Ted would be interviewed before the race and would say that he wouldn't show his hand right away and he would be patient for the first part of the race. He would play a Kat and Mouse game with the field. We would also hear that Richmond would not be on the schedule for next year. That would make 2 Virginia races gone by the way side in 2 years! The other being South Boston. Personally I feel this is a slight to the race fans in the north. It wasn't too long ago they took out the race at The Glen which is in New York. Also in my personal opinion Richmond is the best track on the circuit as it is both short and fast.
On to the race... Skinner would jump to the lead quickly on the first lap. A few laps later Sprague goes up into the marbles and appears to have something wrong with his truck. Then he would, by accident I'm sure, take out Renshaw and cause Caution #1 before he went a lap down. Sprague would spend more than a few laps in the pits fixing a hung up brake caliper. Ted is still in 3rd place.
The race would go green for a short time and on lap 22 Peters spins in a cloud of smoke and brings out Caution #2. The race would restart on lap 30 and Ted would let Harvick by and settle in 4th for awhile until Caution #3 comes out for a Cheerios sign flying around at the start/finish line. On the restart Ted would fight Starr for 3rd and on the outside he would get around him!
Caution #4 would fly on lap 59 as Hobgood goes through the spin cycle. Ted would now pit and the Mopar team would gain Ted one spot in the pits but restart the race in 13th as a bunch of trucks stayed out.
Four laps into the restart on lap 65 Ted would be in 11th place. In the front of the pack Harvick lets Setzer lead a lap for bonus points then pulls away. Six laps later Ted is in 10th on lap 75. Then Setzer would have a tire go down and create Caution #5 for himself.
On lap 89 the race would restart with Ted in 6th place and Setzer in the pits with his hood up. Three laps later Ted is in 5th! Caution #6 would come out on lap 94 as Whitt spins Peters. The race would restart six laps later with Ted in 2nd!
By lap 127 Setzer is now 26 laps down to the leader. On lap 141 Caution #7 comes out and Ted would pit again. He would get four tires and adjustments. We would see on Speed channel that on Ted's pit the rear tire changer may have missed a lug nut. Nothing would come of it and Ted would restart 10th on lap 149.
Two laps later and Renshaw spins in front of Ted for Caution #8. The race would restart with 47 laps to go with Ted in 9th. With 42 to go Ted is in 8th. With 37 to go Ted is in 7th.
The Caution #9 for a wreck and Ted would restart with 11 laps to go in 5th position. Caution #10 would soon follow the restart and Ted would once again start 5th. On the restart Ted would nudge Cook out of the way for 4th spot and get Caution #11 for it.
There would be one more record breaking caution for the race making #12 on the night as Starr spins with four to go. There would be a green-white-checkered finish once again and Skinner would win the race and Ted would finish 4th on the night.
Skinner wins his second in a row.
Ted would gain 94 points on Setzer!
Ted is now 49 points back with 7 races to go.
Toyota finishes 1st - 2nd on the night.
Ted would say after the race that his Richmond test went well and that his Loudon test went killer. He expects nothing less than a win there.
Ted's finishes at loudon are, 4th-5th-7th and 12th.
Keep up the hard work Mopar team as it is paying off!