NASCAR Sprint Cup: Preview, Predictions and Schedule for Richmond Race

It is the last hurrah for drivers attempting to make the Chase in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and it's going to be nuts in the Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

The top eight drivers in the point standings are locked into the Chase and, as of now, Brad Keselowski has clinched the first wild card slot.

Denny Hamlin has one win with his FedEx No. 11 Toyota in a season that has been chock full of blown engines and bad luck.

Hamlin looks to be in the second wild card slot heading to the track at Richmond, which he considers home. He won the spring races in 2009 and 2010 at RIR and has an average finish of 7.5 there.

So much is at stake for several drivers, and luck can change in a heartbeat at the three-quarer-mile D-shaped track known for action.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his team will be hoping to cruise to a 15th-place finish and just try to avoid trouble during the race in order to make the Chase. He is currently ninth in the point standings.

Going for a win now is too risky unless they unload a super-fast car that qualifies up front and is fast throughout the race, but that doesn't seem likely to happen.

Junior has finished 19th, 34th, 32nd, 27th and 21st in the last five races at RIR, so a 15th-place finish seems optimistic.

Tony Stewart, driver of the Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy is clinging to 10th in the points, but seems to have found some momentum after a third-place finish at Atlanta during Tuesday's race.

Barring the unexpected, Stewart should have a good run at Richmond where he has won three times, has nine top-five and 16 top-10 finishes with an average of 11.0.

Keselowski has been hot with two wins and three finishes of sixth or better in the last five races. He really needs to make his way into the top 10 so that he doesn't lose his nine bonus points when the points reset to 2000 for the Chase.

Clint Bowyer was upset with Juan Pablo Montoya when he wrecked him at Atlanta and ended his chance to make the top 10. Should Bowyer not run well at Richmond, there could well be a racing incident between the RCR driver and Montoya in the No. 42.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M's Toyota, may be favored to win having come off a win in the fall of 2010 and the spring win this year at RIR. He has three total wins, 11 top-five finishes and an average of 4.9.

Busch is the only driver to have captured four wins this season, but his poor run at Atlanta dropped him to second in the points standings behind Jimmie Johnson. Look for Busch to rebound big time.

The Sprint Summer Showdown continues at Richmond with $3 million at stake if Busch, Marcos Ambrose, Paul Menard or Keselowski wins.

Jeff Gordon appears to have thrown down the gauntlet with every intention of giving his teammate Jimmie Johnson a run for his money during the Chase. The two Hendrick drivers may well be the ones to battle for the Cup title.

Gordon is coming off his 85th career win at Atlanta that catapulted him to third place behind Richard Petty and David Pearson in all-time Cup wins.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, television and radio announcers will go quiet on laps nine through 11. During the three quiet laps, fans will be waving American flags. There will be other patriotic tributes at the Richmond race.

NASCAR Sprint Cup practice sessions will be at noon and 2:45 p.m. with qualifying at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The race is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night. The practice sessions, qualifying and race will be televised on ESPN 2.

Drama will continue, racing will be hard especially by those with nothing to lose and much can be gained or lost by certain drivers, but at the end of the night we will have the roster for the 2011 Chase for NASCAR Sprint Cup.