Here are the hot topics, trending news and key story lines to get you ready for this weekend's races at Richmond International Raceway.

WEATHER

The weekend looks clear and hot in Richmond. The National Weather Service says Friday will be mostly sunny with a high of 94 degrees Fahrenheit. Saturday is expected to be more of the same with a mostly sunny skies and a high of 95 degrees, before cooling down to 73 degrees Fahrenheit for the night race at Richmond International Raceway.

KEY TIMES

Sprint Cup Series: A pair of practices will be held Friday starting at 10 a.m. ET, with qualifying at 5:45 p.m. ET. The race is on NBCSN at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

XFINITY Series: The XFINITY Series has an early Friday, with practice at 8 a.m. ET. Qualifying follows at 4:15 p.m. ET, with a quick turnaround for the race at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

CATCH DRIVERS LIVE

We'll stream every driver press conference in the Richmond media center at NASCAR.com/presspass. Tune in Friday at 11 a.m. ET to hear Carl Edwards, then check out Austin Dillon at 2 p.m. ET followed by what Chris Buescher has to say about his Chase chances at 2:15 p.m. ET.

LAST TIME

Matt Kenseth dominated this race a year ago, leading 352 of 400 laps to secure his first victory at Richmond International Raceway since 2002. Kenseth still needed a top-notch restart with 18 laps remaining to pull away from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch to secure the victory by .951 seconds.

YOU SHOULD KNOW ...

• This is the final race before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, so expect some desperate racing from a few folks still trying to secure one of four open spots in the 16-driver field. Notably, rookie Chris Buescher can control his own destiny if he totals 34 points in this race -- meaning a seventh-place finish or better with no laps led. Most of all, Buescher needs to stay ahead of David Ragan in the driver standings to remain in the top 30; he currently has an 11-point lead over 31st-place Ragan.

• This is Jeff Gordon's last time driving the No. 88 Chevrolet in place of injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. before a two-week break. After Richmond, the retired Gordon will drive only two more times -- at Dover on Oct. 2 and at Martinsville on Oct. 30. Alex Bowman will drive the No. 88 the remaining eight races as Earnhardt Jr. sits out the rest of the season while he recovers from a concussion.

• Anything can happen. The last nine races at Richmond International Raceway have yielded eight different winners (only Carl Edwards was a repeat winner, with a victory in April and in September 2013). This is also the penultimate night race of the season, with the 7 p.m. ET start at Charlotte's Bank of America 500 on Oct. 8 the only remaining evening start.

• This is Denny Hamlin's favorite place since the driver grew up just south of the track. He has two wins here, but none since September 2010. Will he end his drought? On his side is the fact that Toyota/Joe Gibbs Racing has won the last two races in Richmond (Edwards and Kenseth).

THE FAVORITE

Kyle Busch. He's been pretty meh the last three weeks (with finishes of 11th, 19th and 39th), but if you look at Busch's history at Richmond and then factor in that it's Chase crunch time when he's likely to become extra "Rowdy," it's tough ignore his chances. Busch has four wins at Richmond International Raceway, and an average finish of 6.9 -- best among all active drivers. Don't bet against him.

Others to consider: Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon.

THE SLEEPER

Kyle Larson. In five career starts at Richmond, Larson has never finished worse than 16th. Not bad, but even more compelling is that it's hard to count out the red-hot Larson anywhere right now when he followed his first Sprint Cup win at Michigan with at third-place finish at Darlington.

Others to consider: Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart.

STAFF PICKS

Denny Hamlin: 2

Kyle Busch: 2

Joey Logano: 2

Kevin Harvick: 1

Brad Keselowski: 1

Tony Stewart: 1