August 17, 2025
After a fast race at Iowa, Austin Cindric quietly delivered again by finishing fifth at Iowa's "sister track" in Richmond, giving him his first top five on a non-drafting oval since Martinsville last year. Team Penske's decision to pit all its cars early in Stage 1 reaped dividends and proved to be the correct decision as it allowed Cindric to dive from 15th to finish fifth in Stage 1. He remained in the top ten for nearly all of Stage 2, finishing eighth, but faded somewhat in Stage 3 before reemerging in the top five over the last 100 laps. After being first pigeonholed as a road racer and later as a drafting track driver, he is clearly becoming more well-rounded in his fourth season and his driver rating of 106.5 was his best since his win at Gateway last year.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
August 17, 2025
Although Ryan Blaney traditionally hates racing at Richmond, he has recently improved with the Next Gen chassis, and on Saturday night, he had probably his best race ever there, factoring for the win and earning his first top-five finish (third place). After starting 20th, steady long run speed and savvy strategy propelled him to a seventh-place finish in Stage 1 and a third-place finish in Stage 2, but he really came alive in Stage 3 when he passed Carson Hocevar for the lead on Lap 304 before eventual winner Austin Dillon caught him and they had a frantic duel, running side-by-side nearly continuously for 10 straight laps until Dillon ultimately took the lead on Lap 340 before pitting the next lap. Blaney pitted four laps later, and by then he had fallen seven seconds behind and couldn't catch Dillon. Eventually, Alex Bowman passed him for second, but nonetheless, Blaney running this well at a track where he had struggled is a great sign for the playoffs.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
August 17, 2025
Alex Bowman finished second at Richmond yet lost ground in the playoff picture thanks to Austin Dillon's win from far below the playoff cutline. He ran barely in the top ten in the early stages of the race before staying out of the pits for the entirety of Stage 1, which droppd him to 17th when that turned out to be the wrong strategy. However, he slowly recovered to finish fifth in Stage 2 and advanced to third on lap 242, which he generally maintained until passing Ryan Blaney for second on lap 385. Although Bowman gained some time on Dillon, lapped traffic prevented him from really making a race of it. Dillon's win knocked Chris Buescher below the playoff cutline and put Bowman on the bubble. Since he holds a 60-point lead over Buescher, he clinches a playoff spot if a driver from above the playoff cutline wins, but if a driver below the cutline wins, he needs to outscore Tyler Reddick by 29 points.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
August 17, 2025
Although many people think of Bubba Wallace as being primarily an expert on drafting tracks, in recent years, he has actually had his most consistent performances on short tracks. Yesterday's race at Richmond marked the first time that he potentially had winning speed on a short track as he led a race-high and career-high 123 laps, giving him nearly twice as many laps led as his conventionally higher-rated teammte Tyler Reddick. Although Reddick won Stage 1, Wallace beat him out of the pits on the stage caution. Reddick beat Wallace out of the pits on a green-flag pit cycle before Wallace repassed him to win Stage 2 and he later also passed Michael McDowell for the lead before eventual winner Austin Dillon passed him the next lap. Wallace was beginning to fade somewhat before a loose wheel relegated him to a 28th-place finish; he still beat all three of his 23XI Racing teammates.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
August 17, 2025
Chris Buescher's weeks of treading water for most of the summer have now caught up with him as Austin Dillon's win coupled with Alex Bowman's second-place finish and Buescher's shockingly bad 30th-place finish at a track he won at a mere two years ago have combined to eliminate Buescher from the NASCAR playoffs on points. Buescher was outrun by his teammates Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski all race and he never seemed to have much speed prior to that either. Despite sitting just inside the playoffs for months, he seemed to be more complacent and conservative this year than he was in previous years, which is never a good sign when nearly 16 drivers win prior to the playoffs each year. Since he is 60 points behind Bowman, who now sits on the playoff cutline, and second-place only pays at most 55 points, Buescher cannot advance to the playoffs unless he wins at Daytona.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
August 16, 2025
Surprise, surprise. Denny Hamlin is the heavy favorite to win this weekend's Cook Out 400 race at Richmond Raceway. Hamlin is one of the premier racers at short, flat tracks, and has been great at the venues that are comparable to Richmond this weekend, including a win at Martinsville and podium finishes at Bowman Gray and Phoenix. As far as Richmond specifically goes, there arguably isn't anyone better than Hamlin--especially right now. He has five career victories at this track and an average finish of 8.1 over his 36 career starts. Over the last eight races here, Hamlin has finished first or second six times, and also has a fourth-place result to his credit. Simply put, Richmond Raceway is Denny Hamlin's playground. As far as DFS goes this weekend, Hamlin is a premier option, even as the highest-priced driver on the DraftKings slate (at a $11,000 salary).
