RIR tough sledding for Nationwide-only regulars

When Richmond International Raceway was a true short track, and the Nationwide Series was in its earliest years, series regulars dominated, winning eight of the first 10 events on the low-banked, .542-mile oval.

But since the track was converted to its current, .750-mile configuration with high speeds and relatively high, 14-degree banks, it's definitely favored Cup Series interlopers. Of the 45 series events held on the track since it was "remodeled" in mid-season 1988, 31 have been won by Cup regulars -- including 16 of the past 19.

Even more telling is this statistical tidbit: Only two of those 45 races were won by drivers who were never Cup Series regulars, namely Jeff Purvis in 1996 and Jason Keller in 2002.

Cup standout Harry Gant won the configuration's debut, in the fall of 1988 -- in fact, Gant won four of the first seven races there -- including three in a row beginning with the spring of 1991.

Nationwide regular Jason Leffler has 17 starts at Richmond, but despite having a pole position in 2006, his best finish is only fourth. But he's usually competitive, as Leffler is most places the series travels, and his insight into the track says a lot about why the premier series' stars might prevail.

"Richmond is always a lot of fun to race at," Leffler said. "It has a short-track feel but the characteristics of a bigger speedway, with the speeds you are carrying. There are always two grooves of racing, so there's a lot of side-by-side beating and banging."

When it comes to rooting and gouging, drivers who more recently were sharpening their skills exclusively on short tracks might have an edge. But there's a difference from when legends such as Butch Lindley and Tommy Ellis were dominant at Richmond, to now.

Leffler's words indicate part of why 2010 Nationwide Series champion Brad Keselowski is the only series regular in the past 15 years to win at Richmond. Keselowski accomplished that in the spring of 2009, when he was making his initial forays into the Sprint Cup Series but was still a Nationwide full-timer, racing for JR Motorsports.

"One of the biggest keys is to keep the fenders on the car," Leffler said, "because the cars are a little bit more aero-sensitive than they are at your typical short track."

Kevin Harvick, with four wins in the past 12 years, and Carl Edwards, the 2007 series champion who's won twice at RIR in the past six races and says he had "some epic battles" at Richmond, epitomize the Cup stars' domination at the "short track that thinks it's a superspeedway."

Two-time series champion Harvick, in particular, has a stellar record at Richmond. In 20 starts at the Virginia track, in addition to his five wins he has two poles, 13 top-five finishes and 16 top-10s. Harvick, who'll be teamed for the second race with crew chief Chris Carrier, this weekend, has led 790 laps at RIR.

The series' past five races at Richmond have seen different winners, and four of them -- including Keselowski, who in one season has gone from Nationwide champion to Cup Series championship contender -- are entered for Friday night's event.

Hometown favorite Denny Hamlin, who won at RIR in the spring but who's locked in an intense battle to maintain a qualified position in the field for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, will only race the Cup Series event.

But the twist in things this season -- even though Hamlin won in the spring -- is the new Nationwide Series championship format, whereby Cup drivers aren't eligible. Home-state hero Elliott Sadler is in the thick of that battle and he would cherish a Richmond win, particularly given some extra financial incentive from series' sponsor Nationwide Insurance.

"We've been going [to RIR] as a family, as fans of the sport for a long, long time," Sadler said. "I remember going there in the 1980s, and I was there when they made the transition from the half-mile to three-quarters-mile race track. We've been going there a long time, and I still have a lot of family that have reserved seats near the start/finish line.

"It's a very special place for me. It's such a cool feeling to go there as a fan when I was a kid, and then to have the opportunity to race competitively there. A lot of my family and friends will be at that race, so I want to do a good job in front of them. Now that we have the extra incentive running for the Nationwide Insurance Dash 4 Cash, we have that extra push for the $100,000. I'm really looking forward to it."

Sadler in Victory Lane would break the current two-race skein by Cup drivers.

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