Recent Richmond history of drivers trying to make Chase

By Dustin LongSep 8, 2015, 11:44 AM EDT

Five spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup remain available heading into Saturday night’s race at Richmond International Raceway and history indicates those five drivers are likely to remain there.

Jamie McMurray will clinch a Chase spot upon starting the race. Also likely to transfer are Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer.

Things could change if the winner is a first-time victor this season. However, the last time a driver scored their first win of the season in the fall Richmond race was 2004 with Jeremy Mayfield. He won to earn a spot in the inaugural Chase. Making the task more difficult could be Brad Keselowski. He’s led 66 percent of the laps run in the past two fall Richmond races, winning this event last year.

Something else to consider: Eighteen of the last 20 Richmond races were won by drivers currently locked into the Chase. The other two races? They were won by Bowyer.

Here’s a look at how those trying to maintain their Chase-eligible spot and those trying to make it into the Chase have fared recently at Richmond.

Jamie McMurray

Clinches by: Starting the race

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 10.2

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 4th (three times)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 10

Note: This will mark his first time in the Chase.

Ryan Newman

Clinches by: Finishing 31st or better; 32nd and leads at least one lap, or 33rd and leads the most laps

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 9.2

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 3rd (Sept. 2013)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 4

Note: Has finished worse than 31st in two of his 27 career starts at Richmond.

Jeff Gordon

Clinches by: Finishing 17th or better; 18th and leads at least one lap, or 19th and leads the most laps.

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 6.2

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 2 (twice)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 222

Note: Has finished worse than 17th in two of the last 17 Richmond races.

Paul Menard

Clinches by: Finishing ninth or better; 10th and leads at least one lap, or 11th and leads the most laps.

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 15.0

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 5th (Sept. 2013)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 3

Note: Has one career finish of 12th or better in 17 starts at Richmond.

Clint Bowyer

Clinches by: Finishing 28th or better if there is a repeat winner, 29th and leads at least a lap in race won by repeat winner, or 30th and leads the most laps in a race won by a repeat winner.

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 16.4

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 2nd (April 2013)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 185

Note: Has one career finish outside the top 25 in 19 starts at Richmond – placed 43rd in April 2014.

Aric Almirola

Makes Chase: By winning. If there is a repeat winner, finishing in the top 16 in Chase grid (currently 29 points behind 16th)

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 15.0

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 8th (April 2013)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 0

Note: Has never led a lap at Richmond in Sprint Cup.

Kasey Kahne

Makes Chase: By winning. If there is a repeat winner, finishing in the top 16 in the Chase grid (currently 31 points behind 16th)

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 14.4

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 6th (April 2015)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 0

Note: Has made Chase each of the past three seasons.

Greg Biffle

Makes Chase: By winning.

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 20.6

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 12th (Sept. 2013)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 0

Note: Has made the Chase each of the past three seasons.

Kyle Larson

Makes Chase: By winning

Average finish last 3 Richmond races: 13.0

Best finish in last 3 Richmond races: 11th (Sept. 2014)

Laps led in last 3 Richmond races: 0

Note: This will be his fourth career start at Richmond.

Austin Dillon

Makes Chase: By winning

Average finish last 3 Richmond races: 24.6

Best finish in last 3 Richmond races: 20th (Sept. 2014)

Laps led in last 3 Richmond races: 0

Note: This will be his fourth career start at Richmond.

AJ Allmendinger

Makes Chase: By winning

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 14.2

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 6th (April 2014)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 0

Note: Last chance to make Chase for a second consecutive year.

Casey Mears

Makes Chase: By winning

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 27.2

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 19th (April 2014)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 0

Note: Scored best finish of the year (sixth) in season-opening Daytona 500.

Danica Patrick

Makes Chase: By winning

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 26.8

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 16th (Sept. 2014)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 0

Note: Has best finish of 15th (Dover) in last 17 starts.

Tony Stewart

Makes Chase: By winning

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 20.6

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 4th (Sept. 2012)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 15

Note: On short tracks this year, has placed sixth (Bristol I), 19th (Bristol II), 20th (Martinsville I) and 41st (Richmond I).

David Ragan

Makes Chase: By winning

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 27.0

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 20th (April 2013)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 0

Note: Best finish since joining Michael Waltrip Racing in May is 12th at Daytona in July.

Sam Hornish Jr.

Makes Chase: By winning

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 23.6

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 8th (Sept. 2009)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 0

Note: Top-four finishes this season has either been on a restrictor-plate track or a road course.

