Martin Returns To Richmond
Mark Martin, Richmond’s leading winner in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition, will be making his 2009 series debut in Friday’s Lipton Tea 250.
It will be his first start at the .75-mile oval since 2005, and his first appearance in the Nationwide Series since finishing third last fall at Texas Motor Speedway. Martin raced five times in the series last year, winning in his debut in the JR Motorsports Chevrolet at Las Vegas. That was his Nationwide Series-leading 48th victory.
Martin, who will race Rick Hendrick’s No. 5 Lipton Chevrolet, won five races at Richmond, four of them for Jack Roush. He’s raced here 24 times, all in Fords. Martin’s last victory at Richmond was in 1999. He won his debut race here in 1987, driving for Bruce Lawmaster, swept the 1993 events and won the 1997 spring event.
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Martin’s most recent NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond was in 2005, when he won the pole and finished fourth in the No. 9 Red Apple Group Ford.
Brian Keselowski In Top 30
Brad Keselowski wasn’t the only big winner in his family last weekend. His older brother, Brian, finished 14th in the Aaron’s 250. That was good enough to move the No. 26 Schweitzer Title Dodge up four positions in the Nationwide Series car owner points, to 30th position.
That means the Dusty Whitney-owned Dodge has a guaranteed starting position in Friday’s Lipton Tea 250. With 49 entries received for Round 9 of the 2009 campaign, that means six teams will go home disappointed.
The Whitney entry is only two points ahead of Lori Morgan’s No. 01 sponsordavis.com Chevrolet driven by Danny O’Quinn Jr., who will be among the 19 drivers participating in knockout qualifying to make the field.
Among the cars also in striking distance of the top 30 are the No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford of John Wes Townley, 39 points back, and the No. 05 31W Insulation Chevrolet of Casey Atwood, 56 points in arrears.
Stanton Barrett, now a regular in the IRL IndyCar Series, makes his return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series in the No. 41 Rick Ware Chevrolet. Barrett, son of the Sprint Cup Series’ original Skoal Bandit Stan Barrett, will also field the No. 31 Chevrolet for Travis Kittleson.
Etc.
Tony Raines is making the most of his opportunity to drive the No. 34 Long John Silver’s Chevrolet after landing the ride on the eve of the 2009 opener. Raines finishes a season-best fourth in the Aaron’s 312—his best outing since finishing fourth at Nashville for Kevin Harvick in 2005.
With 2008 Lipton Tea 250 winner Denny Hamlin not in the field, the mantle of local favorite for the Virginia fans shifts to Jeff Burton. The South Boston driver has finished in the top 10 in three of his four 2009 series starts, including a sixth at Auto Club Speedway. Burton will be at the wheel of the No. 31 Holiday Inn Chevrolet. He’s seeking his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory since 2007, when he won five races for RCR.
Among the other double-duty drivers also racing in Saturday’s Crown Royal presented the Russ Friedman 400 are Mark Martin, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Scott Speed and Joe Nemechek.
Manufacturers’ Standings
2009 Manufacturers’ Championship Standings
Ford 51 Chevrolet 50 Toyota 50 Dodge 25
Ford leapfrogged from third to take the lead in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Manufacturer’s Championship standings.
Chevrolet led Toyota by two points entering Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway, with Ford another two points back.
David Ragan’s victory gave Ford a one-point lead with 51 points, with Chevrolet and Toyota only one point behind.
Chevrolet had a five-race winning streak at Richmond snapped last season. Denny Hamlin won the Lipton’s Tea 250 for Toyota, while Carl Edwards captured the fall race for Ford.
Quick Stats For Richmond
Drivers will attempt to break a five-year-old track record in qualifying Friday at 4:10 p.m. Kyle Busch set the track record of 20.874 seconds (129.348 mph) back in May, 2004.
The race record is even older — with Dale Jarrett winning the fall 1997 event in 109.047 mph.
While the pole winner has gone on to win nine of the 50 NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Richmond, the most winners (10) have come from the third starting position. Half of the winners have started in the top three, with six winners coming from the outside front row. No other starting position has won more than three races at RIR.
Kyle Busch is a two-time pole winner at RIR, and went on to win both races (2004 and 2007). Those are his only two victories here.
Kevin Harvick won three consecutive races at RIR from Fall 2005 through both 2006 races. The only other driver to win three consecutive races here was Harry Gant in 1991-92.
The last winner from outside the top 10 was Johnny Sauter, who started 30th in 2003.
Up Next: Darlington Raceway
The NASCAR Nationwide Series visits storied Darlington Raceway for the only time in 2009 with the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 on Saturday, May 8.
Last year, Tony Stewart drove to victory in a Joe Gibbs Toyota on the egg-shaped 1.366-mile oval. Carl Edwards broke the track record in qualifying with a lap of 176.994 mph in a Jack Roush Ford.
FAST FACTS
The Race: Lipton Tea 250
The Place: Richmond International Raceway
The Date: Friday, May 1, 2009
The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
The Distance: 187.5 miles / 250 laps
2008 Race Winner: Denny Hamlin
2008 Polesitter: Kasey Kahne
DRIVER STANDINGS
Driver Points
1 Kyle Busch 1,219
2 Carl Edwards 1,157
3 David Ragan 1,139
4 Jason Leffler 1,082
5 Joey Logano 1,063
6 Brad Keselowski 1,041
7 Jason Keller 925
8 Scott Lagasse Jr. 886
9 Justin Allgaier 885
10 Michael McDowell 879
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