Harvick, Mears swap pays dividends

The crew swap between Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears is already paying dividends, according to NASCAR.com.

Our View: You couldn't tell by Harvick's result, but he had one of his best runs of the year at Richmond before contact with Sam Hornish Jr. cut his tire and sent him hard into the wall. Mears was doing fine before the swap with several finishes in the teens, but he recorded his first top-10 of the season with a ninth in the Crown Royal 400.

Spinning key to Richmond success

Apparently one key to success at Richmond in the Crown Royal 400 was spinning, according to NASCAR.com. Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray and Marcos Ambrose each scored top-15 finishes after spinning in separate events.

Our View: Add to that list sixth-place Sam Hornish Jr., who didn't spin himself, but was responsible for wrecking Ambrose and Kevin Harvick, and a clear pattern developed from Richmond. The new car is incredibly durable, which is going to make handicapping short tracks a lot easier.

Crown Royal 400 Results

Kyle Busch became only the second driver in NASCAR history to win a race on his birthday. It was his 15th Cup win and his 49th in NASCAR's combined Big Three series.

Crown Royal 400 Results

Finish	Start	Driver	Team	Laps	Status
1	14	Kyle Busch	18 Joe Gibbs	400	Running
2	16	Tony Stewart	14 Stewart Haas Racing	400	Running
3	5	Jeff Burton	31 Richard Childress	400	Running
4	10	Ryan Newman	39 Stewart Haas Racing	400	Running
5	7	Mark Martin	5 Rick Hendrick	400	Running
6	28	Sam Hornish Jr	77 Roger Penske	400	Running
7	27	Jamie McMurray	26 Roush-Fenway	400	Running
8	2	Jeff Gordon	24 Hendrick - Gordon	400	Running
9	41	Casey Mears	07 Richard Childress	400	Running
10	29	Juan Montoya	42 Earnhardt - Ganassi	400	Running
11	21	Marcos Ambrose	47 Michael Waltrip	400	Running
12	17	Kurt Busch	2 Roger Penske	400	Running
13	35	Matt Kenseth	17 Roush-Fenway	400	Running
14	3	Denny Hamlin	11 Joe Gibbs	400	Running
15	1	Brian Vickers	83 Red Bull Racing NASCAR	400	Running
16	36	Robby Gordon	7 Robby Gordon	400	Running
17	20	Greg Biffle	16 Roush-Fenway	400	Running
18	12	Clint Bowyer	33 Richard Childress	400	Running
19	13	Joey Logano	20 Joe Gibbs	400	Running
20	23	Reed Sorenson	43 Richard Petty Motorsports	400	Running
21	31	A J Allmendinger	44 Richard Petty Motorsports	400	Running
22	4	Martin Truex Jr	1 Earnhardt - Ganassi	400	Running
23	22	David Ragan	6 Roush-Fenway	400	Running
24	30	Michael Waltrip	55 Michael Waltrip	400	Running
25	32	Elliott Sadler	19 Richard Petty Motorsports	400	Running
26	37	Carl Edwards	99 Roush-Fenway	400	Running
27	25	Dale Earnhardt Jr	88 Rick Hendrick	399	Running
28	9	David Reutimann	00 Michael Waltrip	399	Running
29	18	Kasey Kahne	9 Richard Petty Motorsports	399	Running
30	33	Paul Menard	98 Yates Racing	398	Running
31	40	Bobby Labonte	96 Yates / Hall of Fame	398	Running
32	42	John Andretti	34 Front Row Motorsports	397	Running
33	8	Scott Speed	82 Red Bull Racing NASCAR	396	Running
34	19	Kevin Harvick	29 Richard Childress	394	Running
35	38	Jeremy Mayfield	41 Jeremy Mayfield	371	Running
36	15	Jimmie Johnson	48 Hendrick - Gordon	368	Running
37	6	Mike Bliss	09 James Finch	368	Running
38	11	David Stremme	12 Roger Penske	324	Accident
39	34	David Gilliland	71 Racers Group	92	Electrical
40	24	Joe Nemechek	87 Joe Nemechek	90	Brakes
41	43	Tony Raines	37 Front Row Motorsports	74	Brakes
42	39	Scott Riggs	36 Tommy Baldwin	54	Electrical
43	26	Dave Blaney	66 Phil Parsons	8	Accident
44		Todd Bodine	64 Larry Gunselman	0	Did Not Qualify
45		Trevor Boys	06 Trevor Boys	0	Did Not Qualify

Stewart still close to victory

Tony Stewart finished second in the Crown Royal 400 to earn his fourth top-five in the last five races. He remains poised on the cusp of his first victory as an owner/driver. Notably, Ryan Newman finished fourth to join him in the top five.

