2006 Chevy Rock ‘n Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway

2006 Chevy Rock ‘n Roll 400:

The 2006 Rock 'n Roll 400 marks the final race of the NASCAR regular season. Kasey Kahne is squarely in the spotlight this week as he is currently eleventh in points, one spot out of a spot in The Chase.

This Saturday night show is sure to provide fireworks as there is a lot on the line. Who will make The Chase? Who will be left on the sidelines without any hope of winning the NEXTEL Cup Championship? Don't miss this one!

Tickets:

Speedway ticket office (866) 455-RACE

Buy online from TicketsNow (direct link)

The Track:

The 3/4-mile D-shaped oval has just 14 degrees of banking in the corners but it is enough banking to provide great racing. While the other short tracks on the circuit (Martinsville and Bristol) tend to force drivers to hug the inside line to be fast, Richmond has multiple grooves. Drivers can run side-by-side for laps on end with no clear advantage to either lane.

Race Distance:

400 laps = 300 miles

The Big Picture:

This is it! The final race before the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup begins.

Kasey Kahne is 30 points out of tenth and only 45 points behind eighth place Tony Stewart. There are four drivers tightly bunched with only three Chase spots available for them.

The current points top ten are:

1. Matt Kenseth -0
2. Jimmie Johnson -9
3. Kevin Harvick -342
4. Jeff Gordon -387
5. Kyle Busch -394
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -412
7. Denny Hamlin -413
8. Tony Stewart -444
9. Mark Martin -457
10. Jeff Burton -459

Storylines:

This race is all about the Race to The Chase. When the checkered flag flies on Saturday night ten drivers will still have a shot at the 2006 Championship and the rest of the field will be battling for eleventh.

Nine drivers still have a mathematical chance of qualifying for one of the eight remaining Chase spots.

Kasey Kahne is currently on the outside looking in. However, Kahne won last week and won in Richmond in 2005. He is on a mission and will make a strong bid for the top ten.

Media Coverage:

TV: TNT Saturday, September 9th, 7:00PM Eastern.

Radio: MRN and XM Satellite

Actual Race: 7:40PM Eastern

Posted Awards:

$4,955,081

Last Year:

In 2005 Kurt Busch was the class of the field as he ran away with the second half of the race. Kurt cruised to the easy win over Roush teammates Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle.

Last year Ryan Newman raced his way into The Chase with a strong finish as Jamie McMurray was involved in an incident and fell out of the top ten in points.

Predictions:

Earlier this year Kevin Harvick dominated the race but Dale Earnhardt Jr. picked up the win in Richmond. For my primary pick I'm going with Kevin Harvick to finish what he started here in May.

My backup race winner is going to be Greg Biffle. Biffle was quick here last year and posted another good finish here in May. The pressure is off that team as The Chase is a distant dream for 2007. Biffle can pull out all the stops and go for the checkered flag.

Predicting The Race to The Chase

This week I'm also going to predict the odd man out of The Chase.

Most likely one of the four drivers in eighth through eleventh will have a problem of some type and The Chase contenders will be locked in long before the checkered flag falls. Bad luck will more than likely settle the Race to The Chase.

However, I'm going to predict that the top ten doesn't change and that Kasey Kahne remains in eleventh place. While he has proved to be very fast, Kahne has been inconsistent. I believe that he has as good of a chance as any in the top eleven to see his bad luck bite him.