The picks last week were horrible. There’s no way this week can be as bad, so here we go. Richmond gets the final race before the chase starts. Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers are just outside of the top 12, and should be driving pretty aggressive Saturday night to get in. Look for Kyle to really cause some excitement and make a few other drivers mad.

Recommendations this week:

Chaser: Tony Stewart
Tony has 4 consecutive top fives at Richmond and 5 consecutive top tens. His 3 wins at the track are tied for best among active drivers, and his average finish of 10th is 3rd best. Overall he has 9 top fives and 15 top tens in 21 career races. Obviously Tony is in the Chase, and his only motivation on Saturday night will be to win and get 10 more bonus points.

Alternate Chaser: Kyle Busch
Kyle has the best average finish (6.1) among active drivers at Richmond, with 7 top fives and a win in 9 career races. He sits 14th in points and needs gain two spots to make the chase. Look for Kyle to be driving like a mad man and causing havoc. If he doesn’t wreck, or get wrecked, he should be in the top five contending for the win.

Mark Martin
Mark has finished in the top five in the last 3 races here. In his 47 career races at the track he has 26 top tens, 16 top fives, and 1 win. Mark should make the chase, but being in 10th spot by only 49 points doesn’t make it a sure thing. He will have to drive hard and get a good finish to ensure his spot.

Ryan Newman
Ryan does well at Richmond with an 11.7 average finish and has done well in his last 5 races with an average finish of 13th. Putting those two things together makes me believe that he should do well Saturday night. In 15 career races he has 9 top tens, so Ryan should be up front and driving easy all night.

Marcos Ambrose
The spring race was Marcos’ first at Richmond, but he did finish 11th. Over the past 5 races he has finished 34th, 2nd, 35th, 3rd, and 23rd. If that trend continues he should be on pace to have another top five finish. Let’s hope that is what happens.