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NASCAR Pre-Race Primer: Toyota Owners 400 From Richmond

By Christopher Olmstead

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Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Every week Beyond The Flag will present the NASCAR Pre-Race Primer which will have a handful of fun factoids that will help you prepare for the upcoming race. This Saturday the circuit is heading to the Richmond International Raceway for the Toyota Owners  400.

The race can be seen live on FOX with coverage beginning at 6:30 PM ET. The green flag is expected to wave at approximately 7:14 PM ET. Last season Kevin Harvick found his was to victory lane during this event. NASCAR drivers should be fresh and ready to go as they come into this weekend having had last weekend off from the track. Two weeks ago in Darlington we saw the streak of consecutive different winners snapped with Harvick won for the second time in 2014. Harvick may be a favorite again this week seeing as how he is the defending winner of this event. This will be the first time that NASCAR has returned to Richmond since the pre-chase drama of 2013. For those that don’t remember Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. tried to play the system and change the outcome of the race and it screwed Jeff Gordon who NASCAR eventually let into the chase anyways. Well, that was 2013 and none of that matters in 2014 because of the new chase system.

Fun Factoids about Richmond International Raceway:

  • Lee Petty won the first NASCAR race at Richmond in 1953.
  • Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with six poles at Richmond.
  • Brian Vickers is the youngest pole winner (20) and Mark Martin is the oldest (53).
  • Kyle Busch leads all active drivers in Richmond victories with four.
  • Almost 80 percent of all Richmond races have been won from a top-10 starting spot.
  • In 2008 Clint Bowyer won after starting 31st, that’s the deepest a driver has ever won from.
  • Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in Richmond top-five and top-10 finishes with 16 and 26 respectively.
  • Jeff Gordon also has the best average starting position at the track with a 7.643
  • Kyle Busch has the best average finishing position with a 7.222
  • 2008 and 2013 were the only times Richmond has a green-white-checkered finish.
  • Dave Blaney has run 26 races at Richmond and never won.
  • The best female finish at the track is 12th place and that came in 1977. Danica Patrick’s best finish is 29th.

It’s been a few weeks since Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski had their on-track battle. Under the lights on a short track it’s easy to “accidentally” get into someone, with that in mind it will be interesting to see if Busch returns any favors to Keselowski. The likes of Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and the current points leader Jeff Gordon are all without a win heading into this event. Richmond will also be an opportunity for drivers like Kasey Kahne to attempt to start turning their seasons around. One last wrinkle heading into this race is Cole Whitt and Parker Kligerman. With the future of Swan Racing in doubt the odds of either of those drivers running this race have dropped dramatically.

Be sure to check back with Beyond The Flag for Qualifying Results.

Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.

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