Our View: This was also Stewart's fourth second-place finish at Richmond in the last six races. You will want to make a note to yourself to have him on your roster there in the fall.

Hornish posts career best finish

Sam Hornish Jr. earned a career-best finish of sixth in the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond. His previous best was notched only two weeks ago at Phoenix.

Our View: It wasn't a clean run, but NASCAR pays points for finishes and not style. Along the way, Hornish crashed Kevin Harvick and Marcos Ambrose while both of those drivers were running in the top 15.

Kyle Busch sweeps weekend

Kyle Busch was perfect this weekend. He won Friday night's Nationwide race and the Crown Royal 400 on Saturday.

Our View: Busch is a perfect example of putting your personal feelings aside when setting your fantasy lineup. Love him or hate him, Busch is earning a ton of points.

Kahne on the cusp

Kasey Kahne is on the cusp of the top 12, but he needs more consistency to maintain a spot in the Chase, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: The next few races are not only pivotal for the sixth-year driver, this season is key. Richard Petty Motorsports seems to be making a lot of positive moves, and marquee rides are hard to come by, but Kahne's long term reputation is on the line. Like all NASCAR drivers, he wants to achieve double digit wins in a season, and that is not going to happen at RPM anytime soon.

It's raining in Richmond

Rain threatens to delay Saturday's race at Richmond, and it will give the drivers a green track on which to compete.

Our View: Whenever the unexpected occurs, it is generally easier to concentrate on veteran drivers.

Pit stall selections

Jayski has posted the pit stall selections on his site. As expected, pole sitter Brian Vickers has the first stall before leaving pit road.

Our View: Races are won and lost in the pits, so if you have a close choice to make, Vickers, Jeff Gordon, and Mike Bliss have the best slots with an opening in front of them.

Yahoo! Qualification Story

Brian Vickers backed up a strong practice with a pole winning run in qualification. It shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, but this team may be one of the best sleepers at Richmond nevertheless. Check out the Yahoo! qualification story for more information.

Martin quickest in Happy Hour

Mark Martin posted the quickest average speed in Happy Hour practice, with a speed of 121.995 mph during 11 laps.

Our View: That speed is respectable, but we would have liked to see him sustain it during a longer run. Still, Martin is capable of winning again this week, just like he did two weeks ago at Phoenix.

Johnson fastest in Happy Hour

Jimmie Johnson posted the fastest single lap in Happy Hour practice at Richmond with a speed of 124.636 mph.

Our View: His average speed of 119.745 mph during 24 laps was not bad either, and it placed him fourth on that chart. He could be poised to win his fourth race on this track in his last five starts.

Stremme scrapes wall in Happy Hour

David Stremme scraped the wall just past the one hour mark of Happy Hour and scratched the Star Trek decals off the right side of his Dodge.

Our View: Stremme was probably on a qualification practice run at the time, because his early speed was not great in terms of the fastest single lap. He was, however, 15th quickest at the time based on average speed with a 118.324 during 18 laps.

Truex wins Richmond practice 1

Martin Truex Jr. posted the single fastest lap in the first practice session at Richmond for the Crown Royal 400 at 123.046 mph.

Our View: His average speed was not bad either, with an average of 119.407 mph during 39 laps. He should be watched closely in Happy Hour and could be a solid dark horse. The only two drivers who beat his mark in terms of average speed were "go-or-go-homers" Joe Nemechek (120.196 during 12 laps) and Dave Blaney (119.595 during 17 laps), but they were not working on race trim.

Junior Will Not Roll out a Backup

Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not do enough damage to necessitate rolling out a backup car during his early crash at Richmond. He got back on track and logged more than 20 laps in the first hour of practice.

Our View: At that time, he was fairly competitive. He had the ninth quickest average speed at 119.206 mph during 23 laps. Unfortunately, his fastest single lap was only 27th best at 120.595.

