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For millions around the world, Easter Sunday is the holiest of all days of worship in Christianity, representing the absolution of sin, the miracle of the resurrection and the promise of eternal life through it. But once Church is finished and all the Easter eggs have been hunted, there is the matter of what to do on Easter night. And for NASCAR, that's a fairly simple proposition.

The NASCAR Cup Series will race on Easter Sunday night for the third year in a row, this time heading to Richmond Raceway for the Toyota Owners 400. This marks the second short track race of the season, which has a particularly tough act to follow after an extremely competitive and highly unusual race just a few short weeks ago at Bristol.

Bristol winner Denny Hamlin, a native of Chesterfield, Va., will look to go two-for-two on short tracks this season and pick up his fifth Richmond win overall. He's likely going to have to deal with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate in Ty Gibbs, who enters this race having earned five top 10 finishes in a row and threatening to pick up his first Cup Series win early in his sophomore season.

Let's take a closer look at the rest of the field this weekend along with what to watch before getting to a pick to win the race on Sunday below.

How to Watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond

Date: Sunday, March 31
Location: Richmond Raceway -- Henrico County, Virginia
Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Stream: fubo (try for free)

Toyota Owners 400 starting lineup

  1. #5 - Kyle Larson
  2. #9 - Chase Elliott
  3. #1 - Ross Chastain
  4. #48 - Alex Bowman
  5. #23 - Bubba Wallace
  6. #38 - Todd Gilliland
  7. #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
  8. #54 - Ty Gibbs
  9. #2 - Austin Cindric
  10. #22 - Joey Logano
  11. #11 - Denny Hamlin
  12. #12 - Ryan Blaney
  13. #24 - William Byron
  14. #17 - Chris Buescher
  15. #8 - Kyle Busch
  16. #41 - Ryan Preece
  17. #10 - Noah Gragson
  18. #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
  19. #45 - Tyler Reddick
  20. #99 - Daniel Suarez
  21. #7 - Corey LaJoie
  22. #3 - Austin Dillon
  23. #6 - Brad Keselowski
  24. #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  25. #77 - Carson Hocevar (R)
  26. #21 - Harrison Burton
  27. #43 - Erik Jones
  28. #71 - Zane Smith (R)
  29. #20 - Christopher Bell
  30. #4 - Josh Berry (R)
  31. #34 - Michael McDowell
  32. #14 - Chase Briscoe
  33. #16 - Ty Dillon
  34. #31 - Daniel Hemric
  35. #15 - Kaz Grala (R)
  36. #51 - Justin Haley

What to Watch

If you enjoyed two weeks ago at Bristol, where extreme tire falloff led to a tire management race that had the entire field on edge trying to make sure they had enough rubber to make it to the end of a run, you're likely going to enjoy the racing at Richmond as well. Thanks to this track's old asphalt, Richmond has turned into a race of tire conservation and tire strategy, which usually plays out from the drop of the green flag to the point where everyone's strategies suddenly converge on the final lap.

Over the past several years, a number of Richmond races have been determined by the final green flag run and who has the fewest laps on their tires to get to the front by the checkered flag. But last year was a little different: Both Richmond races were determined by a series of short runs to the finish, with Kyle Larson hanging on for the final 14 laps in the spring and Chris Buescher holding the lead for the final three laps in the summer.

Tires will be the ultimate determining factor in who wins this race regardless of how many laps the last green flag run lasts, and also regardless of the conditions: This is the first Richmond race to be run at nighttime in two years, and the first Spring race to be run under the lights since 2019.

News of the Week

  • Kaulig Racing introduced the newest addition to their driver lineup for the No. 16 Chevrolet, announcing that Ty Dillon will run five races for them starting this weekend at Richmond. The younger of the Dillon brothers will also run Texas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Richmond in August and Kansas in September.
  • Goodyear has completed a tire test at Sonoma Raceway as they seek to develop and choose a tire for this June's race at Sonoma, which has been newly repaved for 2024. Participating drivers included Ross Chastain for Chevrolet, Josh Berry for Ford and Martin Truex Jr. for Toyota.
  • As NASCAR continues to try and find a place to race in Southern California, RACER has reported that the sanctioning body is pursuing a 50 percent stake in the famed Long Beach Grand Prix that has been put up for sale by the estate of late businessman Kevin Kalkhoven. Those efforts have apparently not gone unnoticed, as Penske Entertainment -- the owners of IndyCar -- is reportedly trying to block NASCAR's efforts with a bid of its own for the Long Beach Grand Prix, which is currently a part of the IndyCar calendar.
  • A potentially remarkable discovery has been made at North Wilkesboro Speedway, as a sinkhole identified in the frontstretch grandstands while inspecting the facilities unearthed what may be a long-rumored moonshine cave beneath the speedway. The local legend will be explored further as speedway officials prepare the track to host the All-Star Race in May.

Pick to Win

Christopher Bell (+425) -- Before a down result in the most recent race at Richmond last July (20th), this track had emerged as one of Christopher Bell's personal best in NASCAR. From the spring of 2021 to the spring of last year, Bell had put together a streak of five consecutive Richmond finishes of sixth or better, including four top fives and a second-place run in the summer of 2022. This weekend, Bell enters Richmond on the strength of an excellent start to 2024, including a win at Phoenix and a runner-up at COTA in the past three weeks.

So who wins the Toyota Owners 400 2024, and which longshots stun NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2024 NASCAR at Richmond picks and best bets from a team of elite NASCAR handicappers who already nailed Daniel Suarez's win this year, and find out.