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In The Know – Richmond

NASCAR CUP SERIES OVERVIEW:

●  Event:  Cook Out 400 (Round 22 of 36)

●  Time/Date:  3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 30

●  Location:  Richmond (Va.) Raceway

●  Layout:  .75-mile oval

●  Laps/Miles:  400 laps/300 miles

●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 70 laps / Stage 2: 160 laps / Final Stage: 170 laps

●  TV/Radio:  USA / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS:

Kevin Harvick:

Harvick finished fifth in his return to Richmond in April. It was his 18th top-five and 30th top-10 in 44 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the .75-mile oval, the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Next best is Kyle Busch with 27 top-10s. Who is the all-time leader in top-10s at Richmond? None other than “The King,” seven-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty. He earned 41 top-10s at Richmond in 63 career starts.

Aric Almirola:

In 22 starts, Aric Almirola has earned eight top-10 finishes and two top-fives on the .75-mile Richmond (Va.) Raceway oval. He’s qualified inside the top-10 in four of his last six appearances there with a best start of sixth in the September 2018 race. Almirola’s best Richmond finish of fifth came in September 2018, his first year driving for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). In this year’s first Richmond event April 2, he ran in and around the top-10 throughout the race and earned a 13th-place finish.

Chase Briscoe:

Chase Briscoe makes his sixth NASCAR Cup Series start at Richmond (Va.) Raceway Sunday in the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang. He has a best start of fourth and a best finish of 11th, both earned in April 2022. This past April, Briscoe started 19th and ran in the top-15 all race long en route to a 12th-place finish.

Ryan Preece:

The No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang team has showed streaks of improvement and consistency at various points this season. Preece had a career weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in April, earning his first Cup Series pole and leading a career-high 135 laps. In 21 points-paying events this season, Preece has six top-15 finishes – March 12 at Phoenix Raceway, April 16 at Marinsville (Va.) Speedway, May 14 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, May 29 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, June 11 at Sonoma and July 2 at the Chicago Street Course.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

 

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Rheem Ford Mustang:

When you won at Richmond last August, it was your second straight victory after winning the weekend before at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. How satisfying was it to back up your Michigan win with an outright victory six days later at Richmond?

“Coming off of Michigan and being able to go there and just have the fastest car and win the race was really good for us to know, OK, we’ve got this figured out. It took us a while last year to get everything figured out, and really, the second half of the year, the cars really ran well and we had a lot of good races and we were able to get to victory lane a couple of times. So, that was definitely good for everybody’s mind at Richmond.”

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:

You’re in a must-win situation to enter the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Where does Richmond rank in opportunities to win?

“If I could pick one out of the next handful of races to win, I will pick Richmond, hands down. That is the racetrack that I have excelled at the most and have not gone to victory lane, so I would love to do that in front of all of the Smithfield employees and their families.” 

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang:

The short-track package appears to still deliver for the No. 14 team despite the struggles you’ve been faced with lately. Does that give you some confidence heading to Richmond?

“I think it gives us something positive to look forward to. It’s going to be really important to be up front and have that good track position if we want to finish there. We saw that at Loudon. We used pit strategy to put ourselves up front and we were able to stay there. We just have to keep making the most out of what we have.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang:

Do you enjoy racing at Richmond?

“I do. I’m a short-track racer, so that’s a really big part of it. It definitely doesn’t drive like a lot of other short tracks but, if you can compare it, it’s more like Phoenix. We had our best finish of the season at Phoenix earlier this season, too, so that’s in the back of my head. The corners aren’t as tight at Richmond and the track is so unique. Our team needs to unload and be fast right away so we can qualify up front and stay there. Track position is always the name of the game and we’ve had to fight for track position these last few weeks because we didn’t qualify as well as we hoped. I’m hoping this weekend is different and we can be up front to start things off.”