Richmond 400 Race Preview

Written by Gabriel Tsui, Edited by Meghana Sree

Credit - Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images

As we approach the final five weeks of NASCAR racing, the field heads to Richmond, Virginia for 400 laps of racing. After an anti-climatic and controversial end to the race in Pocono Raceway, with Denny Hamlin winning the race in caution, will NASCAR fans see the same amount of exciting racing in Richmond?

Track Preview

The Richmond Raceway is located in Richmond, Virginia, and is a comparatively shorter track with a length of 0.75 miles (1.2 kilometres). This same racetrack held the Toyota Owners 400 earlier in April, where Kyle Larson won the race in dominating fashion, leading 93 laps of the race and crossing the checkered flag by nearly 1.5 seconds.

This race has been one of the longest running races in NASCAR history. Held since 1958 and not having stopped since, this will be the 66th anniversary of the race.

The track has a 14 degree banking on both turns, eight degree banking on the front stretch, and two degree banking on the back stretch. Its unique D-shape allows drivers to go into the first and second corner more aggressively and gain more speed when going into the back straight.

There is a prediction for scattered thunderstorms around Richmond for both Saturday and Sunday, so the race might be delayed until Monday. The race will officially commence at 3:00 PM ET (12:00 PM PT, 9:00 PM CEST).

Image credit - Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images

Race Predictions

Past iterations in the last ten years of this event saw only one Chevrolet win, from none other than Kyle Larson of Hendricks Motorsport. A favourite to win this race at odds of +500, he has won twice at this track and most recently in the Toyota 400. He has had a couple of up and down results lately, and he will be looking to finish July on a high note.

However, the top favourite is none other than the leader in the standings, Martin Truex Jr. He has been electric in the past two races, winning in New Hampshire and finishing third in Pocono. He now has a chance to capture another win and further solidify his lead on both playoffs standings and the regular season standings.