Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports
Saturday night the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will compete in the Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond International Raceway. This will be the final race before the chase and is sure to be filled with plenty of action and drama. When the green flag drops there will be two spots in the chase up for grabs with 19 different drivers vying to clinch their spot in the 2014 chase.
Beyond The Flag will be providing readers with live race coverage, updates and analysis throughout the race Saturday night. Be sure to following this article for the latest news from the track and continuous updates on who is in the chase. For new updates simply refresh this page.
Our live coverage will begin shortly before the green flag which is expected to wave around 7:43 PM ET.
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The green Flag is about to wave at RIR! Lets go racing!
Lap 34 – Running Order: 2, 4, 24, 15 and 22.
Lap 36 – Ryan Newman is running in 11th and looking good for the chase early on.
Lap 39 – Harvick has caught Keselowski and is looking for the lead!
Lap 43 – Biffle is running in the top-15 and is looking food for the chase assuming that there isn’t a new winner besides Newman or Kenseth.
LEAD CHANGE: Harvick to the lead!
Lap 47 – Only 28 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 49 – Competition Caution is coming.
CAUTION: Competition Caution is out at Lap 51
Lap 52 – Race off of pit road: 2, 15, 4, 24 and 1.
Lap 52 – Bowyer has looked good in the first 50 laps, if Bowyer wins tonight it shifts the pressure to Biffle and could knock Biffle out of the chase.
Green Flag!
Lap 59 – Gordon and Bowyer struggle on the restart!
Lap 63 – Running Order: 2, 4, 1, 15, 24, 20, 22, 42, 11 and 48.
Lap 68 – There are 29 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 71 – Newman and Biffle currently hold the final spots in the chase as Keselowski leads the race.
Lap 79 – Marcos Ambrose and Martin Truex Jr. are cars of note that are down a lap.
Lap 82 – McMurray, Bowyer and Gordon are bunched up for third place but they are almost 4 seconds behind the leaders.
Lap 85 – Bowyer moves up to 3rd. Earnhardt Jr. is up to 11th and Larson has fallen to 12th.
Lap 88 – Gordon has passed McMurray for 4th as Larson is about to fall to 13th.
Lap 91 – Running Order: 2, 4, 15, 24, 1, 22, 11, 31, 41 and 20.
Lap 92 – Gordon says he can smell oil and that someone is leaking gear oil.
Lap 96 – Harvick has caught Keselowski as more reports of oil are coming forward.
Lap 100 – There are 26 cars on the lead lap. The race has been pretty boring thus far.
Lap 107 – Keselowski has some tire wear issues right now but he has a nice lead.
Lap 109 – Bowyer and McMurray are the only winless drivers in the top-10.
Lap 112 – Rain is still pretty far off and is not moving quickly, not a threat at the moment.
Lap 117 – Leaders are in a lot of traffic right now.
Lap 119 – Only 23 cars are on the lead lap.
LEAD CHANGE: Harvick to the lead!
Lap 122 – Kenseth gets into the wall, no caution.
Lap 123 – Kenseth is forced to pit.
CAUTION – DEBRIS and Kenseth will not be happy about this.
Lap 124 – 20 cars on the lead lap as the field heads to pit road under caution.
Lap 126 – Keselowski wins the race off of pit road followed by Gordon and Harvick.
Lap 130 – There will be 21 cars on the lead lap when we go green. Newman (6th) Biffle (14th) Bowyer (5th) Larson (12th)
GREEN FLAG!!
Lap 134- Keselowski shoots to the lead as Harvick tries to track down Gordon.
Lap 138 – JJ Yeley and Matt Kenseth are the only cars not on the track. Yeley is done for the night and Kenseth is getting repaired. All good news for Newman.
Lap 140 – Biffle is running 15th. Larson is looking good and up to 8th.
Lap 144 – Biffle needs to sat above the 22nd position which is looking good with only 21 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 147 – Keselowski continues to lead Gordon and Harvick. It will be interesting to see if Gordon and Harvick can come to the front once tire wear sets in like Harvick has done twice already.
Lap 152 – Larson is moving backwards again and Harvick has fallen 1.5 seconds behind Gordon but is still in 3rd.
Lap 155 – Running Order: 2, 24, 4, 1, 15, 41, 22, 31, 48 and 88.
Lap 160 – Harvick battling a tight machine.
Lap 163 – Larson charged up to 8th after the restart but has since fallen back to 12th with continued handling issues.
Lap 168 – Keselowski is approaching that point where his tires have started falling off in the previous runs. Gordon is 1.4 back and Harvick is 2.3 back.
Lap 173 – There are still 21 cars on the lead lap but Keselowski is approaching the back of the pack of lead lap cars.
