NASCAR Preview: Richmond Race Weekend
- DIVEBOMB Motorsport
- Aug 15
- 5 min read
Written by Gabriel Tsui & Sean McKean
One short track remains before Daytona, as the Cup and Truck Series’ travel to Richmond for close-quarters action.
Located in Virginia, the D-shaped oval measures out to 0.750 miles (1.20 kilometres) long with 14 degrees of banking in the corners, eight degrees on the frontstretch and two degrees on the backstretch.
Below are the start times for each race plus lap count:
Trucks: Friday, 15 August, 19:30 local (00:30 UK) - 250 laps
Cup: Saturday, 16 August, 19:30 local (00:30 UK) - 400 laps
Below are the defending winners of each race:
Trucks: No. 98 - Ty Majeski (ThorSport Racing)
Cup: No. 3 - Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing)
Cup Series: Cook Out 400 Preview
Written by Gabriel Tsui
The regular season is setting up for a huge finish, but not before a final visit to Virginia before heading down to Daytona Beach for the final movement of the 2025 regular season. Could we find a possible first time winner to knock the playoff bubble all out of order?
The drivers will be driving around the three-quarter-mile race track for 400 laps, with 70 laps in the first stage, 160 laps in stage two, then closing out the long haul with a 170 lap marathon, totalling a distance run of 300 miles (482.8 kilometres). This will be the fourth night race of the season, following Charlotte, Nashville and Atlanta.
The weather report indicates that there will be clear skies while temperatures may reach up to 32 degrees Celsius (89 degrees Fahrenheit), so tyre wear may be something to lookout for. The race will commence on the Sunday of August 16th, at 19:30 Eastern (16:30 Pacific, 00:30 British).
Race Predictions
Last year’s race was quite the drama, as Austin Dillon took out multiple competitors en route to victory lane. As we enter this year’s race, we are even closer to the playoffs, so who says we won’t be expecting more chaos at Richmond?
This year’s short track has been the same, same and more the same, as we saw Denny Hamlin dominate Martinsville while Kyle Larson dominated in the Spring race at Bristol Tennessee. However, neither are slam dunk picks and they are on a cooler right now, as they have finished below top-24 in the two previous races.
Therefore, the pick for this week will be Chris Buescher, who has won at Richmond in the past while also picking up another short track win at Bristol in 2022. Sure, his performances at the short tracks such as Martinsville and Bristol this season hasn’t been truly up to standard, but he has been riding on a fourteen race streak of finishes in the top-22.
He starts his season cold, but heats up towards the end. He’s hanging on by a few threads at the playoff cut line, and a win is certainly encouraged, if not necessary for Buescher to make it past Daytona for a shot at the playoffs.
Three things to look out for
Byron's first regular season championship soon?
William Byron has come close to the regular season championship quite a few times, with the closest he has been being his 2023 season. However, despite a five-win regular season, an inconsistent boom-or-bust performance saw him finish the regular season behind Martin Truex Jr. in the JGR Toyota Camry.
However, should Byron be able to finish Richmond with 20 more points than Chase Elliott, who ended his top-20 streak in Watkins Glen, he will secure the regular season championship before even heading down to Daytona Beach.
Playoff bubble watch
As we approach playoff season, its time to check into the playoff bubble. Barring enormous tragedy and misfortune, Tyler Reddick is locked in to the play offs with 117 points above the cut line. On the other hand, Alex Bowman, Buescher and Ryan Preece are all within 60 points of each other, with Preece trailing Buescher by 34 points.
Kyle Busch is technically still in the race, but its the longest shot and his avenue to the playoffs will most likely be through a win.
Corey Heim’s final piece of the puzzle
One of the more underrated drivers on the field has to be Corey Heim, the regular season champion of the Trucks Series. Rumours say the TRICON Garage driver has offers from Chevrolet teams for Xfinity or even Cup Series rides in 2026, as his promotion opportunities through Toyota seems hindered by personal issues with a fellow Toyota driver.
Although this is not confirmed news or even from a completely credible source, another good performance at the Cup Series level could land him more eyes from Cup and Xfinity alike, giving him his much needed promotion.
Truck Series: eero 250 Preview
Written by Sean McKean
Although the regular season title is more than wrapped up, the fight for a playoff spot remains strong as we head into the regular season finale in Richmond, Virginia. Last week out, in triple overtime, Corey Heim took a staggering sixth win of the season in Watkins Glen. With the close-quarters racing of Richmond, the road course chaos will surely translate to the confines of Richmond Raceway.
Race Predictions
In theory, an easy pick for the victory would be Ty Majeski – two-time defending winner of this race and defending Truck Series champion – however, ThorSport’s performances in IRP provided little hope for a team currently floundering despite its deep talent pool.
Instead, the winner from IRP, Layne Riggs, is my prediction to win this race.
Two storylines to look out for
Stewart Friesen withdraws playoff entry, complicates playoff battle
After a horrific dirt-modified accident in late July, Stewart Friesen was injured enough to sit out the rest of the season. Subsequently, Halmar-Friesen Racing announced that Stewart’s drivers’ playoff entry would be withdrawn – taking his name out of the list of championship hopefuls.
Kaden Honeycutt replaces Friesen for the rest of the season, and whilst he contends for a spot in the drivers’ playoffs, Honeycutt joins the team to give them a shot in the owners’ playoffs – of which they kept their spot.
As a result, what was once a clear lead at the cut-off line for Jake Garcia has now turned into an 11-point gap over ThorSport teammate Ben Rhodes behind. With Gio Ruggeiro sitting only 21 points back himself, expect the battle for the final playoff spot to go down to the wire.
Jack Wood out for the week
In the build-up to this weekend, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing announced that Jack Wood’s No. 91 entry would withdraw from competition this weekend. This is due to an injury sustained in a hefty shunt at Watkins Glen in stage two. We wish Wood a speedy recovery in time for the rest of the season.
Comments