NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond

By Carol D'Agostino

Drivers with Most Top 10s (Last 5 Years):

By Race

Both with 4 - Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano

All with 3 - Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer

By Track

Joey Logano - 7
Both with 6 - Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth
Both with 5 - Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr.
All with 4 - Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer

Recent Pole Winners:

2016 Rained out
2015 Joey Logano

Last Year's Race Winner: Carl Edwards

The Likely Suspects: Richmond hosts great short-track racing and tends to favor drivers with open wheel experience. These drivers traditionally run well here: Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer.

My 2 Cents: Hopefully rain will not be a factor this weekend. Track position is super important for this race, so do your final picks based on starting position. My no-brainer pick this week is a tie between Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. My next picks are: Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne. I will round out my team with Erik Jones and Landon Cassill.

My Final Four: Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer and Erik Jones

Points to ponder:

• Petty Enterprises has the most wins at Richmond in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with 15, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing with 12, Hendrick Motorsports with 10 and Richard Childress Racing with nine.
• Nine different manufacturers have won at Richmond. Chevrolet leads the series in wins at Richmond with 37 victories, followed by Ford with 31 and Toyota with 10.
• The pole is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners than any other starting position at Richmond (24). 
• About three quarters (95 of 121) of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup races at Richmond International Raceway have been won from a top-10 starting position. 
• Kyle Busch leads all active drivers in the Cup Series wins at Richmond International Raceway with four, all of which were spring races. But he doesn’t stop there. Busch also tops the charts with most runner-up finishes with eight, most top-5 finishes with 15 and best average finishing position with a 6.957.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman trail Busch in runner-up finishes at Richmond with two each.    
• Kevin Harvick (11) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10) trail Busch in top-five finishes at Richmond.
• Kevin Harvick leads all active drivers in the series in top-10 finishes at Richmond with 20, followed by Kyle Busch (17) and Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman (16 each).
• Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers in RIR poles with three. 

Remember, if you're playing Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing, your pick deadline is Friday, April 28 at 5 a.m. EDT.

I'll be covering the race weekend at Richmond for Skirts and Scuffs, so be sure to check back at here for your racing news. Enjoy the race! Post your comments here or follow me on Twitter at @purplecatpr.