2020 Federated Auto Parts 400

The 2020 Federated Auto Parts 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 12, 2020, at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. Contested over 400 laps on the .75 mi D-shaped short track, it was the 28th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, second race of the Playoffs and second race of the Round of 16.

Background
Richmond Raceway (RR), formerly known as Richmond International Raceway (RIR), is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and the IndyCar series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted two USAC sprint car races.

Entry list

 * (R) denotes rookie driver.
 * (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

Qualifying
Kevin Harvick was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.

Stage 1
Kevin Harvick drove into Turn 1 with the lead as Joey Logano battled with Austin Dillon for the 2nd position. Logano prevailed and the field sorted out into a single file line. The leaders here catch the end of the field quickly, Kyle Busch began picking off spots on Lap 1 to move as far away from the rear of the field as possible.

After working over Logano’s bumper with a couple of shots, Dillon moved past into second trying to become the upset specialist in Round 1. Harvick led for the first 20 laps until Dillon passed him with ease, Logano moved into 2nd just prior to the competition caution that came out after 30 laps.

Dillon, Logano, and Harvick held their positions off pit road. Followed by Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, and Brad Keselowski. Kyle Busch restarted in 16th position after the caution period.

Hamlin chose the bottom line and restarted right behind Dillon. A good jump on the drop of the green allowed Hamlin to close to Dillon’s bumper. Hamlin passed for the lead and Logano followed to drop the #3 car to 3rd.

The battle for Stage points heated up with 20 laps to go. Dillon got back past Logano and began to reel in Hamlin. Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, and Clint Bowyer jousted for 7th to 9th over the closing laps with Bowyer almost getting booted from the top 10.

Hamlin held on for the Stage win with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crashing the party as the only non-playoff driver to earn Stage points with his 9th place finish.

Cole Custer, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, William Byron, and Matt DiBenedetto, and Ryan Blaney were the Playoff drivers who failed to cash in on bonus points. Austin Dillon was caught speeding on pit road and sent to the back of the lead lap, forcing him to restart in the 29th position.

Stage 2
Joey Logano led off pit road as he grabbed the top spot for the 1st time. Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Chase Elliott rounded out the Top 5 as the race settled into Stage 2. Kyle Busch worked his way into the Top 10 and was riding in 7th.

Brad Keselowski moved up to Joey Logano’s bumper and the two teammates fought side-by-side for several laps until Logano was forced high as Keselowski took the top spot.

Green flag pit stops started on Lap 60 of the 155 in Stage 2, with some drivers opting to divide the stage into two stops instead of one. The group included Harvick, who’s team opted for fresh tires to make up time on the leaders despite going a lap down. Dillon had worked his way back into the Top 10 when he pitted on Lap 72. The leaders began to come in at different intervals once the Stage reached a distance where the option remained to finish without another stop is they choose to do so.

Joey Logano pitted on Lap 82, the leader Brad Keselowski pitted a lap later. When pit stops cycled through, Harvick was in the lead. With 54 laps to go in Stage 2, Dillon caught Harvick and with fresher tires regained the lead. Three laps later, Kevin Harvick pitted for fresh rubber.

Unfortunately, Harvick did not make it inside the pit road commitment box and had to return to pit road to serve a drive-through penalty. The mistake put Harvick two laps down.

Austin Dillon led for 36 laps until Brad Keselowski drove past as the laps in Stage 2 wound down. Kevin Harvick was able to get back to the lead lap with 9 to go in the Stage. Brad Keselowski held on for the Stage win, with Dillon 2nd.

Playoff drivers Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, and Blaney are a lap down starting the Final Stage.

The Final Stage
Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, and Chase Elliott were the Top 5 heading to the restart. Keselowski and Logano jumped out to a three-car length lead at the drop of the green. Kyle Busch moved into the Top 5 as drivers settled into to make laps until the next round of pit stops. There has not been an unscheduled caution yet in the race. The Final Stage at Richmond Raceway has never gone caution-free. Will that factor into the one or two stop pit strategy?

Denny Hamlin was the first to pit with 108 laps to go. Within five laps, all the leaders had come to pit road with the exception of Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth whose crews opted to make it to the end with just one stop.

Of the leaders who did pit, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Martin Truex Jr. were the Top 3 cars. Joey Logano returned to the lead when Kurt Busch pitted. Brad Keselowski was able to close on his teammate and passed Joey Logano with 84 laps to go. The next set of green-flag pit stops should occur with 55-60 laps to go.

With 75 laps to go, Brad Keselowski led, followed by Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillion, and Chase Elliott. Brad Keselowski, clearly with the fastest car, continued to stretch the lead. Dillon was the first to pit with 64 laps to go. He tried to pit a lap earlier but could not get the car slowed to enter properly. Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and Joey Logano pitted with 59 to go and most of the leaders pitted within the next two laps.

Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick stayed out an extra five laps, hoping the fresher tires would pay a dividend at the end of the race. Kurt Busch returned to the top spot but led Dillon and Keselowski by less than a second.

Once both drivers passed Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski easily drove past Austin Dillon for the lead. With 20 laps to go Brad Keselowski led Truex by 2.5 seconds. Joey Logano, Dillon, and Elliott rounded out the Top 5. With 10 to go, Dillon and Logano traded positions in the fight for 3rd.

Brad Keselowski maintained the advantage and took the win moving him into the next round of the playoffs. Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, and Chase Elliott finished 2nd through 5th.

Playoff Standings
Brad Keselowski joins last week’s winner, Kevin Harvick in earning a spot in the 2nd round by virtue of their victories. Denny Hamlin advanced on points thanks to the bonus points he carried into the playoffs with his six wins during the regular season, despite mediocre performances during the first two races of this round.

Austin Dillon improved to 36 points above the cut line and can breathe easy if he stays out of trouble at Bristol. Kyle Busch, brother Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, and Clint Bowyer have a narrow margin to protect and all four are in danger heading into next week.

William Byron and Cole Custer can drive their way in with solid finishes if one or two of the drivers in front of them have an off night next Saturday. Matt DiBenedetto and Ryan Blaney are going to need a win to advance. Matt DiBenedetto has come close at Bristol but has yet to score his first Cup Series victory.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 80

Stage Two Laps: 155

Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 165

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 19 among 9 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 3 for 21
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 2 hours, 56 minutes and 42 seconds
 * Average speed: 101.868 mph

Television
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and three-time Richmond winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. covered the race from the booth at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties on site.

Radio
The Motor Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace had the call in the broadcast booth for MRN when the field races through the front straightaway. Dave Moody called the race from a platform when the field races down the backstraightaway. Jason Toy and Kim Coon called the action for MRN from pit lane.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.