Richmond 101: History, story lines, qualifying and more

Richmond Raceway is ready to host the first points race at a true short track for the Next Gen car. NASCAR returns to the 0.75-mile track Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for the Toyota Owners 400, a race won last year by Alex Bowman, who led the final 10 laps to steal the victory on a late restart. With 400 laps ahead, get ready for all the action to come at Richmond: SETTING THE GRID Saturday, Cup Series drivers will get onto the track for practice on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET (FS1), with the 37 entered teams separated into Group A and Group B, determined by a metric that factors results and fastest laps from last week’s race at Circuit of The Americas in addition to points position. Each group will be allotted 15 minutes of practice. After practice, each group will go out for single-car qualifying for two laps. The fastest five cars from each group will advance to the second round, in which the 10 remaining drivers will fight for the pole award. RELATED: Richmond schedule | Cup Series standings RICHMOND HISTORY -- NASCAR Cup racing at Richmond Raceway began in April 1953 when Lee Petty claimed the victory at what was then called the "Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds," a 0.5-mile dirt track that stood through the first Richmond race of 1968. The track was then paved and remained a half-miler until the fall 1988 event, when the track was reconfigured to its current shape and geometry. -- The first scheduled night race on the 0.75-mile configuration was in September 1991, won by Harry Gant. It marked his second win in a streak of four straight that month.  -- The backstretch grandstands were removed after the 2015 season, following the removal of the Turn 3 grandstands in 2014. That reduced seating capacity by 9,000 seats. -- Sunday marks the 131st NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond. -- There was only one race at Richmond in 2020, the first time in 62 years Richmond had only one race due to the pandemic. -- Richmond is the seventh race of the 2022 season, the earliest for a Richmond race since 1997 when it was the third event on the schedule. Source: Racing Insights GOODYEAR TIRES Richmond Raceway has played a significant role in Goodyear’s tire development for the Next Gen vehicles, the tire supplier said in a press release. Richmond played host to the inaugural 18-inch tire test in December 2019 and again in March 2021. This weekend, teams will utilize the same tire compound Goodyear brought to Phoenix Raceway on March 13, marking the first time teams return to a track with a familiar compound this season. "With such a steep learning curve with this car and the 18-inch tire, returning to tracks on the same package really helps teams start to put things together," said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. "Richmond is now considered a high-tire-wear track, so teams and drivers will have to mange their tires. As tires wear and the track takes rubber, drivers will have multiple grooves, making for some great racing with a lot of passing." This tire will also be used in June at Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway. RICHMOND STORY LINES  -- Joe Gibbs Racing has dominated lately at Richmond Raceway, winning eight of the last 12 races there and 17 in total, the team’s most at any track. -- While JGR has been electric at Richmond, including two 1-2-3 finishes in the past five events, the team has struggled in 2022, collecting a combined two top fives (Kyle Busch, fourth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Christopher Bell, third at COTA) and no wins from its four drivers through six races. Toyota last won with Bubba Wallace in October 2021 at Talladega Superspeedway. -- Ross Chastain scored his first career win last week at COTA, notching his fourth consecutive top-three finish. Before this stretch, Chastain had a total of three top fives in 117 starts. -- Chase Elliott leads the points standings with a series-best average finish of 11.0 and earned his first top five of the season last week at COTA by finishing fourth. -- The final green-flag stretch at Richmond was 146 laps or more in three of the last five Richmond races. Source: Racing Insights WANNA BET? Chase Elliott is still searching for his first oval win since November 2020 at Phoenix, but he’s the odds-on favorite to win Richmond at 8-1, according to BetMGM as of Thursday morning. Elliott, who won the championship with that Phoenix win, has three top fives in his last six races at Richmond. The other results are 15th, 13th and 12th. Behind him are three drivers to watch: Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson, all of whom are posted at 9-1 odds. Hendrick Motorsports’ Larson is a threat anywhere, but JGR has been exceptional at the 0.75-mile track and Truex was victorious last time here in September. Busch is the active leader in Richmond wins (six), top fives (18) and average finish (6.9). Their results this season haven’t been exceptional, but that could change Sunday afternoon. Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney are each listed at 12-1 odds, but the right bet here feels like Reddick. Chastain has been phenomenal in each of the four unique tracks the last few weeks, but Reddick has proven he can run up front. Richard Childress Racing has run well here as of late, too, with an impressive showing from Austin Dillon in the 2020 playoffs. Reddick, who finished fifth at COTA after restarting on the front row in overtime, could reap the benefits of the team’s Richmond knowledge Sunday. RELATED: Odds for Richmond [pickup_prop id="22451"] FANTASY LIVE Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $25,000 prize for the winner. The 2022 Fantasy Live points leaders are Chase Elliott (202), Ryan Blaney (187) and Joey Logano (183).  How to play: Fantasy Live | Set up a team today! ALSO ON NASCAR.COM Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look. NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement in the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more -- and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.