After all the excitement and the awe of Talladega, the Sprint Cup Series went to a smaller track, but was ready to present the same amount of excitement. Richmond, Virginia, would play the host as it was time to go short track racing for the third time. On an overcast, cool Saturday night, the stars of NASCAR would wage an old-fashion shootout in the Crown Royal presents the Russ Friedman 400.
The race would not immediately get going full throttle as afternoon rain showers washed the entire track clean of any rubber. The rain stopped and the jet driers were on the track during pre-race ceremonies and did get the racing surface dry to race. Cars began rolling on the track, but officials opted to run extra pace laps so that the heat from the cars could dry the remaining water. However, the process took longer than expected, which then led NASCAR to make the call and start the race under yellow-flag conditions.
The first five laps of the race were run under caution, but within a couple minutes, the track was dry and the cars went two by two once again to get ready for the green flag. After many hours of drying and over 130,000 fans waiting patiently, pole-sitter Brian Vickers led the field to the start.
Vickers quickly lost the lead after the green went out as outside pole-sitter Jeff Gordon made a run on him to lead a lap. The two drivers ran side-by-side for three laps, with Vickers eventually gaining the advantage. The second caution of the night came on lap nine as Dave Blaney backed his car into the outside wall. Since the field had barely seen a full-speed lap, no one came to pit road for service.
The field restarted on lap 13 as Vickers led Gordon and Virginia-native Denny Hamlin. Vickers could only hold onto the top position for 14 laps as Gordon ran him down and easily made the pass. A short time later, Hamlin made the pass for second, as Vickers continued to fall back as he was complaining of a very tight condition. Gordon’s lead extended to over one second, but soon it shrank as he caught the tail end of the field.
Hamlin took advantage as he made the pass on lap 73 for his first lead of the evening. He would continue leading as the first round of green-flag pit stops began for drivers. Hamlin finally gave up the lead to pit on lap 96 to Kurt Busch to make his pit stop. The lead would cycle through he, Gordon and Ryan Newman made pit stops.
By lap 100, Hamlin was back out front by nearly two seconds. He would hold onto the lead until lap 114 as another yellow flag came out for Jeremy Mayfield, who had spun out coming out of the fourth turn and cut down both right-side tires. The ensuing round of pit stops saw Clint Bowyer get the lead by only taking right side tires while the other competitors went with four. Bowyer led the field to the green, but was only out front for three laps as Hamlin made the pass on lap 124 to get back out front.
Hamlin maintained his lead up through lap 145 as Kurt Busch put his Miller Lite Dodge out frot for the second time. The caution flag flew again five laps later as the Budweiser Dodge of Kasey Kahne spun out in turn four. The round of pit stops put Hamlin back out front in front, followed by the other Busch brother, Kyle and then Kurt. The green flag run that followed would be short lived as David Stremme got into Carl Edwards on the front stretch, sending Edwards sliding through the grass. His teammate, Jamie McMurray, spun out behind him.
The front six cars elected to stay out on this caution, and Hamlin made both Busch drivers unhappy as he began to pull away from them, opening up over a one-second lead. His lead was erased on lap 191 as the sixth caution of the night slowed the field. This time, Jimmie Johnson spun his car out in turn two as he was battling a brake issue. He soon after went to the garage for repairs.
The lead lap cars again came to pit road for service, all asking for new tires and some changes to the car, but the same results occurred as Hamlin stayed out front. The race would again be slowed on lap 211 as Dale Earnhardt Jr. got into Jeff Burton, sending him into the outside wall. Earnhardt Jr. soon told the crew he didn’t mean to spin him out because his car jumped loose and he couldn’t recover. The ensuing pit stops jumbled the field as Martin Truex Jr. elected to take two tires to get some track position. Hamlin would be pushed back to third behind Newman.
The restart came on lap 217, and Truex Jr. was able to pull out to get the lead for a brief period, however Newman wanted to get his U.S.. Army Chevrolet out front. It took nearly 20 laps, but finally Newman made the pass to take the lead. However, Hamlin once again made his charge as he passed Truex Jr. one lap later and then took the lead from Newman on lap 249.
The yellow flag brought the field to a slow pace again on lap 273 as debris was found on the racing surface. The pit stops that followed shook the field up dramatically as Hamlin, who came in leading, had trouble in the pits as lug nuts came loose which slowed the stop down. Newman would win the race off pit road followed by Gordon and Mark Martin.
