NASCAR Cup Series

Tempers could boil over at Richmond

Published Apr. 29, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

Larry McReynolds

Anytime we go to a short track, there is always the chance that somebody is going to be mad at somebody. We’ve seen it many times at Richmond. I still remember a number of years ago when Ricky Rudd and Kevin Harvick had everything but a pit road brawl after the race.

Richmond is one of those tracks where -- even if you didn’t do it intentionally -- it is easy to get into somebody. Go back a couple years ago when Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. got together. Sure, there were very ill feelings about it, but it wasn’t intentional. You could clearly see Busch got loose in the corner, but the end result was he spun out NASCAR’s favorite son.

What I have seen in our first eight races this year, which included two short tracks, is very intense racing week in and week out. Now I am not talking about just at the end of the race, it's intense from the moment they drop the green flag. I maintain these drivers are up on the wheel right now like we haven’t seen in a long time. It’s all about winning and these drivers are really taking that to heart. It’s not about a good points day anymore -- it’s all about putting that car in Victory Lane.

In my book, Saturday night is very pivotal for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team. That team needs a good run.

Hamlin gets around Richmond really well, but they have struggled this entire season. Hopefully Saturday under the lights will be where they turn their season around.

Don’t be surprised to see cars door handle-to-door-handle especially in the late stages of the race. As we tell you, this new points system and the two wildcard spots in the Chase, which are determined by most wins of the teams not in the top 10 in points, make winning crucial now.

Additionally, Saturday night and the next few weeks will be critical for teams building data for the Chase as we come back to these tracks later in the year. Richmond, for example, is the last race before the Chase. Dover, Charlotte and Kansas in the next month of racing are all in the Chase, so what teams can learn now will hopefully pay huge dividends later this year.