RICHMOND, Va. – Hometown favorite Denny Hamlin may have spent six years out of victory lane at Richmond International Raceway, but he found his way back to the top of the heap on Saturday night.
Hamlin led 189 laps from the pole during the Federated Auto Parts 400, but had to hold off the field in a two-lap overtime dash to the finish that saw Kyle Larson charge from 12th to second and nearly steal the win away.
It wasn’t quite enough, however, as Hamlin’s great restart combined with Larson being held up by Martin Truex Jr. down the backstretch on the last lap was enough for the Chesterfield, Va. native to notch his 29th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win and third of the season.
“This feels great,” said Hamlin, whose win at Richmond was his third at the .75-mile track and first there since 2010. “Our cars are running really well, and Wheels (crew chief Mike Wheeler) really got us tuned in there in the second half. Restarts and tires … everything just finally worked out our way today.”
Hamlin took the top spot for good on a pit sequence at lap 322, leading the final 86 laps in a race that ran seven additional circuits due to the overtime finish, but stayed out before the green-white-checkered and was admittedly nervous at the call.
“I really didn’t think that staying out was the right thing to do there, when that last caution came out, but (that was a) great call that won us the race. Hopefully we’ll go on another Chase run, but tonight, this is home and that’s why it makes this win so much more special.”
In a race that saw a track-record 16 cautions, tire management became key, with seven yellow flags over the final 80 laps seeing drivers pit at different points in an effort to out-strategize the competition.
The biggest of that sequence of incidents was a massive crash with 38 laps to go that ultimately drew a red flag for cleanup, sparked by a hard race between Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman as the duo raced for ninth.
Stewart was outside of Newman exiting turn two and came down the track to defend the position, forcing Newman into Carl Edwards and then sending the three-car mass spinning into the inside wall. When they came back up the banking at the entrance of turn three, traffic had nowhere to go and simply piled in.
In all, seven cars were collected, including rookie Dylan Lupton – who actually climbed the side of Newman’s car before coming to rest at the top of turn three, one wheel perched atop the SAFER Barrier.
Newman, who saw his hopes for advancing into the Chase dashed due to the incident, was not happy with Stewart after coming out of the infield medical center and called the three-time champion out in his interview.
“It’s just disappointing that you’ve got somebody old like that who’s retiring – or should be retired the way he drives. It’s just ridiculous,” Newman said bluntly. “I only hit him in turn one 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.”
“Google Tony Stewart. You’ll see all kinds of things he’s done. Look it up on YouTube and everything else. He’s quite the guy.”
Stewart responded to Newman’s comments after the race, agreeing with Newman’s insinuation that the contact was intentional.
