The focus this race weekend will remain on the battles for playoff spots in the Craftsman Truck Series and Cup Series, but another key storyline will be the drivers taking advantage of track time during a Modified race.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will kick off the race weekend with a race on Thursday, one that will feature both Corey LaJoie and Ryan Preece. Both drivers will kick off their weekend schedule by controlling a different style of race car.
LaJoie will make his eighth career start in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and his first at Richmond Raceway. He will then take over the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet for the Friday night Truck Series regular-season finale as he replaces the released Andres Perez de Lara.
Preece, for comparison, will compete for another Modified win at the Virginia short track before he attempts to win or point his way into the Cup Series playoffs.
The RFK Racing driver enters the weekend just below the cutline. He is 34 points behind teammate Chris Buescher, the last driver in a playoff spot.
"I'm excited about Richmond," Preece said ahead of the double duty weekend. "I am going to go run the Modified there on Thursday and that will lead into Cup practice and qualifying on Friday and the Cup race on Saturday.
"We call it a short track but it's a big short track. I like racing there. The last time I was there in a modified we won, and it would be nice to do that again. For me, racing the Modified before the Cup race can be pretty good. But at the same time, it can be an absolute challenge. I am hoping the work put in will pay off."
Preece and LaJoie will aim to kick off their weekend with big performances, but they will have to go through a standout list of drivers. This includes four-time Modified champion Justin Bonsignore, who won this race last season.
The entry list will also include NASCAR veteran Ryan Newman, nine-time winner Patrick Emerling, three-time winner Kyle Bonsignore, Andrew Krause, 10-time winner Matt Hirschman, and five-time winner Craig Lutz, among many others.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race takes place on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET. FloRacing will provide coverage for the 150-lap event.