Key Moment – In a race where the winner leads 383 laps, including the final 274 in a row, there really aren’t any key moments in the race. Based on the practice sheets the key moment came between the first practice and the final practice. Brad Keselowski was 14th fastest in 10 lap average in the first practice and second fastest in the final one. The adjustments made by Paul Wolfe and his crew during the break between those two practices were the difference this weekend.
In a Nutshell – Brad Keselowski dominated the entire event with the exception of 17 laps that were led by Kevin Harvick. The only real break from the Keselowski beat down was a drunk fan, later identified as James R. Dennis of Henrico County, Virginia, climbing the catch fence in turn 4 to get a better view of the racing action. When the checkered flag flew there was no change in the point standing positions of the drivers in contention for the Chase so Greg Biffle secured the final spot in the Chase.
Dramatic Moment – Similar to the Key Moment, there wasn’t a dramatic moment during the race, but afterward it was Jimmie Johnson suffering cramps and dizziness. The six-time champion was carted to the infield care center on a first aid golf cart. Johnson met with assembled media when he was released from the care center and explained that he suffered from cramps, sat down, and that they intensified, so he stood up and dizziness developed. After sitting down and standing up multiple times without success in alleviating the cramps, he was taken to the care center. The diagnosis was dehydration which shows just how demanding Saturday night was when one of the most physically fit drivers in the sport lost so much of his body fluid that he became dehydrated.
What They’ll be Talking About Around the Water Cooler
The race was far from spectacular but Goodyear at least didn’t go too far over the top with the tire they brought to the race track. After the tire difficulties this spring it would have been a typical response to bring a granite hard tire to ensure no failures at Richmond. Instead they brought a tire that allowed the track to rubber in a little more but still gave up over the long run, allowing teams to use some short pitting strategy. The tire also allowed drivers to run from the bottom of the track to the top and everywhere in between. It is hopeful that Goodyear will continue to bring tires that give up and don’t allow teams to run more than a full fuel run on a tire.
The new Chase format is designed to, among other things, provide multiple “Game 7” moments. Richmond was supposed to be the first of those moments, with drivers battling hard for the final Chase spots and teams potentially trying creative strategies to attempt to win their way in. The race turned into a tremendously boring affair with little to no movement from the front to the back of the field and total domination by Keselowski. NASCAR has to be hoping that the rest of their Game 7s don’t suck half as bad as what we were fed on Saturday night.
Matt Kenseth has been blamed, rightly or wrongly, for the birth of the Chase after he won the 2003 title with a single victory. Kenseth has made the Chase without a win this season and has been near the top of the point standings for most of the year. What sweet irony would it be if Kenseth were to win the first Chase with this new format without scoring a win during the season?
For the second year in a row, the picture of the combatants for the Sprint Cup, taken at Richmond, does not include all of the drivers involved. Last season Jeff Gordon was not added to the Chase until the Tuesday after Richmond, so his image was not in the initial picture of all of the contenders. This year, with Johnson spending an extensive amount of time in the care center, he did not make it out to be included in the picture so there are only 15 drivers in the post Richmond photo.
In an amazing display of control by the folks in race control, Kenseth bounced his car off of the fence 120 laps into the event thanks to a flat right front tire, but didn’t bring out a caution. Generally whenever you see a car contact the outside wall during a race the caution immediately flies. It did come out five laps later for debris that wasn’t shown on television but at least the folks calling the race waited to see if something was on the track and not just because there was contact with the outside wall.
NASCAR has announced that the qualifying format at Talladega will be changed to five minute sessions. The first session will be divided into two groups. The last two sessions will have 24 and 12 cars respectively but will only last five minutes each. That should eliminate the cars parking on pit lane and waiting for an extended period of time before rolling out to qualify.
This weekend was a chance for the sport to honor Junie Dunlavey who passed away earlier this season. Dunlavey was a long time owner who fielded cars for years on a shoestring budget that gave a start to many of the crew members who are in the garage today. Richmond International Raceway named the garage area after Dunlavey while Circle Sport Racing changed their number to 90 for the weekend. The No. 90 was long associated with Dunlavey.
A discussion took place this weekend during driver availability about retired drivers, especially those from the formative years of the sport, who are now struggling financially. People who poured their lives into the formative years of the sport are now facing hardship, especially through medical expenses, that they cannot shoulder due to the minimal amount of money they made in their careers. The now multi-billion dollar organization that NASCAR is ought to be able to form some kind of fund to help the people who helped form the sport that need some financial assistance. While it is great for the drivers it would be even better if the fun helped former crew members as well. Even in the early years the drivers made more money than the crew members. Helping all of the people who have helped build the sport that are now facing financial difficulties should be a priority for the people who have the means to do it.
