Tag: richmond raceway

NASCAR points math ranks right up there with income tax math and black jack card counting. With that, we could dig around and find out how Kyle Larson with 4 wins is 13 season points behind Denny Hamlin with no wins. Larson and Hamlin are tied in Top 5 and Top 10 finishes and Larson actually has 7 more stage wins than Hamlin. Larson has 1 DNF, however, he is leading the “Playoff” rankings while Hamlin sits in the 4th slot.

With the Tokyo Summer Olympics taking the spotlight on NBC, NASCAR is on a break until August 8 weekend and Watkins Glen. It’s a great time to take stock and set the stage for the final 4 races of the regular season in August. The playoffs begin at Darlington in September with Richmond the weekend after.

The most recent winner was Aric Almirola at New Hampshire. Kurt Busch has a win from Atlanta the week before. Chase Elliott won at Road America and earlier at Circuit of the Americas. Kyle Busch has 2 wins from Pocono and Kansas. Alex Bowman grabbed the first of the double-header weekend at Pocono with 2 other checkers from Pocono and Richmond. Kyle Larson had a string of points win around his All Star victory. Nashville, Sonoma and Charlotte were practically back to back with a 4th win at Vegas. Martin Truex Jr was hot early in the season with wins from Darlington. Martinsville and Phoenix. Brad Keselowski came out of Talladega on top. Joey Logano won the dirty Bristol Race. Ryan Blaney snagged Atlanta. William Byron pulled his first win at Homestead. Christopher Bell also hit his first Cup win at the Daytona Road Course. Michael McDowell started the season with his first Cup win at the Daytona 500 opener. McDowell also had a fairly hot early season but seems to be hanging on with performance currently.

Denny Hamlin is hanging on near the top with now wins. Notable, also, is the struggling season of Kevin Harvick. It is an oddity to see the hard charger #4 not notching a win with the season looming late in the schedule. The past few years have seen Harvick sitting comfortable with post season assurance. This season he is just above the cut with 4 races to make it.

So… Here we are with swimming, fencing, cycling and all the other Olympic events carried over from Covid cancel in 2020 to barely Covid live crowds in 2021 in Tokyo. All the NBC channels have the variety of sport across the spectrum and the daily schedule.

Watkins Glen is set to roll out August 8. NASCAR returns to Virginia with the 2nd race of the playoffs on September 11. Virginia race fans have Richmond with Bristol (just over the border) the week after. Later, The race before the season finale at Phoenix is October 31st at Martinsville.

In the Olympic off time, find a local track with some hot laps on track and take advantage of the NASCAR off weeks and get reacquainted with some home track racing.

Virginia gets a double shot of NASCAR Cup racing with Richmond this weekend following Martinsville last weekend. A bit of a switch up continues as Xfinity ran at Martinsville and the Camping World Trucks will run at Richmond. The TOYOTACARE 250 truck race is on Saturday and the Cup Toyota Owners 400 is on Sunday (April 17-18)

The weekly short tracks continue their races as the season heats up. South Boston is running their Southern Ground Pounders event with Vintage Sportsman and Open Wheel Mods. The SGP Tour hits Virginia tracks several times through 2021. Following South Boston they run at Motor Mile just a week later. Dominion and Langley are also on the schedule.

Wythe Raceway is also running Vintage Sportsman and Mods on the dirt track. Lonesome Pine is running at night this weekend. Langley has drifting. Natural Bridge is running practically every weekend. Franklin County is also back in action this weekend.

Virginia Motorsports Park has the VP ET Bracket Series heating up the straight line racing. Eastside up in Waynseboro also has their drag strip on tap.

There is a lot of action on track this weekend from NASCAR Cup laps to local hero straight line speed. Pick a track and support some racing. NASCAR at Richmond, with their recent infield improvements for fans, raised the bar for Virginia racing. The open garage walkway is a great way for fans to see the national drivers up close.

However, Richmond Raceway may not be an option for every race fan. The local tracks and drivers put on great shows and deserve some of that praise from the stands. If you can’t make Richmond… There are some really good tracks with exciting racing running close to home. Tickets are family friendly, the racing is fast and the tracks and drivers truly appreciate your support.

As the year opens up and vaccines are more available and restrictions continue to be relaxed perhaps now is the time to go racing!