Denny Hamlin grabs top seeding in Chase with Richmond win

Denny Hamlin grabs top seeding in Chase with Richmond win


By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

RICHMOND, Va.—He’s back—and just in time.
Denny Hamlin claimed the top seed in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a convincing victory in Saturday night’s Air Guard 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
Hamlin warded off a strong challenge from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch to win his series-leading sixth race of the season, worth 60 bonus points as the Chase begins Sept. 19 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
In sweeping both 2010 races at his home track, Hamlin, who finished 43rd after blowing his engine last Sunday at Atlanta, won the 14th race of his career. Busch rolled home second, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Marcos Ambrose.
Clint Bowyer secured the final place in the Chase with a sixth-place run. All Bowyer needed to clinch was a 28th-place finish, even if Ryan Newman, his closest pursuer had won the race and led the most laps. As it turned out, Newman came 11th and didn’t lead a lap.
Juan Pablo Montoya, AJ Allmendinger, Kevin Harvick and polesitter Carl Edwards completed the top 10.
It was a confident Hamlin who discussed his championship prospects in victory lane.
“It’s been an up-and-down year, but there’s been a lot of ups, and obviously we’re going to enter this Chase No. 1,” Hamlin said. “It means a lot to this whole race team. A lot of people bashed this race team about ‘Can’t finish this, and can’t finish that.’ But we’ve got the most wins, and hopefully that’s going to carry us for the 10 weeks in the Chase.
“At this point, I think we can win at all of ’em.”
Hamlin, who led 251 of the 400 laps at the .75-mile short track, conserved his tires after a green-flag pit stop on Lap 327 and pulled away from Busch slightly in the closing laps. He crossed the finish line .537 seconds ahead of his teammate.
“He made a heck of a charge,” Hamlin said. “Luckily for me, it was a teammate, because anyone else probably would have moved us. I knew we had to run a certain distance no matter what. If he passed me with 30 to go, I still had 30 laps to go on those tires. I needed to make do with what I had, and I was just patient with the tires.”
Greg Biffle’s clinching of a Chase spot was a mere formality, and it happened on Lap 48, when Jason Leffler became the first driver to drop out of the race. That guaranteed Biffle at least a 42nd-place finish, all he needed to qualify for NASCAR’s postseason. Biffle finished 32nd, five laps back. The other 10 drivers in the top 12 already had qualified for the Chase.
Despite being the last driver to secure a Chase berth, Bowyer was optimistic about his chances in the final 10 races. He joined Richard Childress Racing teammates Kevin Harvick, the points leader before the field was reseeded for the Chase, and Jeff Burton in NASCAR’s version of the playoffs.
“I’m very excited for our race team to make the Chase,” Bowyer said. “I’m very excited for RCR. After the year we had last year, to get all three cars back in the Chase—after none of us being in the Chase last year—feels really good.
“I feel like this is our best shot since I’ve been here to win a championship.”

Each of the 12 drivers in the Chase starts with a base of 5,000 points, to which 10 points for each win are added. Accordingly, Hamlin begins the final 10 races with 5,060 points, followed by Johnson (5,050), Harvick (5,030), Kyle Busch (5,030), Kurt Busch (5,020), Tony Stewart (5,010), Biffle (5,010), Jeff Gordon (5,000), Edwards (5,000), Burton (5,000), Matt Kenseth (5,000) and Bowyer (5,000).