Bliss replaces Keselowski at Richmond

Mike Bliss will replace Brad Keselowski in the No. 09 this week. Tuesday's preliminary roster had the younger driver listed.

Our View: While we have been cautioning Keselowski all week about jumping series too soon, there is such a thing as momentum and the Young Gun had it. Bliss should not be as highly regarded in terms of his chances to finish among the top 15.

Biffle also spins in Richmond Practice 1

Greg Biffle followed Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the spin cycle at Richmond only moments after the series went back to business at Richmond. Unlike Earnhardt, however, he did not make significant contact with the wall.

Our View: The drivers are hitting the track on "full kill," and it's biting them. Now that these two incidents are in the books, hopefully they will calm down.

Junior crashes in Richmond Practice 1

Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed barely one minute into the first practice session at Richmond after making contact with Juan Montoya. The damage may be enough to necessitate a backup car for the No. 88 team.

Our View: Junior was hoping to capitalize on some of the momentum he gained with last week's strong Talladega run, but it seems like Fate may have a different idea altogether. Regardless of whether he is forced into a backup, this hurts his Richmond odds.

Harvick has Most Top-10 Laps

Kevin Harvick has spent more time in the top 10 than any other driver during the last five years. He's logged 2,807 laps among the leaders and this has paid dividends in the form of eight top-10s in 10 starts and an average finish of 8.5.

He may not have been the strongest overall at Richmond, however. With two fewer seasons under his belt, Denny Hamlin has logged 2,162 laps with the leaders, which equates to 89.7% of the time compared to Harvick's 70.0. Kyle Busch has raced at Richmond only four seasons, and he also has been stronger than Harvick with a top-10 percentage of 73.1% and an average result of 6.75.

Driver	Laps in Top-10	Possible Laps	%
Kevin Harvick	2,807	4,010	70.0%
Tony Stewart	2,571	4,010	64.1%
Dale Earnhardt Jr	2,371	4,010	59.1%
Kyle Busch	2,347	3,210	73.1%
Denny Hamlin	2,162	2,410	89.7%
Ryan Newman	2,157	4,010	53.8%
Jeff Gordon	2,014	4,010	50.2%
Greg Biffle	1,870	4,010	46.6%
Kurt Busch	1,852	4,010	46.2%
Mark Martin	1,787	4,010	44.6%
Kasey Kahne	1,732	4,010	43.2%
Jimmie Johnson	1,729	4,010	43.1%
Jeff Burton	1,687	4,010	42.1%
Matt Kenseth	1,574	4,010	39.3%
Jeremy Mayfield	1,102	2,000	55.1%
Clint Bowyer	1,094	2,410	45.4%
Martin Truex Jr	938	2,410	38.9%
Carl Edwards	715	3,610	19.8%
Jamie McMurray	577	4,010	14.4%
Bobby Labonte	573	4,010	14.3%
Brian Vickers	522	3,610	14.5%
Dave Blaney	518	3,610	14.3%
Elliott Sadler	473	4,010	11.8%
Casey Mears	382	4,010	9.5%
Michael Waltrip	319	2,810	11.4%
Joe Nemechek	204	4,010	5.1%
David Ragan	181	1,610	11.2%
David Reutimann	171	1,610	10.6%
Reed Sorenson	160	2,410	6.6%
Scott Riggs	123	4,010	3.1%
Juan Montoya	95	1,610	5.9%
Tony Raines	91	2,400	3.8%
David Stremme	23	2,000	1.2%
David Gilliland	17	2,010	0.8%
Robby Gordon	14	4,010	0.3%
Paul Menard	1	1,610	0.1%
A J Allmendinger	1	1,610	0.1%
Sam Hornish Jr	1	810	0.1%
Todd Bodine	0	800	0.0%
John Andretti	0	400	0.0%

Richmond Drama

If last year was any indication, fantasy owners will need to wait for the checkered flag to count their points, according to the Sporting News Wire Service, because Richmond has also had their share of wild finishes. Last year, Kyle Busch spun Dale Earnhardt Jr. with two laps remaining and handed the lead to Clint Bowyer.

Our View: Richmond also had a 12-car, "Big One" crash on lap 230 in this race last year that necessitated a red flag. There may still be a couple of wild cards in the deck.