Trevor Bayne

Makes Chase: By winning

Average finish in 1 Richmond race: 24.0

Best finish in 1 Richmond race: 24th (April 2015)

Laps led in 1 Richmond race: 0

Note: This is his second career start at Richmond.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Makes Chase: By winning

Average finish last 5 Richmond races: 23.6

Best finish in last 5 Richmond races: 10th (Sept. 2013)

Laps led in last 5 Richmond races: 0

Note: Has finished 30th or worse in four of the last six races.

Justin Allgaier

Makes Chase: By winning

Average finish last 3 Richmond races: 22.3

Best finish in last 3 Richmond races: 18th (April 2015)

Laps led in last 3 Richmond races: 0

Note: Most recent top-10 finish was an eighth at Bristol in the spring.

Rutledge Wood’s explanation of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which can be seen exclusively on NBC and NBCSN.

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Sunday Cup race at Sonoma Raceway: Start time, TV info, weather

By Dustin LongJun 10, 2023, 10:00 AM EDT

The Cup Series heads to wine country to compete on the 1.99-mile road course at Sonoma Raceway. This race leads into the final off weekend of the season. After the break, the series races 20 consecutive weekends. NBC and USA will broadcast those races.

Details for Sunday’s Cup race at Sonoma Raceway

(All times Eastern)

START: Adam Devine will give the command to start engines at 3:38 p.m. … The green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:50 p.m.

PRERACE: Cup garage opens at 12:30 p.m. … Drivers meeting is at 2:45 p.m. … Driver intros are at 3 p.m. … Earl Smith, pastor for the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers, will give the invocation at 3:30 p.m. … Tiffany Woys will perform the national anthem at 3:31 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 110 laps (218.9 miles) on the 1.99-mile road course.

STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 25. Stage 2 ends at Lap 55.

STARTING LINEUP: Qualifying begins at 6 p.m. Saturday

TV/RADIO: Fox will broadcast the race at 3:30 p.m. … Coverage begins at 2 p.m. on FS1 and switches to Fox at 3 p.m. … Performance Racing Network coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. and also will stream at goprn.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the PRN broadcast.

STREAMING: Fox Sports

FORECAST: Weather Underground — Partly cloudy with a high of 69 degrees and a 1% chance of rain at the start of the race.

LAST YEAR: Daniel Suarez won his first career Cup race last year at Sonoma. Chris Buescher finished second. Michael McDowell placed third.

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NASCAR Saturday schedule at Sonoma Raceway

By Dustin LongJun 10, 2023, 7:00 AM EDT

Cup and Xfinity teams will be on track Saturday at Sonoma Raceway.

Cup teams will practice and qualify for Sunday’s race. Xfinity teams will qualify and race Saturday on the 1.99-mile road course in Northern California.

Sonoma Raceway

Weather

Saturday: Mostly cloudy with a high of 75 degrees. Forecast is for mostly cloudy skies, a high of 71 degrees and no chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity race.

Saturday, June 10

(All times Eastern)

Garage open

12 p.m. – 8 p.m. — Cup Series
1 p.m. — Xfinity Series

Track activity

3 – 4 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying (FS1)
5 – 6 p.m. — Cup practice (FS2)
6 – 7 p.m. — Cup qualifying (FS2)
8 p.m. — Xfinity race (79 laps, 156.95 miles; FS1, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Alpha Prime Racing’s road woes don’t keep team from competing

By Dustin LongJun 9, 2023, 8:14 PM EDT

SONOMA, Calif. — Alpha Prime Racing owner Tommy Joe Martins laughs. He can. His Xfinity Series cars all are here at Sonoma Raceway.

At one point last week, it was not certain if his team’s cars would make it to Portland International Raceway.

“It was probably the toughest professional week I’ve had of my NASCAR career,” Martins told NBC Sports on Friday at Sonoma.

MORE: Kyle Larson leads Xfinity practice at Sonoma

The Alpha Prime Racing team had both its trucks break down and one of its haulers have mechanical issues last week on the way to the Pacific Northwest.

“We basically sent four pieces of equipment on the road and three of them broke,” Martins said.

For a time, the car Sage Karam is driving this weekend at Sonoma was left in a hauler in Kansas City because there wasn’t room in the dually Martins sent. It had room only for the car that was needed at Portland and other equipment. Karam’s car, which was to be a backup at Portland, was left behind.

“It’s a very helpless feeling when you feel like your stuff is stuck on the side of the road,” Martins said.

He still has one truck still in St. Louis and another in Oregon. Martins estimates the mechanical issues will cost his team about $50,000 when everything is totaled.

Trouble started well before the team left its Mooresville, North Carolina, race shop for Portland.

The Xfinity Series race at Charlotte was scheduled to run May 27. Rain forced that event to be rescheduled to May 29. Martins said the team had planned to send its trucks to Portland on May 28. With the race pushed back to the 29th, the travel schedule tightened.

It got worse.

After the Xfinity race started, rain came. With the Coca-Cola 600 scheduled for 3 p.m. ET that day – after being delayed by rain from Sunday – the rest of the Xfinity race was pushed back until after the 600. That further tightened the window on Xfinity teams to make it to Portland.

The Xfinity race ended around 11:30 p.m. ET on May 29. Alpha Prime Racing’s haulers left the shop around 6 a.m. ET on May 30.

The two trucks traveled together until issues in St. Louis.

The truck hauling the Nos. 44 and 45 cars had engine issues in St. Louis. The other truck kept going until it had mechanical issues with its hauler in Kansas City. The air bags on the hauler failed.

So, Alpha Prime Racing had a truck that worked in Kansas City with a hauler that didn’t and a truck that didn’t work in St. Louis with a hauler that did.

The truck in Kansas City went back to St. Louis to attach to the hauler and take those cars and equipment to Portland. Martins then had to find something to haul the stranded equipment in Kansas City and a driver. He eventually did. A dually left North Carolina for Kansas City. Once there, what fit in the dually was taken to Portland and what didn’t, including Karam’s Sonoma car stayed behind.

Yet, more trouble was headed for Martins and his team.

The truck that had gone back from Kansas City to St. Louis to take hauler that worked then broke down about 200 miles from Portland.

“I laugh knowing that we’re on the other side of it,” Martins said Friday of all the issues his team had transporting cars and equipment across the country.

“We’ve started to make plans and corrections for it not happening again,” he said.

That hauler that was left in Kansas City? It was repaired and transported to Sonoma, arriving earlier this week.

“Our guys are troopers,” Martins said. “Both of our (truck) drivers were just awesome about the whole thing. … They went through hell week as far as driving somewhere, fly back and pick something up, drive again and now are going to have to do the same thing getting back.”

When the garage opened Friday at Sonoma, Alpha Prime Racing had all its cars.

“I don’t think we had any major issues here, so that was good,” Martins said.

The focus is back on the track. Karam was 24th on the speed chart in Friday’s practice, leading Alpha Prime Racing’s effort. Dylan Lupton was 32nd. Jeffrey Earnhardt was last among 41 cars.

After Saturday night’s race, the team heads back to North Carolina for a well-earned weekend off.

Kyle Larson leads Xfinity practice at Sonoma

By Dustin LongJun 9, 2023, 5:45 PM EDT

SONOMA, Calif. — Kyle Larson posted the fastest lap in Friday’s Xfinity Series practice at Sonoma Raceway.

This is the first time the series has raced at the 1.99-mile road course in Northern California. Teams got 50 minutes of practice Friday.

Larson led the way with a lap of 90.392 mph. He was more than a second faster than the rest of the field.

MORE: Xfinity practice results Sonoma

Sheldon Creed was second on the speed chart with a lap of 89.066 mph. He was followed by AJ Allmendinger (89.052 mph), Cole Custer (89.020) and Ty Gibbs (88.989).

Larson, Allmendinger and Gibbs are among seven Cup drivers are entered in the Xfinity race. Aric Almirola was seventh on the speed chart with a lap of 88.750 mph. Ross Chastain was ninth with a lap of 88.625 mph. Daniel Suarez was 16th with a lap of 88.300 mph. Ty Dillon was 33rd with a lap of 86.828 mph.

Anthony Alfredo will go to a backup car after a crash in practice. He was uninjured in the incident that damaged the right side of his car.

Qualifying is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET Saturday. The race is scheduled to begin at 8:20 p.m. ET Saturday.

Details for Sunday’s Cup race at Sonoma Raceway

(All times Eastern)

CATCH UP ON NBC SPORTS COVERAGE:

Read more about NASCAR

Sonoma Raceway

Weather

Saturday, June 10

(All times Eastern)

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MORE: Kyle Larson leads Xfinity practice at Sonoma

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