Newman would hold his lead through two more caution flags until Kyle Busch, celebrating his 24th birthday, put his Combo’s Toyota out front for the first time on lap 300. Eight laps later, the 11th caution of the race came out when Marcus Ambrose got into the outside wall after contact from Sam Hornish Jr. Five drivers decided to stay out for track position, notably Gordon, Edwards and McMurray. Steve Letarte, Gordon’s crew chief, elected to have his driver stay out because he was gambling on fuel and cautions.
He didn’t have to wait long to get his caution as on the restart, on lap 311, Newman got into Martin causing him to spin out in front of the field. The drivers are able to avoid with the exception of Truex Jr. who could not stop in time and hit Martin in the driver’s door.
The field would restart on lap 317, and once again Gordon got the benefit of the caution flag as Bobby Labonte and Stremme got together in turn four, which then collected Johnson and Kahne.
The restart on lap 335 saw Gordon and Edwards jump ahead of the field, knowing that many of the cars behind them had fresher tires. Their lead was short lived as Labonte once again brought out the caution ten laps later when he spun down the front stretch. A handful of cars elected to come down pit road on this caution, including Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and Martin.
Gordon attempted to hold off Kyle Busch on the restart, but the young driver was not to be denied the lead as he went out front again on lap 352. The final caution flag came out a few laps later when David Reutimann spun out in turn two. Busch was able to get a good start when the green flag came back out, but behind him both Stewart and Burton began to run him down. Gordon began sliding back as his old tires began to get the better of him.
Out front, Stewart and Burton tried as hard as they could to run down the younger Busch, but they just couldn’t catch up. It was quite a way to celebrate his birthday as Kyle Busch picked up his third win of the season as he took the checkered flag in the Crown Royal 400. This young man may not be the most popular driver on the circuit, but I cannot deny the fact that this young man is one of the best drivers on the track. The more he’s hated, the harder he drives, and that’s one of the reasons he wins races.
Next week is another Saturday night race, except this one is going to be a lot faster and a lot tougher as the series makes the trip to Darlington, South Carolina, for the return of the Southern 500. One of the most historic race tracks in NASCAR. In fact, it’s the oldest. This is the 60th year that Darlington Raceway has hosted NASCAR competition. It goes by many names, like the “Lady in Black” or the track “Too Tough to Tame.” What ever you call it, you can definitely call it a fun race to watch.
The favorites that I have for this race is first, Kyle Busch. This kid has a lot of momentum and he won this race last year despite scraping the wall numerous times and wearing off the paint. He can definitely win this race. My other two favorites for this race are the two Jeff’s, Gordon and Burton. Gordon won this event two years ago and has won the Southern 500 five times. Burton is a two-time winner at Darlington as he swept both races at the track in 1999 when the track hosted two events. These two will definitely run well on Saturday.
In deciding for an underdog, I opted to go with Greg Biffle. He won two straight events at Darlington in 2005 and 2006. He knows how to run well at Darlington and is overdue for a win, so look for the 16 car to make a run towards the front.
Coverage for the Southern 500 will be on FOX starting at 7 p.m. Saturday.
TOP 10: 1-Kyle Busch 2-Stewart 3-Burton 4-Newman 5-Martin 6-Hornish Jr. 7-Gordon 9-Mears 10-Montoya
NOTABLE FINISHES: 12-Kurt Busch 13-Kenseth 14-Hamlin 19-Logano 27-Earnhardt Jr. 26-Edwards 29-Kahne 34-Harvick 36-Johnson
CAUTIONS: 15 for 96 laps. Lap 1-5, 9-12, 114-121, 150-155, 167-173, 191-196,211-217, 273-278, 285-289, 292-299, 306-311, 312-317, 325-335, 345-349, 356-361
LEADERS: Vickers 1-6, Gordon 7, Vickers 8-22, Gordon 23-72, Hamlin 73-95, Kurt Busch 96, Gordon 97-98, Newman 99, Hamlin 100-116, Bowyer 117-123, Hamlin 124-145, Kurt Busch 146-151, Hamlin 152-213, Truex Jr. 214-235, Newman 236-248, Hamlin 249-274, Newman 275-299, Kyle Busch 300-301, Newman 302-307, Gordon 308-351, Kyle Busch 352-400. 20 lead changes among 8 drivers.
POINTS: 1-Gordon, 1441 points 2-Kurt Busch, -10 3-Stewart, -39 4-Hamlin, -120 5-Kyle Busch, -127 6-Johnson, -151 7-Burton, -184 8-Bowyer, -229 9-Edwards, -237 10-Newman, -243 11-Biffle, -248 12-Kenseth, -254