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.
“It was a game of patience,” Hamlin said. “I knew I had to keep the rear tires on. I knew how many we had to go to the finish and if the 18 [Busch] was going to get around us, I knew I had something left for the end.
“It feels great to get this win. Our team has performed like this over the last month or so. We just haven’t had the finishes to go with it.”
Four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet finished third in 400-lap/300-mile race. With five victories in the first 26 races of the season, Johnson is the second seed of the 12-driver Chase roster. He is the only driver who has qualified for every Chase since its 2004 inception.
With his sixth place finish at RIR, Clint Bowyer, No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet, secured the 12th and final berth in the 2010 Chase.
Juan Pablo Montoya, NO. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished seventh after starting on the outside of the front row.
Point leader going into tonight’s race, Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet, finished ninth. With three victories to date, Harvick is the third-place seed for the 10-race dash for the title.
Two-time NSCS champion Tony Stewart, No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, finished 16th at RIR. With one win to his credit, Stewart will start the Chase as the sixth seed. Stewart is the only driver to win a NSCS championship in both the old points system and in the Chase format.
Four-time NSCS champion Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, is seeded eighth in the Chase order after finishing 12th in race.
Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, was the 13th place finisher in the race and will start the Chase as the 10th seed.
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Denny Hamlin Wins Air Guard 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at Richmond
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Air Guard 400 at Richmond - Race Results
RANK DRIVER POINTS BEHIND 1 Kevin Harvick 3723 Leader 2 Kyle Busch 3495 -228 3 Jeff Gordon 3493 -230 4 Carl Edwards 3427 -296 5 Jimmie Johnson 3417 -306 6 Tony Stewart 3417 -306 7 Jeff Burton 3390 -333 8 Matt Kenseth 3346 -377 9 Denny Hamlin 3342 -381 10 Kurt Busch 3337 -386 11 Clint Bowyer 3221 -502 12 Greg Biffle 3177 -546 13 Ryan Newman 3079 -644 14 Jamie McMurray 3050 -673 15 Mark Martin 3022 -701 16 Juan Montoya 3017 -706 17 David Reutimann 2986 -737 18 Kasey Kahne 2932 -791 19 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2908 -815 20 Martin Truex Jr. 2884 -839 21 Joey Logano 2878 -845 22 A.J. Allmendinger 2820 -903 23 Paul Menard 2642 -1081 24 Marcos Ambrose 2565 -1158 25 David Ragan 2550 -1173 26 Brad Keselowski 2515 -1208 27 Scott Speed 2349 -1374 28 Sam Hornish Jr. 2331 -1392 29 Elliott Sadler 2277 -1446 30 Regan Smith 2197 -1526 31 Bobby Labonte 1903 -1820 32 Travis Kvapil 1857 -1866 33 David Gilliland 1710 -2013 34 Kevin Conway* 1586 -2137 35 Robby Gordon 1536 -2187 36 Brian Vickers 1158 -2565 37 Joe Nemechek 1020 -2703 38 Max Papis 907 -2816 39 Casey Mears 885 -2838 40 Reed Sorenson 884 -2839
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