He clinched a spot in the Chase by guaranteeing himself a top-30 spot in the points standings with a seventh-place finish at the Southern 500 at Darlington two weeks ago and with four wins under his belt, he is tied for the most of any driver with Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth. Kyle Busch who is 11th in the Chase rankings, has won four times at Richmond, more than any active driver.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. came home fifth.
“Certainly right now as a company we’re on a roll”, said Kenseth, who led 352 of the 400 laps. “Thanks to Jason [Ratcliff, crew chief] and these guys staying behind me”. They had the pit stops we needed. We weren’t clicking, didn’t really have a person in the other vehicle that was keeping things consistent. “(The team) really dug deep and worked hard.
In the 2013 fall race at Richmond, Scott led a career-high 239 of 250 laps, finishing second. He ended up being lapped and looked like the rest of the traffic at Richmond for once this season. He quickly dropped back into fourth, however, and did not challenge at the front.
But it’s not that hard to imagine if JGR’s cars and drivers continue producing the kind of performances they’ve had over the last 15 races – nine of which have been won by either Busch, Edwards or Kenseth.
The only suspense during that stretch came when Kenseth and Edwards rubbed fenders while fighting for position early in the run. Now, that really won’t affect how you set your daily fantasy lineup, except for the select few drivers who will be racing to comfortably make the playoff field.
“Jeff is trying to put that championship spark in one more time”, Burns said. “Tonight I saw them up there. So this was a little sweeter to get him punched in there pretty solid”. “I had to ride back a couple of miles after I did it to get to my auto”.
The others all have conditions they must meet to avoid being bumped from the playoffs field. Logano’s No. 22 Ford soared around the track with a fastest lap of 126.470 miles per hour.
Almirola posted his best finish of the year, but it wasn’t enough. “(I am) just proud of Adam Stevens and all my guys.
“No doubt there’s nothing or no injury that’s going to keep me from what I want to do at the end of the year, ” he said.
“I think we can give it a shot here”.
Notes: Roush Fenway Racing failed to place a auto in the Chase for the first time in the organization’s history….
For the first time since the new formats were unveiled for The Chase, Jamie McMurray is going to the postseason.
“Disappointed for sure; I drove my heart out”, said Almirola. It’s got him stressed out heading into his final chance to grab one of the 16 spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
Hamlin had a pack of ice on his knee after the race, but said he’s ready to race for his first title. Seven of those times, it was the race victor.
Busch is the second seed in the restructured Chase points system.
Lead Changes: 13 among 4 drivers.
Earnhardt rounded out the top-five.
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Sixth through 10 were Hamlin, Gordon, Keselowski, Johnson and Bowyer. Also making the Chase were Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer.
