2019 Federated Auto Parts 400

The 2019 Federated Auto Parts 400 is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on September 21, 2019, 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 2019 Monster Energy 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 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race and two USAC sprint car races.

Entry list

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

First practice
Chris Buescher was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 22.287 seconds and a speed of 121.147 mph.

Final practice
Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 22.152 seconds and a speed of 121.885 mph.

Qualifying
Brad Keselowski scored the pole for the race with a time of 21.229 and a speed of 127.185 mph.

The Start
Keselowski easily led the pack into turn one as Harvick was satisfied to settle in behind the Team Penske driver and make laps. Joey Logano(22) started 28th after a poor qualifying effort.

Denny Hamlin(11) moved to second and began to close the gap on Keselowski. A few laps later, Truex appeared to have the fastest car on the track. He worked his way past Hamlin and began to close on the leader. Battling side-by-side, Truex used lapped traffic to block Keselowski and took the lead just after the halfway point of the Stage.

With 28 laps to go in Stage 1, Truex lapped Logano. With three laps to go to the green and white checkered flag, he passed Byron. On the final lap of the Stage, he passed Alex Bowman(88) and Ryan Blaney(12). Blaney got his lap back as the “lucky dog,” the other 3 playoff drivers will start Stage 2 a lap down.

Both Bowyer and Jones picked up bonus points in Stage 1.

Stage 2
The Stage ending caution brought everyone to pit road for service. Kyle Busch exited first. Followed by Truex, Keselowski, Hamlin, and Harvick. At the drop of the green, the scramble for positions had drivers going three and four wide all around the track. Bowman, Austin Dillon(3), and Byron got squeezed together with fenders pushed in on tires. Bowman and Byron both came away with smoke billowing from tire rubs.

Dillon took offense to his car being beat on and dumped Bowman with some well-placed bumper contact. The caution waved again. Logano was the first car a lap down and earned the free pass back to the lead lap. Restarts will be wild all night as drivers know they can make up spots quickly as cars are getting back up to speed.

Midway through Stage 2, Joe Gibbs Racing was dominating with Kyle Busch in the lead, Truex in 2nd, Hamlin in 3rd, and Jones in 5th. Harvick in his Mustang held the 4th spot until Jones passed with 21 to laps to go in the Stage.

Two laps later Kyle Busch put Logano back a lap down. Byron had fallen two laps behind and Bowman was three laps back.

Jones has gained nine stage points, Bowyer has grabbed seven. Should they both post a Top 10 finish the points battle could be wide open heading to Charlotte.

The Final Stage
The restart for the Final Stage had Kyle Busch still in front, followed by Truex, Hamlin, and Keselowski. With the fuel window at approximately 125 laps, it is possible a green flag pit stop will have a big impact on the race. Only 18 of the 38 cars that started remain on the lead lap. Busch seems to run great in clean air, Truex begins to close as the laps mount and the tires wear.

Reed Sorenson(77) hit the wall on Lap 243 bringing out the caution and allowing the field to pit. Still, too many laps remain to finish with a full tank of fuel. Keselowski took the lead off pit road, followed by Kyle Busch, Truex, Hamlin, and Ryan Newman(6). Kyle Busch spun his tires on the restart, costing him two positions. Keselowski led, with Truex in 2nd and Newman 3rd.

With 118 laps to go Truex moved past Kelewoski to retake the lead. Now inside the fuel mileage window, it will be interesting to see how the pit stop strategy develops.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. locked up his rear tires coming out of turn 4 and clipped the rear fender of Truex spinning out the leader. Quickly turning the car in the right direction, Truex only lost two positions and the resulting yellow flag opened the pits for all the leaders to get four fresh Goodyear tires and a full tank of Sunoco racing fuel.

Kyle Busch, Hamlin, and Truex led the field back to green. With 44 laps to go Truex moved past Hamlin to take 2nd, trailing Kyle Busch by 1.3 seconds. At the 30 laps to go mark, Truex had cut Busch’s lead to .4 seconds.

The Finish
Truex passed Busch with 25 to go and quickly built a half-second lead. He had stretched the advantage to over 2 seconds by the time the checkered flag waved. Joe Gibbs Racing finished 1-2-3-4 as Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Erik Jones followed Truex across the finish line.

Playoff Implications
Playoff drivers finished in the first nine positions. Truex win last week advanced him to the round 2 of the playoffs. Based on tonight’s results Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick advanced on points.

Erik Jones failed post-race inspection with a rear alignment issue. NASCAR penalized the Byron, Michigan driver taking away his 4th place finish and 42 points earned. Jones top 5 run had moved him to three points below the cut line after starting the race 26 points out of the last advancement position. He now sits 45 points behind and will need a win at the ROVAL to advance.

The big winners on the evening? Ryan Newman’s 5th place finish moved him from the bottom four to eight points above the cut line and Clint Bowyer who started the night 21 points out, is only four points behind the cut line after coming in 8th.

The first eight spots are almost assured of advancing, 10th to 15th will race for the final four positions that will move to the Round of 12 after Charlotte.

Stage results
Stage One Laps: 100

Stage Two Laps: 100

Final stage results
Stage Three Laps: 200

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 6 among 3 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 5 for 32
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 2 hours, 57 minutes and 27 seconds
 * Average speed: 101.437 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. had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Kelli Stavast and Dillon Welch will report from pit lane during the race.

Radio
The Motor Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

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