Federated Auto Parts 400 Tag

NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – A caution on Lap 397 of a scheduled 400 in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 turned what looked like a coronation for Martin Truex Jr. into an unexpected overtime victory for Kyle Larson, as the field of 16 drivers was set for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Truex, the regular season winner, had a comfortable lead over Larson when Derrike Cope brushed the outside wall with three laps left in regulation. Larson won the race off pit road after the lead-lap carsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Heading into Saturday night’s regular season finale at Richmond, it was win or go home for the drivers sitting outside of the top-16 prior to the Federated Auto Parts 400. Ultimately, none of those drivers on the outside looking in were able to capitalize by the time the checkered flag flew and will head home without a shot at the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship and wondering what they could have done over the first 26 races to change their fortunes. Among theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After 500 miles around the historic Darlington Raceway last Sunday, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Richmond Raceway for the final regular season race that will set the 16 driver field for the playoffs with Saturday night’s running of the Federated Auto Parts 400. Often described as the perfectly designed race track by drivers, the 0.75 mile track lends itself to not only short track characteristics of beating and banging, but also the characteristics of a larger track with the side by sideRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – Denny Hamlin won a wild race at his home track, and the top four Chase hopefuls entering Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 all held serve at Richmond International Raceway in an event that ended in overtime after a record 16 cautions. Jamie McMurray locked up a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a seventh-place finish, and Austin Dillon did likewise with a 13th-place run. Sunoco rookies Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher both weathered some tense momentsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor On Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, none of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies had a stellar night, but for two of them, they were able to survive the chaos to race their way into the 16 driver Chase for the Sprint Cup field when the checkered flag flew. The two rookies that were able to move on to the postseason were Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher, both of whom had a rough go of it during the 400 lap race, but were ableRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond, Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers Racing team had one final chance to try and win a race to move into the Chase, but for the No. 21 team, a place in the postseason was not to be after an early race crash that ended their hopes of competing for the championship. Blaney entered the night 69 points behind Jamie McMurray for the 16th and final Chase spot on points, so the only way thatRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – Don’t tell Denny Hamlin his first pole of the season isn’t significant. In the money round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota toured .75-mile Richmond International Raceway in 22.069 seconds (122.344 mph) to earn the top starting spot for Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN), the final race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular season. “I thought for sure we had too many laps on ourRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After 500 miles around the historic Darlington Raceway last Sunday, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Richmond for the final regular season race that will set the 16 driver field for the Chase with Saturday night’s running of the Federated Auto Parts 400. Often described as the perfectly designed race track by drivers, the 0.75 mile track lends itself to not only short track characteristics of beating and banging, but also the characteristics of a larger track with the side by side racing thatRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Richmond International Raceway this weekend for the Federated Auto Parts 400, it’s time again to take a look back at a race from Richmond’s past in this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater”. With the focus of the weekend being who will be in and who will be out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the race that we will focus on is the 2004 Chevy Rock and Roll 400, a race that featured one driverRead More