This Week in Auto Racing May 1 - 3

This Week in Auto Racing May 1 - 3

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - With a wild weekend at Talladega now in the rear-view mirror, it's time for NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams to run under the lights at the three-quarter-mile Richmond International Raceway.

Sprint Cup Series

Crown Royal/Russ Friedman 400 - Richmond International Raceway - Richmond, VA

After the madness in Sunday's race at Talladega, Sprint Cup Series teams are relieved to switch gears and return to grassroots style of racing Saturday night at Richmond.

Talladega created a shakeup in the point standings.

Kurt Busch was one of the 14 drivers involved in the first of the two "big ones" at Talladega, but Busch recovered nicely for a sixth-place finish and grabbed the points lead as well. The Penske Racing driver is atop the standings for the first time since March 13, 2005.

Jeff Gordon finished 37th after the early-race pileup put him 60 laps behind. Gordon is now five points behind Busch.

Jimmie Johnson, the three-time defending series champion, fell to third in points (-64). Johnson became a victim in the second big one with eight laps to go and ended up finishing 30th.

Richmond is one of the three short tracks on the current Cup schedule, with Bristol and Martinsville the other two.

Not only is Richmond one of the most historic racetracks in the nation, but it's also one of the most popular among the drivers and the fans.

"Richmond, they call it 'the action track'," Busch said. "We can race low, we can race in the middle or the high groove, and you're always around somebody, and there's always some good action going on at Richmond."

Busch won at Richmond in September 2005. He finished 42nd there one year ago.

Richard Childress Racing driver and Virginia-native Jeff Burton considers Richmond one of the best all-around tracks.

"Richmond to me is the best racetrack in the country for good, hard racing," Burton said. "It's big enough to race hard. It's long enough to have good side-by-side racing. It's just a good combination of straightaways and corners. There's not a bad seat in the house."

Burton's teammate, Clint Bowyer, won at Richmond one year ago. Bowyer grabbed the lead in the final laps when Kyle Busch spun out Dale Earnhardt Jr. while the two were battling for the top position. Bowyer held off Busch in a green- white-checkered finish for his second career Cup win.

"Richmond has always been a good track for me," Bowyer said. "I've won in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series there. I'm looking forward to getting there and having another good run."

Denny Hamlin, from nearby Chesterfield, VA, started on the pole and led 381 of 400 laps in last year's spring race at Richmond. But Hamlin ended up finishing 24th after a late-race tire problem put him out of contention.

Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch had another incident in last September's race at Richmond, with Earnhardt Jr. tapping Busch and putting him into the turn one wall on lap 211.

Could this weekend be round three between the two drivers?

"I like racing Kyle," Earnhardt Jr. said. "He's a real tough competitor. But hopefully we don't have any of that going on this weekend. Hopefully we can all try to win a race and not be bouncing off each other."

Meanwhile, major changes went into effect at RCR this week as team owner Richard Childress swapped the crews of Kevin Harvick's No.29 and Casey Mears' No.07 Cup teams.

Crew chief Gil Martin and his group moved to the No.29 team, while pit boss Todd Berrier and his gang switched to the No.07. Harvick and Mears maintained their spotters.

Childress made the announcement last week.

"Sometimes a little chemistry or sometimes a little change makes a big difference," he said. "I'm not only doing it for these two race teams. We're doing it to help RCR as a whole,"

Harvick's last Cup victory came 80 races ago in the 2007 Daytona 500. He is currently 20th in points. Mears, in his first season with RCR, sits 21st in the standings.

Forty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Crown Royal presents the Russ Friedman 400 at Richmond.

Talladega winner Brad Keselowski, a Nationwide Series regular who is running a partial Cup schedule this season, will compete at Richmond. Keselowski will drive the No.09 Chevrolet in his second straight race for car owner James Finch.

Nationwide Series

Lipton Tea 250 - Richmond International Raceway - Richmond, VA

The points battle between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards in the Nationwide Series continues in Friday's Lipton Tea 250 at Richmond. Busch finished 10th at Talladega and stretched his points lead to 62 over Edwards, who finished 13th.

Edwards has two Nationwide victories at Richmond, including a win in the 2008 fall race there.

Clint Bowyer dominated most of the event, leading 195 of 250 laps. But Bowyer got loose with 28 laps to go, allowing Edwards to dive underneath him and take the top spot. Edwards then held off Scott Wimmer for the victory.

Busch is also a two-time race winner at Richmond, with his most recent victory there coming in September 2007. He finished third and 10th in last year's races.

Kevin Harvick has four wins at Richmond, including three consecutive victories from 2005-06. Harvick will drive his No.33 Chevrolet this weekend.

Mark Martin leads all drivers with five Nationwide victories there. Martin will make his 2009 series debut, driving the No.5 Chevrolet for Hendrick/JR Motorsports. His most recent race at Richmond was in September 2005, when he started on the pole and finished fourth.

Martin is the series' all-time leader in wins (48) and poles (30).

Denny Hamlin won at Richmond one year ago, but will not be in the field for this year's race.

Erik Darnell will make his first start in the No.6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford this season. David Ragan, who won his first NASCAR national series race last Saturday at Talladega, has driven the No.6 car in the first eight Nationwide races this season. He is running a limited schedule this year. Darnell made his series debut last year with a 26th-place finish in the No.17 Ford for Roush at Mexico City.

Forty-nine drivers are on the preliminary entry list for the Lipton Tea 250.