RICHMOND, VA – SEPTEMBER 10: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota, leads a pack of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 10, 2016 in Richmond, Virginia.
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Buescher will try to parlay his improbable victory at a rain-shortened race this summer into a coveted berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Newman’s team was penalized 15 points this week by NASCAR for failing post-race inspection at Darlington, and the punishment made his task of trying to race his way into the Chase extremely hard. “Make sure, probably individually, that they’ve talked; if they haven’t talked, we’ll make sure they’re together before any of the cars go out on the track prior to that first practice”.
Because there were more than 10 caution flags, teams had to decide when to take new tires, when to use old ones again and when to not take pit stops entirely. It cost him two laps but still able to finish at 24th.
Lap 399 – Regan Smith spins out (Sets race mark for cautions). 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. Hamlin pulled away on the restart for the final two laps of overtime that followed the last of a track-record 16 cautions. “You get to do it at home”.
“I see all the extra Denny Hamlin shirts and hats and everything, and it fires me up every time I’m here”, he said in victory lane.
“We want to move through the Chase, and then we can reevaluate from there”. Five drivers will start with 2003 points for winning once: Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, three-time champion Tony Stewart, who won his most recent title in 2011, the 2003 champion, Kurt Busch, and Chris Buescher.
Hamlin believes his Richmond win is the catalyst he needs in the Chase.
Ryan Newman’s hopes of an eleventh-hour Chase miracle ended abruptly on Lap 363 when contact between his No. 31 Chevrolet and Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Chevy sent both cars out of control, blocking the track at the entry to Turn 3. In a television interview after the incident, Newman bitterly criticized his former boss at Stewart-Haas Racing.
“He’s got issues, and we all know he’s got issues”, said Newman, who drove at SHR for six seasons before leaving for Richard Childress Racing in 2013. It’s just ridiculous. I only hit him in Turn 1 when he cut across my nose. “If we can keep going farther and improve our program each and every weekend, that’s always going to be what we’re aiming to do”. It’s unfortunate. Not the end we wanted.
“You just try to think of dotting every I and crossing every T because that’s what it’s all about, and you have to get everything out of every person that touches everything on that vehicle at another level to win this deal”.
Not surprisingly, Stewart had a different perspective.
The 47 of AJ Allmendinger had his share of bad fortune during the race, first around lap 85 when he got loose and spun coming out of turn 4 and later in the race with 73 laps to go when he cut a left front tire.
“I’m already coming down, so it’s not like I was trying to squeeze him in the infield or something. I think if we don’t have that mentality as a team and as a group and as an organization we should have just let the guy behind us get in”. I don’t do that to him. Stewart said. “He’s got to do his part racing for a championship, too, and to race to get in there, and if you’re going to run into guys – I go into (Turn) 1 and he dive bombs in there”. It’s the third time by that time, there was once earlier in the race that no one saw.
Newman went on to add that the reason for the crash was Stewart “being bipolar and having anger issues”.
And as to Newman’s suggestion Stewart should be retired already? “He’ll get his wish. We’ve got everything going for us”.
But it was an eight-car wreck on Lap 363 that almost dashed the hopes of Chris Buescher on Saturday.
ELLIOTT: The rookie driver for Rick Hendrick needs to finish at least 19th to make the Chase with no help if there is a new victor at Richmond. Hard for me not to say it’s 9 1/2 at this point. “Just so proud to be here”.
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“We’ve got a lot of confidence, and I think that’s really important”.
