Ford Performance NASCAR: Richmond Playoff Advance

FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: RICHMOND PLAYOFF NOTES

The NASCAR Playoffs hit full stride this weekend at Richmond Raceway as the NASCAR XFINITY Series kicks off its seven-race postseason on Friday night. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series conducts its second of 10 Playoff events on Saturday.

FORD IN THE MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES AT RR
· Ford has 32 all-time series wins at Richmond.
· Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski have Ford wins at Richmond while Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer also have series victories.
· Logano is tied with seven other Ford drivers for most victories at Richmond with two.

FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT RR
· Ford has 19 series wins at Richmond.
· Cole Custer is looking to become the first Ford driver to sweep both series events since Brad Keselowski in 2013.
· Mark Martin leads Ford with five series wins at Richmond.

ROUND OF 16 MENCS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 12 advance after Charlotte)
2. Kevin Harvick +72
3. Joey Logano +68
5. Brad Keselowski +31
10. Ryan Blaney +12
12. Aric Almirola +6
13. Ryan Newman -6
14. Clint Bowyer -21

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES PLAYOFF OPENER SET FOR RICHMOND

The NASCAR XFINITY Series kicks off its seven-race Playoff season on Friday night at Richmond Raceway and Ford will have all three of its full-time NASCAR XFINITY competitors in the 12-driver field. Cole Custer is seeded second after winning six times during the regular season while Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe are fourth and fifth, respectively. The field will be trimmed to eight following the Oct. 5 race at Dover International Speedway.

GOLDSMITH GOLDEN

The first time Ford went to victory lane in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond International Raceway was on May 5, 1957 when Paul Goldsmith started seventh and won the Richmond 250. That was his second win of the season and came on a day that Ford dominated from start to finish by leading all 200 laps. Pete DePaolo fielded three cars under his DePaolo Engineering sponsorship and watched as Fireball Roberts jumped to the lead and held it for the first 159 laps before Goldsmith came on and passed him with 41 laps remaining. Goldsmith went on to win the race by one lap with Roberts finishing second and Marvin Panch third to give Ford and DePaolo a sweep of the top three spots. Goldsmith ended up winning a career-high four races with Ford that season, which included victories in Greensboro (NC), Lancaster (SC), and Raleigh (NC).

KYLE PETTY’S FIRST WIN

The Wood Brothers have 99 all-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victories and many of those have been first-time wins for whoever was lucky enough to be behind the wheel. Kyle Petty was that man in the mid-1980s and on Feb. 23, 1986 found himself in the right place at the right time. Driving the No. 7 Ford for Glen Wood – the car carried that number because of sponsor 7-Eleven – Petty was the beneficiary of an ongoing battle between Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt. After Waltrip passed Earnhardt to take the lead with two to go, Earnhardt made contact with Waltrip and both cars went spinning into the wall. Others got collected in the aftermath, but Petty was able to get through unscathed and took the checkered flag under caution for his first series triumph.

BURTON WINS BATTLE OF THE JEFFS

Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon waged a memorable battle at RIR on Sept. 12, 1998 in the Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 in which Burton emerged victorious. The two drivers exchanged the lead eight times during the middle stages of the 400-lap feature until Jimmy Spencer joined them. Those three combined to lead the final 259 laps, but the winner was in doubt until the very end as Gordon steadily chased down Burton, who grabbed the top spot from Spencer with 40 to go. Gordon was on Burton’s bumper as the two took the white flag, and he dove to the inside as they entered turn three. Burton maintained his high line and got enough momentum off turn four to win by half-a-car length (.051 seconds).

A PENSKE SEASON SWEEP

Thanks to Team Penske, Ford dominated the 2014 season at RIR as both Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski made it to victory lane. Keselowski clinched the top seed for the ensuing Chase with a dominating performance that saw him lead all but 17 of the 400 laps, including the final 274 circuits. The win was his fourth of the season and marked the third time Ford swept both MENCS races at the three-quarter-mile track, and the first since 1997. Logano won the first RIR race after passing Matt Kenseth with four laps to go to claim his fifth career series victory.

FORD MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP WINNERS AT RICHMOND
1957 – Paul Goldsmith
1959 – Tom Pistone and Cotton Owens
1960 – Speedy Thompson (2)
1963 – Ned Jarrett (2)

1965 – Junior Johnson (1)
1968 – David Pearson (1)
1969 – David Pearson (1)
1970 – James Hylton (1)
1979 – Bobby Allison (2)
1980 – Bobby Allison (2)
1981 – Benny Parsons (2)
1984 – Ricky Rudd (1)
1986 – Kyle Petty (1)
1988 – Davey Allison (2)
1990 – Mark Martin (1)
1992 – Bill Elliott (1)
1993 – Davey Allison (1)
1994 – Ernie Irvan (1)
1995 – Rusty Wallace (2)
1996 – Ernie Irvan (2)
1997 – Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett
1998 – Jeff Burton (2)
1999 – Dale Jarrett (1)
2001 – Ricky Rudd (2)
2002 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2005 – Kurt Busch (2)
2013 – Carl Edwards (2)
2014 – Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski
2017 – Joey Logano

FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT RICHMOND
1987 – Mark Martin
1993 – Mark Martin (Sweep)
1994 – Kenny Wallace (2)
1995 – Kenny Wallace (1) and Dale Jarrett (2)
1996 – Kenny Wallace (2)
1997 – Mark Martin (1)
1998 – Jeff Burton (1)
1999 – Mark Martin (1)
2000 – Jeff Burton (2)
2002 – Jason Keller (1)
2005 – Carl Edwards (1)
2008 – Carl Edwards (2)
2009 – Carl Edwards (2)
2013 – Brad Keselowski (Sweep)
2017 – Brad Keselowski (2)
2018 – Cole Custer (1)

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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