Richmond 101: Trends to watch, Goodyear tire info, interactive ways to follow race
Five races remain in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series regular season and not only is the drama at the postseason elimination line heating up but so is the tension between drivers on track.
Before Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), check out some trends to watch for the race, Goodyear tire info and interactive ways to follow all the action.
RELATED: See paint schemes for Richmond | Betting favorites for Sunday’s Cup race
WILL TEMPERS CARRY OVER? 😡
Last Sunday’s race at Pocono brought out tension between drivers that would normally coincide with short tracks. A helmet was thrown. A skirmish on pit road broke out. So much happened at the “Tricky Triangle” that it may intensify at Richmond with just five races to go before the playoffs.
Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson are at the forefront of driver disagreements after Hamlin ran Larson up into the wall on a late-race restart. Both are locked into the playoffs with two wins each. Larson is likely out of regular-season title contention as he sits 110 points back of Martin Truex Jr., but Hamlin is just 55 points behind his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.
Richmond has seen its fair share of retaliation and Larson could send a message to his newfound on-track rival that sees Hamlin fall out of the regular-season title race.
MORE: How the playoff picture looks heading into Sunday
📉 TRENDS TO WATCH 📈
— Kyle Larson won both short-track races this season on pavement, the last driver to win three straight was Rusty Wallace in 1993.
— Eleven of the 19 drivers that won in 2022, have yet to win in 2023
— Six different drivers won the last six Richmond races
— The driver who led the most laps won only one of the last five short-track races
(Via Racing Insights)
NOTABLE MOMENTS 🎥
1986: Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip wreck from the lead in closing laps | WATCH
2008: Kyle Busch spins Dale Jr. in closing laps | WATCH
2016: Edwards moves Kyle Busch on final lap to win | WATCH
2019: Truex scores first Cup Series short-track win | WATCH
ON-TRACK SCHEDULE 🗓️
Saturday, July 29
— 12:35 p.m. ET: Practice (USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App)
— 1:20 p.m. ET: Qualifying (USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App)
Sunday, July 30
— 3 p.m. ET: Cook Out 400 (USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App)
MORE: Full weekend schedule at Richmond, Road America
RULE CHANGES/GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES 🛞
The GEICO Restart Zone returned to its 2022 dimensions after being extended for this season’s first five races.
Goodyear brings back the same tire that was used at Richmond in the spring. This tire setup has also been used at Phoenix, St. Louis and North Wilkesboro. Teams will be issued one set of tires for practice, one set for qualifying and an additional eight sets for Sunday.
NASCAR implemented safety updates to the Next Gen car.
Along the right-side door bars and extending toward the rear clip, teams are mandated to run a steel plate in addition to the chassis adjustments made for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The right-side door bar gussets and the removal of the front clip V-brace are changes that remain, in addition to the removal of other front-clip components, to create a softer and larger crush zone for frontal impacts.
Also included in the updates are front bumper strut softening (modifications to existing parts), the requirement of an empty front ballast box and a modified cross brace. NASCAR incurs the cost of all these updates.
In the event of a lost wheel that is contained to pit road, the offending team will be subject to a pass-through penalty under green-flag conditions. If the infraction occurs during a caution period, the offending team will restart at the tail end of the field.
If the wheel breaks free outside of pit road, the new rules guidelines mandate a two-lap penalty plus a two-race suspension for two crew members. Each penalty is series-specific: Violations in one series will not impact those crew members‘ eligibility to participate in other series.
RELATED: See rules changes for 2023
FAN REWARDS 🫵
Fans can get in on the action all season long with NASCAR Fan Rewards, a free program that rewards fans for participating in the action when they watch races and play NASCAR Fantasy.
There‘s no cost to join. Fans must be 18 years or older to participate in the program.
Earn points by checking into a race from home or at the track, setting your Fantasy Live lineup, making purchases on the NASCAR.com shop and more. Points can be redeemed for race tickets, merchandise and VIP experiences at the track, including pace car rides and waving the green flag at qualifying.
FOLLOW THE RACE 📲
NASCAR Mobile has now added support for fans to “Follow the Race” and access live leaderboard and race information from Live Activities in the current app release (v13.2.0), available now. Android users, we didn‘t forget you — the same functionality has been custom-built for Android devices, as well.
How to access Live Activities on iPhones:
Make sure your iOS device has been updated to 16.1 or higher.
Available on the leaderboard of all NASCAR Series races.
Click on the three-dot menu near the top right of screen.
Select “Follow the Race.”
Swipe up to access the home screen and you will see the Live Activities at the top.
Lock the device and you will see Live Activities on the Lock Screen.
To turn off, simply visit the leaderboard, click the three-dot menu and “Unfollow the Race.”
FANTASY LIVE 🏆
Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $25,000 prize for the winner.
How to play: Fantasy Live | Set up a team today!
ALSO ON NASCAR.COM 💻
Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.
NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement to the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.
