The Super Low Tier – Richmond
Justin Haley (Starting 29th) – This spring at Richmond in his lone Cup start, Justin Haley completed 1 lap, and then his afternoon was over due to engine problems. No fantasy lessons were learned! At the two other shorter-flat tracks visited this year, Haley had results of 24th (Phoenix) and 28th (New Hampshire). On Saturday night, look for Haley to be a high-twenties performer.
JJ Yeley (Starting 37th) – JJ Yeley is returning to competition this week and he’ll be driving the Rick Ware #53. In 2021, Yeley has piloted Rick Ware equipment in five races and over the combined events he’s finished between 25th to 29th every race and has a 27th place average finish. I would say Nashville is the most similar track visited that he raced at and he finished 27th there. On Saturday night, I’m going to view Yeley as a high-twenties driver to low-thirties driver.
BJ McLeod (Starting 32nd) – BJ “No Accident DNF’s in 2021” McLeod is a lock to finish right around 30th at Richmond. In 8 of the last 9 races heading into the weekend he’s finished between 27th to 31st. The one outlier over that stretch was at Daytona where he finished 10th. This year at shorter-flat tracks, McLeod has results of 30th (Phoenix), 30th (New Hampshire) and 32nd (Richmond).
Quin Houff (Starting 35th) – At Richmond, Quin Houff has four starts under his belt and his average finish is 33.75. Earlier this year at Richmond, Houff finished 34th and had a 34.3 average running position. At the other shorter-flat tracks visited this year he has results of 32nd (Phoenix) and 35th (New Hampshire). Look for Houff to be a low to mid-thirties driver, but lean more towards the mid-thirties.
Cody Ware (Starting 36th) – This spring at Richmond in his track debut, Cody Ware finished 36th and had a 35.8 average running position. At the two other shorter-flat tracks visited this year he had results of 31st (New Hampshire) and 36th (Phoenix). On Saturday night, look for Ware to be about a mid-thirties driver.
Joey Gase Starting 34th) – Prepare for the worst if you pick Joey Gase! Over his four Richmond starts his average finish is a lowly 36.5. In 2020 when he most recently raced here he finished 35th. Since May over his five races, Gase has a 32.4 average finish. On Saturday night, look for him to likely be a mid-thirties driver.
Josh Bilicki (Starting 33rd) – This spring at Richmond, Josh Bilicki finished 37th. That result marked him as the lowest finisher of any driver who completed two or more laps! That’s also his only Richmond start. In the other two races at shorter-flat tracks this year he has results of 34th (New Hampshire) and 35th (Phoenix).
