Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
After an exciting weekend with a close finish for the trucks in Canada and some late race restart drama for the Cup Series, the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series take center stage this weekend with a trip to Richmond International Raceway. The short track should produce some solid racing this weekend as Sprint Cup drivers try to make their way in the Chase.
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Ashley McCubbin picked Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch. Harvick has been fast in each Nationwide Series start this year – winning Richmond back in May – while Elliott finished second in the spring to Harvick. Busch, meanwhile, has four wins and 15 top 10s in 18 starts.
Tayler Stiles did not file her picks so we will use her last week picks, which were Kevin Harvick, Regan Smith and Chase Elliott. Smith has been solid this year so far to date, and has three top 10s in nine Richmond starts.
Kreistina Blinova did not file picks, so we will use her last week picks, which were Jeffrey Earnhardt, Landon Cassill and Elliott Sadler. Sadler has been a consistent front runner each week, while both Cassill and Earnhardt have been getting stronger, posting some solid top 15 performances.
Ronald Costigan picked Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. Ryan Blaney has been strong in each NNS start this year, highlighted by the win earlier this year at Bristol. Did we mention the young driver is in a roll lately? He won Bristol two weeks ago, before winning the truck race at CTMP last weekend.
Marshall Gabell did not file his picks, so we will use his last week picks, which were Brian Scott, Kevin Harvick and Dylan Kwasniewski. Scott is a strong front runner who has been close to getting his first career win as of late, while Kwasniewski continues to improve with each passing week.
Justin Tucker did not file his picks, so we will use his last week picks, which were Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch.
Kyle Magda picked Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Busch.
Terry Wagner picked Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch.
Christina Cordner picked Brian Scott, Chase Elliott and Brendan Gaughan. Gaughan is looking to turn his bad luck as of late around but only has one career top 10 at Richmond in five starts.
Billy Stiles Jr. did not file his picks so we will use his last week picks Chase Elliott, Regan Smith and Kyle Busch.
Billy Zardo did not file his picks so we will use his last week picks Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch. Dillon has been solid this year, posting top 10 finishes on a weekly basis.
Robert Hill did not file his picks so we will use his last week picks Paul Menard, Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher, which becomes Brian Scott, Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher. Buescher is hoping to have a good run after leading practice.
Joni Stiles did not file her picks so we will use her last week picks Regan Smith, Austin Theriault and Chase Elliott which becomes Kevin Harvick, Regan Smith and Chase Elliott.
Tyler Sontag did not file his picks so we will use his last week picks Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch which becomes Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch.
Jeni Harris picked Trevor Bayne, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. Bayne has been solid this year on the intermediate tracks, showing more speed with each passing week. Meanwhile, Larson has been fast in each of his starts and has one top-five and two top-10s in three Richmond starts.
Sprint Cup Series
Ashley McCubbin picked Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson. Harvick and Gordon are both past winners and have been strong all year, while Johnson is bound to keep the success rolling at a track that he knows how to win at.
Tayler Stiles did not file her picks so we will go last week’s Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. If Busch can get his attitude back on track, he could score his fifth Richmond victory on Saturday night.
Kreistina Blinova did not file her picks so we will go last week’s Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt Jr. is a past winner at Richmond and given how consistant and strong the 88 team is, things look up for this weekend.
Ronald Costigan picked Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Biffle needs to win to make the Chase and has a pair of top-fives at Richmond from the past.
Marshall Gabell did not file his picks so we will go last week’s Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. JGR continues to get their program turned around with each week and as they do, Kenseth should be strong. For McMurray, this weekend marks win or bust to get in the Chase on a track that he has only one career top-five.
Justin Tucker did not file his picks so we will go last week’s Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson. Coming off of his win at Bristol, Logano has the ability to win on a short track and is also a past Richmond winner.
Kyle Magda picked Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman. Newman is in a win or bust format, and is a past Richmond winner.
Terry Wagner picked Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano. Keselowski hasn’t won at Richmond, but has shown a lot of speed this year thus far.
Christina Cordner picked Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Billy Stiles Jr. did not file his picks so we will go with last week’s Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Billy Zardo did not file his picks so we will go with last week’s Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Robert Hill did not file his picks so we will go with last week’s Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon and Paul Menard. Menard has a past top-five at Richmond as he heads into win-or-bust weekend.
Joni Stiles did not file her picks so we will use with last week’s Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. Kahne is coming off a win at Atlanta to a track where he has won before, while KuBusch looks for some momentum at Richmond, where he has also won before. Truex isn’t a previous winner, but has four top-10s at Richmond.
Tyler Sontag did not file his picks so we will use last week’s Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon. Ambrose isn’t known as the strongest short track driver, but he did post a solid finish earlier this year at Bristol and this is win-or-bust for him as well.
Jeni Harris picked Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Hamlin has two wins at Richmond, while Edwards has a win at Richmond.
