Top 5 and 5 to watch at Richmond
Here's a look at the top five in points and five drivers to watch in Saturday night's Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Raceway. All statistical references are for Sprint Cup races at Richmond unless otherwise indicated.
1. Jeff Burton, 80.1 driver rating. Burton has 12 top-10 finishes in 27 races but only one in the past eight. His lone win came in 1998.
2. Kyle Busch, 109.0. The hottest driver in NASCAR has the third-best driver rating at Richmond for a reason: Six races, five top fives. He finished 20th last fall, an aberration after back-to-back second-place finishes.
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 89.9. We all know the story line: Junior's last win was two years ago in this race. Since then he is 0-for-71. That win in 2006 was his third at the track. Over the past six races, his 334 green-flag passes are tops at the track.
4. Denny Hamlin, 111.3. Here's another familiar story line: Local boy Hamlin would love to win at his home track. He has come close with three top 10s in four races, including finishing third and sixth last year. His driver rating is second best to Kevin Harvick's 121.2.
5. Jimmie Johnson, 84.9. After a string of five races outside the top 10, Johnson swept both races last year. They are his only wins at the track.
Five to watch:
6. Kevin Harvick, 121.2. The last time Harvick finished outside the top 10 was 2004. He has led 25 percent of the laps run in the past three years and won his lone Richmond race in fall 2006.
9. Tony Stewart, 102.2. Stewart runs very strong at Richmond, where he picked up his three wins in his first seven races. Although winless in the past 11, it's not as if he has struggled. He has six top 10s in that stretch, including finishes of eighth and second last year.
12. Juan Pablo Montoya, 63.0. Montoya's first visit to the top 12 -- and a Chase-eligible spot -- will not last long if he puts up a number similar to his two finishes at Richmond as a rookie last year, 26th and 41st.
19. Matt Kenseth, 91.4. We keep waiting for Kenseth to right his season. Richmond is a good track for him. He has nine top 10s in 16 starts. His lone win came in 2002. He is 120 points behind Montoya.
20. Kurt Busch, 100.8. Would you believe Busch hasn't had a top-10 finish since he finished second in the season-opening Daytona 500? Busch has one win (2005) in 14 races and two of his four top 10s came last year. He trails Montoya by 126 points.