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Kyle Busch believes that NASCAR should not only promote its young stars, but also established drivers like him, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick.
USA TODAY Sports
Chase Elliott says, "I think this is going to be a tough race, I think (Saturday) the night will be tough."(Photo: Mike DiNovo, USA TODAY & # 39; HU Sports)
RICHMOND, Va. – The importance of Saturday night's NASCAR Monster Energy Series race at Richmond Raceway can not be overstated.
Not because it's a race for elimination – it's not. None of the 16 playoff drivers will be sent after the Federated Auto Parts 400 (7:30 pm ET, NBCSN).
But after the chaos that ignited several playoff drivers last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the complete unknown of the first-round qualifying round next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Richmond even more important, especially for the drivers of the lower half of the playoff standings.
NASCAR officials pitched a curved ball to the drivers when they decided to reshape the playoff race in Charlotte, transforming it from a 500-mile race around a 1.5-mile oval into a party. racing on oval road. Instead of 334 laps around a well-frequented oval, drivers will have to navigate a "Roval" of 2.28 miles that they'd never traveled before.
This prospect puts all drivers uncomfortable, injecting extra stress into Richmond. For many drivers, this second qualifying race becomes, if not a must-win, at least a must-finish.
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Chase Elliott is one of those qualifiers coming into Richmond with more pressure than expected. Elliott finished 36th in Las Vegas after making contact with Jamie McMurray on the 212th lap, finishing eighth in 14th place – outside the 12-driver cut-off area to advance to the second round.
"I think this round is going to be tough," Elliott said Friday. "I'm waiting (Saturday) for a hard night.
"I can not say that I'm going to do very different things because you can get into trouble trying to outwit a lot more easily than trying to do what you normally do." We normally try to win, so that's not the case. will not change tomorrow night.
Jimmie Johnson, seven-time NASCAR Cup winner and seventh, Erik Jones (15th) and Denny Hamlin (16th), joins the last four. Aric Almirola (ninth), Austin Dillon (10th), Clint Bowyer (11th) and Alex Bowman (12th) also have reasons to focus more on running in Richmond. Johnson, Jones, Hamlin, Bowyer and Bowman were all involved in accidents in Las Vegas.
Even for the drivers in the top half of the standings, the Richmond race requires even greater accuracy than expected. Nobody wants to go to the "Roval" face a scenario unavoidable.
"For us, just go out and have a good night's sleep," said Kyle Busch, second in the standings. "We would like to go for the win, win a victory and bump and not have to worry about next week, but if that does not happen, you end up in the top five, even the top 10 will probably be) enough to points that we (we) should not have to worry about next week.
After six regular season wins and 50 bonus points in the playoffs, Busch entered the playoffs. Busch also struggled in Las Vegas, but rebounded to finish seventh behind winner Brad Keselowski, who secured an automatic lead in the second round.
Busch, however, takes nothing for granted in Richmond, especially after seeing two of his teammates Joe Gibbs Racing – Hamlin and Jones – collapse in the standings after problems in the first playoff game.
"You sort of have a win or nothing with the guys at the bottom," Busch said of the next two races.
For its part, Busch has a main goal when leaving Richmond on Saturday night: "I'm hoping to have a 60-point advantage over the last four, so I do not have to worry about the Roval!"
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