Richmond Toyota Owners 400 Race Review

Pit strategies start playing out as Kurt Busch and Edwards decide to stay out, although they do fake coming in, while the rest come to pit row. Controversy then erupts when Kyle Busch is penalised for commitment line violations. The entrance to pit row usually has an orange cone that cars must be to the right of when entering pit row, but RIR doesn’t have a cone instead having an orange square painted on the ground. Drivers were told in the briefing earlier that they must have at least two tyres on or inside the square and it appears from first glance that Kyle came into the pits too late and didn’t get his tyres on the square and therefore would have to serve a pass through penalty. But an argument then ensues between NASCAR and the 18 team, with Busch stating that in the briefing they were told that only the left side tyres had to hit the square. On very slow motion replays it appears that his tyres may just have caught the outside edge of the square and therefore his penalty is rescinded and he  restarts in 6th. However his luck didn’t carry over to the restart as he quickly falls to fourth, while the front two of 78 and 99 remained static.

Apr 27, 2013; Richmond, VA, USA; Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart (14) wrecks with Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) during the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Only five laps later Kyle’s bad luck continues when Tony Stewart spins while running inside Johnson and causing him too spin, leaving Busch with nowhere to go except into the front of the 48. More strategies then play out as although Kurt Busch won the race off pit row the top 6 stayed out and on the restart the order is, Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Truex, Mark Martin and Keselowski. The 42 and 29 battle it out for the lead but not for long as Kasey Kahne and Martin have a coming together spinning Martin who then gets hit by Vickers and out comes caution number nine. Harvick takes advantage of the caution to come to pit row for four fresh tyres but in doing so falls outside of the top 10. No issues for Montoya at the restart but the same can’t be said for Truex Jr who gets punted out of second place by the 78 and for the tenth time today the yellow flags are out. Montoya again eases away at the restart with the 78 in hot pursuit. Slightly further down the field Harvick is making his four tyres count as 15 laps after restart he is back up into third.

This is Montoya’s 226th oval race and he has never won on one and as it stands he is comfortable out front. With 19 laps to go Harvick catches Busch and finds a way round him but even with his fresh tyres it doesn’t look like Harvick will have enough laps to catch the 42. With nine laps to go Montoya’s lead is 0.6 seconds and it looks good for him but this is NASCAR and nothing is ever that simple as with only six laps to go Vickers hits the wall and brings out a caution. With only a handful of laps to go it will be a green white chequered finish. But before we get there the leaders come to pit row and the 42 and 29 will restart 6th and 7th respectively. The top three are now Jeff Burton, Jamie McMuray and AJ Allmendinger but their tyres are 60 laps older and will have a fight to retain those positions. Sure enough the restart sees an amazing start from Harvick who makes his fresher tyres count as he goes round the outside of everyone in front of him and into the lead. There is no stopping him with one lap to go and after only leading two laps the entire race ‘The Closer’ takes his 20th career victory.

Apr 27, 2013; Richmond, VA, USA; Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick (29) celebrates winning the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

There was some muttering early on in the race from fans and drivers alike that passing was difficult and that the cars weren’t working as well in dirty air as they had on other tracks. But by the end I think everybody’s view had changed by the end of the race. We saw cars easily moving up through the pack, Keselowski, Johnson, Edwards etc as well as battles for the lead once the teams had got to grips with the correct set up for the changing conditions. In short it was your typical short track race with plenty of banging, barging with tempers getting heated. I just wish NASCAR would introduce more of them.