Richmond International Raceway is a three-quarter-mile oval that has the old-school charm of a good ‘ol boy short track in a new-age facility. This combination that equates to beating and banging as well as pure speed and engineering makes it one of the best stops on the circuit.

In the circuit’s first visit to Richmond back in May, it was Denny Hamlin who flat dominated the event, winning the pole and leading 381 of the first 382 laps before a flat tire derailed his effort with 18 laps remaining. From there, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. provided the fireworks missing during Hamlin’s cruise, as Busch spun Earnhardt with two laps remaining, allowing Clint Bowyer to sneak by and grab the win.

Hamlin gets charged up anytime he takes to the track in his home state of Virginia, as his performance at RIR illustrates. Hamlin has never started worse than seventh (with two poles) in Richmond and is averaging a 10th-place finish. If he needed more motivation, he’s got it: Denny currently sits 11th in the point standings, just 93 points ahead of 13th. With this being the transfer race for NASCAR’s Chase for the Championship, you can bet his No. 11 team will pull out all the stops.

Clint Bowyer is the smart money’s pick in Group B. Although his No. 07 Richard Childress Racing team has not set the circuit ablaze of late, he has set fire to Richmond. In five career Cup starts, Bowyer has yet to finish worse than 12th, with the spring win being his sole win of the season. Bowyer is also racing for his Chase life, as he sits 12th in the standings, a mere 17 points ahead of David Ragan.

NASCAR legend Mark Martin and youngster Aric Almirola have done an admirable job while splitting seat time in the No. 8 DEI Chevy. Back in May, Martin drove the machine to a season’s best third-place run. Martin will be back in the seat this week and can be counted on for a solid top-10 showing.

If you’re looking for a little more flash in Group C, then David Ragan may be your man. The sophomore sits on the cusp of his first Chase bid and has a third-place run of his own at RIR in only three Cup starts.

The Cup champ from 2004, Kurt Busch, has had a season that he’d most likely rather forget. Aside from a rain-shortened win in Loudon, Busch hasn’t had much to write home to Las Vegas about. A crash midway through the May Richmond event relegated his No. 2 Dodge to a 42nd-place run. However, his track record at RIR is pretty good. A win in 2005 and top-10 runs last season prove Busch knows how to get around the joint, and he can be had in Group D, where past champions do not often reside.

Reed Sorenson may be a lame-duck driver at Chip Ganassi Racing, but it’s hard to ignore his 12th-place finish here in May. If the notes transfer and he keeps his nose clean, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he replicates the performance.

The average speed at Richmond typically falls in the 90–100 mph range. Weather, however, could be a concern, as Hurricane Hanna will push up the East Coast this weekend. Saturday night could be a wash, but Sunday and Monday look optimistic for racing conditions.