Sprint Cup 2012: Race 9 - Richmond Racing - NASCAR Competition at its Best

Is there a track on the Sprint Cup circuit that provides a more balanced test of race teams and drivers while also providing a better experience for fans than Richmond? As the only ¾ mile track, the elements of short track racing are evident, but with a long back straightaway, there is likewise a strong speed element where in the course of one lap drivers have two completely different challenges working through the turns versus the long straight all out challenge. All elements come into play – track position, fuel mileage and car conservation, beating and banging, plus all out speed. The shorter diameter also puts fans right on top of the action with short track intimacy. While new tracks have generally settled on the 1 ½ mile format, Rusty Wallace certainly had different ideas in mind building his track in Iowa which is close to Richmond’s design?

While the September Richmond race draws much attention as it is the final race which determines which drivers make the chase, let’s not shortchange the spring race. Tonight’s race begins a stretch of events which truly begin to define the shape of the season’s competition with upcoming events Talladega, Darlington, Charlotte and Dover forthcoming, each of the next five races have unique challenges before the heat of summer sets in in Mid-June.

Mark Martin sits on the pole showing no signs he’s about to give in to his age. Any time Martin does well, the fans relish the feat in joy. While Carl Edwards, whose season has not found its groove, seeks to right things for the long haul on the outside pole. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick (3^rd) and Kyle Busch (5^th) seek to get their seasons in gear where a top five finish or win would show that they are forces to contend with for the battle that awaits on this same track in September. Both are among today’s current drivers’ best achievers in this Sweet Virginia arena. Naturally, the buzz gets louder when Rick Hendrick’s operation will triumph with its 200^th win having not seen victory lane since Jimmy Johnson won last fall in Kansas. Jeff Gordon’s season has been miserable so far while Hendrick newcomer, Kasey Kahne has fallen far short of expectations. Their top ten starting spots certainly bode well for their chance to advance. Meanwhile, series points leader, Greg Biffle, did himself no favors starting in 28^th.

Weather could be a factor tonight. Temperatures will be in the mid 50’s with an intermittent chance of showers. For fans’ and TV viewers’ sake, let’s hope the race does not endure long red flag moisture stoppages.

Another factor which is increasingly becoming obvious is there is far too much clutter in the field of competition. This column ran a year long crusade against the insane practice of allowing “start and park” entries. The same old villains are at it again. However, on top of those embarrassing entries, there are several other teams that simply are not competitive nor appear to be engaged in a growth strategy to become competitive. There is no magic to maintaining a 43 car starting lineup and certainly on a shorter track like Richmond, having the top contenders shuffle through the junk takes away from serious racing with good car-to-car competition.

Here is tonight’s starting lineup:

POS		CAR		DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	SPEED
1		55		Mark Martin	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	128.327
2		99		Carl Edwards	Ford	Ford EcoBoost	128.290
3		29		Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches	128.041
4		22		AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	Shell / Pennzoil	127.962
5		18		Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M's Ms. Brown	127.956
6		24		Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	127.750
7		11		Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Freight	127.732
8		56		Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	NAPA Brakes	127.678
9		5		Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	Farmers Insurance	127.593
10		88		Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew	127.545
11		43		Aric Almirola	Ford	Smithfield "Helping Hungry Homes"	127.455
12		39		Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	U.S. Army Reserve	127.395
13		51		Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	Phoenix Construction Services	127.328
14		9		Marcos Ambrose	Ford	Stanley	127.280
15		78		Regan Smith	Chevrolet	Furniture Row / Farm American	127.209
16		2		Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Miller Lite	126.993
17		36		Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	SealWrap	126.963
18		20		Joey Logano	Toyota	The Home Depot	126.915
19		47		Bobby Labonte	Toyota	Bush's Baked Beans	126.892
20		42		Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	126.820
21		83		Landon Cassill	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper	126.796
22		14		Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Mobil 1 / Office Depot	126.749
23		15		Clint Bowyer	Toyota	5-hour Energy	126.695
24		17		Matt Kenseth	Ford	Ford EcoBoost	126.683
25		98		Michael McDowell	Ford	Curb Records	126.612
26		13		Casey Mears	Ford	GEICO	126.487
27		48		Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	126.464
28		16		Greg Biffle	Ford	3M "Give Kids A Smile"	126.428
29		93		Travis Kvapil	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper	126.351
30		31		Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	BB&T	126.121
31		27		Paul Menard	Chevrolet	NIBCO / Menards	126.121
32		26		Josh Wise*	Ford	Morristown Driver's Service	126.103
33		10		David Reutimann	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	126.033
34		30		David Stremme	Toyota	Inception Motorsports	125.980
35		87		Joe Nemechek	Toyota	AMFMEnergy.com	125.886
36		195		Scott Speed	Ford	Tommy Williams Drywall	125.839
37		1		Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	McDonald's	125.669
38		34		David Ragan	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	125.564
39		119		Mike Bliss	Toyota	Humphrey Smith Racing	125.319
40		33		Stephen Leicht	Chevrolet	Little Joes A	125.151
						utos.com / Link-Belt
41		38		David Gilliland	Ford	Long John Silver's	124.481
42		32		Reed Sorenson+	Ford	Virginia Faith & Freedom Coalition	124.395
43		74		Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	Turn One Racing	124.636
Did Not Qualify
44		23		Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe	123.813
45		249		J.J. Yeley	Toyota	America Israel Racing	122.560
+ Set by Owner Points