Hamlin Wins Richmond as Chase Field is Set

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RICHMOND, VA – RIS – In a race filed with caution flags and fender benders, Denny Hamlin won his third race of the season in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.  This was the final race for drivers to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup (the final 10 races that will determine the 2016 driver’s championship) and the desperation was evident from early in the race.

In the end, after Hamlin had finally taken the checkered flag at the 0.75-mile short track, nothing had changed as far as which drivers were eligible to compete for the 2016 championship over the 10-race Chase. The same 16 drivers who were Chase eligible before the race made up the field after its completion.

Truex and Hamlin, two of those drivers, swapped turns at the front of the field through a seemingly endless sea of cautions, combining to lead 325 of the first 350 laps.

Kyle Larson jumped up into the mix for the last 50, along with Kyle Busch.

Even then, it was only a matter of time before Hamlin resumed the lead with Truex right on his bumper.

They started 1-2 on the final green-white-checkered overtime restart, with Truex, scored in second, starting on the outside and Hamlin, as the leader, on the inside. Hamlin soared away on the restart, with Larson passing Truex for second on the final lap.

Truex finished third, followed by Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick.

first there was a real mess to clean up after Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart triggered a multi-car wreck with 37 to go, bringing out a red flag for track cleanup and sending Newman into a tirade about his former boss, whom he insisted Stewart blatantly wrecked him.

"The 14 (SHR Chevy of Stewart) cut across my nose going into Turn 1. I got into him after that, but he had already chopped into me and messed up my line," said Newman, who drove for owner-driver Stewart at SHR from 2009 through 2013, when Newman was replaced by Harvick.

"I clipped him a little bit coming off (Turn) 2, but then he just came across my nose going down the back straightway there," Newman added. "I guess he thought he was in a sprint car again and couldn't control his anger."

Stewart did not deny that he wrecked Newman on purpose.

Told Newman said Stewart's move was intentional, the three-time Cup champion replied: "He's right. I mean, that was the third time he had driven into me during the night. How many times does a guy get a free pass until you've had enough of it?

"So, you know, he's got to do his part racing to get in there (to the Chase) to race for a championship. And if you're going to run into guys. ... I go into (Turn) 1 and he dive-bombs in there. I was already coming down. It's not like I was trying to squeeze him into the infield or something."

And after an eventful up-and-down night, he made it all the up to 10th with 37 laps to go in what had been originally scheduled as a 400-lap event. Then, as he attempted to pass Stewart for ninth, absolute disaster struck and any hopes he had of making the Chase field evaporated.

Newman indeed made contact at least twice with the rear of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy of Tony Stewart, but then Stewart did appear to come down across the nose of Newman's car.

"It's just disappointing that you've got somebody old like that's retiring – should be retired the way he drives -- it's just ridiculous," Newman said. "I only hit him in Turn 1 when he cut across my nose, so I don't think there was any reason other than him just being bipolar and having anger issues."

There were many other incidents earlier in the race, including one between the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Trevor Bayne and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford of Ryan Blaney, who got the worst of it on Lap 11.

The problem was that the contact cut down the left-rear tire of Blaney, who shortly thereafter went sailing into the outside wall when he lost the tire completely.

"Apparently the 6 just came up and got us in the rear," said Blaney, one of many drivers who needed to win the race to get into the Chase. "It was probably a stubborn-headed thing by both of us. I should know better than that."

The 13 drivers who had previously won races already were assured of getting in, although Hamlin earned an extra three bonus points for Round 1 of the elimination-style format by winning at RIR.

There ended up being a record 16 cautions in all Saturday night, as one driver after another seemed to have difficulty keeping tires from going down and causing problems.

And through it all, Hamlin sailed to victory. He ended up leading 189 laps in all, four short of the race-high total of 193 that Truex led.

Hamlin led the lap that counted--the final lap.

Unofficial Race Results: 59th Annual Federated Auto Parts 400, Richmond International Raceway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Lap, Pts, BPts, TLd, LLd, Status
1) 1, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 407, 44, 4, 7, 189, Running
2) 2, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 407, 40, 1, 2, 15, Running
3) 6, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Tanger Outlets Toyota, 407, 40, 2, 6, 193, Running
4) 17, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 407, 37, , , , Running
5) 19, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John's Chevrolet, 407, 36, , , , Running
6) 7, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, 407, 35, , , , Running
7) 4, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Sherwin Williams Emerald Chevrolet, 407, 34, , , , Running
8) 5, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevrolet, 407, 34, 1, 2, 3, Running
9) 9, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's 75th Anniversary Toyota, 407, 32, , , , Running
10) 12, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 407, 31, , , , Running
11) 10, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Pro Services Chevrolet, 407, 30, , , , Running
12) 27, Michael McDowell, No. 95 Malwarebytes Chevrolet, 407, 29, , , , Running
13) 8, Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW Chevrolet, 407, 28, , , , Running
14) 18, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 407, 27, , , , Running
15) 29, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Nature's Bakery Chevrolet, 407, 26, , , , Running
16) 11, Jeff Gordon, No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 407, 25, , , , Running
17) 23, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, 407, 24, , , , Running
18) 22, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Zest Ford, 407, 23, , , , Running
19) 34, Chase Elliott #, No. 24 3M/American Red Cross Chevrolet, 407, 22, , , , Running
20) 16, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger/Scott Products Chevrolet, 407, 21, , , , Running
21) 26, Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 407, 20, , , , Running
22) 33, Clint Bowyer, No. 15 5-hour Energy Chevrolet, 407, 19, , , , Running
23) 28, Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford EcoBoost Ford, 407, 18, , , , Running
24) 31, Chris Buescher #, No. 34 CSX - Play it Safe Ford, 407, 17, , , , Running
25) 39, Dylan Lupton(i), No. 83 E.J. Wade Construction/Union Bank and Trust Toyota, 406, 0, , , , Running
26) 38, * Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Chevrolet, 404, 15, , , , Running
27) 40, Jeffrey Earnhardt #, No. 32 Corvetteparts.net Ford, 403, 15, 1, 1, 2, Running
28) 15, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 402, 13, , , , Running
29) 24, Regan Smith, No. 7 APC Chevrolet, 397, 13, 1, 1, 2, Accident
30) 36, * Josh Wise, No. 30 Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, 396, 11, , , , Running
31) 37, Michael Annett, No. 46 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 390, 10, , , , Running
32) 13, Carl Edwards, No. 19 ARRIS Surfboard Toyota, 366, 9, , , , Suspension
33) 14, Tony Stewart, No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, 363, 8, , , , Accident
34) 21, David Ragan, No. 23 sweetFrog Toyota, 362, 7, , , , Accident
35) 35, Brian Scott #, No. 44 Albertsons Co/Shore Lodge Ford, 362, 6, , , , Accident
36) 32, Landon Cassill, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford, 358, 5, , , , Running
37) 25, * Matt DiBenedetto, No. 93 E.J. Wade Construction/Union Bank and Trust Toyota, 352, 4, , , , Accident
38) 3, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, 335, 4, 1, 3, 3, Accident
39) 20, * Ryan Blaney #, No. 21 SKF Ford, 279, 2, , , , Running
40) 30, Paul Menard, No. 27 Dutch Boy/Menards Chevrolet, 264, 1, , , , Accident

* = non-charter team; (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
# = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led. 
Average Speed: 85.778 MPH
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 33 Mins, 31 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.609 Seconds
Lead Changes: 21 among 7 drivers
Cautions: 16 for 89 laps