Though Chase field is nearly set, top contenders say Richmond remains crucial to playoff race
Jeff Burton (31), here racing with teammate Kevin Harvick (29) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. earlier this year, says it is in the best interest of teams already in the Chase to not look past Saturday night's Richmond event.
// LaDon George, NASCAR Illustrated
RICHMOND, Va. – Ten drivers are locked into the Chase regardless of where they finish Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.
Greg Biffle is practically locked in, having to finish only 42nd or better in the 43-car field. Clint Bowyer needs to finish just 28th or better to wrap up the 12th and final spot in NASCAR's Chase For The Sprint Cup.
So the Chase drivers will take it easy Saturday night, running a conservative race, staying out of trouble and waiting until next week to turn it up a notch, right?
No. Far from it.
Jeff Burton, who currently is sixth in the standings, is approaching Saturday’s Air Guard 400 like the Chase has already started.
“We come here in championship mode,” Burton said Friday at Richmond. “Three weeks ago, we got together and said our championship needs to start here, the race we were at that week, and I view this race as an [extension] of the next 10.
“We’ve got to go into this race with championship in mind, go and try to win the race and get into that mindset.”
Most drivers believe getting off to a good start in the Chase is crucial. Running well next week at New Hampshire can set the tone for a strong run in the Chase.
“If you run well for the first five races and then you go to Talladega and struggle you’ll have a cushion built up. You want to always try to build a cushion as big as you can,” Chase driver Kyle Busch said. “You don’t want to start from behind. For me, I feel like it’s really important to come out of the gate strong and to run well.”
Burton insists that he doesn’t believe in momentum, but he does believe in racing every race like it is the most important of the season.
And that applies to the final race before the Chase, he said.
“I don’t believe it is in your best interest to turn it off this weekend because, in theory, it doesn’t count,” he said. “I believe it’s in our best interest to turn it up and be on kill when practice starts today so we can continue that in the next 10 weeks.
“We need to leave here feeling good about it. It’s important to start off the playoffs in the right mindset and the right speed.”
Burton said running well at Richmond is crucial for another reason as well. The flat, short track is similar to three other tracks in the Chase – New Hampshire, Phoenix and Martinsville.
“You’ve got three races like this track that you can learn a lot to apply, so it’s an important race from that factor,” Burton said.
Greg Biffle said he believes that’s particularly important for his Roush Fenway Racing team, which tends to struggle on flat short tracks.
“We are going to use this race to try to test and tune and figure some stuff out,” Biffle said. “This is the first we have had this new front suspension package on a short track really other than Bristol. Hopefully, we can learn something here that we can take to [New Hampshire] next week and Phoenix.
“Hopefully, this Richmond race track will give us some answers on our short-track program going forward. Martinsville is a big question mark for us in the Chase. We will see if this package works well there, too.”
