Denny Hamlin won the pole Friday for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.
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The victory came in overtime and in a race that was yellow flagged 16 times.
It was yet another Denny Hamlin runaway for Joe Gibbs Racing in what turned out to be an anticlimactic end to NASCAR’s regular season.
Hamlin was able to survive the caution-filled race and crossed the finish line first as the checkered flag waved.
He didn’t get it as the remaining playoff positions went to rookie Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and Jamie McMurray. A 24th-place finish Saturday got him there, however. That sent the race into overtime for a two-lap sprint to determine the victor.
Larson mad a mad dash on the final two laps but it wasn’t enough to catch Hamlin.
Hamlin turned a fast last at 122.344 miles per hour in the third round of qualifying to claim his first pole position of the year. “I think the guys are going to put it all on the edge”. “I think things get a little bit tamer in the Chase because people are aware of the Chase cars”.
Keselowski took third followed by Harvick.
“For a small team like we are to pull this off and find ourselves in the Chase is pretty special”, said Buescher, who won the Xfinity Series in 2015.
His own team, he said, has gone into the Chase with the feeling that the No. 11 team could win some races and be competitive. Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and Jamie McMurray were the other three drivers, heading into RIR, in provisional Chase spots. Stewart was nonchalant, saying Newman had it coming after running into him three times during the Federated Auto Parts 400 on the 0.75-mile track. The 15th caution was the biggest of the night, ending Ryan Newman’s postseason hopes and leaving him irate at veteran Tony Stewart, who crashed into Newman.
“I guess he thought he was in a sprint auto again – didn’t want to control his anger”, Newman said.
“And then he just drove across my nose on the back straightaway”. “We’ll keep fighting like we always do”.
“Everything just kinda worked well for us all day”, Hamlin told NBC Sports after the race. “You get to do it at home”.
Stewart had a different perspective. “He hits me in (turn) one, he hits me off of (turn) two”.
“Early in the race (Newman) ran into me and cut down across my nose”, Stewart said. “Three times, that’s two more times than I normally let someone run into me”.
With the Toyotas dominating at the front and the many cautions limiting excitement to a minimum, it was up to Newman and Stewart to spice up things. The contact piled up eight cars, including Dylan Lupton, who got wedged on top of Newman’s No. 31.
“He’ll get his wish in 10 weeks”. Any time you can win going into the Chase, it really gives you a huge momentum boost.
Kyle Larson came close but couldn’t knock Hamlin off the top perch in qualifying and will start second on Saturday night. Martin Truex. Jr., who is like a first cousin to the team, will also be participating in his Furniture Row #78 Toyota.
Bakersfield’s Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears qualified 19th and 26th, respectively. Reed Sorenson gets free pass.
(40) Jeffrey Earnhardt #, Ford, 403.
(36) * Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 396.
Lap 291 – Michael Annett hits wall.
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Incidentally, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will host airplane races October 2.
