Kyle Busch has a short but impressive Cup resume at Richmond. In five starts he has never finished out of the top five. He has led in three of his four Richmond races, including for 248 laps in last fall's event when he placed second to Harvick.

Elliott Sadler has only one top-10 result this season, but he's from Emporia, Va. so I have a hunch he'll turn in a solid showing in front of those close to him who will be at Richmond to watch him race. Sadler’s best finish of seventh at Richmond came in the spring of 2005.

Although Jimmie Johnson has never won at Richmond, with the outstanding start he's had to the season he should put on a strong showing on Saturday night.

As for a darkhorse I'm going with myself -- if I qualify. I went to Richmond earlier this month and the test went very well. So if we're in the show, keep an eye on the No. 46 Toyota Camry of Wyler Racing.

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 two to two and half lanes up on the track.

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.

Drivers will be asking their spotters how the right front brake looks in an effort to help determine if they are taxing their brakes too much. Abusing the brakes can sometimes lead to a right front tire failure.

Another factor is getting onto pit road during green-flag pit stops. Doing that can sometimes be tricky at Richmond.

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