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
August 16, 2025
If the NASCAR Cup Series is at a short, flat track, Christopher Bell is always a solid option. That's exactly the case at Richmond Raceway this weekend. Over his eight career starts here with Joe Gibbs Racing, Bell has just one finish worse than sixth. In last year's race, he started fifth, won Stage 1, and led 122 laps en route to a sixth-place finish when it was all said and done. This weekend, Bell starts eighth and should be a contender all night long in Richmond. His long-run speed looked solid during practice on Friday and his falloff looked great, which should pay high dividends on Saturday night. At $10,800 on DraftKings, Christopher Bell is one of the highest-priced drivers on the DFS slate, but he has some Place Differential room and is also a prime dominator contender behind his teammate, Denny Hamlin. Remember, CBell won the All Star Race and Phoenix this season, and also finished second at Martinsville, all of which compare nicely to Richmond.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
August
16,
2025
Richmond
Raceway
has
been
an
interesting
track
for
Ryan
Blaney,
and
not
in
a
good
way.
In
17
career
starts
at
"The
Action
Track,"
Blaney
has
just
three
top-10
finishes
to
his
credit
and
has
never
ended
up
better
than
seventh.
read more...
August
16,
2025
Joey
Logano
is
one
of
the
best
at
Richmond
Raceway,
as
the
Team
Penske
driver
is
a
two-time
winner
at
the
track
and
would
have
grabbed
a
third
victory
here
last
season
if
Austin
Dillon
didn't
dump
him
on
the
final
read more...
August 16, 2025
Chase Elliott largely fell out of contention for the regular-season championship unless his teammate William Byron crashes out of one of the two remaining regular season races after an inexplicably bad run at Watkins Glen, where he used to dominate but instead had his streak of top-20 finishes every race this season snapped. After his relatively recent win at Atlanta and dominant run at Dover, it's probably too soon to say he is trending downward, but his recent runs don't inspire confidence. Elliott is very consistent at Richmond, where he's never finished worse than 15th since 2017, but he also hasn't had many great runs and has only led more than five laps twice and has never been a massive factor for the win. In a 400-lap race, lap-leader points and fastest-lap points become more important, and he likely won't get many of those. The fact that he outqualified his teammates in fifth makes him a worse DFS choice than you might think.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
August 16, 2025
On paper, Kyle Larson looks like a must-have to start for DFS play at Richmond since you do not get this many opportunities for place-differential points for him since he rarely qualifies as poorly as 30th. The problem is that after dominating the first third of the season, he has been very sloppy and kind of slow ever since. After crashing out of both Memorial Day races due to unforced errors, his head has not seemed to be in the game, and it seems like he might be letting his social-media hecklers get into his head. If he doesn't make any mistakes, he could absolutely drive through the field and win, and not starting him would look rather stupid. However, given that he seems to have had more mistakes than great runs over the summer and costs $10,500, it's probably better to stay away.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
August 16, 2025
In a year when no one has really impressed, William Byron has probably been the best NASCAR Cup Series driver as he leads the points by nearly one full race and has also been the most dominant driver with 910 laps led. Although he's good everywhere, he's only finished in the top five once at Richmond, that being a third-place finish in the first Next Gen race in 2022 where he led 122 laps before Denny Hamlin sneaked past him with five laps left on much fresher tires. Byron does not normally qualify as poorly as 14th, so you have to consider him somewhat since he could win anywhere and no one would be surprised. However, he also costs $10,400, which is pretty pricy for a driver who is not likely the outright favorite to win. While he is probably a better choice than his Hendrick teammates, he is too expensive to start for DFS given his inconsistent record at a track that tends not to have much attrition.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
August
16,
2025
Ryan
Preece
is
on
the
pole
for
Saturday
night's
Cook
Out
400,
and
with
just
two
races
left
until
the
cutoff
for
this
year's
Playoffs,
he
will
need
to
have
a
major
performance
if
he
wants
to
feel
good
about
his
read more...
August 16, 2025
After a terrible first 16 races when he sat 32nd in the championship with five crash DNFs, Brad Keselowski has suddenly looked like a playoff contender in the weeks since he and his crew chief Jeremy Bullins have developed chemistry. However, it will be too little, too late to make the playoffs unless he can grab a win in the last two races of the regular season. Given the speed he had at Atlanta and especially the very similar Iowa two weeks ago when he had his best run as an owner-driver, that's a definite possibility. Keselowski starts 6th behind his pole-winning teammate Ryan Preece but ahead of his previously faster teammate Chris Buescher. He typically is the best Richmond driver among the RFK Racing trio with two wins and 1,280 laps led here, but he only significantly contended once in the Next Gen era in 2023. Nonetheless, he seems intensely motivated to win and after his Iowa run, that's a definite possibility.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
August 16, 2025
Richmond Raceway has been a bit of a struggle for Chase Briscoe throughout his career. In eight total starts here with Stewart-Haas Racing, Briscoe never cracked the top 10, although he does have a couple of 11th-place finishes to his credit. With him moving over to Joe Gibbs Racing this season, many people expected Briscoe to instantly gain a step at "The Action Track," but that hasn't really been the case this weekend, as the No. 19 Toyota was pedestrian in practice and Briscoe qualified back in 19th-place. He was interviewed after qualifying and noted that he felt like a "fish out of water" at this race track. Although there is some Place Differential upside for Chase Briscoe in Saturday night's Cook Out 400, he's probably not worth the $9,500 salary on DraftKings, as he's unlikely to dominate much, if at all.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
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