Jamie McMurray and the IRWIN Industrial Tools supported No.26 team head to Richmond (Virginia) International Raceway this Saturday looking to be the spoilers in the pack for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Series.
Richmond is race #26 of the Sprint Cup trail, and is the final outing of NASCAR’s version of the regular season. After this Saturday night the top-12 drivers will have their scores re-set and they will fight-out the championship chase.
McMurray in action at Richmond earlier in the year
Unlike other sports, where those outside the playoff picture pack-up for the rest of the year, all teams and drivers remain to fight for individual race wins. McMurray will be one of these drivers; he’s hoping that he can start his spoiling run one week early at Richmond.
McMurray’s record at Richmond is not spectacular, but last time out in May he finished 7th. He is keen to build on that result and kick-start a strong finish to the season.
“We had a great finish when we raced at Richmond earlier this year by finishing seventh, which became the best finish I’ve had so far at Richmond in the Cup series. The key to having success at Richmond is obviously being the fastest car, as well as making sure you make the most on the restarts,” said McMurray.
Despite being just 0.75-mile, the layout does have multiple racing lines, but track position will be vital especially on the double-file restarts.
“The inside line is the preferred groove to run on, so a lot of times it gets hard to fight your way forward in the field if lapped cars are running that line. I’m really looking forward to this weekend with our team along with all the exciting two-wide racing you’ll see Saturday night,” said McMurray.
Crew Chief Donnie Wingo said “racing at Richmond is similar to racing at Phoenix and tracks like that because it’s just really tight racing there. 99 percent of the time, success at Richmond boils down to track position at the end of the race because it’s just so hard to pass.
“One thing that has helped Richmond recently though, is that the groove has widened out a little bit where you will now see multiple grooves and cars starting to run the top and the bottom, which normally makes for a pretty good race. Before, cars would really only run along the bottom, so this helps with the passing towards the end of the race.”
Richmond track map
Completed : 1946
Distance : .750 miles
Shape : D-shaped oval
Banking :
14 degrees turns
8 degrees frontstretch
