NASCAR Sprint Cup at Richmond: Denny Hamlin and 9 Top Contenders to Win

While Richmond falls on an important and tragic weekend for America this year with the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, it is time to look at the brighter side of the race: the hopeful prediction of 10 drivers that will be in contention to win.

While some of these drivers are always in front at this track, others have just stepped into the spotlight during the last few runnings of this race. So let's take a look at our top contenders for Saturday's race.

Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin seems to love fall races here, winning both the September runnings of the 2009 and 2010 versions of this race. But he can also run well in the spring, finishing second in April.

Hamlin is one to watch because you know he'll be up front here if he has even a little luck. If he can keep his fall winning streak alive, he will be guaranteed the wild card. However, if A.J. Allmendinger wins, Hamlin could be bumped out of the Chase.

Kyle Busch

While Hamlin has dominated the fall races, Kyle Busch has dominated the spring races, winning here the last three May and April races at Richmond. He was also second last September and fifth in September 2009.

Rowdy is probably the most accomplished at this track recently, and there's no doubt the No. 18 will be a car to watch no matter where he starts on Saturday.

Jimmie Johnson

The last guy to win before JGR took over Richmond was none other than five-time champ Jimmie Johnson. His last win here was in 2008 (after sweeping this track in 2007), but he has finished in the top 10 three times since then, including a third last September.

As this is the last race before the Chase, expect the No. 48 team to be fine tuning their Chase plans this weekend.

Clint Bowyer

Clint Bowyer broke up a Johnson sweep in 2008 with a win in May of that year.

He also has a good record here in the last few races, finishing sixth in three of the last four runnings at Richmond. This is a car with nothing to lose, so watch him carefully.

Kasey Kahne

Kasey Kahne won here in 2005, faded off for a few years and then made a bang in April, finishing third. He also pulled off a top 12 here last September.

Kahne only has a few more races in the Red Bull car, but a win during one of those races before going to Hendrick Motorsports would sure look good on his resume.

Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards surprisingly hasn't won here before, but he does have strong finishes with a fifth in April, 10th in Sept, 2010 and fifth in May 10.

He's successful here, he just hasn't grabbed the top trophy, so look for him to try and cross that off his list this weekend.

Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart is a three-time winner here, but his last win was over 10 years ago.

However, he hasn't totally faded from the Richmond scene, finishing ninth in in April and second ,in May 2009. So if they get his car dialed in right, expect Smoke to go to the front. His take-no-prisoners approach may be extremely helpful here if he has a chance for the win.

Kevin Harvick

While Kevin Harvick isn't sitting as high in the standings as he was last year, he has a chance to do something he didn't do last year: start the Chase off tied for first.

Harvick needs one more win to tie Kyle Busch for first when the Chase is reset, and winning isn't totally out of the picture for him this weekend. He won back here in the fall of 2006, but has recent finishings to hold up his potential as well with a third in May of 2010 and a ninth both in the fall of 2010 and 2009.

Jeff Gordon

Last week's winner is a two-time winner at this track, though granted, his last win was in 2000.

But even with the long dry spell, Jeff Gordon has done well here in the past few runnings with a second in May 2010, third in September 2009 and eighth in May 2009.

Like Harvick, Gordon is currently sitting in second when the Chase resets after this weekend, but a win would put him in the first spot with Kyle Busch. If that's not motivation to win, I'm not sure what is.

Juan Pablo Montoya

Juan Pablo Montoya doesn't have a win here, but he does have strong finishes with a seventh last fall, a sixth in May 2010 and a 10th in May 2009.

Montoya has nothing to win or lose here, so it could be a win or nothing race for him.

Admittedly, Montoya is a dark horse to win, but with his placings here, he definitely could step up and wipe a Richmond win off his to-do list this weekend.