Joey Logano is second at 128.694.
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The race, which traditionally has been run on Saturday night, was moved to Sunday afternoon this year and will be the second in a row in the spring at Richmond run on a Sunday. On a green track, Kurt Busch dominated, leading 291 of 400 laps in his Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.
Harvick is a three-time victor in the Cup Series at RIR, the most recent in the fall 2013 race in one of his last starts for Richard Childress Racing.
“I think we have made major steps on over the past year or so, certainly not all the steps we want to make but still major steps”, Keselowski said, per Jensen.
At one point as he fought hard to stay on the lead lap and dueled with then-race leader – and eventual Toyota Owners 400 victor – Carl Edwards to hold onto position. “Hopefully, we can start building off of where we started and ended last year and try to adapt that to the things we have learned with this style of auto this year and have a good day”.
“Line them up again and let’s run another, hell, make it 800 laps”, he laughed. Richmond is, after all, where Tony Stewart won the very first Sprint Cup race of his career back in 1999, where a younger, slimmer Smoke, decked out in the orange Home Depot livery he made famous, served notice that yes, his talents could indeed transfer over from the open wheel ranks, that he would be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. He made 38 laps in practice, the most of anyone, and will start 18th.
The three-time NASCAR champion missed the first eight races of the season with a fractured vertebra suffered in a January all-terrain vehicle accident. Members of the nine-driver council (of which Stewart is a member) offered to help Stewart pay the fine.
On Friday morning at Richmond International Raceway, Hamlin elaborated on why he and the Council stepped up on Stewart’s behalf.
Although NASCAR didn’t offer any specifics, it is believed that Stewart incurred the fine by criticizing the organization in a Wednesday interview when he questioned why they are no longer having officials watch for loose lug nuts during pit stops.
The policy of not enforcing five lug nuts on wheel and tire changes has been in place since last season.
“This was a way for us to send a message back to NASCAR… that we just believe that we should have the right to speak our opinion”. We as a Council support him and do not agree with the fine. “Therefore, we fellow council members have agreed to contribute equally to paying his fine”. It consists of Stewart, Hamlin, Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick. “With all the crap we’re going through with the safety stuff, and for (NASCAR) to sit there and sit on their hands on this one, it’s not a game you play with safety”, Stewart said. “This is not the way to do this”.
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NASCAR chairman Brian France said Stewart is “wrong” and the series takes pride in its push for safety. “It is a never-ending assignment and we accept that”, France said during a meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors in NY. “I think that’s what I was most excited about – not for myself, but for my team, because we’re like a family and (team owner) Ron (Devine) and I are like family”.
