GFT Facts & Stats Friday: NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway
29 March 2024
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News
RICHMOND, VA — Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (Sunday, March 31 at 7 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will be the NASCAR Cup Series’ 13th-time racing on Easter Sunday since its inception in 1949. The last two seasons (2022–2023), NASCAR has hosted Easter Sunday races at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt track. Prior to 2022, the last time the Cup Series competed on Easter Sunday was ironically enough March 26, 1989 here at Richmond Raceway.
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season has had five different winners in six races. Plus, the series has seen five different driver point standings leaders through the first six races as well, with Joe Gibbs Racing’s veteran Martin Truex Jr. currently out front of the standings by a mere five points over his teammate Ty Gibbs in second. However, points are one thing, wins are what locks you into the Playoffs and that metric has led by Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and the №24 team with 2 wins so far in 2024.
This season the NASCAR Cup Series has produced an average of 13.0 lap leaders per race in the first six races of the year — tied with 2011 for the series-most average number of lap leaders through the first six races of a season in the Modern Era (1972–2024).
RACE INFO
NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400
Richmond Raceway scheduled for Sunday, March 31 at 7 p.m. ET
TV: FOX, 6 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race Purse: $7,886,627
Race Length: 400 Laps / 300 Miles
Stage 1 Length: 70 laps
Stage 2 Length: 160 laps (ends on Lap 230)
Final Stage Length: 170 laps (ends on Lap 400)
Track Facts
Track Length: 0.75 Miles
Race Lengths: 300 Miles (400 Laps)
Grandstand Capacity: 51,000+
First Race: April 19, 1953 — Richmond 200
Banking in Corners: 14 degrees
Banking on Frontstretch: 8 degrees
Banking on Backstretch: 2 degrees
Length of Frontstretch: 1,290 feet
Length of Backstretch: 860 feet
Qualifying & Race Records
Qualifying: Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 130.599 mph (20.674 sec.); Sept. 6, 2013
Race: Dale Jarrett, Ford, 109.047 mph (2:45:04); Sept. 6, 1997
Track Records
Most Wins: 13 — Richard Petty
Most Poles: 8 — Bobby Allison, Richard Petty
Most Top Fives: 34 — Richard Petty
Most Top 10s: 41 — Richard Petty
Winning Car Owners
Joe Gibbs 18
Richard Petty 15
Rick Hendrick 12
Richard Childress 9
Roger Penske 9
NASCAR POINTS REPORT AFTER RACE 6 at COTA
NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Projections and who is on the bubble
Now that we have our first 2-race winner with Byron’s win at COTA (and his season opening Daytona 500 win) the Playoff picture is starting to take shape. In with WINS are Byron (2), Hamlin, Larson, Bell, and Suarez each with 1. Sitting on the Playoff Top 16 bubble is Brad Keselowski at +3 with SHR driver Chase Briscoe in P17 at -3
ACTIVE DRIVER STATS AT RICHMOND RACEWAY
Kyle Busch leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in wins at Richmond Raceway with six victories (spring 2009, spring 2010, spring 2011, spring 2012, 2018 sweep).
· A total of eight of the 54 different NASCAR Cup Series Richmond Raceway winners are active this weekend.
Joe Gibbs Racing leads the NASCAR Cup Series in victories at Richmond Raceway with 18 wins among six drivers — Tony Stewart (1999, 2001, 2002), Denny Hamlin (2009, 2010, 2016, 2022), Kyle Busch (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018 sweep), Matt Kenseth (2015), Carl Edwards (2016), Martin Truex Jr. (2019 sweep, 2021).
NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Richmond Raceway with 13 victories (spring 1961, 1967 sweep, fall 1968, fall 1970, 1971 sweep, 1972 sweep, 1973 sweep, fall 1974 and spring 1975) — the third-most wins by a single driver at a single track in series history, behind his 15 wins at Martinsville and North Wilkesboro. This weekend, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch leads all active drivers in wins at Richmond with six victories (spring 2009, spring 2010, spring 2011, spring 2012, 2018 sweep).
This Sunday, eight of the 54 NASCAR Cup Series Richmond Raceway winners will be active. Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson is the defending winner of this weekend’s race at Richmond Raceway, and RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher is the most recent victor taking the win last July.
The GFT NASCAR AI Driver Rankings after COTA
Kyle Larson, who remains at the top of our Go Full Throttle NASCAR AI Driver Rankings, and Chris Buescher won at Richmond in 2023. Kyle Busch has 6 wins at this track and is hungry. Other drivers our AI models like for Richmond are Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Truex Jr. Frankly, all the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas are favorites with their overall success at Richmond in both the Cup and Xfinity series.
How are the GFT AI Race Prediction Models Performing?
*INITIAL GFT AI Race Prediction Picks for NASCAR Fantasy LIVE at Richmond Raceway
GFT Manufacturers Box Score
**As always, the Go Full Throttle NASCAR Fantasy LIVE AI Prediction Model picks will be updated AFTER Cup Practice and Qualifying and posted on our X social media channel
