Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Richmond International Raceway:


Richmond International Raceway:
History
·         Originally known as the Atlantic Rural Exposition Fairgrounds, Richmond International Raceway held its first race in 1946 as a half-mile dirt track.
·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was April 19, 1953.
·         The spring 1964 race was run on a Tuesday night under temporary lighting.
·         The track name changed to Virginia State Fairgrounds in 1967.
·         The track surface was changed from dirt to asphalt between races in 1968.
·         The track name changed to Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in 1969.
·         The track was re-measured to .542-mile for 1970.
·         The track was rebuilt as a three-quarters-mile D-shaped oval following the Feb. 21, 1988 race.
·         The first race under permanent lights was Sept. 7, 1991.
·         The first season with both races as night races was 1999.
Notebook
·         There have been 111 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Richmond since the track opened in 1953.
·         The current 400-lap race length was established on the .542-mile measurement in March 1976.
·         Buck Baker won the pole in 1953.
·         Lee Petty won the first race in April 1953.
·         There have been 50 different pole winners, led by Bobby Allison and Richard Petty (eight).
·         Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with five poles.
·         47 different drivers have posted victories at Richmond, led by Richard Petty (13).
·         Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Terry Labonte and Jimmie Johnson (three) lead active race winners.
·         Petty Enterprises has won 15 races at Richmond, more than any other team.
·         63 of 111 races have been won from the top five starting positions, including 22 from the pole.
·         The last driver to win from the pole was Kyle Busch in 2010.
·         The furthest back in the field a race winner has started was 31st, by Clint Bowyer in the 2008 spring race.
·         Kyle Busch (5.0) and Denny Hamlin (7.5) are the only active drivers with an average finish in the top 10.
·         Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Richmond International Raceway winner: Richard Petty (04/23/1961 – 23 years, 9 months, 21 days).
·         Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Richmond International Raceway winner: Harry Gant (09/07/1991 – 51 years, 7 months, 28 days).
·         Kyle Petty became the first third-generation NASCAR race winner when he won his first race at Richmond, on Feb. 23, 1986. Richard Petty posted his first Richmond victory in 1961 and Lee Petty won the very first Richmond race in 1953.
·         Three of the last four races have had a margin of victory less than one second.
Richmond International Raceway Data
Race #: 9 of 36 (04-28-12)
Track Size: .75 miles
Race Length: 300 miles
·     Banking/corners: 14 degrees
·     Banking/straights: 8 degrees
·     Frontstretch: 1,290 feet
·     Backstretch: 860 feet
 

Top 12 Driver Rating at Richmond
Denny Hamlin117.6
Kyle Busch114.8
Kevin Harvick112.6
Jeff Gordon98.5
Clint Bowyer96.3
Tony Stewart95.4
Ryan Newman93.0
Kurt Busch92.7
Mark Martin91.5
Jimmie Johnson88.6
Carl Edwards86.4
Jeff Burton85.6
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2011 races (14 total) at Richmond.
 
Qualifying/Race Data
2011 pole winner: Juan Pablo Montoya
(128.639 mph, 20.989 seconds)
2011 race winner: Kyle Busch
(95.280 mph, 04-30-11)
Track qualifying record: Brian Vickers
(129.983, 20.772 seconds, 5-14-04)
Track race record: Dale Jarrett
(109.047 mph, 9-6-97)
 
Driver Ratings for Winners
DriverYearPre-Race Driver RatingPre-Race Driver Rating Rank
Kyle Busch2011 Spring113.82nd
Kyle Busch2010 Spring111.53rd
Kyle Busch2009 Spring109.93rd
Clint Bowyer2008 Spring88.811th
Jimmie Johnson2007 Spring60.330th
Dale Earnhardt Jr.2006 Spring65.922nd
* Pre-Race Driver Ratings of the year the driver won at Richmond (last six spring races).
 
NASCAR in Virginia
  • There have been 275 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Virginia.
Track NameCityNSCS
Martinsville SpeedwayMartinsville127
Richmond International RacewayRichmond111
Langley Field SpeedwayHampton9
Norfolk SpeedwayNorfolk2
Old Dominion SpeedwayManassas7
Princess Anne SpeedwayNorfolk1
South Boston SpeedwaySouth Boston10
Southside SpeedwayRichmond4
Starkey SpeedwayRoanoke4
  • 163 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Virginia.
  •  There have been 18 race winners from Virginia in NASCAR’s three national series:
Driver
NSCS
NNS
NCWTS
Joe Weatherly
25
0
0
Ricky Rudd
23
1
0
Jeff Burton
21
27
0
Denny Hamlin
19
11
1
Curtis Turner
17
0
0
Ward Burton
5
4
0
Glen Wood
4
0
0
Elliott Sadler
3
7
1
Emanuel Zervakis
2
0
0
Lennie Pond
1
0
0
Wendell Scott
1
0
0
Tommy Ellis
0
22
0
Jimmy Hensley
0
9
2
Rick Mast
0
9
0
Hermie Sadler
0
2
0
Elton Sawyer
0
2
0
Stacy Compton
0
0
2
Jon Wood
0
0
2

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