NASCAR at Richmond: How to watch, TV schedule, drivers to watch in Toyota Owners 400

The 2024 NASCAR season has had a little bit of everything so far.

Superspeedway races? Check. Three-wide photo finishes? Check. Road courses? Check.

Another variable will be added to the mix this weekend with the first night race of the season, which will be held at Richmond Raceway in Virginia’s capital.

The 0.75-mile short track first held a NASCAR Cup Series race in 1953, making it one of the oldest venues on the circuit. There have been two races per year at the track since 1959 (aside from 2020 due to COVID-19).

When is the race this weekend? And who are the drivers to keep an eye on? Here’s everything you need to know for the 2024 Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway:

NASCAR at Richmond entry list

Thirty-six drivers will race in Las Vegas – the 34 full-timers, plus two others.

Kaz Grala will drive for Rick Ware Racing as he continues his part-time effort this season. Elsewhere, veteran Ty Dillon (who now competes full-time in the Truck Series) will make his first of five Cup starts of this season for Kaulig Racing.

Here’s the full entry list for Richmond:

Car number	Driver	Team	Sponsor
1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Busch Light
2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Discount Tire
3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	BREZTRI
4	Josh Berry	Stewart-Haas Racing	SunnyD
5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	HendrickCars.com
6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	BuildSubmarines.com
7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Gainbridge
8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Rebel Bourbon
9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	UniFirst
10	Noah Gragson	Stewart-Haas Racing	Superior Essex
11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Mavis Tires & Brakes
12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Menards
14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	HighPoint.com
15	Kaz Grala	Rick Ware Racing	N29 Capital Partners
16	Ty Dillon	Kaulig Racing	Chevy Accessories
17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Nexletol
19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Auto-Owners Insurance
20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Mobil 1
21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	DEX Imaging
22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Shell/Pennzoil
23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	McDonald's
24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Liberty University
31	Daniel Hemric	Kaulig Racing	LA Golf
34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Love's Travel Stops
38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	FARXIGA
41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	United Rentals
42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club	Safeway
43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Dollar Tree
45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	SiriusXM
47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Kroger/NOS Energy Drink
48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Ally Financial
51	Justin Haley	Rick Ware Racing	Walmart
54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Monster Energy
71	Zane Smith	Spire Motorsports	Focused Health
77	Carson Hocevar	Spire Motorsports	Delaware Life
99	Daniel Suarez	Trackhouse Racing	Quaker State

When is the NASCAR race this weekend at Richmond?

The Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond is set for Sunday, March 31, at 7 p.m. ET.

Before the race, there will be practice and qualifying sessions. The 36-car field will be split into two groups (found here), with each group practicing for 20 minutes on Saturday.

Qualifying will start immediately after practice. Each car from the two groups will make two laps in the first round, with the five fastest cars on single-lap speed in each group advancing to the final round. In the final round, the remaining drivers each get two laps to set the top 10 starting order, with positions 11 through 36 set based on first round times.

NASCAR TV schedule this weekend at Richmond

Saturday, March 30 (FS1 and streaming online)

• Practice: 10:30 a.m. ET, FS1, FOXSports.com
• Qualifying: 11:15 a.m. ET, FS1, FOXSports.com

Sunday, March 31 (FOX and streaming online)

• NASCAR RaceDay: 6 p.m. ET, FOX, FOXSports.com
• Toyota Owners 400: 7 p.m. ET, FOX, FOXSports.com

NASCAR Richmond past winners, race history

There are eight former Richmond winners who will race on Sunday, including defending spring race winner Kyle Larson. Chris Buescher is the most recent winner at Richmond, taking home the checkered flag in the race last August.

While Larson and Buescher are the most recent winners, they don’t have the best historical stats. That title belongs to Kyle Busch, who has six wins to lead all active drivers. Denny Hamlin (4), Martin Truex Jr. (3), Brad Keselowski (2), Joey Logano (2) and Larson (2) are the other multi-race winners.

Along with Buescher, Alex Bowman (2021) has one career Richmond victory.

NASCAR at Richmond favorites, drivers to watch

This race is named the Toyota Owners 400, and that could be an omen for who wins on Sunday.

Richmond has been a standout track for the manufacturer since 2009. Toyota drivers have won 16 of 29 over that span, though they were shut out last year when Larson’s Chevy and Buescher’s Ford visited victory lane.

The aforementioned Busch is typically the driver to beat at Richmond, with six wins and 28 top-10s in 36 career starts - though most of those stats came before he switched from Toyota to Chevy last season. Hamlin has a similarly stellar record, boasting four wins and 22 top-10s in 32 career starts at his home track.

Besides Busch and Hamlin, the drivers with the best average finishing position at Richmond include Toyota’s Christopher Bell (7.7 in 7 starts), Ford’s Logano (10.0 in 29 starts), Chevy’s Chase Elliott (11.2 in 15 starts) and Chevy’s Larson (11.3 in 18 starts).

The Joe Gibbs Racing quartet of Hamlin, Bell, Truex and Ty Gibbs will likely enter the race as favorites after their strong showing at recent short track races. JGR drivers led 230 of 312 laps in Bell’s win at Phoenix Raceway three weeks ago, then followed it up at Bristol Motor Speedway the next week by leading 383 of 500 laps in Hamlin’s victory.