The Low Tier – Richmond
Regan Smith – At Richmond, I would look for Regan Smith to likely be about a low-twenties to mid-twenties driver. It’s essentially how he stacks up against the competition in the #95 car. At Richmond in 4 of his last 7 races he’s finished between 17th to 25th.
Bubba Wallace – At Richmond I’m not going to set the bar high for Bubba Wallace. On Saturday night I think he’ll probably be around mid-twenties good. This year at shorter-flat tracks over the three combined races he has a 25.7 average finish and a 25.7 average running position. This spring at Richmond he didn’t have a good debut. He finished 25th and had a 23rd place average running position. This year at the other two shorter-flat tracks he has results of 28th (Phoenix) and 24th (New Hampshire).
Michael McDowell – Michael McDowell has some dark horse potential if you’re willing to really roll the dice. His Richmond average finish is 33.7 but in the last two fall races he’s snuck in results of 16th and 12th. This spring he was really bad and finished 31st. On Saturday night if you pick him I would be very cautious and view him as a mid-twenties driver and then hope for the best.
Matt DiBenedetto -This spring at Richmond, Matt DiBenedetto had his best race. He finished 16th and had a 23rd place average running position. It’s hard to see him being that good again, but I think a low to mid-twenties finish might be achievable. In his six races prior to that he finished 28th or worse. At the other two shorter-flat tracks visited this year he’s finished 25th (Phoenix) and 28th (New Hampshire).
Ross Chastain – On a week to week basis Ross Chastain is a mid to high-twenties driver. At Richmond I think that will likely be the case again. This spring, in his lone track start he finished 28th and had a 30th place average running position. At the other two shorter-flat tracks visited this year he has results of 27th (Phoenix) and 25th (New Hampshire).
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