NASCAR Cup

Talladega: Robert Richardson Jr. preview

Richardson Ready to Run at 'Dega New Face in 37 Ford for Superspeedway STATESVILLE, N.C. (April 21, 2010) - Robert Richardson Jr. returns to the cockpit of a Front Row Motorsports Ford for the Aaron's 499 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway this ...

Published: Apr 22, 2010, 4:22 AM

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Richardson Ready to Run at 'Dega
New Face in 37 Ford for Superspeedway

STATESVILLE, N.C. (April 21, 2010) - Robert Richardson Jr. returns to the cockpit of a Front Row Motorsports Ford for the Aaron's 499 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway this weekend - his second of three races with the team during the 2010 season. The college quarterback-turned-racer brings the colors of Mahindra USA Tractors to the No. 37 Ford Fusion for Sunday's race at the 2.66-mile tri-oval.

Richardson finished 31st in the season-opening Daytona 500 with Front Row and will return to the team for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway in July. He brought home a top-20 finish in his first, and only other, Sprint Cup start at Talladega last fall when he finished 18th.

Comments from Mahindra USA Tractors Driver Robert Richardson Jr. on Talladega Superspeedway:

"Front Row Motorsports has been a great fit for me, being able to come over from our Nationwide Series team of R3 Motorsports to a team on the Cup side with experienced drivers like Travis Kvapil and David Gilliland has been good for me this year. Being able to exchange notes with those guys definitely helps. Bob Jenkins has given me the opportunity to run their Sprint Cup car at Talladega, and also in Daytona in July. I'm just honored to have the couple of opportunities to run in the Sprint Cup series.

"Mentally, for Talladega, you try to get a game plan of what you're going to do during the race. In the past, I've typically bided my time until the last 20 laps of the race and have come away with some pretty good finishes. Last time I was at Talladega in a Sprint Cup car, I ended up finishing 18th, and that was my Sprint Cup series debut. To be able to come away with a top-20 finish was an honor in itself. Having another chance to capitalize on that, and possibly get a better finish, is a plus.

"You have all 43 cars within almost a full second of each other on the racetrack, and they're all hitting speeds of 200 miles-an-hour plus, and we're all nose-to-tail. Obviously, when you go to restrictor-plate races you know there's going to be big wrecks and there's going to be multiple-car incidents. That's what fans like to see. As drivers, we don't like to see those, so it's kind of a give-and-take thing.

"I try to avoid putting myself in a bad situation and instead try to run around guys I've run well with in the past and keep those relationships going when we're out on the racetrack.

"A lot of these guys race every single weekend and get the experience and the seat time they need to better themselves. In my case, I'm running a handful of Sprint Cup races for Front Row Motorsports this year, so not having the experience of constantly being in the car hinders me in a sense. But I'm just eager to one day be able to run a full-season effort and build up my experience, be in the car every single week and make myself better."

-source: front row motorsports

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