In a far less dramatic and controversial race than last year, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 57th Annual Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
Surprising: While the top seed is often coveted in other sports, from basketball to tennis, one NASCAR driver was dead set on achieving that distinction going into the Chase for the championship.
Brad Keselowski not only achieved his top seed goal by scoring his fourth win of the season, but also dominated the Richmond race, leading 383 of 400 laps and scoring the 400th victory for Team Penske.
“It was just a phenomenal night for our team here and everyone at Team Penske,” the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford said. “Car was fast. Pit crew was flawless. We put all the pieces together tonight.”
“I’m very proud of the result that comes from a win and what it means to the bigger picture of having the first seed entering the Chase. That’s really something. We want to keep that going as we get through this next 10 weeks.”
Not Surprising: Leave it to teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. to try to make his teammate feel better. Junior was parked behind his HMS teammate Jimmie Johnson when he saw that Johnson was not feeling well after the race.
“It was super-hot tonight,” Earnhardt Jr. said after the race. “I thought I might have some trouble with it because I had a sinus cold all week. …Jimmie is the most fit guy in this series and he must have something going on — something that didn’t agree with him today that he ate or drank.”
After helping Team 48 assist Johnson out of the car and to the infield care center where he was pumped full of IV fluids, Earnhardt Jr. stopped by to proffer some chocolate milk, hoping that would assist in the six-time champ’s recovery.
The milk offer must have helped as Johnson did attend his Foundation’s Wellness Challenge the day after the race, although he did not participate in the event as scheduled.
Surprising: They may both be in the Chase, but Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin have at least one thing in common. They are both looking for speed, for Harvick on pit road and for Hamlin under the hood and on the track.
“I can’t fix them, but it’s probably the biggest thing that we have to fix in order to contend for the championship,” Harvick said of his pit crew hiccups. “I think our cars are as fast as they need to be. The guys do a great job of bringing fast cars every week.”
“It’s just one mistake after another every week on pit road,” the driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet said. “Hopefully they have a plan as to what they think they need to do in the shop with the two teams in the Chase, but that’s not my department.”
“Pit crew would be our strength right now,” Hamlin said. “You know, we’ve got a lot of pieces of the puzzle put together for a championship run.”
“As important as track position is nowadays, you’ve got to have great pit stops, and we feel like we’ve got that part licked, it’s just you’ve got to have faster cars, you’ve got to qualify better,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota said. “There’s a lot of things that go into a championship run, and we’re missing a couple of them very important pieces, and that’s speed.”
Not Surprising: No doubt that there was no one more disappointed than Clint Bowyer, who had a good run at Richmond, finishing third, but still failed to make the Chase.
“The boys brought in the best they could possibly build, put a lot of effort into it, I raced as hard as I could,” Bowyer said. “Have some work to do.”
“Hell, everybody does looks to me like.”
Surprising: While Jeff Gordon, the runner up at Richmond, stated that he believes the cream will rise to the top in Chase even with the new format, he also thinks the championship competition will be, well, intense.
“I believe, no matter what the structure is, I still believe the best team wins,” the four-time champion said. “ I’ve always believed that and I still believe that. If it’s meant to be because you’ve prepared and you have the strong cars, the best team, I think you’re going to make it to Homestead and you’re going to win the championship.”
“But it’s going to be intense,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet continued. “Oh, yeah, it’s going to be really, really intense. I think you actually have to try to balance out that intensity to try to make it not too intense for yourself.”
Not Surprising: Even with the exemption granted by NASCAR for Chase eligibility with a win, it was not surprising that Tony Stewart, with all on his mind and his heart, simply could not pull of that feat.
Smoke had a problem on pit road with a missing lug nut, setting him back to the tail end of the field. The driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet finished 15th.
Surprising: Although Roush Fenway Racing got two drivers into the Chase, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, marking the 11th time in 11 seasons of the Chase that RFR has gotten multiple entries into the playoffs, it was a still a surprisingly disappointing race night for their three team drivers.
Biffle was the highest finishing Roush Fenway Racing driver in 19th, Carl Edwards finished 22nd and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 26th.
“I’ll tell you what, it’s got to be the toughest race of my life,” Biffle said. “Man, I drove so hard, and we just missed the setup. It was clear that our whole company did, Carl and Ricky and myself.”
“We were way off tonight, which is frustrating because five top 10s in a row put us in this position, but tonight was not pretty.”
“I drove as hard as I could, and it was enough to get us in. I knew I needed to be in the top 20, and like I said, it was all I could do.”
“We just missed the setup,” Edwards said, echoing Biffle’s sentiments. “A year ago we won this race with our Kellogg’s Ford and we went on to finish last in the Chase. Hopefully tonight’s poor performance will bode well for the final 10 races.”
Not Surprising: Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick had the best repartee when it came time to discuss the drunken fan who climbed the Turn 4 catch fence, bringing out a caution with just 63 laps to go in the race.
Here is their conversation when asked about the fan on the fence:
DENNY HAMLIN: Yeah, I saw that.
KEVIN HARVICK: Those Virginia folks.
DENNY HAMLIN: That caution put me two laps down. Knucklehead.
KEVIN HARVICK: It used to be okay. I remember the first race I won, the whole backstretch grandstand was hanging on the fence. They never threw a caution then.
DENNY HAMLIN: If he wants to play in traffic, it’s his problem.
KEVIN HARVICK: Wasn’t a NASCAR employee, was he (smiling)?
Surprising: With so many other drivers just trying to ensure their chance at the Chase competition, Kurt Busch surprisingly advised that he was already running a Chase race at Richmond.
“We wanted to run tonight like we were running in the Chase,” the driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet said after finishing seventh. “We ran our own race tonight, finished 7th. If you can finish 7th the first three weeks of the Chase you’re going to advance. I think you can do that again in the next round of the Chase.”
“That’s what it takes to be a championship-contending team, and this Haas Automation team is ready, Busch said. “We’re ready. We have a nice 10 weeks ahead of us where we’ve prepared for it.”
“Here we are, so let’s go for it.”
Not Surprising: As with every playoff situation, there are those looking for that Cinderella glass slipper, including one from a small team and one from the King’s team.
“I feel like if we’re at our best, we have a shot at getting through the first three races and having a shot to move on,” AJ Allmendinger said. “We did a test at Charlotte, RCR has helped us get a new car ready for next week, so we’ve got to be ready to go. We’re at least in it, so we’ve got a shot at it.”
“We don’t want to be just happy to be in the Chase,” Aric Almirola said. “We want to go and execute for the next 10 weeks, and we’re going to have to be flawless. “We’re up to the challenge. We’ve got two good weeks under our belt with top-10 finishes, and going into the Chase with a lot of momentum I feel like.”
“I feel like we’re major underdogs, so we’re going to let it all hang out for the next 10 weeks and see