NASCAR held meetings this week to consider changes to the souvenir availability at race tracks in the future. The drop in merchandise sales has accompanied the drop in attendance at races. Add in the fact that the people who are producing the souvenirs have lost most of the originality that used to be incorporated and you have a trade that is in crisis. The fact that you can buy the same shirt design with just different colors and car numbers for each driver doesn’t inspire fans to part with their money. Look for the souvenir rigs to be replaced by large tents selling vanilla souvenirs and even less driver availability for the regular fans in the coming year.
The Hindenburg Award for Foul Fortune
Clint Bowyer was in contention for the win on Saturday night but just wasn’t strong enough to get past Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski. As a result Bowyer came home seven points out of the final Chase position. The foul fortune truly came from the Atlanta race last week when his broken gear shift dropped him too far back in the standings to overcome on Saturday night. Bowyer will be attempting to score a win in the Chase but it won’t be a step towards the title.
Denny Hamlin was the talk of the garage after Atlanta when his team ripped off pit stop after pit stop under 12 seconds. Coming to Richmond, the closest thing Hamlin has to a home track, he was looking to capitalize on the momentum from Atlanta and make a move up the standings with another win. Instead his team ran in the Top 10 early and then quietly faded to a 21st place finish. The entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization is heading into the Chase with a whimper rather than a roar and needs to figure it out quickly or they could be on the outside looking in by the time Homestead rolls around.
The “Seven Come for Eleven” Award for Fine Fortune
It isn’t often that a finish two laps down falls in the Fine Fortune category, but Greg Biffle managed his night and came home where he needed to in order to make the Chase. Biffle was the best driver from the Roush camp and has the potential to make it through the first round of the Chase at least with the way they have been running for the last month.
Aric Almirola was not a strong car early in the event Saturday night. He was awarded not one but two of the four Lucky Dogs of the event and utilized that fine fortune to march forward over the last half of the race and ultimately secure a tenth place finish. While Almirola is most likely not a championship contender, he is putting together the kind of runs that will allow him to move beyond the first and possibly the second round.
Worth Noting
Brad Keselowski’s win is his 14th of his Cup career. He has made 187 career starts.
Keselowki’s career winning percentage in the Cup series is 7.49%. He is sixth among active drivers. He trails Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.
This win is his first career triumph at Richmond.
Saturday night was the fourth victory of the season for Keselowski, putting him first in the series in that category this season.
Jeff Gordon’s runner-up finish was his seventh top-2 run of the season.
Gordon has finished in the top 2 10 times in his career at Richmond in 44 career starts.
The podium run for Clint Bowyer was his fourth of his career at Richmond in 18 career starts.
Bowyer’s top 3 is his second such finish of the 2014 season.
Kyle Larson finished 11th to claim the Rookie of the Race award.
Brad Keselowski’s 383 laps led was the highest percentage of laps led for a race winner since Jeff Burton led all 300 laps in the restrictor plate abomination at Loudon in 2000.
Had Kasey Kahne not won at Atlanta last week he would have finished the regular season 11 points out of the Chase behind Larson.
Were it not for the “Win and you are in” element to make the Chase Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger would not have made it by virtue of being 17th, 19th, 20th, 22nd and 23rd respectively.
What’s the Points
Points have not mattered very much for most of the year. While they did matter for Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer Saturday night they have now been reset and will play a roll over the next 10 races to determine who advances from round to round toward Homestead and the winner-take-all championship race. Now that the Chase field is set we’ll keep an eye on the title contender points as the races wind down to the end of the season.
1) Brad Keselowski 2012
2) Jeff Gordon 2009
3) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2009
4) Jimmie Johnson 2009
5) Joey Logano 2009
6) Kevin Harvick 2006
7) Carl Edwards 2006
8) Kyle Busch 2003
9) Denny Hamlin 2003
10) Kurt Busch 2003
11) Kasey Kahne 2003
12) Aric Almirola 2003
13) AJ Allmendinger 2003
14) Matt Kenseth 2000
15) Greg Biffle 2000
16) Ryan Newman 2000
Overall Rating(On a scale of one to six beer cans with one being a stinker and a six pack an instant classic) – Two leaders and four lead changes, with all of the lead changes taking place by the 1/3 point of the race does not a barn burner make. With two cars battling for one Chase spot with 23 points separating them coming into the event and not much space between them on the track the game seven moment was more like a game five blowout. In the category of things you’ve never seen at a race track before, having a fan climb the fence during competition was certainly a first. Frequent three-wide racing throughout the pack and a tire that let the cars run from the top to the bottom helped but, in the end, a snoozer is a snoozer. We’ll give this one the two luke warm Hardywood Cream Ales that were left in the cooler from the race fan who was escorted from the premises early after being removed from the catch fence.
Next Up
The playoffs begin in the Windy City, although it is technically in Joliet, on the first of five 1.5 mile tracks in the Chase. The sixteen contenders for the title will look to set themselves up for a guaranteed pass to the second segment of the Chase and the other 27 drivers will do their best to garner some attention for their sponsors even though they can’t contend for the title. Coverage is on ESPN starting at 1:00 p.m. It can also be heard on MRN and NASCAR SiriusXM satellite radio.
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.