Chris Buescher’s task, should he accomplish it tonight at Richmond International Raceway, is no small feat. First, this will be the last race for Jeff Gordon, who is driving in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hamlin and Truex restarted on the front row, ahead of Kasey Kahne, who was looking for a win in his final chance to get into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which starts September 18 at Chicagoland Speedway.
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Jimmie Johnson reported debris to NASCAR officials just before midway, then hit the Turn 1 wall after running over something and cutting a tire on Lap 201.
“14-car cut across my nose going into Turn 1”, said Newman, who is officially out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and 2016 championship contention.
In one fender bender, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman tangled with each pointing fingers at the other.
“That’s what’s so special about it”, Virginia native Hamlin, who started from the pole and led the last 86 laps (189 total), said of his third win at the.75-mile track and the 29th of his career.
Hamlin is a two-time victor at the Virginia short track, and he looks like a good bet to challenge for his third-career win at Richmond this Saturday night.
“It’s awesome”, Hamlin said. “I think the guys are going to put it all on the edge”.
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Larson has hit a groove this year, especially since winning his Chase-clinching race at MI last month. Hamlin will enter the Chase for the Sprint Cup in third place behind Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won at the raceway before and he is looking to get his third Richmond win of his career in the Sprint Cup Series.
Stewart qualified for the 16-driver Chase along with his Stewart Haas Racing teammates Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick. “So I think it’s really hard to figure out what’s going to happen”. The driver with the best finish will be the champion. Four more will be eliminated after the next three races, and four more will be eliminated after the ninth race, leaving four drivers to go for the championship in the final race. It was obvious the driver of the No.20 was none-too pleased with Keselowski once again Saturday night.
Then he won the whole thing, his third NASCAR title.
“Our chances are as good as anybody’s”, Truex said. “We are coming out here to race aggressively for every position, every point we can possibly get, without taking unnecessary risk”. Instead it was, fix it fast and get back out there. But, with a vehicle better-suited for long runs, the seven restarts caused by a rash of accidents over the last 86 laps did not suit him. We’ve got to do our job and be consistent like we’ve done for the past couple weeks, and hopefully we can keep that up. “I am pretty confident we are in a good spot right now”. “But Denny was better than we were”.
Newman was fighting for position on the low line and bumped Stewart. Newman, Edwards, and multiple other drivers piled into the wreck, sending the race to a red flag due to the large amount of debris and carnage spread out at the scene of the incident. 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.
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“I guess he thought he was in a sprint vehicle again, didn’t know how to control his anger”, Newman said.
