Heading into Richmond this weekend, here are the top stories from NASCAR.com: 

There He Goes: Kyle Busch On A Victory Roll

Soon-to-be 23-year-old Kyle Busch (No. 18 Pedigree Toyota) -- his birthday is Friday -- approaches Saturday night's Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Raceway seeking the capstone to a personal puzzle.

Fresh off last Sunday's victory at 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway, Busch needs only a short-track win to complete a "series circuit" -- a victory at each size track on NASCAR's national series schedules.

Busch leads all active drivers with seven wins spread across the three national series -- the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (two), the NASCAR Nationwide Series (three) and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (two). With NASCAR Sprint Cup his primary focus, he's also competing on an as-can basis in the other national series.

Last week's victory took place on a restrictor-plate track. Busch won two weeks ago on a road course (the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Mexico City). He's also won at a 1.5-mile track (Texas Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway), a two-mile track (Auto Club Speedway) and a one-mile track (Phoenix International Raceway) so far this year.

Hamlin Hoping For A Hometown Win At Richmond

Kyle Busch and two-time series champion Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota) may have grabbed bigger headlines last week at Talladega, but their Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Toyota) could usurp them at Richmond.

The .75-mile oval is Hamlin's home track -- he hails from nearby Chesterfield, Va. -- and a victory there would punctuate a successful early season.

Currently fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, Hamlin trails leader Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet) by 99 points and the second-place Busch by 77 points. He's 20 points behind third-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet), plus riding momentum from last Sunday's third-place finish at Talladega.

Already a 2008 Virginia winner, Hamlin won last month at Martinsville Speedway.

But, like Stewart, an Indiana native whose Holy Grail was winning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (he's done it twice in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series), Hamlin yearns for a Richmond victory. He was runner-up in the May 2006 event there, and is second in pre-race Driver Rating for Richmond (111.3).

"When I do have a good run at Richmond it means just a little bit more there than it does anywhere else," Hamlin said.

In The Loop: RIR Stats Spotlight Johnson, Harvick

Attention will be divvied among a number of storylines this weekend at Richmond.

There's the Denny-Hamlin-returning-home angle. There's the Dale Earnhardt Jr. returning to the scene of his last victory, two years ago this weekend. There's the Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet) Richmond sweep in 2007. And, of course, there's the special year Kyle Busch is having.

One driver under the radar, though, is Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet). Harvick, who very quietly is in sixth-place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, is phenomenal at Richmond – and may be the one favorite who few are talking about.

Harvick certainly has the stats to warrant a discussion. He won the fall Richmond race in 2006, and has finished in the top 10 in each of the past six Richmond races.

His numbers during that run are tops in the series. He leads in the following categories:

Driver Rating: 121.2; Average Running Position: 5.6; Fastest Laps Run: 259; Average Green Flag Speed: 118.997 mph; Laps in the Top 15: 2,267 (94.5 percent); and Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green): 166.

But if not Harvick, look for Hamlin to make a run at winning his hometown race.

Hamlin, has come close a few times at Richmond. He finished second in the spring of 2006, and third in last year's spring race. Hamlin trails only Harvick in Driver Rating (111.3) and Average Running Position (6.0).

Two other numbers are particularly strong. Hamlin has run 98.1percent of the Richmond Laps in the Top 15. He also has 58 Fastest Laps Run, which is tied for 10th most since the inception of Loop Data in 2005 -- he's run only four races compared to six for most other drivers during that span.

One other driver to watch is Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge), who sorely needs a strong finish. Busch, currently 20th in the series standings, won at Richmond in the fall of 2005 and finished in the top 10 in each of the 2007 races. He has a Richmond Driver Rating of 100.8 (fifth-best) and an Average Running Position of 13.3 (eighth).

Earnhardt Jr. Hopes Victory Drought Will End At Richmond

Two years between victories, Dale Earnhardt Jr. arrives at Saturday's Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Raceway four days shy of the exact anniversary -- May 7, 2006.

That's when Earnhardt last hoisted a NASCAR Sprint Cup race trophy -- a 71-event drought.

But the breakthrough could occur this week. In third place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, Earnhardt trails leader Jeff Burton by 79 points. He's 57 points behind second-place Kyle Busch. Earnhardt also has a series-high seven top-10 finishes in nine events thus far.