Sunday morning, 16 drivers will wake up to prepare for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Four of them will have learned of their success the night before.
Until completion of Saturday night's race at Richmond, the full field remains unknown. Just a bit more suspense to play up.
MORE: Race for final Chase berths | Newman's penalty | Richmond info
Chris Buescher must stay in the top 30 in points to qualify for the Chase, which begins Sept. 18 at Chicagoland. He has a race win, and he enters the Federated Auto Parts 400 with an 11-point edge on David Ragan.
Three drivers will be watched closely at Richmond and must avoid early elimination from the race. Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and Jamie McMurray are in position to complete the field, with McMurray as the 16th and thus in danger of missing out.
Matt Kenseth won last September's Richmond race. Carl Edwards won April 24's Toyota Owners 400. In fact, Joe Gibbs Racing's Toyota teams won nine of the past 15 Richmond races.
The track is a three-quarter-mile D-shaped oval.
Rain should not be a problem, but Saturday likely will be hot. The day's high temperature is projected in the mid-90s, well above normal.
What will that take? With Ryan Newman's 15-point penalty on Wednesday, a whopper of a position change. Most likely, Newman now needs to win at Richmond or finish in the top five while McMurray finishes in the last four of 40 cars.
Here are those 40 cars and their drivers.
| No. | Driver | Hometown | Brand | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | Joplin, Mo. | Chevy | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Rochester Hills, Mich. | Ford | Team Penske |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Welcome, N.C. | Chevy | Richard Childress Racing |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Bakersfield, Calif. | Chevy | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne | Enumclaw, Wash. | Chevy | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 6 | Trevor Bayne | Knoxville, Tenn. | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 7 | Regan Smith | Cato, N.Y. | Chevy | Tommy Baldwin Racing |
| 10 | Danica Patrick | Roscoe, Ill. | Chevy | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chesterfield, Va. | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 13 | Casey Mears | Bakersfield, Calif. | Chevy | Germain Racing |
| 14 | Tony Stewart | Columbus, Ind. | Chevy | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer | Emporia, Kans. | Chevy | HScott Motorsports |
| 16 | Greg Biffle | Vancouver, Wash. | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Olive Branch, Miss. | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Las Vegas, Nev. | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 19 | Carl Edwards | Columbia, Mo. | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 20 | Matt Kenseth | Cambridge, Wis. | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 21 | Ryan Blaney | High Point, N.C. | Ford | Wood Brothers Racing |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Middletown, Conn. | Ford | Team Penske |
| 23 | David Ragan | Unadilla, Ga. | Toyota | BK Racing |
| 24 | Chase Elliott | Dawsonville, Ga. | Chevy | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 27 | Paul Menard | Eau Claire, Wis. | Chevy | Richard Childress Racing |
| 30 | Josh Wise | Riverside, Calif. | Chevy | The Motorsports Group |
| 31 | Ryan Newman | South Bend, Ind. | Chevy | Richard Childress Racing |
| 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Mooresville, N.C. | Ford | GO FAS Racing |
| 34 | Chris Buescher | Prosper, Texas | Ford | Front Row Motorsports |
| 38 | Landon Cassill | Fairfax, Iowa | Ford | Front Row Motorsports |
| 41 | Kurt Busch | Las Vegas, Nev. | Chevy | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 42 | Kyle Larson | Elk Grove, Calif. | Chevy | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 43 | Aric Almirola | Tampa, Fla. | Ford | Richard Petty Motorsports |
| 44 | Brian Scott | Boise, Idaho | Ford | Richard Petty Motorsports |
| 46 | Michael Annett | Des Moines, Iowa | Chevy | HScott Motorsports |
| 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Los Gatos, Calif. | Chevy | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | El Cajon, Calif. | Chevy | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 55 | Reed Sorenson | Peachtree City, Ga. | Chevy | Premium Motorsports |
| 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Mayetta, N.J. | Toyota | Furniture Row Racing |
| 83 | Dylan Lupton | Sacramento, Calif. | Toyota | BK Racing |
| 88 | Jeff Gordon | Vallejo, Calif. | Chevy | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 93 | Matt DiBenedetto | Grass Valley, Calif. | Toyota | BK Racing |
| 95 | Michael McDowell | Glendale, Ariz. | Chevy | Circle Sport- Leavine Family |
| 98 | Cole Whitt | Alpine, Calif. | Chevy | Premium Motorsports |
Lupton drove one other race this season, starting 38th and finishing 35th at Sonoma.