Drivers rave about Richmond, still recognize track's challenges
By Jared Turner - SceneDaily Staff Writer
Thursday, September 04, 2008
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For Virginia natives Denny Hamlin and Elliott Sadler, Richmond International Raceway is home turf. To others, it's an opportunity to make one last run toward the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup. And to just about everyone, it seems, Richmond is a fun place to race.
Thus the tradition of heaping praise on the .75-mile hardtop continues heading into Saturday night’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400.
"This is hands-down my favorite place to race,” said Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin, who grew up in nearby Chesterfield, Va. “In addition to being close to home and holding some great memories for me as a fan and as a driver, it's just a great race track, and everyone who comes to watch sees a good, close race.”
And Saturday night’s 400-lap affair should be no different as three drivers – Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer, Roush Fenway Racing’s David Ragan and Gillett Evernham Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne – are entrenched in a tight battle for the final spot in the championship-determining field.
Drivers say there could be no more fitting host to the last event of the 26-race regular season than Richmond.
“I just think for the teams, for the fans and for everybody that it takes to make this sport work, it’s the best all-around track,” said RCR's Jeff Burton. “Richmond has good racing action. It’s big enough where it’s not wreck after wreck, but small enough where it’s close
side-by-side action since you have multiple grooves. To me, it’s a really hard race track to beat competition-wise. I take a lot of pride in running well at Richmond.”
Richmond’s size – it’s bigger than Martinsville and Bristol but smaller than the 1-mile Dover and New Hampshire – and D-shaped configuration have led some to deem it the quintessential short track.
The fact that its corners are wide enough to accommodate a considerable amount of passing for a short track, doesn’t hurt, either.
“They’ve done an amazing job with the transitions into the corners so you can run side by side,” said Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson, who swept the two annual Richmond races last season. “Yes, you’re a little tight especially off of [Turn] 2, but it’s kind of what a D-shaped race track will deal. They’ve done a great job working this track, and it’s always been one of my favorites and for fans and drivers for years.”
But Richmond’s popularity doesn’t mean that drivers and teams fail to recognize its potential hazards. Good track position – and therefore a good starting spot – is typically critical to a strong run. Bowyer, who overcame a 31st-place starting spot to win at Richmond in the spring, was a rare exception to that rule.
“We have room to pass there, but qualifying will be very important on Friday for us in regards to track position during the race,” said Yates Racing’s David Gilliland.
Starting near the back elevates the risk of being caught up in a multicar accident like the one that collected 11 drivers in the May Richmond race. One of the keys to being in front of such carnage is a car that handles well at both ends of the track, which have distinctly different features.
Accelerating off the corners without losing rear grip is the key to going fast.
“The toughest part of getting around Richmond is the apex of Turn 1 and 2,” said Chip Bolin, crew chief for Roush Fenway Racing’s Matt Kenseth. “You have to have the front tires working together through this part of the track, so you don't lose time waiting on the car to turn. If the car is too tight, it will snap loose on exit here and hurt even more than just being too free to go fast.
“Turns 3 and 4 are typically freer than 1 and 2, so it's important to keep good forward drive in the car up off of Turn 4 so that guys can't get by you coming down front stretch into Turn 1.”
Even on nights when the track proves unkind, there are few drivers with an unkind word about Richmond.
“We need more tracks like Richmond on the schedule,” Petty Enterprises’ Bobby Labonte said. “There is no doubt that it’s one of the most exciting tracks that we go to. It just promotes good, hard racing.”
Comments
1 response to "Drivers rave about Richmond, still recognize track's challenges"
Sean Doyle said:
Sep 4, 2008 at 3:16 PMI second Bobby Labonte's thoughts! The new track in Millville, NJ is supposed to be a 3/4 mile tri-oval similar to Richmond. Here's hoping this new track can attract a Sprint Cup race of its own.
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