Kroger 200 race preview

The NASCAR heads to Richmond International Raceway to compete in conjunction with both the NASCAR Busch and Winston Cup Series. The trucks will be competing in the Kroger 200 at 8 p.m. Thursday night. The 200 is a one-day even with qualifying beginning at 3 p.m. ET the same day. The race can be seen on ESPN2 or heard on MRN Radio.

The Kroger 200 will be race 21 of a 24 race schedule for the truck series. Winnings will total $363,487. Ron Hornady holds the even qualifying record with a speed of 121.726 mph (22.181 sec.) set on Sept. 4, 1997. Bob Keselowski set the event's race speed record on that same day with an average speed of 104.167 mph, running the race in one hour, 26 minutes, and 34 seconds.

Bobby Hamilton dominated last year's Kroger 200 by leading three times for a total of 81 laps, but the race was considered one of the most competitive of the 1999 season with seven leaders and 17 lead changes. Last year's race set the short-track record and matched the NCTS mark for most lead changes in a sigle race.

The 1999 Kroger 200 was cut short by a thunderstorm on lap 196 with Greg Biffle claiming the checkered flag, Ron Hornaday finishing second, Dennis Setzer third, Mike Wallace fourth, and Jack Sprague fifth.

Biffle's 200-point lead over Wallace in the championship battle is the largest in-season margin between first and second place in series history, but most of those points were earned places other than short tracks. The Kroger 200 is the seventh and final short track event of the season. If just short track points were counted, Setzer would be in the lead. Biffle would be in sixth place. In addition, Biffle has only led in two of the previous six short track races this season.

That aside, will Biffle be able to repeat as Kroger 200 winner? If he does it will be a first. Five previous Kroger 200s have produced five different winners. If history is any indication, Biffle does have at least one thing on his side. All previous winners of the event were teams somehow affiliated with a Winston Cup team, and the Grainger team can claim to be a part of Roush Racing, the largest team in NASCAR, including five Winston Cup cars.

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