Toyota Owners 400 Preview and Pick
NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400
Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 3:30 p.m. ET (FOX) at Richmond Raceway in Henrico County, Virginia
Weirdness
The start of this NASCAR season continues to be weirder.
After Chase Briscoe of all drivers won in Phoenix, William Byron earned his third career victory in Atlanta before Ross Chastain collected his first career win last week in Austin.
You really have to start to ask yourself: when will the big names start to take over.
Anyhow, this season has not been completely hard. It has been and remains hard for a driver to win back-to-back races.
Briscoe didn't accomplish this feat nor did Byron. We can feel certain that Chastain won't do the same, either.
So, when considering which driver will most likely win Sunday's upcoming race, we can eliminate at the very least Chastain from consideration.
Race Info
For this Sunday's race, drivers must complete a total of 400 laps.
As has always been the case this season, there are three stages for this race.
Stage 1 requires drivers to complete 80 laps. Stage 2 consists in the next 155 laps. Finally, Stage 3 terminates upon completion of the 300thlap.
By now, an entry list has been published for this race.
So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, we already know which drivers will compete in this race.
37 teams/drivers are listed for 40 spots. All of the familiar faces will be there.
As for the starting lineup, that gets determined via qualifying.
On Saturday, drivers get a practice session that will start at 10:30 a.m.
Qualifying is scheduled to happen right after the practice session, at 11:05 a.m.
It will be a single-car, one-lap, two-round qualifying.
Track Info
Richmond Raceway has several fitting nicknames.
It is known as: "America's Premiere Short Track," "Strawberry Hill," and "Action Track."
As these nicknames suggest, Richmond Raceway is uniquely short.
Because it is short, bettors will want to keep an eye on the aero package that's being used.
Typically, drivers have complained that it is harder to pass on this course except for, maybe and eventually, the long runs.
Drivers who collect penalties or infractions and are disadvantaged in their starting position by them will inevitably suffer in their finishing position.
As for the track itself, we are back on an asphalt surface.
This track has .75-mile laps. So, in completing 400 laps, drivers will have completed 300 miles.
Despite its shortness as a track, it has a unique "D" shape that facilitates high speeds. These high speeds help justify the "action" part of one of the track's nicknames.
The banking is rather moderate and so it does not contribute to the higher speeds at this short track.
Each turn is banked at 14 degrees. There is eight degrees banking on the frontstretch and two on the backstretch.
Drivers I Dislike
I shouldn't quite say that I dislike Ross Chastain. He has earned four straight top-three finishes.
Plus, he made up tremendous ground in those last four races.
However, this is not always an easy track to make up ground on. So, I am skeptical about his ability to maintain this pattern of poor starts and strong finishes.
I dislike Denny Hamlin as he continues to struggle despite having favorable starting positions.
Unlike others such as Joey Logano, Hamlin has yet to earn a top-10 finish.
I also dislike Kyle Larson for whom Richmond is one of the more difficult tracks.
Even worse than Hamlin, Larson has suffered three races in a row where he failed to finish better than 29th.
My Guys
While I like Logano a lot more than Hamlin given the latter's awful racing form, my absolute favorite guy for this race is Martin Truex Jr.
Truex Jr's career numbers at this track are ugly. But they reflect his earlier struggles here and they belie his recent triumphs.
He is now a consistent force at Richmond where he has earned five top-five finishes and three wins in his last five tries.
For the above reasons, I recommend betting on Logano to finish ahead of Hamlin and Truex Jr. to finish ahead of Larson given the latter's poor form and lackluster history at Richmond.
Best Bet: Logano ahead of Hamlin at -115 & Truex Jr. ahead of Larson at -110 at Bovada
NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400
Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 3:30 p.m. ET (FOX) at Richmond Raceway in Henrico County, Virginia
Weirdness
The start of this NASCAR season continues to be weirder.
After Chase Briscoe of all drivers won in Phoenix, William Byron earned his third career victory in Atlanta before Ross Chastain collected his first career win last week in Austin.
You really have to start to ask yourself: when will the big names start to take over.
Anyhow, this season has not been completely hard. It has been and remains hard for a driver to win back-to-back races.
Briscoe didn't accomplish this feat nor did Byron. We can feel certain that Chastain won't do the same, either.
So, when considering which driver will most likely win Sunday's upcoming race, we can eliminate at the very least Chastain from consideration.
Race Info
For this Sunday's race, drivers must complete a total of 400 laps.
As has always been the case this season, there are three stages for this race.
Stage 1 requires drivers to complete 80 laps. Stage 2 consists in the next 155 laps. Finally, Stage 3 terminates upon completion of the 300thlap.
By now, an entry list has been published for this race.
So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, we already know which drivers will compete in this race.
37 teams/drivers are listed for 40 spots. All of the familiar faces will be there.
As for the starting lineup, that gets determined via qualifying.
On Saturday, drivers get a practice session that will start at 10:30 a.m.
Qualifying is scheduled to happen right after the practice session, at 11:05 a.m.
It will be a single-car, one-lap, two-round qualifying.
Track Info
Richmond Raceway has several fitting nicknames.
It is known as: "America's Premiere Short Track," "Strawberry Hill," and "Action Track."
As these nicknames suggest, Richmond Raceway is uniquely short.
Because it is short, bettors will want to keep an eye on the aero package that's being used.
Typically, drivers have complained that it is harder to pass on this course except for, maybe and eventually, the long runs.
Drivers who collect penalties or infractions and are disadvantaged in their starting position by them will inevitably suffer in their finishing position.
As for the track itself, we are back on an asphalt surface.
This track has .75-mile laps. So, in completing 400 laps, drivers will have completed 300 miles.
Despite its shortness as a track, it has a unique "D" shape that facilitates high speeds. These high speeds help justify the "action" part of one of the track's nicknames.
The banking is rather moderate and so it does not contribute to the higher speeds at this short track.
Each turn is banked at 14 degrees. There is eight degrees banking on the frontstretch and two on the backstretch.
Drivers I Dislike
I shouldn't quite say that I dislike Ross Chastain. He has earned four straight top-three finishes.
Plus, he made up tremendous ground in those last four races.
However, this is not always an easy track to make up ground on. So, I am skeptical about his ability to maintain this pattern of poor starts and strong finishes.
I dislike Denny Hamlin as he continues to struggle despite having favorable starting positions.
Unlike others such as Joey Logano, Hamlin has yet to earn a top-10 finish.
I also dislike Kyle Larson for whom Richmond is one of the more difficult tracks.
Even worse than Hamlin, Larson has suffered three races in a row where he failed to finish better than 29th.
My Guys
While I like Logano a lot more than Hamlin given the latter's awful racing form, my absolute favorite guy for this race is Martin Truex Jr.
Truex Jr's career numbers at this track are ugly. But they reflect his earlier struggles here and they belie his recent triumphs.
He is now a consistent force at Richmond where he has earned five top-five finishes and three wins in his last five tries.
For the above reasons, I recommend betting on Logano to finish ahead of Hamlin and Truex Jr. to finish ahead of Larson given the latter's poor form and lackluster history at Richmond.
Best Bet: Logano ahead of Hamlin at -115 & Truex Jr. ahead of Larson at -110 at Bovada
