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Bristol II: Robert Richardson Jr. preview

Robert Richardson, Jr. back in the saddle at Bristol night race for R3 Motorsports Doctors cleared him to drive after MIS wreck last weekend CHINA GROVE, N.C. (August 17, 2010) -- Robert Richardson, Jr. received clearance from his doctors and ...

Published: Aug 18, 2010, 6:30 PM

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Robert Richardson, Jr. back in the saddle at Bristol night race for R3 Motorsports

Doctors cleared him to drive after MIS wreck last weekend

CHINA GROVE, N.C. (August 17, 2010) -- Robert Richardson, Jr. received clearance from his doctors and NASCAR to drive in this weekend's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night.

After taking a hard hit during last Saturday's race at Michigan International Speedway, Richardson was observed by NASCAR medical personnel after the race and then taken to a local hospital for a precautionary CAT scan. He was released that evening and returned to his Texas home when tests showed negative results regarding injuries.

He is still experiencing some soreness in his upper body area from the right-side impact to the outside wall with 12 laps remaining in last week's race. Just like his bull riding friends and relatives in his native Texas when they take a rough ride, Richardson will climb back in the saddle to compete.

The 28-year old native of McKinney, Texas is looking forward to feeding off the fan excitement and intensity of driving under the Bristol lights in the unsponsored No. 23 Chevrolet of R3 Motorsports.

Fast Facts: Richardson, 28, will be making his 63rd-career NNS start this weekend, and 17th of the season. His best finish, to date, was 15th at O'Reilly Raceway Park last month.

Track Facts: In his three previous NNS races at BMS, Richardson has completed 85% of the laps contested with a best start of 19th (Spring '08) and finish of 29th (Spring '09). This will be his second fall race, with the first occurring in 2007.

Car Facts: Steve Plattenberger and team will roll chassis No. 37 off the truck for this weekend's race. This car was used by Coleman Pressley at the first Bristol race, where he was running 15th before being taken out. Robert Richardson, Jr. drove this car to a career-best finish of 15th at ORP in July.

Did you know: The most cautions in a BMS race occurred five times when the checkered flag waved 14 times. The most recent was the fall race in 2006. The least cautions, two, only happened one time; in the 1983 Spring race.

Robert Richardson, Jr. quotes:

First, how are you feeling after last weekend's wreck: "The good news is that my head is fine, but that's probably debatable by some. (Laughs) My upper body is still a little stiff and sore, and so is my leg. But, I'll be good to go for this weekend. I'm just glad everything checked out okay with the CAT scan. I would like to thank the medical staff of NASCAR for their thoroughness throughout the entire process so I could get cleared to race again."

What's your favorite part about Bristol: "When you walk into the track, you kind of feel like a Roman Gladiator because of how high the grandstands are around that high-banked, half-mile track. It's a fun place to race. If you can put all the pieces of the puzzle together by having a car that rolls the center and comes off the corner well, then you're off to a good start.

"I was running top-20 last year in the Spring race when I got into it with another car and ended up losing a bunch of laps and track position. This time, I'd like to finish the race and get a good finish to make up what we went through last weekend. If I can do that at Bristol, this whole R3 team would be pretty happy.

Talk about night racing at Bristol: "There is nothing like it on the circuit with how crazy fans get for the Bristol night races. The track seems to have more grip at night. You can see some characteristics of the track you can't see during the day, like were other cars right side tires are hitting the groove. And then you have the fans -- the excitement just seems to build and build until its race time. I love it, can't wait."

-source: r3 racing

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