| | It's another big night under the bright lights in Richmond, Va., as the Winston Cup Series returns to the east coast for a critical swing that includes stops in Richmond, Charlotte, N.C., and Dover, Del. Ten races down, 24 to go.
The Pontiac Excitement 400 was a turning point in the 1999 season. I guess you could say it was the turning point, since this was the race when Dale Jarrett took the point lead one year ago -- and never gave it back. This year, the point race is really spread out. Bobby Labonte on top, but his lead over Mark Martin is just 20 points.
|  | | When the sun goes down, the action heats up at Richmond International Raceway. |
The fact that the race at the top of the heap is tight; the fact that we have seen 10 different winners this season; and the fact that this race was so pivotal one year ago, only adds to the enchanting aura that surrounds the Richmond International Raceway -- appropriately enough nicknamed, "The Action Track."
"(Richmond) can either be fun or miserable, depending on how your car is." A perfect description from Tony Stewart. He got his first career Winston Cup win here last September.
These days, the three-quarter mile Richmond track has a rather unique distinction in Winston Cup racing, it's popular with both the drivers and the fans. Fans are treated to a blurring blend of short-track banging and big track speed. Drivers face the constant challenge of finding the power needed to get around the track, and the space to use it.
"It's just the right size race track for these cars," said Labonte. "Anything smaller than (Richmond) is a little tough to race on, a three-quarter mile is a really dynamite racetrack. It's a two-wide track, sometimes three-wide, and it lends itself to that. You can race on the bottom for a while, some guys get the car set-up on the bottom, some guys get set-up for the top side. And then you've got two or three grooves to race on the whole time. So it's a lot of fun to go there."
"It's the shape of the race track. The size of the race track. The way it's laid out seems to lend itself to running the upper groove sometimes, not just the bottom groove," added Martin, a previous winner at Richmond.
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“ |
I
have a lot of memories of the old race track. Then
they built the new race track and it's been fun too.
I think they really created a neat little race track.
It gives you the short-track appeal, but still is a
little bit of a speedway. ” |
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— Dale Earnhardt,
five-time Richmond winner |
The key to winning at Richmond is getting off the second turn, and that means making certain you have good grip getting into Turn One so you can jump on the gas getting off of two. The only problem? Fourty-two other guys are trying to do the same thing at the same time. The same reason that makes Richmond so popular is the same reason it is so tough.
"It takes a little while for traffic to settle down, but then you can go to racing," said Ricky Rudd, another former Richmond winner.
"You can run on the top, on the bottom, and if you are fast you can work your way back up through there because you've got a little elbow room. It just seems like it's the perfect combination: aerodynamics are not critical like they would be at a faster track, but it's very similar to a half-mile track, yet it has a little bit of superspeedway characteristics to it. I think the biggest thing is that you can pass cars on that race track and that makes it a lot more enjoyable for the driver."
"You know it's fast enough that there is some aerodynamics that are going on there," said Jeff Gordon, "But yet tight enough that you've really got to make the car handle. You drive it similar to a short track, but it's a great race track. A lot of two-wide, sometimes three-wide racing -- lots of different grooves. You'll see guys run on the bottom, on the top, so any time you got more than one groove, you're going to get a lot of guys that like it."
See I told you so. The drivers like it because they can race there. The fans like it because ... the drivers can race there.
One key reason why Richmond is so popular today, is because it was so popular yesterday. A different race at a different place, Richmond made Saturday night small track racing a big event on Sunday afternoon.
Those were the good 'ole days.
"Yeah, that was real racing," said Darrell Waltrip. He has six wins at Richmond -- all on the "old" configuration. "That's when you slipped and slid, got down in the dirt and the rocks flew up, you leaned into the guard rail and the sparks flew. I've been on top of the guard rail, kept on going and won the race. It would be pretty hard to do that these days."
Then there were the races where two guys named Waltrip and Earnhardt would tear up the track, and then tear up some equipment.
"Yeah, we did on the old track," said Earnhardt. "We had a pretty heated battle and it got pretty heated even more afterwards so that was fun."
Fun?
I guess, after all, this is a rough and tumble race with a reputation for thrilling finishes. It's a night that when the lights come on, the stars just get brighter and bolder. Today, like yesterday, Richmond is a revered Saturday night short track ticket.
"I have a lot of memories of the old race track," said Earnhardt. "Then they built the new race track and it's been fun too. I think they really created a neat little race track. It gives you the short-track appeal, but still is a little bit of a speedway. It's big enough that you can race on, and get side by side. It's a fun place to race and it's a great town to go to."
Stewart thinks it's a good town to go to. Why wouldn't he? He got that first win there.
"It's just kind of the perfect size track in my opinion. It's not a half-mile, it's not a mile, or mile-and-a-half. It's three-quarters of a mile and that is just the right size track for these cars," said Stewart. "You know you aren't beating the sides off them like you are in Martinsville. You get that short-track feel, but at the same time you don't kill a car every week going there."
"It has been a good track for us," said Gordon. "We always seem to be real competitive there and qualify up front. I've had some great battles with guys there, like Jeff Burton, right down to the wire. I was inches away from winning that race, but you know your fondest memories at any track are when you win."
So somebody will take away fond memories from Richmond on Saturday night. Will it be the 11th different winner of the season, tying the number of winners from each of the last five seasons? Or will it be the first repeat winner of 2000. We'll have to watch the Action Track to find out! | |
ALSO SEE
Weber's mailbag: April 12
Jarrett returns to championship launching pad
Burton seeks break-away win in front of home crowd
Ask Bill Weber
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