Turn 4 TV: Kasey Kahne's Huge Win

RICHMOND, Va. -- Since the inception of the Chase era in NASCAR, the significance of the late summer race at Richmond International Raceway has been lost on no one.

In years past, it was a chance for those drivers on the points bubble to race their way into the postseason, and there was always seemingly four or more drivers sweating it out on one side of the cutoff line or the other.

NASCAR: Live from Richmond Notebook

But NASCAR upped the ante in the offseason with new rules. Now 16 drivers make the Chase after the season's first 26 races -- culminating with the Federated Auto Parts 400 (ABC coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET) -- instead of the 12 drivers or 10, as in the past.

The first decider is victories, as long as the driver remains in the top 30 in points. The second one is points. If there are 15 or fewer race winners after Richmond, those open spots go to the drivers with the most points through 16th place. The Sprint Cup Series currently sports 13 winners, and Matt Kenseth has already clinched a spot on points.

NASCAR may have understood it could have the best of both worlds with the new rules, having the drama of one driver making the Chase with a win at Richmond, or the drama of drivers fighting it out to get in on points.

Add that the race is at a place where tempers run hot and feelings get hurt even during a charity race, you have the makings of a night to remember.

It's not going to be one the drivers will likely forget, for better or worse.

Ryan Newman is one of those drivers looking for a win at Richmond to cement his place in the Chase, but he also has the best shot at making it in on points, making his race strategy on Saturday a bit of a mixed bag.

He even pointed out some math -- he's a graduate of Purdue's College of Engineering -- that some have been getting wrong. Newman, 15th in the standings, was thought to need to finish 41st or better to stay ahead of Clint Bowyer, currently 17th. But should Bowyer or some other winless driver win, Newman has to worry about Greg Biffle, who is only 19 points behind him.

'No, it's not 41st or better,' Newman said. 'We really have to keep an eye on the No. 16 [Biffle] car because if somebody else wins that hasn't, I could finish 22nd and not make it if Biffle is second or something close to that math. So, it's not just 41st or better.

'We're in a good position. We're here to win the race for Caterpillar and all our other sponsors and have some fun. After all, that's what it's all about.'

Biffle somewhat has the same outlook. He needs to have a good race, not a great one, to make the Chase if a driver who has already won wins again at Richmond. But if a new driver wins?

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'I would love to win this race but I would rather win at Chicago or Loudon or Dover and already be in the Chase and accumulate wins towards the championship,' he said. 'We have to get in the Chase first and that won't be easy. There are a lot of fast cars we are going to have to beat. It is pretty simple mathematics for us. We've got a good car, probably the best car I have had in the last two or three years here, which is a great confidence builder for us.

'We need to have a good solid night. I think we are capable of that. I think it will be up to the other guys to have to beat us and that will be by winning the race. We have to be 23rd or better or 22nd if about half a dozen or so of those cars don't win.'

For Jimmie Johnson, who has three victories and is the odds-on favorite to win his seventh Chase, the outlook at Richmond is different.

'It is relaxed due to the Chase situation,' he said. 'I would love to win; I'd love to be racing for the win. But this track has been really tough on us for whatever reason.

'So, I feel like I have much less pressure on myself due to the Chase-side, but a lot more pressure on myself from the personal side. I need to figure this place out. There was a point in time when I was competitive here. But of late, this has been one of our worst tracks . . . I just hate having these huge weak spots in the schedule and at certain race tracks.'

Brad Keselowski, another three-time winner, rolled to the pole Friday night with a speed of 126.618 mph.

While Newman, Biffle, Bowyer and Kyle Larson are the only drivers not locked in who could take one of the final two spots on points, as Biffle pointed out, there are 12 other drivers with a shot to get in with a victory. That really shakes things up, should one of them be near the front Saturday night.

That list of 12 drivers includes winners from previous years such as Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Brian Vickers, Marcos Ambrose, Martin Truex Jr. and three-time series champion Tony Stewart.

For Newman, he feels like he has done what he can do and he will go from there.

'I'm going to go see my palm reader tonight and just kind of get a forecast of what I've got going on tomorrow and see what laps the cautions are going to be and make sure we stay away from those windows so we don't pit under green and keep myself in the same position,' he said. 'But no, really, you can look at it that way, but I still say that the last 25 races, that intensity, that emotional, mental and physical level that you have to have is no different then than it is now.

'And you have the potential for things to fall apart, don't get me wrong, but things have fallen apart in the last 25 and you can't pinpoint it on the one thing that happens Saturday night here in Richmond. So, you can live in the moment, but it really takes a combination of 26 events to get to this point. And what happens tomorrow night happens tomorrow night.

'And it can be good or it can be bad.'

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