NASCAR Cup Series in Richmond, departure of the composition of the range

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Keselowski will start eighth Saturday night in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway. Harvick won pole in qualifying Friday night and Denny Hamlin will be second.

"I think you have to recognize that we are fortunate to have opportunities and that we have not only dominated the races," Keselowski said. "When you dominate a race, you do not really need an opportunity, you just do not need bad luck.

"We have not dominated the races, we have seized opportunities to change our fortunes and we have made the most of them, so I think you recognize it and you recognize that making the most of your opportunities is so important. in motorsport and in life, that's where we are today with these victories. "

Richmond is the second race of the first three rounds of the playoffs with the unpredictable Charlotte Motor Speedway road race, the elimination race next week. The four drivers who did not win in the round and the lowest among the playoff drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs.

The average finish at Richmond among the playoff pilots: Kyle Busch (7.2), Hamlin (9.3), Kyle Larson (10.0), Harvick (10.3), Joey Logano (11, 5), Clint Bowyer (13.1), Keselowski (13.7), Chase Elliott. (13.8), Jimmie Johnson (15.3), Kurt Busch (15.3), Aric Almirola (16.3), Erik Jones (19.0), Martin Truex Jr (19.8), Austin Dillon ( 21.1), Ryan Blaney (28.6) and Alex Bowman. (30.6).

Drivers of the playoffs with victories in Richmond: Kyle Busch (5), Hamlin (3), Harvick (3), Jimmie Johnson (3), Kurt Busch (2), Bowyer (2), Logano (2), Keselowski ( 1) and Larson (1).

Here is the summary of the Saturday night race, pending the inspection that starts at noon:

1. Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Ford Racing No 4): Harvick ranks fourth with a 38-point cushion in 13th place (the current playoff threshold). Harvick won in Richmond in September 2006, September 2011 and September 2013. He finished fifth in Richmond five times in his last eight starts.

2. Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota): Hamlin is 16th in the standings as he faces a 20-point deficit to return to the playoff bubble. Hamlin loves Richmond, winning cups in September 2009, September 2010 and September 2016. He has completed six consecutive sixth and final races on the track, where his 1,659 led laps lead all active drivers.

3. Martin Truex Jr. (Row Furniture No. 78 Toyota): Truex is leading the Cup standings and has a 65-point lead in 13th. If he leaves Richmond with at least 56 points in advance at 12th, he will be stuck in the next round. Truex never won in Richmond, but he led 193 laps in September 2016, 198 laps in September 2017 and 121 laps in April 2018.

4. Ryan Blaney (Team Penske No. 12 Ford): Blaney is seventh in the standings with a cushion of 20 points in 13th place (the current playoff threshold). He may need this cushion, as his best career in five starts in Richmond is 18th. Which is strange: he has five top 10 in his five Xfinity starts on the track.

5. Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing # 19 Toyota): Suarez has two consecutive top-10s in Richmond. And he finished in the top 10 last week in Las Vegas. Suarez, who has already released Joe Gibbs Racing's biography Twitter, pleads for Stewart-Haas Racing to hire him to replace Kurt Busch in 2019. Suarez: "There have been a lot of things and it can be difficult to focus Sometimes we know we know how to do it – we just need good parts together – it's definitely the best car I've had in the race cup on this track. "

6. Kurt Busch (Ford Racing No 41 from Stewart-Haas): Busch is sixth in the standings with a 24-point cushion in 13th place (the current playoff threshold). He won wins in September 2005 and April 2015 on the track. He led 98 laps in April before finishing 11th. But he knows how to move quickly to Richmond, where he started in the top 10 in his previous eight starts and led 904 laps in his Cup career.

7. Aric Almirola (Ford Racing No 10 from Stewart-Haas): Almirola is in ninth place with a 12-point cushion in 13th place (the current playoff threshold). It might be smart to choose him to finish 17th – he finished 17th in three of his last four Richmond starts. He has not traditionally qualified well in Richmond from 23-27 in his first eight starts in Richmond. This place is important.

8. Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford): Keselowski has qualified for the second round of the series thanks to the win in Las Vegas. Keselowski might want to save his chances for future races. He is already good in Richmond, where he led 383 laps before winning in September 2014. He took 28th place to finish eighth in April.

9. Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing # 20 Toyota): Jones is 15th in the standings, facing a 12th-place deficit of 19 points, the place he should occupy to progress. Jones was 13th in April and sixth a year ago in Richmond.

10. Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet): Larson is ranked eighth with a 13-point cushion in 13th place (the current playoff threshold). Winner of this race, Larson was seventh in April.

11. Cole Custer (Chevrolet No. 51 Racing Chevrolet): Custer makes his third start in the Cup of the Year. The extra track time should not hurt the Xfinity Series championship contender. There will not be any SHR equipment and crew either.

12. Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing # 18 Toyota): Busch is second in the standings with a cushion of 63 points in 13th place (the current playoff threshold). If he leaves Richmond with a cushion of 56 points on the 12th, he will be stuck in the next round. Busch's victory in Richmond in April was his fifth place on the track, with victories in May 2009, May 2010, April 2011 and April 2012. He has 1,089 laps in Richmond, second to Denny Hamlin (1,659) . In the field.

13. Joey Logano (Team Penske No. 22 Ford): Logano is fifth in the standings and has a 34-point cushion in 13th place (the current playoff threshold). Logano won in Richmond in April 2014 and April 2017. This victory in 2014 started a series of ten first nine at Richmond, where he finished first, second and fourth in his last three starts.

14. Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports # 88 Chevrolet): Bowman clings to a playoff spot while placing 12th in the standings, six points "at best" in the playoff bubble. He started the 11th and finished 18th in April, and he will have to improve if he wants to stay in good shape.

15. Jamie McMurray (Chevrolet Ganassi Racing No. 1): McMurray had two strong races before the crash last week in Las Vegas. His last top 5 in Richmond took place in April 2015. He's trying to find a ride for next year because Chip Ganassi gave him just a Daytona 500 and then a management position with the team.

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford): Stenhouse has two career top 10 finishes in Richmond, including a fourth in April 2017. But the rest of her results were 16th or worse.

17. Ryan Newman (Chevrolet Childress Racing # 31): Newman won this race 15 years ago. Since then, he has only finished among the top five in Richmond – but one of them arrived a year ago when he finished third.

18. Matt Kenseth (Ford Us Roush Fenway Racing): Kenseth sits on pole for his previous two starts from Richmond. He led 253 laps. Still, people probably remember that the ambulance was lost by going to the health center a year ago.

19. Chase Elliott (# 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet): Elliott is 14th in the standings as he faces a nine-point deficit on 12th to end up in the playoff bubble. Richmond is a place where he can get there. He started second and finished second in April. He also won an Xfinity race on the track three years ago.

20. William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports # 24 Chevrolet): Byron started ninth and finished 12th in April. Do not be surprised if he shoots a top-10.

21. Paul Menard (Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford): This could be Menard's worst track. In 23 starts, a fifth place in September 2013 is his only top 10. He has an average starting point and an arrival at the 24th rank.

22. Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports # 48 Chevrolet): Johnson is 13th in the standings, six points behind Alex Bowman 12th. Bowman is currently the last driver to advance on the points. Johnson won in Richmond twice, sweeping the races in 2007. He has led a single race in Richmond in his last 11 starts. But he finished 11th or better in eight years.

23. Chris Buescher (Jagu Daugherty Racing JTG # 37): Perhaps another memorable day for Buescher, who is looking for his first top 15 in Richmond. His best is 17th on five starts.

24. Michael McDowell (Ford Front Row Motorsports # 34): McDowell was 12th in Richmond in September 2016, so do not be surprised if he can get out of his usual mediocre place of departure.

25. Clint Bowyer (Ford Racing No. 14 Stewart-Haas): Bowyer is ranked 11th with a seven-point cushion in 13th place (the current playoff threshold). Bowyer won in Richmond in May 2008 and September 2012. Can he bring magic back? Yes. He led 45 laps in April but finished ninth.

26. Bubba Wallace (# 43 Chevrolet by Richard Petty Motorsports): Wallace finished 25th in April in his only Cup start in Richmond. He had two top 10 in six Xfinity starts on the track.

27. David Ragan (Ford Front Row Motorsports No. 38): Ragan has a third and a pair of quarterbacks in his Cup career in Richmond – but the last one was in 2011.

28. Austin Dillon (Chevrolet Childress Racing # 3): Dillon ranks 10th with a nine-point cushion in 13th place (the current playoff threshold). Dillon will need a career day in Richmond, where he finished in 13th place and has only two finals better than the 20th.

29. Matt DiBenedetto (Go Fas Racing No. 32 Ford): DiBenedetto finished 16th in April, a solid performance for this team. He needs another of these finishes when he is looking for a sponsorship and a run for 2019.

30. AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47): Allmendinger is looking for his first top 10 in Richmond since April 2014. He finished 26th and 27th in his first two starts in Richmond.

31. Ty Dillon (Chevy Racing No. 13 Chevrolet): Dillon was 20th in the spring, not a bad result for his team.

32. Ross Chastain (Chevrolet Motorsports No. 15): After his victory last week at the Xfinity race in Las Vegas, the Chastain, the culture of watermelon, was the darling of the media. This is not a bad track for him – he was 28 in April.

33. Regan Smith (Chevrolet Leavine Family Racing No. 95): Smith has only played two cup races in Richmond since 2012, and both in 2016. His best result on the track is the 17th.

34. Corey LaJoie (TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet No 72): LaJoie did not participate in this race in April; He was 29 years old in Richmond a year ago.

35. Jeffrey Earnhardt (Gaunt Brothers Racing # 96 Toyota): Earnhardt knows how to rally in Richmond. He started 40th and finished 27th in the final of the regular season two years ago.