Regular-season finale at Richmond will be filled with risk-takers

Regular-season finale at Richmond will be filled with risk-takers


By Jim Pedley
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Just because the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field will be all but set when Saturday night's Sprint Cup Series race begins at Richmond International Raceway, it does not mean that the regular-season-ender will be devoid of excitement.
On the contrary, some are saying. This year's Air Guard 400 may be more exciting because the locked-in bunch will be bigger and hungrier and, hence, less prone to be conservative than in some years past.
"When you clinch," Jeff Burton said, "you get to go to Richmond and be in the shape to run really hard. We are going to run it really hard. We are going to kick it off this weekend in Richmond and just bring everything we have. There's no more protecting now. It is go time and we have to lay it all on the line."
When the green flag drops at Richmond , all but two of the top-12 drivers in points will be locked into the Chase.
Of that group of two, one driver, Greg Biffle, is virtually locked in, as all he has to do is finish the race second-to-last or better, or, lead one lap, to clinch.
That means that realistically, only 12th place is up for grabs, and that position too, will be tough to pry away from its current owner as Clint Bowyer has a 117-point lead over 13th-place Ryan Newman. Jamie McMurray (14th) and Mark Martin (15th) also remain mathematically alive. At the very most, all Bowyer needs to do to earn the third Chase berth of his career is: finish 28th or better; finish 29th or better and lead a lap; or finish 31st or better and lead the most laps.
It all adds up to the fact that nearly every driver will have zero pressure on them and should be more willing to take some chances in pursuit of victory. Especially late in the race.
"If you get down to the top four guys," Biffle said of late-race action, "and let's say they're Chase guys, then they're foaming at the mouth."
And if one of those Chase guys is named Biffle? "Yeah, then we're going crazy and we're going for it," he said.
The impetus to run hard and win is, of course, the big three of 10 extra bonus points (for Chase-eligible drivers), momentum and pride.
Bonus points are gold going into the Chase, and drivers have been known to do some pretty crazy things to acquire that gold.
"Our goal is to try and do what we can to win and get those 10 extra bonus points," Tony Stewart, a winner last week at Atlanta , said. "That's our focus. It's all or nothing for us."
Then, of course, there will be that extremely large group of drivers who will be racing like crazy because their Chase dreams faded to black long ago.
"For many (Chase) teams it'll be a situation of absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain in the Richmond race, and it certainly has all aspects that could lead up to a really wild battle there on Saturday night," Kurt Busch said.
"For all the other teams, about 25 or more of them, it's a case of trying to get all the glory they can. There's nothing those guys would like to do more than grab the win and steal some of the headlines from the Chase contenders. They know that it's probably the only way they're going to get any attention for their teams and sponsors."