Denny Hamlin's knee injury may have been the highlight story of the week, but we've reached the weekend, so that means the final race of the 2015 Sprint Cup regular season is upon us from Richmond.
And from the "what else is new" department, the Joe Gibbs cars are well up toward the front of the field for the Federated Auto Parts 400 after qualifying Friday (the link to the full field is highlighted). Matt Kenseth joins pole winner Joey Logano on the front row, while Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski start behind them in Row 2.
Carl Edwards goes off seventh, but Hamlin didn't fare nearly as well, failing to get out of the first round of qualifying. He starts his No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota from 25th.
That got the brain cells going for me. Among past Richmond race winners, we didn't have to go back very far to find that one of Hamlin's teammates could give him a good scouting report on how to get to the front at the end from deep in the field.
Two years ago at the same fall race, Edwards won at RIR after he qualified 26th. Heck, Clint Bowyer starts from there tonight and he's got two Richmond wins himself, including one from 31st in the spring race of 2008.
It can happen. Just don't bet on it -- unless you're a serious fan of the guy in the 19 car.
And don't get too comfortable with any race-watching plans right away. Rain is in the forecast for tonight at Richmond, and a lot of it. Early reports are saying up to an inch of the wet stuff can be expected.
I'm not a meteorologist -- don't even claim to play one on the radio -- but that doesn't instill confidence racing is likely to happen tonight.
A one-day postponement isn't cause for major concern, but the TV folks aren't going to be too thrilled mainly because Sunday is the first full day of the National Football League season.
Many more eyes will likely gravitate toward the opening week of the NFL season instead of the final race to the Chase. There's a reason the fall Richmond race has been run on Saturday nights, and big, bad Momma Nature is showing us why.
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