Statistically Speaking, Richmond Should Give Kyle Busch Big Lift

Statistically Speaking, Richmond Should Give Kyle Busch Big Lift

Wins at Phoenix and Kansas appear to have cured Denny Hamlin’s hangover from his 2010 championship near-miss. Perhaps a trip to Richmond International Raceway, where he’s the three-time defending winner of the track’s spring race, will do likewise for Kyle Busch.
Busch, who rolled up 23 NASCAR Sprint Cup victories in fewer than 250 races, hasn’t won in 20 starts. To put that in perspective, Busch had gone to Victory Lane every 10.6 starts when he last won at Michigan International Speedway in August of last year. The Las Vegas native has won in all seven seasons as a full-time NSCS competitor with three or more victories in each of his past four years with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Busch hasn’t exactly dropped off the face of the earth; he’s got three top 10s, including a second in the weather-abbreviated race at Auto Club Speedway. He’s currently outside the top 10 in points (13th), where he’s been after seven of eight races. In 2011, Busch spent only one week worse than seventh prior to the cut-down to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™. Richmond should be a different story. Busch ranks among the leaders in most of the key Loop Data Statistics at the 0.75-mile track, including a second-best Driver Rating of 114.8. In 14 starts, he’s yet to finish off the lead lap heading 859 of 5,610 serials run.
"If you look at the stats there, it’s about as good as it gets at Richmond for the M&M’s team and I hope we can continue that coming up," Busch said.

Promise Being Fulfilled In 2012 For ‘Can’t Miss’ Prospect Truex

Being a "can’t miss" prospect can be a blessing or a curse. Just ask Martin Truex Jr.
Truex, whose second-place finish in Sunday’s STP 400 at Kansas Speedway boosted him to the runner-up position in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points, has seen the label from several angles.
In 2004-05 Truex captured back-to-back NASCAR Nationwide Series titles leading the series in victories both seasons as he won a combined 12 times, including races at Daytona and Talladega. He beat Kyle Busch one year and Clint Bowyer the next and was off to NASCAR’s premier series with the wind at his back.
Three seasons with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and one with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing With Felix Sabates left much promise unfulfilled: one victory, at Dover in 2007, and a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ among the few highlights. Last year’s first run with Michael Waltrip Racing seemed like more of the same – until his No. 56 Toyota team was reorganized and revitalized late in the season.
He finished 2012 with top-10 finishes in four of the last five races and hasn’t looked back. He’s finished six of eight races among the top 10 – three in the top five – and led 173 laps at Kansas, the most since his Dover victory. The 31-year-old Mayetta, N.J., native won the Coors Light Pole at Texas and ranks second only to points leader Greg Biffle in Driver Rating (105.5) and third (8.7) in Average Running Position.
The secret behind Truex’s resurgence? One might be his ability to stay out of trouble. Truex has run 7,142.37 miles since the last time he was listed as being part of an accident or spin that brought out a caution. Of those 7,142.37 miles run, 6,142.876 were on the lead lap. Both figures are currently best in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.

There’s Hope For Hendrick To Snatch Elusive 200th Win At Richmond

Hendrick Motorsports’ 200 wins beat goes on, oddly. Last week at Kansas Speedway, Denny Hamlin placed his No. 11 Toyota into Victory Lane – a record 199th time that number has won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Unpredictably, arguments can now begin about who will reach 200 wins first, the No. 11 or Hendrick Motorsports. With a four-driver-to-one numbers advantage, HMS feels like the likely favorite. But its drought continues.
So Richmond International Raceway awaits on deck, and yet again, there’s reason to believe. Hendrick leads all active teams in Richmond victories with 10, second only to Petty Enterprises all-time.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. loves the short track. He boasts three victories there, and comes into the race with four consecutive top-10 finishes after a seventh-place run at Kansas.
Kasey Kahne earned his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup victory at Richmond in 2005. He finished third in this race last year.
Jimmie Johnson has three Richmond wins, including a sweep in 2007.
Jeff Gordon scored seven consecutive top 10s at Richmond from 2007-2010, and finished third in September of last season. In all, he has two victories at Richmond.

Lean Pickins’ For Ford, Roush Fenway At Richmond In Recent Seasons

With Carl Edwards moving into the top 10 in points (ninth), Roush Fenway Racing is a triple-threat championship machine. Greg Biffle continues to lead the standings with Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth a solid third with five top-five finishes.
But Richmond could be a momentum stopper.
Ford hasn’t won a Richmond race since the fall of 2006. Current RFR drivers have a single Richmond victory – Kenseth in the fall of 2002. Biffle is 0-for-56 in short track starts and hasn’t finished higher than 13th in his most recent 10 Richmond races. Edwards, however, could build off last year’s fifth- and second-place finishes.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Etc.

Milestone Watch: Hendrick Motorsports isn’t the only member of the NASCAR garage pining to reach an elusive milestone. Ryan Newman still waits for his 50th Coors Light Pole, which would make him the ninth driver to accomplish the feat. Newman has one pole at Richmond, in 2004. … Greg Biffle needs to lead 16 more laps to reach 5,000 laps led in his NASCAR Sprint Cup career. … Joey Logano will add another talent to his repertoire: color analyst. On Thursday night at Richmond, he’ll join Mike Joy and Phil Parsons live at 7 p.m. on SPEED to call the K&N Pro Series East race. … Top Gear and host Richard Hammond will be fully immersed in the world of NASCAR at Texas Motor Speedway when the NASCAR episode of the world’s biggest car show premieres Monday, April 30, at 8:30 p.m. ET on BBC AMERICA. In the episode, Hammond explores the history of NASCAR and tells the story of how the sport evolved into what it is today. The episode also features interviews with NSCS drivers Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya.