Column: Best of all possible worlds ... or tracks

            RICHMOND, Va. - The opinion of Clint Bowyer is typical, where Richmond International Raceway is concerned.

"I think Richmond is the perfect race track," he said. "I think it's the perfect (.75-mile) size. The track races well, and it puts on a good show for the fans. It's night racing, and that's what we all grew up doing. Everything about it is good."

            When former owner and founder Paul Sawyer rebuilt his track in 1988, he proceeded wisely. The track is a bit larger than Bristol and Martinsville. The action is exciting without being destructive. It rewards aggressiveness, not destructiveness. Its banking is steep enough to provide a second groove where drivers can race competitively without being so steep that speeds soar at the expense of competition.

            The racing is great without being easy.

"This is a race track that's tough," said David Reutimann. "It's a driver's race track, so, from that aspect, it's a fun track to race at. The groove widens out, and you can race all over the place here. It's a track that's tough on a car, rough on brakes and rough on tempers. As a driver, especially starting out, it's a track where you can learn a lot."

            While easy to overstate -- given the fact that Richmond began as a dirt track, was paved in 1953 and completely rebuilt in '88 -- it's a fact that every driver in NASCAR history with more than 70 career victories - Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt - won here at least twice.

            Each year RIR hosts two 400-lap, 300-mile races. Saturday night's Dan Lowry 400 completes the first round of races at the Sprint Cup Series' three "short tracks," a term defined as smaller than a mile. The latter race, on Sept. 6, has brought the regular season to a close ever since NASCAR implemented its Chase in 2004.

"I just think for the teams, for the fans and for everybody that it takes to make this sport work, it's the best all-around track," said Jeff Burton, the current point leader. "Richmond has good racing action. It's big enough where it's not wreck after wreck, but small enough where it's close, side-by-side action, since you have multiple grooves. To me, it's a really hard race track to beat, competition-wise."

The Richmond list of winners isn't overly exclusive. Most good drivers wind up excelling here. Of the current top 12 in the standings, all but Bowyer, Carl Edwards and Juan Montoya have finished in the top five at least once. Jimmie Johnson had never won at Richmond until last year, when he promptly pulled off a sweep at the track.

Eventually, everyone "gets it." What that means is that it's difficult to determine who has the edge in any given race.

And what could be better than that?

            You can reach Monte Dutton at mdutton@gastongazette.com.