Second Cup outing a big one for Richardson
Bob Pockrass
Bob Pockrass began covering NASCAR in 1992, primarily covering short-track racing and events. He has worked for Street & Smith's Motorsports Group since 2003.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Robert Richardson Jr. has the dubious honor of being the driver with the least Sprint Cup experience in the Daytona 500.
Would it help his cause if he wore a shirt that said, “In my one Cup start, I finished 18th in the Tommy Baldwin car last October at Talladega!”
Probably not.
Richardson is driving for Front Row Motorsports in the first three restrictor-plate races while David Gilliland will be behind the wheel of the No. 38 car the rest of the season. Other than the three Cup events, Richardson will concentrate on the Nationwide Series. Driving for his family owned R3 Motorsports, Richardson has had 46 Nationwide starts over the last three years.
“Last year it was, I guess, kind of unexpected with the Talladega race and Tommy Baldwin,” Richardson said. “You run with all the Cup guys in the Nationwide Series, but there are some Cup guys I have not had an opportunity to run with yet. David Reutimann helped me out a lot during the Cup race at Talladega and other guys I run with on a regular basis helped me out.
“I’ll just try to keep those relationships going and hope they will come into use in the Daytona 500.”
It hasn’t been an easy week for the 27-year-old Richardson, who finished 23rd in his qualifying race Thursday.
“We’re still plugging away and trying to get the car handling a little bit better,” said Richardson, who spent a year as a backup quarterback on the football squad at Southern Methodist University in 2000 before turning his attention to racing. “We’re fighting kind of a tight-loose condition, which means the car is pushing in the corner and the more steering input I put in the corner the car snaps loose.”
Obviously, Richardson hopes there’s more Daytona 500s in his future.
“It’s your first Daytona 500, and you only get one opportunity for your first Daytona 500,” Richardson said. “We’re going to try to make the most of it.”
