With iron in his gut and a gleam in his eye, Denny Hamlin grabs the bull by the horns and drives away a winner at his hometown track, Richmond International Raceway in the Chevy Rock ‘n’ Roll 400. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it now, Denny Hamlin is an emotional racer, and when you couple that with his equipment, more often than not, Hamlin makes it happen.
For the Chesterfield, Virginia product- the win is his personal Daytona 500. He’s come so close, only to come up empty. Not tonight. D.H. snatched the lead early from pole-sitter Mark Martin.
Matt Kenseth, who came into the race sitting in 12th place for the season, ran into early trouble, and just when it looked like he might start to progress, a new hurdle would come up to overcome. For the 2003 champion, it’s the first time he’s missed the chase. If there weren’t problems in the pits, there were problems with the car to overcome.
Kenseth’s misfortunes are symptomatic, it would seem, of an overall greater problem at Roush- Fenway Racing. After being central players in the 2008 season, Kenseth and teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards have simply not performed up to the previous standard. Though winless, Edwards and Biffle are in the chase. Biffle and Edwards finished 13th and 15th respectively.
Another big name driver who just missed out was Kyle Busch. For years, critics of the chase and critics of the points system will point to Shrub as “Exhibit A.” Busch ran a brilliant night, overcoming handling issues to take 5th, but rival Brian Vickers, who came in 17 points better than Busch, just managed to hold off Busch for the the 12th spot in the standings by crossing the line seventh. To his credit, Busch thanks his pit crew for good stops and he said his own struggles with the car provided the inconsistency the “18″ was simply unable to overcome.
Mark Martin gets in. Thanks to his series high (tied with Busch) 4 wins, “The Kid” goes into the chase as the number one seed, just ahead of Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, who had three. For Martin, he sees the chase wide open. He made mention of Juan Pablo Montoya, who in many ways played it safe to get into the chase picture. Now the pressure is off, and it’s time to cut it loose. For his part, Martin stayed close to the front all night, and at moments, looked like a driver who could capitalize in any bad luck for Hamlin.
Speaking of Montoya, it was a somewhat pedestrian finish of 19th, but JPM was able to put his competitive tendencies aside to clinch his first chase. Look for the Colombian to be a chase wild card.
Jeff Gordon gave Hamlin a heck of a battle. In a stretch of about 110-120 laps, the two changed positions out front eight times. Gordon was a force until late in the race, when contact with Clint Bowyer cost Gordon positions on a re-start. By all appearances, there wasn;t much Bowyer could do right in front of him. A mid-season swoon cost Bowyer the chase, but he finished the night 6th, another in a series of better finishes for the “33″ team. Gordon managed to catapult into third, but ran out of time to challenge Kurt Busch and Hamlin at the end.
Besides Busch (who finished second)- good nights were enjoyed by Sam Hornish Jr. (8th), Kevin Harvick (9th) and Ryan Newman (10th). For Newman, its his first chase appearance since 2005.
This chase field will look very different compared to last season. Like Newman, Kasey Kahne returns to the fray after a couple of “off” seasons, and Martin is in after two seasons of semi-retirement.
Congratulations to Vickers and Montoya for getting in for the first time.
While it wasn’t all wild and crazy up front, never before have we seen a race like Richmond, where so many seasons were on the line. Unlike last year, where three drivers came in with a head of steam, this season is wide open. It could be anybody.
There will be lots of celebrating, but no one will enjoy this night more than the young man whose family refinanced their home to get his racing career started. Denny Hamlin may be a Redskins fan, but his performance had a certain John Elway feel to it as he will his way to a win in his old backyard.
Now- for NASCAR’s best- it gets serious. Will Jimmie Johnson get his historic 4th straight title? Will Mark Martin get that championship that has so long eluded him? Is the “Drive For Five” alive for Jeff Gordon? Can Stewart land a championship in his first season as owner/ driver? Will one of the other upstarts carve out their place in history with bold title run?
We’ll soon find out. The “Second Season” is set to begin.
PHOTO CREDITS- Richmond International Raceway at night by Streeter Lecka/ Getty Images.
