Finally, it's all about the racing at Richmond International Raceway
Thursday and Friday it seemed like the main reason the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams were coming to Richmond International Raceway was so drivers and officials could debate lug nuts, loose wheels and driver fines.
But late Saturday morning, a neat thing happened: A race broke out, and it was a darned interesting one at that. It wasn't an official race, mind you. Still, you better believe the final Cup Happy Hour practice in advance of Sunday's Toyota Owners 400 (FOX 12:30 p.m. ET) saw drivers getting up on the wheel hunting for speed.
Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who has had the quietest two-win season imaginable so far in 2016, was bad fast in the final practice.
Johnson's No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was fastest in both single-lap and 10-consecutive-lap average speeds in an impressive display of handling and horsepower.
More than that, though, Johnson was able to run all over track, showing surprising muscle at the top of the track, where folks don't normally run.
That opens up the interesting possibility that Sunday's Cup event will be a wide-open race, run across two or maybe even three or four lanes.
And drivers were openly enthusiastic about Goodyear's choice of tires, which seem to have a lot of fall-off as green-flag runs go on.
"It will be exciting for the race to see where the fall-off goes and being in the day," said pole-sitter Kevin Harvick. "There are a lot of things that lead toward a fun day from the driver's seat and hopefully it will be fun to watch."
"I am excited to see how this race is going to play out," added Joey Logano, the second qualifier.
"I think it will be a lot different than what the fall race was," said Logano. "There was no rubber in the race track and it was cool out and everyone was stuck on the bottom all night long. I don't think it will play out that way. I may be wrong but I don't think it will play out that way."
Sounds crazy, maybe, but after two fantastic short-track races at Martinsville and Bristol, Richmond could turn out to be as good or even better.
Make no mistake about it, the big boys -- Hendrick, Gibbs, Penske and SHR -- are still consistently fastest. A win by anyone outside of that group would definitely qualify as a huge upset.
The Toyota Owners (Joe Gibbs Racing) have a great chance of winning.
So do the Chevrolet Owners (Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing) and the Ford Owners (Team Penske).
As is almost always the case, the race should come down to a trio of factors:
-- Don't make mistakes on pit road, including incurring penalties, leaving wheels loose or making contact with other cars;
-- Be in the correct lane on the final restart, which in this case will be the low line; and
-- Make a great final restart.
Whoever can do all three of the above is probably going to wind up in Victory Lane on Sunday.
And it ought to be entertaining as all get out to watch.
