Richmond International Raceway’s Toyota Owner’s 400 is set to go off on Sunday, April 24th at 1 PM, E.T. on FOX. Kevin Harvick will start on the pole position because of his fastest time in the first round of practices. The order the cars are set was by the fastest times throughout Friday’s practice due to rain that cancelled qualifying. Matt Kenseth won the last race at this venue in the fall.
Six-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson was the quickest in the second and final practice before the race on Sunday. Johnson will be starting in the third spot from his prior practice run just ahead of the #22 Pennzoil Ford Fusion driven by Joey Logano. The #48 Lowes Chevrolet has found its way to victory lane on three different occasions at Richmond International Raceway, but the last time was eight years ago.
Joey Logano will be sitting in the second spot when the green flag is waved. Logano has shown considerable speed in both of the practice runs including the second fastest behind the #4 Jimmy Johns hot-rod of Kevin Harvick. Logano tasted victory lane here in the spring race in 2014.
Previous race winner Carl Edwards is starting in the fourth spot. The #19 Xfinity Toyota was the fifth fastest in the second round of practices and fourth in the first. Edwards has been hot of late and I fully expect him to be towards the front of the field throughout the race. The talented Joe Gibbs Racing driver won this event in the fall of 2013.
Denny Hamlin, another Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, will start right behind Carl Edwards. It’s once again obvious that the dominate team that “Coach” Gibbs has put together is once again sharing info and showing similar speeds. The Daytona 500 victor has proven to be a force throughout the young season and has won at Richmond International Raceway twice before. I would not be surprised to see the #11 FEDEX Toyota Camry competing for the win in the final stages of the race on Sunday.
Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano’s teammate, is slated in the six spot for the beginning of the race. Keselowski won here at Richmond International Raceway, in the fall of 2013 and was quick in both practices that he participated in over the weekend. The #2 Thomas Built Buses Ford Fusion should be a factor if he can team up with Logano to fend off the stable of Joe Gibbs Racing studs.
Kevin Harvick’s teammate, Kurt Busch, will be charging from the seventh spot. Busch has to be considered a favorite to reach the top spot by the race’s end. Busch has recently shined at Richmond Internal Speedway. The #41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet has crossed the finish line in first two times, the most recent being last years spring race.
Jimmie Johnson’s teammate and fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kasey Kahne will look to build on his best finish of the year last week at Bristol. The short track enthusiast will be taking off in the eighth position next to Kurt Bush. Kahne has tasted victory here in the spring of 2015 and has displayed top ten speed during the two practices this weekend.
NASCAR standout and defending champion Kyle Busch is lurking around the top ten once again in ninth. Busch has won at Richmond International Raceway on four different occasions and has got to be a top choice to drive to victory circle for the fifth time. Not only has the #18 M&M Toyota been dominate at every event this year he especially has excelled at the flatter oval like Richmond. He will be in one of my four NASCAR lottery A driver slots for the contest.
A.J. Allmendinger has drove his way back in to the top ten starting spots in the tenth slot. Allmendinger is a talented road course driver that is showing signs of being competitive at all the racing venues. The Kroger/Bush Beans Chevrolet driver finished in 24th last year in the fall but has seemed to find the necessary adjustments to improve his lap times. As a “B” driver for this race race, Allmendinger is certainly an option for a top ten finish if he can keep out of trouble.
Running Order for the Toyota Owner’s 400:
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick |
Chevy | Busch Light |
129.069 |
| 2 | 22 | Joey Logano |
Ford | Shell Penzoil |
128.694 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson |
Chevy | Lowe’s Pro Services |
128.187 |
| 4 | 19 | Carl Edwards |
Toyota | Xfinity | 128.181 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin |
Toyota | FedEx Ground |
128.156 |
| 6 | 2 | Brad Keselowski |
Ford | Thomas Built Buses |
128.011 |
| 7 | 41 | Kurt Busch |
Chevy | Monster Energy/ Haas Automation |
127.799 |
| 8 | 5 | Kasey Kahne |
Chevy | Mountain Dew |
127.334 |
| 9 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Banfield | 127.298 |
| 10 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger |
Chevy | Kroger/ Bush’s Beans |
127.22 |
| 11 | 3 | Austin Dillon |
Chevy | AAA | 127.208 |
| 12 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr |
Ford | Fifth Third Bank Ford Fusion |
125.517 |
| 13 | 20 | Matt Kenseth |
Toyota | Dollar General |
125.307 |
| 14 | 31 | Ryan Newman |
Chevy | Grainger | 124.913 |
| 15 | 42 | Kyle Larson |
Chevy | Target | 124.861 |
| 16 | 6 | Trevor Bayne |
Ford | Advocare Ford Fusion |
124.775 |
| 17 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Chevy | Mountain Dew |
124.775 |
| 18 | 14 | Tony Stewart |
Chevy | Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy |
124.7 |
| 19 | 16 | Greg Biffle |
Ford | Cheez-It Ford Fusion |
124.527 |
| 20 | 44 | Brian Scott |
Ford | Albertsons Co./ Shore Lodge |
124.516 |
| 21 | 10 | Danica Patrick |
Chevy | Nature’s Bakery |
124.487 |
| 22 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr |
Toyota | Furniture Row |
124.481 |
| 23 | 24 | Chase Elliott |
Chevy | Mountain Dew |
124.464 |
| 24 | 43 | Aric Almirola |
Ford | Smithfield | 124.064 |
| 25 | 13 | Casey Mears |
Chevy | GEICO | 123.734 |
| 26 | 27 | Paul Menard |
Chevy | Duracell/ Menards |
123.598 |
| 27 | 1 | Jamie McMurray |
Chevy | Credit One Bank |
123.553 |
| 28 | 38 | Landon Cassill |
Ford | The Pete Store |
123.125 |
| 29 | *21 | Ryan Blaney |
Ford | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire + Auto Center |
122.566 |
| 30 | 23 | David Ragan |
Toyota | sweetFrog | 122.266 |
| 31 | *30 | Josh Wise |
Chevy | Curtis Key Plumbing |
121.995 |
| 32 | 95 | Michael McDowell |
Chevy | WRL General Contractors |
121.99 |
| 33 | 34 | Chris Buescher |
Ford | A&W All American Food |
121.891 |
| 34 | 7 | Regan Smith |
Chevy | APC Chrevrolet |
121.496 |
| 35 | *55 | Reed Sorenson |
Chevy | Champion Machinery.com |
121.25 |
| 36 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto |
Toyota | E.J. Wade Construction |
121.131 |
| 37 | *93 | Ryan Ellis |
Toyota | Science Logic |
120.182 |
| 38 | *98 | Cole Whitt |
Chevy | TBA | 119.66 |
| 39 | 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt |
Ford | Corvette Parts.net |
119.458 |
| 40 | 15 | Clint Bowyer |
Chevy | 5-Hour Energy |
117.842 |
| 41 | 46 | Michael Annett |
Chevy | Pilot Flying J |
0 |
The Hun’s Fantasy Line-Up:
A: Jimmie Johnson
B: Austin Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray
C: Tony Stewart
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