a race that stretched across two days because of weather conditions.
A short preparation week — teams stayed in Bristol an extra day and they’ll be racing a day earlier than in most weeks — probably will strengthen the advantages of veteran drivers and quality teams at Richmond.
Denny Hamlin, Busch’s teammate, has scored three wins at Richmond and will be racing for his first victory of the season. He has led 1,653 Richmond laps, best among active drivers.
Hamlin has run well this season but has been shut out of victory lane. He finished third in the Daytona 500 and has three other top-six runs, but he also has finished out of the top 10 four times.
Hamlin is among a relatively long list of key drivers who haven’t won this season. Among those still looking are Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott.
Also on the waiting list for a win is Ryan Blaney, who led early at Bristol but was caught up in a crash while in front. He has three top-fives.
Darrell Wallace Jr. created a burst of excitement late in the Bristol race by leading six laps in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43. It marked Wallace’s first time in the lead in a Cup race, but he faded late and finished 16th.
“We are still coming down from Bristol and that roller-coaster ride,” Wallace said. “We’re a small team but making big gains on our program. We wish we could have closed on that deal, but we’re headed to Richmond.”
Scheduled to make his Cup debut this weekend is Xfinity Series regular Daniel Hemric, who will drive a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.