It’s been nicknamed the “Action Track,” but “The Monumental Oval” might have been the better moniker for Richmond Raceway.
Things just tend to happen here — and not necessarily because of the fireworks always associated with racing stock cars on short tracks.
Yes, there have been many combustible and controversial moments, and last year’s finish is a prime example. When Austin Dillon wrecked Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin through the final two corners to take the checkered flag (but not a 2024 spot in the playoffs), it established a new benchmark for roughing up the competition that has been commonplace for years at Richmond.
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Jeff Gordon set a modern era record with 13 victories in 1998, but an indelible image from his third championship season remains the race he lost at Richmond after being shipped into the Turn 2 wall by Rusty Wallace.
Carl Edwards drove through Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch for a last-lap victory in 2016. Kyle Busch received death threats for spinning Dale Earnhardt Jr. while battling for the lead in 2008. Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip tangled at the front and handed Kyle Petty the first victory of his career in 1986 — one of Richmond’s many historical markers.
Kevin Harvick won the last race of his Cup career at Richmond three years ago, and it’s been nearly 26 years since Tony Stewart won his first at the track (which also was the site of Kasey Kahne’s Cup breakthrough in 2005).
The inaugural regular-season finale that set the field of what was then known as “the Chase” happened at Richmond in 2004. For years afterward, the 0.75-mile oval became the scene of many highlights — and some lowlights — relative to the championship.
Gordon made the 2012 playoffs by eliminating Busch with a miracle second-place finish after falling a lap down (and being saved by a midrace rain delay). A year later, one of the ugliest chapters in NASCAR history unfolded under a dark cloud of race manipulation and massive penalties that led to the permanent closure of a race team.
In 2017, Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 78 team gritted through being crowned as the first “official” Regular Season Champion — shortly after a caution erased a massive lead with three laps remaining of a race he’d lose in overtime.
Other unfortunate developments at Richmond were the impetus for a groundbreaking step forward.
After a series of brutal wrecks from 2002-03, culminating in the practice crash that ended Jerry Nadeau’s career, Richmond became the first NASCAR track fully outfitted with a SAFER barrier for its September 2003 weekend.
As NASCAR returns to the historic venue in 2025, there’s hope again for a negative to beget a positive. In this instance, it’s a case of literal addition by subtraction.
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The most recent NASCAR weekend at Richmond was more than a year ago. From 1959 to 2024, across multiple layouts and a surface that changed from dirt to asphalt, the track made famous by Paul Sawyer enjoyed the constant of two annually scheduled Cup races (losing one in 2020 to the pandemic).
This season, Richmond will join the list of tracks that have dropped to one event. In the case of Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway, the reduction has resulted in sold-out infield campgrounds and crowded grandstands for the remaining event.
It’s been 17 years since the last sellout of Richmond Raceway. Local reports suggest that Saturday night will draw the biggest crowd in recent memory. Expectations will be high that something memorable will happen.
But at Richmond, something usually does.