After the chaos at Talladega the Sprint Cup Series heads to Richmond, Virginia, where 400 laps and 300 miles of bumping and ####ing are sure to please in primetime.

1. Jeff Burton

Burton didn't perform particularly well at Talladega, finishing 12th after starting in the back of the pack. Burton has the potential to perform at Richmond, where he won in 1998. However, in this race last year, he left the race early with engine troubles and finished 43rd.


2. Kyle Busch

Is there any doubt that he will be one of the guys to beat in the Chase? Just when you thought you found a track that Busch couldn't compete at, the guy goes out and wins there. Talk about silencing critics... As far as Richmond goes, he has never failed to complete a lap and has 5 top-5's in 6 starts.


3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

He led 46 laps before getting caught up in a large wreck and falling back. However, Jr. recovered to finish 10th, keeping him 3rd in points. However, this weekend is a dreaded anniversary for Jr; 2 whole years since he won a points paying race. He would like nothing more than to end that slump this weekend at Richmond, where he's claimed 3 victories.


4. Carl Edwards

It seems the only way that Carl will ever be doing back flips at Talladega is if he gets turned around and takes a Sadler-esque ride. Otherwise, Carl will dread going to the 2.66 miler. Unfortunately, things don't fare much better for Cousin Carl at Richmond either, where he has an average finish outside the top-20.


5. Denny Hamlin

Hamlin was a show all in himself at Talladega, pushing cars to the lead every other lap, finishing the day finishing 3rd for his 5th consecutive finish of 6th or better. Now Hamlin seeks his first victory at Richmond, another home track for the Virginia native. Hamlin would like nothing better than to give the fans the same show he did back at Martinsville earlier this year.


6. Greg Biffle

Biffle has never performed well at 'Dega, and was probably just relieved to have earned a sub-par 18th place finish, avoiding too much damage in the points race. Biffle has 5 consecutive top-10's until the COT was introduced, when he finished 19th and 39th. However Roush racing has upped it's COT program, and with that Biffle should return to being at contender at RIR.


7. Jimmie Johnson

If you had to decide between putting Jimmie Johnson or Morgan Shepherd for a fantasy roster for Richmond at this point last year, you may have actually picked the latter. Before his sweep of the races last year, Johnson only had one top-10 in 10 starts. However Johnson was able to claim victory in both races at the Virginia track last year with the COT, which implies he will also contend for the win again this weekend.


8. Kevin Harvick

Harvick suffered from a last lap crash that relegated him to a 24th place finish. Richmond is the place for Happy Harvick to turn it around, however, as he has 8 top-10's in 12 starts, including a win here in 2006.


9. Tony Stewart

Stewart has enjoyed so much success at Talladega, leading several laps and coming oh so close to victory. Victory eluded him again, however, when he was caught up in the big one with 15 laps to go. Stewart has three victories at Richmond, however, and has an average finish of 11.3, including a runner-up finish here last fall.


10. Clint Bowyer

Six consecutive top-10's have allowed Bowyer to climb to 7th in points, and proved that he can perform at any track you throw at the 29 year old Bowyer, with those top-10's coming at the short tracks of Bristol and Martinsville, the intermediate track in Texas, the one-miler Phoenix, and finally the unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway. At Richmond he is almost a sure-bet to earn his 7th-consecutive top-10, where he has an average finish of 10.8.




Other Notables:

11. Jeff Gordon- He fell from 2nd to 19th in the final two laps and was involved in the final lap crash. However, Gordon should perform well at Richmond, where he finished 4th in both races last year, leading the most laps in each.

12. David Gilliland- I don't know what it is, but Gilliland has all of a sudden put together 4 top-15's in 5 races, and sits 18th in points! And he's already earned a top-10 at Richmond before.

13. Brian Vickers- He finished 5th at 'Dega, his first top-5 of the season. Vickers now sits 15th in points, could he be a surprise after 26 races?

14. Juan Pablo Montoya- Love 'em or hate 'em Montoya performed at 'Dega, riding Busch's rear bumper to a 2nd place finish. Montoya now claims the final spot of the Chase field, seemingly coming out of nowhere (his 2nd place finish at Talladega is his only top-10 of the year so far).

15. Mark Martin- The 49 year old Martin again takes the wheel of the Army car, and is almost certain to contend after his strong run at Phoenix.