Arena: Richmond International Raceway

Location: Richmond, VA

Date: September 8, 2012

NASCAR Betting Online: The 0.75 mile circuit at Richmond Motor Speedway will be run around 400 times to account for the 300 miles of the Wonderful Pistachios 400 this September. NASCAR betting fans won't want to miss this one, as it is the final race leading up to the Chase for the Championship, Sprint Cup's version of the playoffs.

When you're talking about the standard of excellence at this speedway, you can't look past the great Richard Petty. Petty won his first race at Richmond in 1967, and from that point on, he won in 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, and 1974. His seven titles are easily the most in the history of this event, which dates back to 1958.

In the more modern days of NASCAR, it has been incredibly hard to win this race more than once. Jimmie Johnson grabbed momentum for his championship runs in both 2007 and 2008 by capturing glory at Richmond Motor Speedway, making him the most recent back-to-back champ.

Denny Hamlin claimed Johnson's throne in 2009, making him the 13th driver in the last 14 races in this fixture that were first time (and only time) winners.

The Wonderful Pistachios 400 might not be a familiar name to you, as the second race of the year at Richmond has gone under several other corporate sponsorships. Chevrolet named this race the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 from 2003 to 2009, but also sponsored the event starting in 2000 as well. Exide, Miller, and Wrangler are the other corporate names that have been attached to the race that was originally known as the Capitol City 200.

Some of the drivers that are right on the cusp for the Chase for the Championship have had no success here at Richmond. Chase hopefuls Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, and Clint Bowyer have never won the second race at one of the smallest ovals on the Sprint Cup tour.

If you're a fan of fast tracks, this one isn't for you. The average speed of the Air Guard 400 has been under 100 MPH in each of the last three seasons and in nine of the last ten. The top average speed was set by Dale Jarrett in 1997, as he averaged a speed of 109.047 MPH.

That doesn't mean the action won't be hot and heavy, though! Here at Bookmaker Sportsbook, we have all of the Sprint Cup betting lines for you for the Wonderful Pistachios 400, the One Last Race to Make the Chase!

Join BookMaker Sportsbook and get the best NASCAR betting odds on the Web, along with sports betting lines, promotions and prop bets for all major sporting events around the world.

2011 Wonderful Pistachios 400 Winner - Kevin Harvick Wins Wonderful Pistachios 400 At Richmond

For most of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, Kevin Harvick has been known as "The Closer," as he often made his charge for the win late in a race.

However, he might garner another nickname after his sterling fourth win of the year. In this case, Harvick might as well be called "The Dominator," as he captured Saturday night's Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Leading 203 of the 400 laps at "The Action Track," the pride of Bakersfield, CA reminded his competitors and racing fans as to why he's one of the prime candidates for this year's Cup championship.

Consider the fact that he announced the closure of his Camping World Truck Series team, which certainly made his victory that much more gratifying.

2010 Air Guard 400 at Richmond - Race Results

Denny Hamlin knows all about leading laps at Richmond International Raceway. Now he knows about leading NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Saturday night, Hamlin led 251 of 400 laps on his way to winning the Air Guard 400.

Hamlin needed to weather raindrops, which placed the race under caution from laps 227-241, and a late-race challenge by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch, who started 32nd and closed to Hamlin's rear bumper with 30 laps to go.

But Hamlin had enough to hold him off for his series-high sixth victory of the season. That means with points being re-set for the final 10 races, Hamlin has 60 bonus points, 10 more than Jimmie Johnson (five wins), who will start the Chase second in the standings.