Richmond was night racing in all its glory.
The first Richmond race is always the shortest race weekend; it doesn’t include any of the non-points races. Everything is done in a single day, with the exception of the Sprint Cup race.
The Nationwide and Cup series have one two-hour practice session each in the morning and both series qualify toward the middle of the afternoon. The Nationwide race starts immediately after Cup qualifying.
The Nationwide race began with Kasey Kahne’s No. 9 Lipton Dodge on the pole, which was interesting (but not in a bad way) considering Lipton was the sponsor of the race — the Lipton Tea 250.
Despite Kahne’s great qualifying attempt, his race attempt didn’t fair so well. Kahne would only lead the first 17 laps before Carl Edwards, in the No. 99 Ford, took the lead for 126 laps. Kahne ended up in the wall, with help from another driver, on lap 158. He would finish the race at 14 and on the lead lap.
Edwards, however, wouldn’t be dominant enough as Kevin Harvick, driving his own No. 33 Chevrolet, took the lead.
But it would be neither Harvick or Edwards who would be the winner. Denny Hamlin, in the No. 20 Toyota, the hometown favorite to win, took the lead from Harvick with 8 laps to go.
Hamlin drove to a two-second lead between him and the second place car, Harvick. A caution because Bryan Clauson spun his No. 40 bunched the cars back up, giving Harvick a possibility of winning.
The caution laps took up the remaining laps causing overtime — a green-white-checkered restart. At the drop of the green flag, Hamlin quickly drove away from the pack and became the victor on lap 253.
During Victory Lane celebrations, Hamlin looked somewhat teary-eyed as he told the post-race interviewer, “This is my biggest accomplishment…”
He had won in front of his hometown crowd, with his parents there and at the track at which he wanted to win most of all the NASCAR circuits. It didn’t matter to him that it was a Nationwide race, he said it simply meant more to him that he had won at his hometown track.
Hamlin, also, was on the pole for the race Saturday night and he appeared to have something to prove.
It was obvious during the beginning laps of the Cup race, that Hamlin was the driver to beat; he took the green flag in what would be a dominating performance. No driver was able to run Hamlin down enough to pass him, nor were any able to take the lead away from him during a pit stop. (AJ Allmendinger in the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota was the only other driver to lead during that time, when he stayed out during a caution to lead a lap and gain five bonus points.)
Hamlin’s dominating performance was just that — dominating. At lap 351 he officially began setting a new record for leading the most laps at Richmond International Raceway. He ended up making 381 the new record.
On lap 382, Hamlin’s pace slowed down because of tire problems, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was able to get around him for the lead. Hamlin, who failed to come in and pit, brought the caution out 10 laps later, when his tire blew and stopped on the track. NASCAR held Hamlin for two laps for intentionally bringing out a caution. As of press time, Hamlin will not be penalized further.
Before the caution, Earnhardt Jr. had pulled away from Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota, the second place car and was well on his way to winning for the first time in two years. Richmond had marked the two year anniversary of Earnhardt Jr.’s last points win.
Two laps into the green flag run, however, Busch moved up the track and bumped Earnhardt Jr. and sent his car’s rear into the wall. Clint Bowyer was able to pass both Earnhardt Jr. and Busch before the caution flag was thrown.
Bowyer, who started 31st, led only two green flags laps, but they were the most important laps, as he raced across the finish line first.
Bowyer’s win, Hamlin’s lack of one and the big pile up on lap 231 in which several cars were taken out may have been talked about for the past few days, but the most controversial and talked about topic was the Earnhardt Jr. and Busch incident. According to all news outlets — online, in print and on television — Kyle Busch has become the most hated NASCAR driver as of late. It is an issue that I am sure will continue to be talked about for days, weeks or months to come.
Somehow, my driver was able to have a Top 10 finish, after starting in the Top 10, for the first time in weeks. He was also able to race his way back into the Top 12 in points. I have faith that he will stay there, but there is no definite guarantee.
I am looking forward to the next race at Darlington. I do not know why, but I think it is going to be very interesting to watch. After all, it is the “Lady In Black.”
Don’t miss:
From Darlington
- Sprint Cup qualifying, Friday at 5 p.m. on SPEED
- Diamond Hill Plywood 200 (Nationwide race), Friday night at 7 on ESPN2
- Dodge Challenger 500 (Sprint Cup race), Saturday night at 7 on FOX
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It is always nice to see a driver win on his “home” track. It’s too bad Denny couldn’t have pulled off the Cup win. Yes, I know. I’m a Junior fan so I should say Junior in that sentence and I do think that too. Denny had the race won, though, so I feel bad that he had problems. I disagree with his decision to stop on the racetrack, though. I’m not sure what his “plan” was that he referred to on his radio but NASCAR evidently thought it was bringing out the caution on purpose.
I don’t have much to say about Kyle/Junior. I agree with your sentiments on Kyle being the most hated name in NASCAR right now. When a driver gets wrecked (even if it is unintentional), the fanbase is gonna be upset. The fanbase just happens to be the largest in this case, though. I will also say that Kyle needs to think a little bit and have all the facts before he speaks. (I think Darrell Waltrip is talking to Kyle at Darlington about this particular issue. It should be interesting to see/hear whether Kyle really hears what DW tells him or not.)