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Kyle Busch will try for a fourth straight NASCAR win on Saturday night at the Toyota Owners 400 in Richmond, Virginia (6:30 p.m., Fox), a race he has won four times in his career.
We have already had one driver win three straight races in 2018, with Kevin Harvick taking the checkered flag in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Now Busch followed up four straight top-three finishes with wins at Texas and Bristol, and leads the NASCAR points race eight races into the season.
“He won the mile-and-a-half race at Texas. He won at Bristol,” Fox analyst Michael Waltrip said of Busch this week. “But at Texas, Harvick was better, so I’ll probably rank Harvick and Busch about even with Truex right behind them.”
Busch is a four-time champion of this race, winning in Virginia every year from 2009-12.
Joey Logano, a two-time winner of the Toyota Owners 400 and the defending champ in Richmond, will start third on Saturday night. Martin Truex Jr. won the pole with a qualifying speed of 123.859 mph on Friday.
Busch will start 32nd, and his brother Kurt Busch starts sixth.
Fox will televise Saturday night’s race beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET, with Mike Joy on play-by-play and joined by analysts Jeff Gordon, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip. Online streaming is available through Fox Sports Go.
Toyota Owners 400 info
Location: Richmond Raceway, Richmond, Virginia
Race coverage: 6:30 p.m. ET
Green flag: 6:44 p.m.
TV: Fox
Radio: SiriusXM channel 90, and Motor Racing Network
Online streaming: Fox Sports Go
NASCAR news & notes
Busch has two wins, three second-place finishes and a third-place finish in his last six races, putting himself in prime position to be one of the final four at the NASCAR championship in Homestead in November. From our Jordan Bianchi:
In addition to owning a pair of wins that have virtually secured him a postseason berth, Busch has already accumulated 12 playoff points — tied with Kevin Harvick for series-best — and is well on his way to building up a cushion similar to what Martin Truex Jr. achieved during the regular season a year ago. Those bonus points proved critical as it propelled Truex into the Final Four where he then won the championship by outdueling Busch in a hotly contested battle.
Look for the Ford Mustang to be a part of NASCAR starting in 2019:
Ford engineers in conjunction with its primary NASCAR teams, Roush Fenway Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Team Penske, are still in the initial testing phase of designing the Mustang for the Cup Series. The manufacturer must formally submit the car to NASCAR for final approval this summer, then Ford will unveil the car publicly.
Toyota Owners 400 starting lineup
Position | Driver | Make | Speed (mph) |
---|---|---|---|
Position | Driver | Make | Speed (mph) |
1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 123.859 |
2 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 123.621 |
3 | Joey Logano | Ford | 123.581 |
4 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 123.542 |
5 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 123.22 |
6 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 122.9 |
7 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 122.872 |
8 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 122.828 |
9 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 122.811 |
10 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 122.805 |
11 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 122.733 |
12 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 122.399 |
13 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 123.063 |
14 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 122.85 |
15 | David Ragan | Ford | 122.85 |
16 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 122.845 |
17 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 122.783 |
18 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 122.777 |
19 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 122.538 |
20 | Paul Menard | Ford | 122.51 |
21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 122.438 |
22 | Daniel Hemric | Chevrolet | 122.388 |
23 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 122.355 |
24 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 122.222 |
25 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 122.968 |
26 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 122.934 |
27 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 122.772 |
28 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 122.722 |
29 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 122.688 |
30 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 122.644 |
31 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 122.377 |
32 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 122.344 |
33 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 122.266 |
34 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 121.655 |
35 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 121.425 |
36 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 121 |
37 | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | 119.745 |
38 | Harrison Rhodes | Chevrolet | 119.707 |