Jeff Gordon is usually a factor on short tracks. His Richmond resume shows two wins, 10 top-fives and 16 top-10s in 27 Cup starts.

But Gordon would like to forget about the May race at this short track when engine woes doomed him to finish 40th.

He also has bad memories of last year at Richmond when he had two dismal results, 39th in the spring (due to a wreck), and 30th in the summer.

My darkhorse is Scott Riggs, who has been running better over the last three weeks, and who grew up not too far from Richmond.   

Keys to success at Richmond
Racing at Richmond seldom leaves fans disappointed. There is usually a lot of action, a lot of passing and plenty of paint-swapping. There will be a lot of contact between cars as they get into the corners, so staying out of the wall presents a stern challenge.

With the repaving of the track in the fall of 2004, drivers found their tires had a tremendous grip on new pavement. And the new pavement has spread the groove out so we might see cars run three or four lanes up on the track.

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The best place to pass is coming off Turn 4 and heading down the front straightaway.

It's very important to be consistently fast getting around the bottom of Turns 1 and 2. Also, drivers must be cautious not to get their brakes too hot from overusing them in the corners.

Watch as the cars go down into Turn 1. If you look at the right front tire, if it's cherry red in the center -- which is where the brake rotor is -- that means the driver is heavily using his brakes to help the car handle. Needless to say, that's not a good sign for that car's brakes.

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