Lap 176 – Stewart is the biggest mover of the night, up a whopping five spots since the start of the race.
Lap 180 – Halfway is coming with Keselowski leading and the rain is still a long way out.
Lap 183 – Edwards goes a lap down which leaves 20 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 187 – Harvick is beginning to catch Gordon for 2nd place. Biffle is currently 17th and Danica Patrick is 15th with only 20 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 194 – Dillon is in trouble of going a lap down.
Lap 200 – Halfway – Earnhardt Jr. is reporting a vibration as Keselowski leads.
Lap 202 – Biffle is in trouble if going a lap down.
Lap 205 – Biffles goes a lap down as green flag stops are beginning.
Lap 209 – Keselowski is about to lap Patrick which will make life harder for Biffle.
Lap 212 – Hamlin and Patrick go down a lap leaving only 14 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 215 – Kyle Busch goes down a lap.
Lap 219 – Busch pits and kicks of the green flag stops.
Lap 225 – A caution in the next 5-10 laps would truly shuffle things up.
Lap 229 – Logano and Biffle are in!
Lap 230 – Kurt Busch and Earnhardt Jr. are done with the 88 having a long stop. Bowyer and Newman are in.
Lap 233 – Keselowski, Gordon and McMurray are in!
Lap 237 – Dillon and Larson are running 14th and 15th and fighting to stay on the lead lap!
Lap 239 – Dillon is now a lap down in 15th and Larson is hanging onto the lead lap in 14th. Harvick is up to 2nd.
Lap 245 – LOOOOOONG green flag run is still happening with Keselowski leading Harvick, Bowyer and Gordon.
Lap 247 – Biffle is now in 20th and things might be getting uncomfortable with Bowyer in 3rd and Larson still on the lead lap.
Lap 254 – Larson is about to go down a lap and Stewart is in trouble as well.
Lap 257 – Harvick has faded some but still in 2nd place. Gordon is catching Bowyer for 3rd place.
Lap 261 – Harvick is falling into the clutches of Bowyer and Gordon.
CAUTION – debris, huge break for Larson who as able to stay on the lead lap!
Lap 263 – 2, 4, 15 and 24 is the race off of pit road.
Lap 264 – No. 43 gets the free pass and there will be 15 cars on the lead lap on the restart. Biffle is 20th.
GREEN FLAG!
Lap 272 – Bowyer is up to 2nd place.
Lap 275 – Larson is up to 6th place and Bowyer is 2nd and Biffle is 20th and could be in trouble.
Lap 280 – The gap between Biffle and Bowyer is five points but Bowyer is in second and Biffle can only fall to 22nd as 23rd place is two laps down. Bowyer might need to win to make the chase.
Lap 284 – Gordon makes contact with Harvick. Tells his spotter to say sorry to Harvick and that he didn’t mean it.
Lap 297 – McMurray is climbing the field as he is up to 4th.
Lap 300 – Running Order: 2, 15, 24, 1, 4, 22, 31, 42, 41 and 88.
Lap 305 – Gordon is slowly catching Bowyer for 2nd place and Harvick is back to 4th.
Lap 310 – Gordon has caught Biffle now as Keselowski leads by over a second.
Lap 313 – 15 cars on the lead lap and Patrick is in the lucky dog spot.
Lap 320 – Biffle is up to 19th has Hamlin has fallen two laps down. It’s looking like Biffle and Newman will make the chase unless something happens in these final 80 laps.
Lap 327 – Gordon is up to second and Bowyer needs to find a way to win this race to make the chase.
CAUTION – fan trying to climb the catch fence.
Lap 331 – Race off of pit road goes 2, 24, 15, 1 4, 22, 31, 42, 41 and 88. Patrick is back on the lead lap running 16th.
Well this isn’t very smart.
Sir, this isn't your smartest move. RT @AliciaPRNradio: Man on top of catch fence @RIRInsider pic.twitter.com/RBgiP84v9Y
— RCR (@RCRracing) September 7, 2014
Lap 336 – Kes says he can manage the 24 but needs help to know where the 15 car is.
Lap 341 – Running Order: 2, 24, 15, 4, 1, 22, 42, 31, 41 and 88
Lap 344 – Johnson climbs into the top-10 as he passes Earnhardt Jr.
Lap 351 – Keselowski leads Gordon by 1.9 seconds.
Lap 356 – Newman and Kenseth are just over 40 laps away from making the 2014 chase, Keselowski is looking to clinch the No. 1 seed.
Lap 365 – Running Order: 2, 24, 15, 4 and 1.
Lap 367 – Gordon is better than Keselowski in traffic and the gap is down to 1.7 seconds with 33 to go.